Student Prerequisites:
- Possess excellent academic records and be able to demonstrate advanced critical thinking and analysis.
- Must have completed at least one year of high school level laboratory science and one year of Algebra.
- Have a GPA of 3.5 or higher.
- Must be a rising Tennessee high school junior or senior (current sophomore or junior).
Important: this step must be completed in full before the student receives their portion of the application (step 2). Students cannot nominate themselves.
Counselor nominates students using this Online Nomination Form. The nominating counselor will be asked to complete the following items:
- Nominating counselor’s personal information
- Student personal information
- Parent/legal guardian personal information
- School information
- Student’s relevant test scores, GPA, attendance/discipline record
- Upload an official transcript
- Nominate two teachers to complete confidential recommendations. One science and one math teacher preferred – we recommend that students nominate teacher recommenders prior to moving on to the next application steps
- Student personal information
- Parent/legal guardian personal information
- Responses to two essay prompts
- GSSE class preferences. More information on 2023 GSSE Academic Curriculum here
- Student’s format preference (in-person vs. virtual)
For additional help on the student portion of the application please refer to this Step-by-Step Guide including screenshots.
Each student is required to nominate two teachers to submit confidential recommendations for their GSSE application. Once the student completes step 2, the nominated teachers will be notified via email to complete the confidential recommendation.
Once the student completes step 2, and all teacher recommendations have been received, the first parent/legal guardian contact listed on the student application must verify that all application information is correct. To do this, the student must login to their account with their parent/legal guardian present. The parent/legal guardian must then click on “GSSE Parent Verification Form”, review that all information is correct and accurate, and then sign the form.
The nominating counselor, student, and parent/legal guardian will all receive email confirmation when the above steps are complete and the student’s application has been received and processed. Contact prep@utk.edu with any questions.