Gator Engineering at Santa Fe (2020 revision)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Florida
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(Slightly revised from post made one year ago,)

On UF decision day February 28th, a very small number of applicants will get a peculiar-looking response from the university. They will not be granted admission as a fall or summer applicant, but they won’t be rejected either. Instead they will be offered a “bridge” program called Gator Engineering at Santa Fe. Only a few hundred kids will be given this option.

If you are selected for this, here’s what’s going on, based on my perspective as the parent of a student who accepted her invitation to this program in 2018:

First, it’s complicated. Students in this program are kind of hybrids. They are part of UF but not official UF students immediately. But make no mistake: This is an invitation to be a part of Gator Nation.

UF has recognized that the workforce needs more engineers, but UF doesn’t have the capacity in its freshman/sophomore level pre-engineering classes to meet this demand. UF does have capacity in higher level engineering courses, though. Gator Engineering at Santa Fe is their solution, a partnership between UF and Santa Fe College in Gainesville.

Students admitted to this program take their critical tracking courses in engineering (calculus 1,2&3, chemistry, physics, etc.) at Santa Fe. They are students at Santa Fe to start but if they reach certain academic milestones, they can become UF students as early as their first spring semester. My daughter was in the program and was officially a Santa Fe student for the fall of 2018 but became an official UF student at the end of the fall term. She took classes at Santa Fe for a three semesters and earned her AA from Santa Fe. Now she’s a full-time, upper-division UF student in the College of Engineering.

How do you end up in this program? You don’t select GE@SF, it gets offered to you by UF. If you applied to UF and selected electrical eng., computer eng, computer science, environmental eng. or a few others and admissions liked you – but were on the bubble and didn’t make the cut for a traditional admit – then admissions forwarded your application among a few others to the college of engineering for consideration for GE@SF. The college of engineering then reviewed the applicants and narrowed it further, which led to the offers for GE@SF. The program is NOT offered to everyone who was denied a traditional admit as an engineering major. It’s a select group.

Reasons why you should accept:
• If you have your heart set on UF (and engineering), then take it. You will be part of the UF community from the beginning and have the chance to become a full UF student by the end of your first fall semester.

• You will likely have the option to live on UF campus as a freshman. The previous few years, freshman in GE@SF were offered the option to live on UF campus, though they take their classes at Santa Fe. Some freshman in the program right now live in the Lakeside Residence Hall.

• If you feel strongly that you want to study engineering.

• After four years, you will have an AA from Santa Fe and a bachelor’s degree from the UF College of Engineering.

Reasons not to accept:
• If you don’t like the idea of taking classes at Santa Fe – for at least 3 semesters.

• If you can’t see yourself either living off campus as a freshman and going to Santa Fe or living on UF campus and driving or taking the bus to Santa Fe every day.

• If you don’t feel strongly about studying engineering. Freshman chemistry and calculus are hard. This is not an “easy” way into UF. You can’t be in this program for a semester and then change your major to business or agriculture or journalism, etc.

• If you have your heart set on joining other UF organizations right away: UF clubs, etc. (Not sure about joining fraternities/sororities but you can certainly go to the parties.) In the beginning you are a Santa Fe student which precludes you from some things.

• If you aren’t ready for a challenging freshman year. To stay on track, you need to make good grades.

A few other points:
• The program gives the freshman students a group and social connection that is sometimes hard for traditional freshman to find.

• Classes are smaller at Santa Fe, usually about 30 kids.

• Tuition is less at Santa Fe.

• Though kids in the program are not UF students to start, they can use many services and be on a meal plan on campus, for example.

• Little things: at the beginning, you can’t buy student football tickets or gain free entry to things like the gym, other sporting events, pool, and museum. But you can use the library, park on UF campus and wheedle your way into other things. This changes for the better once you get your UF admit.

Advice:
• Give the program a hard look. I think some kids view this program as a pure rejection. It isn’t. Yes, you were not admitted to UF for Fall or Summer, but you have an option not offered to everyone. It may not be fully apparent right now, but UF wants you. (There are thousands of kids with flat-out rejections that would love to be you today.)

• Attend one of the many information sessions. UF and Santa Fe staff will give you the complete rundown. Tour the Santa Fe campus and hear from kids who are in the program now.

• Make the decision that is best for you.

There’s more information on the UF GE@SF page on the UF website, including details on the information sessions. There’s also a GE@SF Facebook page which is monitored by both the UF and Santa Fe advisors for the program.

The College of Design Construction and Planning has a similar partnership with Santa Fe. I don’t know much about the academic requirements, but several freshman kids in that program also live at Lakeside and take classes at Santa Fe.

It’s been two years since my daughter got her peculiar admissions answer. I know that we had way more questions than answers on decision day, so I hope this helps any of kids/parents who are hunting for info on the program. Happy to answer any questions. Go Gators!

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Thank you for the information! My D would take any UF offer so thank for explaining this program. I wasn’t aware of it.

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It’s a great option.

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Thank you @GatorDad305 my son received the invitation today. I was confused about the letter but after your explanation everything makes more sense. I am not so happy about the limitations they will face since they are not considered UF students since the beginning. I was hoping he could experience an amazing freshman year. In the other hand I like the fact that classes are smaller and he could have more “focus” for those difficult classes. He hasn’t made his decision yet but he is really happy about the possibility of joining UF.

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Yes my D got same…was not the happy day we were hoping for…trying to keep an open mind but net net is its def a year plus at a community college instead of feeling part of the school.

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My S got same admission to Santa Fe and we are demoralized. 1480 SAT, 4.4, unbelievable course load, athletics, accolades etc… He comes from a family of 6 grads and his scores/grades trump all of ours. At this point we aren’t interested in the program as UF was first choice but he has been accepted to higher ranked engineer programs and won’t have to spend a year on the fringe. Sorry to sound bitter but kid feels like he got hit by truck. Programs in five languages, won science fair defeating Python with Java Script in narrow AI…Volunteers, tutors, varsity sports and on and on. Sorry about rant. Thanks.

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My S was accepted to GDC@Santa Fe for Building Construction. Undecided about what he will do. 4.32 UF weighted, 1360 SAT, tons of extracurriculars, athletics, work, etc.

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@GatorDad305 I’m also concerned that the FAQ for both programs do not mention the possibility of living in a dorm. That would likely be a dealbreaker for my S.

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@Rcoble It is interesting that it doesn’t say it. The past two years, they have offered beds at the Lakeside Complex and UF has capacity.

For some reason, they don’t post it but kids in the program have lived on campus for the past three years.

My advice is get the housing application fee in. It’s $30 or something and the date you pay it is critical.

For my daughter two years ago, it was a major concern for us as well. Worked out though. It really helps the kids feel more a part of UF plus kids who live on campus (at all universities) have better success rates.

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@Gatorarmy Sorry to hear the disappointment. Sounds like you have an amazing kid with great options. As I said in my post, GE@SF is for kids who REALLY want to be Gators and are willing to make some sacrifices while likely turning down excellent offers from other schools. My son, coincidentally admitted to this program yesterday like his older sister two years ago, will end up turning down generous scholarships from FSU, UCF and USF because he wants to be a Gator. He’s thrilled to have this option.

Both of his parents, sister and two uncles are Gators and his credentials are the best of the bunch. It’s an example of the power of the UF brand.

Best of luck to your son.

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@lorena1980 and @Gatorarmy I recommend going to one of the information sessions to get full picture.

One important point is that we have to realize that our kids will make their own experience and they don’t have the same biases as those of us who already went to college. My daughter was in this program and ended up with a traditional freshman year. She lived in the dorms, went to gator nights, went to football games, made friends, etc. it turned out to be a great match and 18 months later, she’s a full time UF engineering student.

But I get the disappointment and the lure of other offers.

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@GatorDad305 We our housing deposit down at the time of application, so hopefully we’re good there. Guess we will find out more information in the coming days.

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Overall so appreciate all the information you provided GatorDad305…it was helpful reading your post prior to the letter arriving…she is going to the information session but luckily other options available as well…good luck to everyone.

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The Gator Engineering page was updated today to reflect that housing will not be offered any longer. I’m assuming the Gator Construction and Design will be the same. This may be a dealbreaker for my S.

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@rccoble Look at Windsor hall. Should be full of Pace and Innovation students.

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@rccoble After two years of allowing GE@SF and GDC@SF students the opportunity to live on campus at UF, UF Housing is not allowing that this year. I believe they are seeing an increase in demand and do not have the excess capacity they had in previous years. There are a lot of student-focused housing options in the Gainesville community. Considering coming an information session, meet other applicants, and sign a rental agreement with fellow G@/GDC students.

Let me know if you have any other questions about these excellent programs.

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@SantaFeAVP We signed up for the March info. Session for GDC. This falls during our Spring Break, and we will be returning from a cruise that day, so won’t be able to be in Gainesville prior to 1pm. Waiting for additional information from the program so we can reach out to see if that will even be worthwhile. I wish there was a way to connect accepted kids so that they can interact prior.

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Our son was accepted to this program and will be accepting the offer. I also saw the update this morning regarding no housing availability for incoming students to the program. But he still wants to do it.

I know the lack of on campus housing might be a deal breaker for some but I would encourage you and your family to not rule it out immediately. If you haven’t been to Gainesville lately then you might not know about all the new student apartments that have gone up over the last few years or are currently going up, many of them across the street from the UF campus or a block or two away from the UF campus There are 3 under construction right now that will be ready for Fall that are less than two blocks away. Midtown Apartments, Hub Third Avenue and Hub on Campus. There is also The Standard, Social 28, and The Nine which are across the street from the main UF campus. Plus many other apartments around campus as well.

All of these plus many others are actually closer to the heart of campus than Lakeside Dorms are. So your student will be very close to everything when they become a card carrying UF student in January. There are also other complexes closer to Santa Fe. I only mentioned the ones above because of their close proximity to UF campus so it would still be possible for your student to get the “First Year” experience. Though ultimately their “First Year” experience will be what they make of it regardless of where they live. I’ve read plenty of posts from “traditional admit” kids who live on campus but stay shut up in their dorm room and are miserable and I’ve read plenty of posts where kids live next to campus or a couple miles from campus and have amazing “First Year” experiences.

A note about Santa Fe. One of my employees had 3 children that chose to go to Santa Fe and then transfer to UF. They have nothing but rave reviews to say about Santa Fe and the Professors and teachers they had during their time. The smaller class sizes allowed their Professors to get to know them on an individual basis and their Professors were readily and easily accessible to the students.

Our son likes the idea of taking classes like Physics 1 and 2, Calculus 1,2,3 and Differential equations with a class of 25-30 versus a class of a couple hundred mostly taught by a TA.

Anyway, I would just encourage everyone in the same boat as we are to at least try to attend one of the information sessions. March 16th, March 18th or April 10th. We will be at the Monday, March 16th session.

I’m sure many families initially felt like we did Friday night when we first read the letter, confused, disappointed, underwhelmed. But once we took a few breathes we realized that our son was very fortunate. Around 35,000 other kids got a rejection letter, I bet there were a few in that group that would trade places right now.

UF didn’t reject our son even though it felt like it at first. UF and more specifically a team at the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering said we see potential, promise and ability in your student, we think they would make an amazing Gator Engineer and we would like them to be apart of the Gator Nation and Gator Engineering they just have to take this slight detour. After 1 semester they are a card carrying UF student taking classes at Santa Fe and after another semester or two all their classes are on the UF campus.

If your child wants to be a Gator, wants to be a Gator Engineer, wants a Bachelors Degree from UF and as a family you can make the room and board situation work out then I would encourage you and your child to go for it. We are.

P.S. Our son will be looking for potential roommates.

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@rccoble I am glad to hear your son is keeping an open mind. If your time is limited on the GDC info session day, consider coming back during a weekday to keep with the GDC academic advisor at UF and to visit/take a campus tour at SF. Sign up here: https://www.sfcollege.edu/admissions/campus-visit/index

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Learn more Santa Fe College by attending our Open House on Satuday, March 21. Find out more and register via Whova at https://www.sfcollege.edu/openhouse/index