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Rick Clark

Rick Clark

Assistant vice provost and executive director of Undergraduate Admission

Undergraduate Admission

Rick Clark is a thought leader and expert in college admission and application processes, and the landscape of higher education in general.

College Admissions Expertise

As a thought leader in college admissions and the common application, Rick Clark travels annually to U.S. embassies around the world to discuss the U.S. college admission process.

Clark has served on advisory and governing boards at the state, regional, and national levels. He is the co-author of The Truth about College Admission: A Family Guide to Getting in and Staying Together and a companion workbook, published under the same title from Johns Hopkins University Press. He is also the creator of the Georgia Tech Admission Blog and the College Admission Brief Podcast. A native of Atlanta, Clark earned a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.Ed. from Georgia State University. 

News and Recent Appearances

Shedding Daylight On Control In College Admission

Forbes

Believe it or not, you have more agency in this experience than you think. Read this blog post from Rick Clark, the assistant vice provost and executive director of undergraduate admission at Georgia Tech. You will discover that you have control over 75% of the process. You decide, for example, why, where, when, and how you apply. You tell the story in your application that best represents you, your strengths, interests, and hopes. You choose who you listen to, take guidance from, and consult with about your search and application.

Reckoning With the Great Resignation

Inside Higher Ed

“I feel like ‘resignation’ sort of short-sells people’s engagement with what they want. I feel like this was more of a great contemplation for all of us,” Rick Clark. “The pandemic was a blessing of pause. Slowing down, pulling back and evaluating, ‘What do we really want?’”

College admissions are stressful enough. Parents, don’t make it worse.

The Washington Post

“I think most parents — if they will really talk to their friends and think about their network — will realize pretty quickly that success is nonlinear, and there are a lot of paths to it,” said Rick Clark, director of undergraduate admissions at Georgia Tech. “Very few rely solely on where you go to college.” You have to truly believe that if you have any hope of your child believing it.

Handling College Admission Decisions: A Sidecar Parent’s Guide

Forbes

Rick Clark, director of undergraduate admission at Georgia Tech, emphasizes the importance of moving from “parent to partner” as our children apply to college. He says, “Prior to admission decisions coming out, my hope is parents will take their focus off the names of colleges, their own personal hopes, and the recent build-up of emotion or anticipation, and instead consider the time, effort, and shared experiences that have led to this point.” Clark adds, “by doing this, whether a student is admitted, deferred, or denied, they will be ready to genuinely celebrate, empathize, or simply love and support.

Tech Welcomes Record Number of First-Year and Transfer Students

The Institute continues to expand access to students from a variety of backgrounds.

Media