Chamblee Charter High School seniors applying to college this fall are learning a new platform and adjusting after two of Georgia's largest public universities dropped supplemental essays.
The school's counseling department replaced its Naviance college-readiness system with SchooLinks for the 2026-27 school year, The Blue & Gold, the school's student newspaper, reported Sept. 15. At the same time, the University of Georgia (UGA) and Georgia Tech have both eliminated their supplemental essay requirements for incoming freshmen.
A new platform
SchooLinks offers many of the same tools as Naviance but with a different layout. Student reaction has been mostly positive.
"SchooLinks is 100 times better," senior Willie Atkinson told The Blue & Gold. "It's much more user-friendly. It's very easy to tell where everything is, unlike Naviance."
Not every senior is sold. Samia Eva said SchooLinks appears more organized but expressed concern about whether counselors have had enough time to master the system before application deadlines hit.
Seniors can sign up for SchooLinks tutorials during Bulldog Time through the platform's announcements tab. They also meet individually with a school counselor and a college advisor hired by the school, according to The Blue & Gold. The counseling department has urged seniors to check email daily for meeting sign-up updates.
Essay requirements dropped
Both UGA and Georgia Tech announced this summer that they would no longer require supplemental essays. Georgia Tech made its change public July 29, saying the short-answer question was no longer a differentiating factor in admissions decisions. Applicants still must complete the Common App personal essay.
UGA's supplemental essay had asked students to discuss a book they read and enjoyed. David Graves, UGA's director of undergraduate admissions, said the growing volume of applications drove the decision. As Inside Higher Ed reported, Graves wrote that his team analyzed what the second essay added and "… felt that going with just one was the best for our reviews and our team."
The changes are part of a broader national trend. Six schools dropped supplemental essays entirely for the 2026-27 cycle, including Tulane, UNC Chapel Hill, the University of Miami and the University of Washington, according to The College Investor.
Some Chamblee seniors worry that fewer barriers will drive up application numbers and push acceptance rates down. Nearly 68,000 students applied for first-year admission to Georgia Tech last year, according to the university.
Senior Jack Robinson, who started his applications over the summer and finished his personal statement when school began, told The Blue & Gold he is nervous the change "will cause a drop in admissions rate because there'll be more applicants."
Senior Blue Allmon raised a different concern: that dropping essays shifts weight toward standardized test scores. Allmon told the student newspaper that test scores measure general knowledge but cannot reflect work ethic or personality.
What's next
Some seniors got a head start over the summer. Others were still drafting personal statements as of mid-September. The school's counseling page lists SchooLinks resources for students and families navigating the process.
