Hi everyone,
I’m currently at the end of my junior year and am preparing to start applying to college. I was hoping for some insight on getting accepted to either UF. I live in Florida. Both my parents went to UF. I’m doing a college visit on Friday.
Grades
My Unweighted GPA is: 3.66
My Weighted (UF) GPA is: 4.24
Top 25% of class (68/535)
SAT: 1440: 750 Reading/690 Math.
I have earned 3 5’s and 2 5’s on AP Exams so far. Took 4 APs this year and taking 3 next year.
ECs:
Senior Year: Football
Chess Club
Set up a chess club for local 12 year olds and under
Organized and held a chess tournament for the kids I tutored.
Treasurer of French Honor Society
Treasurer of Rho Kappa
Member NHS
Member of NEHS
Part time job with Soccer Team and with add’l small local company.
Volunteered at Rowdies Soccer 120 + hours.
Volunteered at YMCA 30+ hours
Tutored students in French
Tutored students for AP Exams
Lived in Great Britain for Middle School and traveled there each summer since.
Gender: Male
Thanks so much! I really appreciate your thoughts.
I’m so sorry - I wrote 3 5’s and 2 5’s for APs - meant 3 5’s and 2 4’s.
Hi! I was just admitted to UF for Summer B 2017, I had very similar stats when I applied. Your high test scores balance out your GPA which is on the lower side for UF as of its 2017 class (no shame though, I applied with a 4.25 also). Despite UF emphasis on “holistic admissions”, IMO it’s kind of bs. Make sure you write an AWESOME essay and apply as early as possible, my admissions officer told me this actually has some unofficial bearing on admissions opinions.
Whether you get accepted or not, try not to take it personally (which is so hard I know because how can you NOT take it personally haha). UF’s decisions are notoriously arbitrary. Good luck and go gators!!
Thanks so much for your answer. I have my college visit on Friday so I’m excited about that. I have already tried to think about a great first sentence for my essay.
All the students from my D’s school who were accepted to UF for 2017 had a GPA above 4.2 except one. What they all had in common was an EC that covered all 4 years that required a lot of time: Band, Dance Drama, varsity sport., all things that require a commitment and show a passion… The one student who had the lower GPA worked with pre-schoolers in an after school program at the HS. I believe she was a first gen also.
I cannot say how this applies to you @aegis9393 but if you have 4 years of football I think that would be impressive with your other ECs and stats. This is just my opinion, but I think a well written essay that included your biggest EC and why it is important to you is better is better than a superbly written essay designed to make you seem more smart and impressive than other applicants.
Also, UF does not consider AP exam scores for admission but does give a lot of weight to course rigor, including senior year. I see you are only taking 3 APs next year which is down from 4 last year. If that is all the APs you have left to take at your school that is fine, but if you are just planning to take it a little easier during your senior year, that could hurt you at UF.
I had a job all four years but no continuous school EC. I also had a UF gpa of about 4.0 but came from a competitive private high school with a different grading scale. All in all, put as much effort as possible into the essay if UF is truly where you want to go and be SUPER detailed on the short answer responses in the app. They dont want one word answers, they dont want a liost, they want you to talk about what you did and how it affected you even if it seems like you are going overboard.
Most my school got in this year if they had like a 4.25 UF GPA or above.
I heard that everyone from National Honor Society was admitted, which means their unweighted was 3.5+ and their UF weighted had to be at least a ~4.3.
That being said, most of them took a heavy course load (Max we can take is 24 AP or IB classes in high school, but most people end up with 19), which UF apparently cares a lot about, but maybe your ECs can make up for it. The fact that you (I’m assuming voluntarily) took less AP’s senior year might hurt, since they still care a lot about Senior year.
Also, UF does not use AP exams as a factor during admissions.
Legacy helps, but it won’t help too much. This girl at my school has parents who are professors and alumni at UF but she still got rejected most likely because her GPA was below average. Idk what it was but it was probably 3.4 unweighted which would mean she’d have a 4.2.
Although another one of my friends was admitted to Summer B with a 4.28 UF GPA with really crappy extracurricular activities. I don’t know what on his application made him stand out since he was only part of some clubs and had no leadership experiences, and his essay wasn’t that great either since I read it, but maybe the admissions office thought differently.
They can be random sometimes, and it seems to vary school to school. I’d personally check and see if some seniors from your school had similar stats and still got in, because that’s what a lot of us do. We just ask around to relieve anxiety 
I think you have a decent shot.
Polish your application as much as possible and go for it! You have much to celebrate no matter what.
It makes me laugh so hard when I see kids in Florida with 16+ AP classes. At my school, the average for the top 10% is maybe 7 and thats a stretch. Not sure how they do it!
@herosaurus17 I know, but somehow everyone balances that with perfect 5.0 and a mound of extracurriculars while doing a bunch of IB work, and I don’t know how they do it either. Lowkey makes me jealous. What makes it worse is that when you offer that many AP classes, you’re going to attract huge over achievers that will strive for a 5.0, and over half of my class somehow has a perfect GPA even with all those APs. Our class is so competitive that I’m a little worried that UF will only take them next year with the increasing competitiveness, but the it’s not like the top 10% of our class have 3.5’s, if you get a single B you automatically drop down to Top 14% and Top 25% in the IB class. It’s absolutely insane how I’m technically considered top 75% of my IB class with a 3.7 GPA (my IB class rank is like 75/124) when I would be top 5% of the class at my friend’s school in Ocala.
Just make sure you have a great essay.