Chance me on the UF Innovation Academy?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Florida
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<p>Objective:</p>

<p>SAT I (breakdown): (with writing) 1546 (the only thing good about my SAT is that I got a 11/12 on my writing)
ACT: 24 ( I got a 10/12 on my writing)
SAT II: N/A
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.1 (Weighted is a 3.6)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 110 / 460
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Language and Composition (3), APUSH (3), AP Psychology (3)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Environmental Science, PE (online), Legal Advisory 3 (an academy class - Legal Studies Academy), Calc Honors, AP Literature, AP Macroeconomics, AP Government and Politics: US, Dual Enrollment Business Law, Dual Enrollment Commercial Law, Dual Enrollment Law and the Courts, and Teacher Assistant</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): President of Mock Trial Summer Program for 2 consecutive years, President of Mock Trial Team, Vice President of Community Service club, member of Key Club, member of Spanish Honor Society, member of Law Honor Society, member of Recycling club, Future Business Leaders of America Executive Board Representative for the Law Academy, I coach a youth softball recreational team (had to get a certification), I am NALS certified (meaning I can be a legal secretary wherever), won best student of the academy award 2 years in a row, won a writing award for the local news paper, I used to play travel ball for softball until I was 13 (won trophies, MVP, etc), I was the founder of my school's debate team, was invited to go to Harvard during the summer to complete some law classes (got a scholarship for about 1/6 of the tuition), etc. (so much more to list)
Job/Work Experience: I have two jobs right now - working 20 hours a week with them combined. I also have an internship with a law firm - try to put in about 5 to 6 hours a week depending on how much time I have.
Volunteer/Community service: I am in the works of starting a charity for my county so that there can be enough money to fund academy field trips for all of the academies in the county.
Summer Activities: Internship, Law Camps, Dual Enrollment courses, and volunteer service.
Essays: I wrote two essays - the first one I sent to UChicago and it's about me explaining how my life relates to a quote by Antonio Machado, "Between living and dreaming there is a third thing, guess it." The other essay I wrote is about how I have my life planned out. I want to major in Economics - Business and minor in Pre-Law and Innovation (hopefully, if not then Political Science). From then, I want to obtain my masters and go to law school to become a corporate attorney. After that I want to work for the CEA (Council of Economic Advisors for the President) and become a Supreme Court Justice. </p>

<p>[ b]Other**</p>

<p>Intended Major: Economics
State/Country: Florida
School Type: Public - the best in the county when it comes to AP classes
Ethnicity: White - Hispanic
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: $200,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I am a first generation college student.</p>

<p>Reflection</p>

<p>Strengths: Probably my essays, my academic and community service leadership, my potential, and my interview.
Weaknesses: My GPA and test scores obviously</p>

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<p>** Also before you guys blow up with the: “UF doesn’t offer interviews!” My best friend’s uncle used to work in the Admissons Office at UF and he sat down with me and we talked - blah blah blah - and he said he put in a really good word for me at the office.</p>

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<p>Suggestion—
Please review the section on the UFL website indicating the average academic stats of those freshman previously accepted and you will gather that with your weighed GPA of 3.7 and an SAT score of 1546 ( are you sure about that score) you are statistically below average, actually, way below average. And that bit about a friend putting in a good word in for you, well…
As you get older, you will understand what I mean. Good Luck!</p>

4

<p>So in the scenario you picked IA because you thought it would improve your chances, here’s my rant:</p>

<p>Ugh, why is there this mentality that picking IA makes it “easier” to get into uf. Selecting IA has NO bearing on whether you get in or not. The program is meant for prospective students that are genuinely interested in the program AND calendar. </p>

<p>Ill put it like this, if you get accepted, and into IA…you would’ve been accepted if you DIDN’T indicate IA interest and would instead get in via fall/spring. If IA was an easy ticket to uf, (and this remainder of the sentence is with speculation to a degree) the integrity of admissions would be damaged and quality of incoming students (on average) would drop. That’s why admissions wants students of equal eligibility in IA and fall/spring. The people I know that do IA got into schools like UM with a scholarship, the UC schools, Chicago, Northwestern, OSU, and Michigan. Now of course, that’s the people I know, but yeah. UF can’t accept someone under qualified for 1: reasons I already listed and 2: because those students wouldn’t be able to handle uf if they weren’t eligible in the first place. That means they are more likely to fail in college and hurt retention rates and class averages</p>

<p>Talk to any admissions officer, they will tell you picking IA will have ZERO affect on whether you get in or not. That horrible “it’s easier to get into summer” myth is now starting to happen with IA.</p>

<p>Now in the event you want IA and picked it because you DO want it and the opportunities it has then:</p>

<p>Excellent to see you have indicated interest in such a noble program. To chance you for acceptance or rejection to the university, IMO, your academics are pretty weak. NOW I have indeed seen others in the past get in with stats like that…if anything I’ve even seen worse. Good news is, uf is holistic, and what you did outside of academics is amazing. So I think you have an okay shot. Leadership positions, community service, a,l excellent. One thing uf looks for in all applicants is some kind of innovative or leadership aspect/potential. You have plenty of it and the startup charity thing will be HUGE. I can imagine people already saying “you’re not getting in with those stats” but with the holistic system, your non academics are amazing. For your essay, I have no idea if I can predict if its good or bad. With your topic, people would jump to say its a bad topic therefore bad essay, yet, even topics like that can be written in such a way that the essay and essence itself makes it unique. Tone and theme matters. </p>

<p>It looks like you really do want the innovation academy though given that you mentioned an innovation minor and stuff. Nice! I know a good number of people in the program and they love it. The only ones that don’t like it are those who never wanted it in the first place (but applied to it for some reason…) and those who don’t care about the extra opportunities and skills the program has to offer. I’m at uf now, on my third semester. IA is amazing and being a part of it NOW would be super cool…that’s like, writing uf history or something lol</p>

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<p>Just saw you also had an internship. Amazing. You really excelled in the non academic side. Seriously, the only people I see with that much extracurriculars and leadership are those who go to ivy leagues or schools like northwestern</p>

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<p>^^^^^
This is so wrong. And just imagine….
I got a time-out from this web site for responding in Spanish….
By the way, brilliant for a seminal…( I didn’t spell it wrong )</p>

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<p>^ why are you the way you are?</p>

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<p>@ilovethe47: I’m sorry but the world does not revolve around your speculation and assumptions. Ilovethe47, all of the information I provided is factual/well formulated unless stated specifically otherwise (by me, which I did for one sentence). I get my info directly from the source and you constantly base yourself off speculations, ignoring facts in favor of your own opinion. I feel like a broken record because I probably told you all this like 10 times already. </p>

<p>And it’s not just that you’re wrong most of the time, you’re…quite frankly, rude and insultive to a lot of people here on the boards. I’m happy that for the most part, I and several others have currently been doing a good job (IMO) at cleaning up the discrepancies and authenticity issues of a lot of info. posted around here. I love this university and want people to know the facts about it and to know why it’s so amazing.</p>

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<p>Sabertooth,
I completely agree with you on the whole “IA is so much easier to get into” theory. But honestly, I really want to be in the academy. I have been in an academy my whole entire high school career and I absolutely love the uniqueness of it and the “family” aspect about it. So yes, IA was my first choice. But thank you for the advice! </p>

<p>ilovethe47,
Not to be rude, but yes I did in fact read the stats that “most” people have. But in my situation things can get a little sticky. For example, on the website it shows a chart and percentage of students accepted that graduated with a certain amount of credits. I am graduating with about 32 credits which puts me in the 70%+ (I think that’s the number) rank for being accepted. Yes, I know my grades and test scores are WAY below average but what I am counting on is that they will see my potential. Obviously, I love to excel outside of the class room just I have a bit of a studying burden in the class room. However, for college it might be a little different because I have taken quite a few dual enrollment classes (18 credits worth) and I have a 4.0 as my post secondary GPA for college. Hopefully, they will take that into consideration.</p>

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<p>That’s super cool then! I hope you get in, and just small advice: ignore ilovethe47. I am not the only one when I say she’s not the most credible so to speak</p>

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<p>Sabertooth,
Thank you so much for the advice! I really hope I get in - being a part of the innovation academy would be great. I guess the only downfall is that I would either have to live home during the Fall (and take UF online classes) or stay in an apartment in Gainesville because I can’t travel back and forth. I want to be apart of Gator Growl, the football games, and the Homecoming so I would have to stay up there for that! As far as ilovethe47 goes, I understand. She seemed like she was just spitting out nonsense when I read her post.</p>

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<p>Ehhh you’ll be fine. I feel like the IA kids I know have it better since they don’t need to be full time enrolled students for gator growl or the football games to get tickets. Some of them will live in Gainesville in the fall to do all the fall activities (that I never have time to do all of cuz of classes) and all. Some are joining a frat (or sorority). So to put it in perspective, they live in a frat/sorority house in the fall, do all the on campus events, tailgating, and partying in their frat/sorority, and they have all the football games to enjoy…without having to worry about a single class. Makes me feel a bit jealous lol.</p>

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<p>Oh really? I thought the rule was that you aren’t allowed to live at the frat/sorority house until the spring of your freshman year? If I can live in the house, then that will change things. Thanks for the insight!</p>

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<p>Oh wait, I meant every other fall after you enroll lol. So the fall BEFORE you enroll in spring (the first one after your senior year ends) is a semester where you are considered a non degree seeking student. You can do clubs, like 2 online courses, and study abroad to certain places offered, but that’s about it. After the first fall, you can do whatever you want in every other fall since you’ll be enrolled as a degree seeking student</p>

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<p>@Sabertooth</p>

<p>Hey I was just curious. I am like freaking out about how excited I am for Friday so I just randomly go to “check my status” a few times throughout the day and I just noticed that all of my stuff that they recieved is gone and my page says this (besides my name, term, and UFID): You indicated an interest in the University of Florida’s Innovation Academy (IA), which requires Spring semester entry. Also, you likely indicated a preferred term of entry. The Office of Admissions will consider you for admission to your preference; then you will be considered for the Innovation Academy. Please visit <a href=“http://www.admissions.ufl.edu/ia.html[/url]”>http://www.admissions.ufl.edu/ia.html&lt;/a&gt; for more information about the Innovation Academy. The Check Status system is not available. Please return to ISIS to view your admission decision the evening of March 25."
The bottom part is what scares me the most, but after I researched it a girl last year got the same message and found out her decision on Feb 10th so… I was curious as to if you got the same message last year or know anyone who has?</p>

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<p>Question if I got admitted to the in ovation academy an I realized that I don’t want to go into that program and want to start in the fall is it possible for me to transfer?</p>

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<p>No. On the Innovation Academy website it states that if you are admitted into the Innovation Academy then essentially you have to say yes to it. Because if you say no and try to get a transfer then you are declining your acceptance to the University of Florida as a whole. They do this so that students won’t use the IA as a “doorway” to get into UF because they think it is “easier” than through fall and summer. So once you are accepted to IA you have to go and be apart of the program or you cannot be accepted into UF for that year.</p>

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<p>You can apply to term change, and you won’t decline your acceptance. Just don’t say no and send term change. BUT keep in mind that IA does not making getting into uf easier. It doesn’t even have an effect. This is such a big misconception for so many people. The myth that its easier to get into summer than fall is still around, it seems a new one is around: easier to get in via IA. Fact is, both of these “myths” are false, and people don’t apply for what they honestly want because they actually listened to these myths and now have to deal with terms they never wanted in the first place when accepted. APPLY FOR WHAT YOU WANT, your term and/or selecting IA has no affect on your admission chances</p>

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<p>IA is not considered an “easy” way in to UF. Admissions make sure that you are being considered in the same holistic review as everyone else who applies. A lot of the IA students I talked to were as involved in high school as everyone else, not to mention similar GPA’s. However, I did notice a much lower standardized scores of IA students than the regular UF students, but they aren’t like 1400 low.</p>

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<p>I have a son in the Innovation Academy, and even if the box is checked, they sometimes place students in Summer or Fall if UF thinks it is a better fit. Also, he was 1 of 4 students from his high school, and plenty rejected had much better grades and test scores. </p>

<p>IA is a commitment (especially summer when the course time is more concise), but based on your GPA / Scores, UF may be a “reach” school (you are applying to FSU / UCF and USF, I hope), but they admit holistically and your first post shows a lot of character. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>