<p>My daughter is applying to FSU and uf, she is a strong student and would like to enroll in an honors program. She has a 6.1 gpa (hs), 2170 SAT, 12 AP's and decent EC's. With these credentials, how much emphasis will be placed on the essay? Are any scholarships impacted by the application essay? As do most seniors, she has a large workload, I don't want her to spend an inordinate amount of (more) time on this essay if it's not going to play a critical role.</p>
<p>For UF the essay is pretty important. UF uses holistic admissions so they look at the whole package. When we toured the advisor specifically mentioned writing an essay that helps them get to know you. My son did this, and he was admitted (his stats were great too!) I do personally know people who had similar stats but were not admitted and a few of them had weak essays, so my impression is that the essay is one of those things that can set you apart in a sea of great candidates. The upside is that a great essay can often be modified for use on various scholarship applications as well, so it is time well spent.</p>
<p>The essay honestly doesn’t take too long to write. I started and finished mine two days before the priority deadline when I applied and I was fine (not encouraging procrastinating this long though). There was also a character limit so it ended up being like one and a half page…The essay does play a large role though and I would say it’s good to relate past experiences to how the applicant will contribute to the UF community.</p>
<p>How do you end up with a 6.1? In our state you only receive 1 point higher for an AP class so an A in an AP class would be a 5.0</p>
<p>Some counties in Florida use a different scale. You’re high school may report an weighted GPA of 6.1, but your UF re-calculated GPA may be a 4.1 and your unweight GPA a 3.5 (picking random numbers). They did state it was the high school’s GPA…</p>
<p>Yes, the essay is important to UF. They even posted something on their admissions Facebook page regarding this in the last few days. This is the only place where you can really let them know what you’re about. Don’t repeat what is already on the application or just tell them your qualifications. Have fun with it. Make it stand out.</p>
<p>However, I do know someone who submitted their application to FSU without an essay and they got accepted. They had outstanding ACT scores.</p>
<p>I went to an informational session and tour of UF today. One of the admissions counselors talked to us, and she said academics are about 50% and then the other 50% is all the holistic stuff, including the essay. I would not take the essay too lightly, if I were you!</p>
<p>Make sure she writes a decent essay and she will get in. She has excellent credentials.</p>
<p>May I ask you. Where do you want her to go? Being an FSU Alum I am sure you have a preference for FSU. I guess it would depend on what she wants to study.</p>
<p>Here is another obstacle that you as an FSU alum will face. At the risk of sounding like I am bragging and I am not. Most of her friends will be applying to both schools. And the top students will likely be admitted to UF. The trick will be to convince her otherwise. If I were you in shoes and the rolls were reversed I would let her decide or you may never hear the end of it.</p>
<p>Good luck to you and to her.</p>
<p>To be honest, the thought of my daughter being a gator makes me want to puke. However, hogtown is only 3 1/2 hours from home, Tallahassee is 5 1/2 - 6 hours. We looked at Miami, which is just 2 hours from home, we were both pleasantly surprised. She is also strongly considering Duke, she attended the TIP program there for two summers, so she is familiar with that. Of course, getting accepted is another story. She is very undecided where she wants to go, but we’ve only visited UM so far (visiting UF this weekend), so there’s a lot to learn yet. I think we’re all concerned about her being too far away, but she is a very social person whom I believe will embrace the entire “college life” I believe she is more likely to experience at UF or FSU than UM. I think she’s likely to be invited to the honors programs at both UF and FSU, which are both quite attractive. Ultimately it will be entirely her decision, I want her to go where she will be happiest. If I had to choose between the two, as hard as it is, I think I’d prefer UF only due to the proximity. BTW, she is a lifetime 4.0 student (never had a B), here we are awarded 7 points for an AP, 6 for honors, etc, hence the 6.1 GPA.</p>
<p>If the thought of your daughter going to a specific university really makes you want to “puke” then that’s sad… As a college student myself I wouldn’t want to hear either of my parents say that</p>
<p>Well you have a lot to be proud of. She may get a full ride to UM? But I dont think you can compare UM to either UF or Duke. Not that it isnt a good school. But it has no campus life. On the weekends the place is a ghost town.</p>
<p>My son was offered a full ride to UM. But after spending a day on the engineering campus and a day at UF. He was 100% sure he wanted to go to UF. he was also accepted to Ga Tech but again the visit to the campus didnt give him a good feeling.</p>
<p>Good luck to her I am sure she will do great whereever she lands.</p>
<p>As long as you know that never getting a “B” or lower in high school is really insignificant when it comes to university-level coursework. I learned this the hard way from being too confident and then performing subpar on the first exam in an important course.</p>
<p>ryanx13, in 25 years or so, and your daughter is talking about going to school at UGA or FSU, you’ll have a better sense of how FSU1987 feels :)</p>
<p>FSU1987, Good luck with Duke, but I’m sure your daughter will be just fine at any of these schools (maybe a little bit better at UF!).</p>
<p>I would be more focused on the GPA and class rank asspect. In my school no one outside of the top 35 Top 5% got accepted.</p>