The Next Class of Gatton
By Miles Goodrich
The Gatton Academy is a program that allows students to pursue an accelerated course of study. Essentially, the students bypass their last two years of high school and begin college courses early. They live on campus, and have the adult responsibilities of college students, despite still being 16-18 years old. With a 27% acceptance rate, Gatton is a highly prestigious venue. They accept half male and half female students, further lessening the likelihood of acceptance. To apply, you need at least a 22 Math ACT or 540 Math SAT, along with taking their entrance exam and performing well. To bypass the entrance exam, you need at least a 27 Math ACT or 610 Math SAT. These are the bare minimum requirements, though, as they state on their website, a strong interest in STEM through extracurriculars and courses, along with a high degree of rigor in their courses is crucial to moving forward in their consideration for acceptance. Multiple essays need to be written as well, in which you need to demonstrate suitable interest in a rigorous STEM program like that of Gatton Academy. Letters of recommendation from teachers are also key, where you need extremely high praise in order to catch the attention of administrators collecting data from applicants. The last step in the process is their interviews, where they try and get a sense of your character in order to finally determine if Gatton would be a good fit for you.
As the school year nears its end, the next class of Gatton applicants try their best to be accepted. Competing with hundreds of other aspiring students, there needs to be a way for them to stand out. Gatton applicants Qais Abumuhfouz and William Knox Alexander were asked about their portfolio of accomplishments and their future aspirations. Qais, a sophomore, wants to go to Gatton to study aerospace engineering. He has a 3.98 unweighted GPA and is ranked #1 in his class for weighted GPA with 4.28. He plays soccer for Greenwood and participates in Beta Club and FBLA. His favorite subject is math, and he wants to go to a better school after his time at Gatton. He said that his biggest academic strength was “my skill in math,” and he said that “my mindset helps me stand out.” William Knox Alexander, a sophomore, has a 31 ACT. Science is his favorite subject, and he said it is because “the possibilities are endless.” He wants to be a mechanical engineer, and he wants to go to Gatton because, as he said, “it is the next logical step in my academic journey.” He has a 4.0 unweighted GPA, and a 4.15 weighted GPA. He does Beta club, FBLA, and academic team. He said, “My perseverance and adaptability helps me stand out.” He said he will most likely go to University of Louisville after Gatton, but he hopes to go to MIT. He said his memorization is his most important skill in school.
This shows that the applicant list for Gatton is truly stacked, and that it is extremely hard to get in. These students are not guaranteed to get in, even if they far exceed some of the minimum requirements. Gatton can be extremely helpful in the academic journey of college-bound students, and, like Qais and Knox, has many high-reaching applicants. Gatton can heavily accelerate the rate of which accepted students gain knowledge and experience. Examples of successful Gatton alumni include Dana Biechele-Speziale (‘15) was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 science section for 2026 for her work in Atomics. Also, Seth Tooley (‘08) is a cell and developmental biology presenter at the University of Michigan Medical School. Duncan Wood (’13) and Aaron Tagliaboschi (’13) are musicians who reunited their band, GAMMA, for the Solar Eclipse Festival. This list just shows a few of the many successful students who went to Gatton and further continued their academic endeavors. This shows what our current applicants may be capable of, and how Gatton can help accelerate their paths there.
Photos by Jostens School Photography, Greenwood High School
