FL public schools for a B average student [3.0 GPA, 1420 SAT, political science]

College Search & Selection
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Any chance he can take AP statistics? Or another weighted statistics class? (If necessary, petition? Passing the AP Stats exam would mean he would have one less math class in college.)
AP physics is going to be filled with kids who are taking (or took) precalculus and flew through Algebra2(H). I worry it’s going to require a lot of intense work for Bs, when he should devote his time to getting As in all weighted courses to bring his GPA up and get full BF.
Is there an AICE science he could take instead?

Good job on APUSH - That’s a hard class and for Humanities students, that class, AP English, and Foreign Language through senior year are criteria that matter.

So, his senior schedule as of now
AP English
French (4?)
If possible: AP Stats or equivalent
If possible: Aice science (marine science? Environmental management?) or APES
AICE Psychology

Is there a 6th weighted class he could take to bring up his GPA faster?
Aice Digital Media&Design or AICE Media Studies are considered easy and super interesting.
Or would his school offer Honors Government or AICE Sociology as a complement to stengthen a Humanities/Social science profile ?

It would be more valuable GPA-wise with no consequence admissions-wise to drop AP physics and take BOTH Aice science and AICE media studies (or other humanities/social science class).

His 1st quarter grades with recalculated GPA should appear before Dec 1st and reach 3.5 weighted for him to be eligible for the UA scholarship&Honors college that would make UA a better choice than FAU for a relatively similar cost. I realize it’s very very difficult. Without the weighted 3.5 he’s not eligible for the scholarships.

Being in French club is good -it’s even better if he does something with the group, showing leadership, creativity, ability to work with a team…

I know there are Haitians in Florida: could he take a community course in Creole (or see how the club could learn some Creole -it’s very very similar to oral French) and organize how the club could help K-4 kids from Haitian families with their homework, translating where necessary?
(Volunteering will become very important for law school - and using language skills in a practical way always carries a bonus. Lawyers are all required to offer pro bono hours and in law school they need to work law clinics, where applied world language skills are always valued.)

Because so many in FL study Spanish, if he indicates an interest in minoring in French it could give him a little boost admission-wise.
When there’s a group of similar applications where kids are qualified but not stand outs, little details make the difference.

I’m sorry to say that, as confident as I am for FIU Honors, UF and FSU aren’t in the cards.
(Except through the Aspire program ar FSU).

What’s the return from NPCs at the colleges I listed above? (Roanoke, Muhlenberg…)

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Thank you very much @MYOS1634
Lots of information, I’ll check on NPC for other schools…
I checked UA OOS scholarships and as you say he needs 3.5W GPA to qualify.
We still believe FL instate is the better option in terms of logistics. He went to a summer program OOS, so he can thrive. We, as parents are hesitant with all the travel expenses, etc.

He got A in APUSH!
He has AP Statistics, AICE Psychology and AP Economics this year. It is going to be lot of hard work this year.
It may not help him in college admissions unless USF / FIU admit him deferred and want him to submit 1st semester senior year grades in January.

He chooses courses and some of them are based on availability at school and at the guidance of the counselor.

He has done some volunteering and he works. He is a teen boy playing video games and whatever they do with the phone apps. He could do more in volunteering and leadership.

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I would rethink the AP Physics. As I understand it (son was physics/math major) AP Physics relies heavily on Calculus. In fact I think our HS required Calc as a prerequisite or taking concurrently.

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That would be AP Physics C - I assume @mango2school’s son is taking AP Physics 1, but nevertheless it requires a strong mastery of algebra2 (algebra2H) and concurrent or prior precalculus is very helpful. An alternative would be regular Physics but since he’s not applying to the most selective universities and needs the GPA boost, I really think an AICE science or APES would be better.

@mango2school : does the school offer APES? It’s considered the easiest AP science class, gives college credit, and is rooted in real world issues. Aice Marine science is another good science class that’s way easier than ap Physics yet carries +1.
So
AP Econ
AP English
AP Stats
Aice Psych
French
And one more science class, is that his accurate senior schedule?

Congratulations on the A in APUSH. It’s one of the “hard” AP classes.

Submitting 1st quarter grades should be possible.
1st semester only

FL is a large state -travel logistics to the other end of the state v. Rest of South won’t matter that much although it’s a legitimate concern for parents (he’ll really only return a couple times a year freshman year, less than that once he does Alternative Break or gets internships etc.)

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As @MYOS1634 explained earlier, universities like USF look at both GPA and SAT scores.
https://www.reddit.com/r/USF/comments/13055ep/denied_from_usf_what_do_i_do/
Here, this student got rejected because of low ACT while having high GPA.
High GPA is not any more important than SAT as some people expect.

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To your point, according to the USF Common Data Set, Rigor, GPA and Test Score all rank in the very important category. They have nothing in the 2nd category - important.

Florida loves the test scores - they never stopped requiring them.

FIU - btw - same thing - they also put class rank in the Most Important - but show nothing as important.

but that kid had a 20 - so your situation isn’t exactly parallel.

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Did you mean that a private school outside Florida would give the student a scholarship equal to the $7000 (full)/ $5200)75%) bright futures amount? BF is a state award that pays directly to the colleges IN Florida and it would not send the money to an OOS school.

I did know a family when we first moved there whose kids went to Miss State and the mom told me Miss State made sure to give an amount that would make up for giving up the BF. At the time BF was only worth about $3200 so the OOS schools didn’t have to come up with much.

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Yes, sorry. I did mean that some OOS colleges will give the equivalent of BF to students from FL that qualify for it - indeed the actual BF scholarship is a FL program for FL public colleges&universities only, I’m sorry for the confusing wording.

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You can use it at the private schools too. BF gives $212/cr (or $158 for the lower award) but all the other rules apply - must take at lease 12 credits, can’t take non-qualified classes, have to maintain the gpa…and it maxes out at 120 credits total so engineers taking 17-19 credits can ‘run out’ of money in their pots.

BF also allows schools (public and private) to determine how the money in used. Some schools allow it to be used for R&B, study abroad, and other things. My daughter’s school only allowed it for tuition. Not fees, not R&B, not refunded to students if other sources paid the tuition. “Luckily” my daughter had plenty of tuition to pay with it.

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According to this thread on reddit:
Admissions : r/USF (reddit.com)

Couple of them are saying:

  • got accepted for spring ‘23 i had a 3.0 gpa and 1150 SAT.

  • I got in with a 1010 SAT with a 2.8 GPA

Not sure if it is true, this is for 22/23 year.
The published statistics for the fall admissions is high. Some of the low GPA/SAT applicants are admitted to summer / spring.

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As long as you have that safety - then the rest don’t matter.

So if FAU is a safety and you’re good there, then you take your shot at USF and FIU and if they don’t happen, you’ve got a nice landing spot.

You’ll only know the answer after getting the decision.

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One of the nice options at USF/FSU for the applicants admitted to Spring is they’ve a study abroad program for the fall.

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For FSU that is the Seminole pathway offer.
You cannot apply for it,
FSU offers it to some students
https://admissions.fsu.edu/first-year/decisions/

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Seems like for FSU you need to apply to the right term. I need to tell my son to change from fall to summer to have some realistic chance. He is thinking of an essay prompt to choose.
We know it is a reach!

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The good thing about that is - whatever school he attends (FL public) he has to do summer anyway - so you can get it over with.

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Any inputs on study abroad in Fall as an option? USF/FSU provides this choice.
Since DS will not most likely make the cut for Fall, when life throws lemons, make lemonade approach and study abroad in fall. We are seriously considering this if he saves money with Bright futures.

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The schools say that the qualifications for summer are not less than for the fall and that admission does not matter what session you apply to. No way to know if that is true.

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@twoinanddone
It is true for published stats for UF / FGCU. FAU/USF and other schools have lower stats for summer (see USF official stats from USF admissions below )
Based on our research in reddit, spring < summer < fall in stats.
So, whoever doesn’t make the cut for fall would be admitted to summer and if it is still not meeting the threshold, then they will be admitted to spring.
FSU seems to Consider only for the term applied.

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See if there is a program in a French speaking country. Since his world language is French he can use that to his advantage - ability to volunteer with the Haitian population, using Creole, would be in shorter supply thus more interesting to law schools when they look at volunteer experience (vs. Volunteering with Spanish speaking families, refugees, the homeless, women shelters… which are more common.)
For this, the higher his French level, the better (ie., well past AP) and a semester in a French speaking country would thus be a double win.
Applying for Summer and checking the Abroad+Spring option would thus be good if he has the option.

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Thank you @MYOS1634
We were thinking the same. French options would be explored.
USF has wide range of options.