Chances of getting into UF

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Florida
1

I recently just applied to UF and the honors college and have been looking at my chances of getting into UF. I haven’t seen any discussions that match my specific case so I wanted to see what my chances based off of my stats.
I currently live in Arkansas but I’m still a Florida resident because my dad is in the military. Most schools in Arkansas, including the one I go to, is nowhere near as competitive as the schools in Florida. I just want to know if that lack of competition would or hurt me when it comes to UF. For instance, my school doesn’t offer weighted classes until Junior year and doesn’t weight concurrent credit classes either.
-GPA: 3.85 weighted (highest at my school is 4.1)
-Rank: 19/242 (top 7%)

  • 27 ACT w/ 34 in reading( just took the October one so hoping for a higher score)
    -8 AP classes taken which is the most taken in my class since my school only allows us to start taking them in junior year
    -18 dual enrollment credits from a state university
    -Co-founded the minority club at my school which advocates for underrepresented minorities at my school
    -Mayor of my cities youth council
    -Treasurer of NHS
    -VP on student council
    -worked as a swim coach with kids and special need kids since freshman year
    -Other clubs like BETA DECA Ambassadors Etc.
    -Over 200 hours of volunteer service
    -I also feel like my writing skills are pretty strong and my essay topic was very unique.
2

Good job on the Reading Section of the ACT! However, your composite score falls below the 25th percentile.

It’s hard to say about your grades as they will be recalculated by UF. They will recalculate your GPA. Copied and pasted from their website:

“The Office of Admissions recomputes the high school GPA for every freshman applicant.
Our admissions officers use the high school transcript provided to our office, and the grading scale included on that transcript.
Only academic subjects are used in the calculation — English, math, social sciences, sciences and foreign languages (freshmen are required to have successfully completed 2 consecutive units of a foreign language).
Additional weight is added in the calculation to any courses that are Honors, Dual-Enrollment, AICE, Advanced Placement, or International Baccalaureate.”

So, they will compute additional weight in for your Honors, AP, and DE grades, even if you high school did not.

I see that you founded a minority club at your school - are you, yourself, an ethnic minority?

I am unsure about the residency requirements for Florida schools for children of military personnel, but I will assume you are correct in that assumption. You qualify for the Medallion level of Florida Bright Futures if you meet the residency requirements.

Was UF the only Florida school to which you applied? Your odds would be better at others.

One last question - did you complete the SSAR?

UF uses a holistic approach to evaluating its applicants. You appear to be a well-rounded applicant. I am primarily concerned about your ACT score as a bar to admission.

3

I am a African-American male and I also thought I would have to graduate from a Florida high school in order to receive bright futures? I haven’t completed the SSAR yet since I just submitted my application yesterday (I know soooo last minuet but it wasn’t my fault) so I haven’t received the login for my account yet. I also applied to another school is Florida and 4 more schools in Arkansas, but UF has been my dream since forever.

4

Here are the military requirements for Florida residency for tuition purposes which I assume you have reviewed:

http://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/7480/urlt/0082723-faqsresidencymilitary.pdf

Here is the entire booklet for Bright Futures. Scroll down to page 10 - 11 (depends on if you count the “cover page”) to see eligibility for out-of-state students. There is mention of military duty of parent in this section. I have NO idea what your situation is and whether or not you would qualify, but it would likely be worth looking into:

https://www.floridastudentfinancialaidsg.org/PDF/BFHandbookChapter1.pdf

What was your other Florida school if you don’t mind my asking?

UF doesn’t require completion of the SSAR until December 1.

5

I think your chances are pretty good. UF looks at your grades/scores but also looks at how you compare to others in your high school class. Top 7% is positive as is your rigor. Looks like you have some good ECs and service hours.

The negatives: Your composite ACT is low but this year UF superscores the ACT for the first time, so that improves your potential to raise it. And you can submit new scores by Mid December, I think but check for yourself.

Also, I’m not sure how UF looks at a high school out of state for which they may not have a lot experience. I imagine they have some historical reference or comparable to judge.

With UF’s holistic admissions, no one is a lock. Make sure you have some safeties lined up. Let us know what happens.

6

UF is banned by law from directly considering race in admissions, but they aim to seek a diverse campus and one of the ways they try to do so is through “holistic” admissions which is very nebulous. The fact is they want to accept more qualified African American students. AA admissions is very low compared to Florida’s population and it looks bad for the University. I don’t know what your essay was about but one strategy minority candidates can use is focus their essay on minority issues relevant to their volunteering/life to all but scream at UF admissions that they are a qualified minority candidate and PICK ME to boost their campus diversity admissions numbers.