<p>My daughter was recently accepted to USF. She didn't think of applying for the Honors College because their website says that the qualifications for the HC include a 3.8 GPA and a 1300 SAT (presumably CR and M). She has a 1360 on the SAT (2050 on all three sections), but the only way she has a 3.8 is the way her school calculates it (2 points for AP), not the way USF calculates it.</p>
<p>And yet, she's gotten several invitations to the USF Scholars Showcase, which is their HC students. The one I'm looking for says it is an "exclusive event for high-achieving students." This would seem to mean she is looked upon as a potential candidate for Honors College.</p>
<p>If she is, I wouldn't mind seeing her apply, but I wouldn't take her to the event if she doesn't stand a chance. Does USF look at other factors, such as strength of schedule, the fact that her writing SAT is high (690) or that her other scores are a little higher than they need to be, extracurriculars. Or is the GPA engraved in granite, and the invite merely a mistake?</p>
<p>No. But she didn’t apply to the Honors College, so I don’t know. Would they give her a scholarship if she hadn’t applied and been accepted to the Honors College? Is it automatic with certain stats? The other state colleges to which she has been accepted (UCF, FGCU, FIU) have sent her info about their Honors Colleges and told her to apply (She has not done so there mostly because she is leaning towards USF). But their websites seem less rigid about the requirements, where it seems like some combination of good grades/good SATs would suffice. If Honors College acceptance is automatic at USF with certain stats then, no, she definitely hasn’t been accepted into the Honors College.</p>
<p>Yes, they would give her the scholarship if she met the requirements. I received the Honors College scholarship and I don’t have to apply for anything. I still have to call them and ask if there’s anything I need to accept the Honors College. But since she did not receive the scholarship along with any other merit scholarships she may have received, I don’t believe she was invited into the Honors College.</p>
<p>Yes, I work in the honors college, I’m sorry but your daughter did not meet the requirements. All students that meet the minimum requirements are invited and also given the Honors College scholarship.</p>
<p>Yeah, I emailed to ask. They should probably not send invites to Honors College events to people who aren’t qualified for the honors college. You’d save on postage AND not annoy people you presumably want at your school. Thanks.</p>
<p>One thing I’ve learned as a student at USF is that there are written in black and white rules and policies, and there are unwritten rules. I’m sure it is the same at any other college too. I have petitioned successfully numerous times with USF deans for rule bending and variances from written rules and policies at USF-- why can’t Alex23’s daughter petition for admission to USF’s Honors College hacker4life? Who should she contact at the USF Honors College? I’d ask someone at the Honors College to review A23’s daughter’s file–I’d maybe argue that the high school she attended was academically competitive and graded harder than other high schools thus contributing to A23’s GPA just a little below Honors college admission GPA threshold/guideline. The request doesn’t have to be a full blown petition to Dean Silverman, others in the Honors College have the authority to reconsider and admit A23’s daughter to the Honors College. Can’t hurt to make request and shouldn’t take Honors College long for a reevaluation decision.</p>
<p>I know the GPA is probably the reason. I’m just saying a 3.5 GPA in a more rigorous high school program might exceed a 3.8 GPA in a less rigorous high school program. I wasn’t in USF’s Honors College but I did receive an excellent undergraduate education at USF that got me in graduate school, got me a good job, and helped prepare me for life.</p>
<p>Thanks. Yes, my daughter goes to an extremely rigorous high school (one of the top schools in the state). However, when she e-mailed to ask, they knew her name and, presumably, what school she went to and were very dismissive, so I guess it’s not possible. I was only confused because all the other Florida State schools to which she has applied and been accepted (UCF, FIU, FGCU – she did not apply to FSU) HAVE had a more holistic admissions process for their honors college (essays, looking at activities, etc.) and, as I said, they sent her the invite. I have to say that USF is at the top of my daughter’s list at this point, but the communication left sort of a bad taste in my mouth for the school, like maybe she’d just be a number there. All the other schools to which she’s been accepted have been really, really encouraging. USF accepted her in about a week, so it’s not like she just squeaked in, and her GPA is fairly close. We’re going to visit in February (the week AFTER this event), and we’ll see how she feels about it then. </p>
<p>Lizard, good to know you had a good experience. USF is, as I said, at the top of my daughter’s list at least as far as public schools go (She’s gotten scholarships to Eckerd and FIT but needs to decide if she wants to go to a tiny private school or a big public school). She had thought she wanted to go to UCF, but when we visited there, she just didn’t like it at all (I suspect we had the worst tour guide, though). She’s still waiting on UF, like the whole rest of the state, because they have the major she really wants, which USF does not. But, USF is a strong contender. I’m mostly worried about class size. Did you find that you had decent-sized classes in your core subjects? The huge class size was definitely what turned us off to UCF. I understand having a big lecture class for something like history (We had that even at U Miami, where I went), but I would hope a science class, for example, would be smaller.</p>
<p>She hasn’t applied for any other schools’ honors colleges except FIU. They will notify her in March. All the other schools have an application process; Admission is not automatic (FIU has automatic admission for their highest scholarship recipients, but they also take applications). Since USF was her top choice among the state schools, she hadn’t applied to any other schools’ honors colleges because she didn’t intend to attend those schools. Judging by their websites, her GPA and SAT are adequate for all those schools. However, they all require an essay, a resume, and seem to have a holistic admissions process, rather than just considering numbers. Therefore, she didn’t feel like writing an essay if she wasn’t going to go. FIU’s essay happened to dovetail with an essay she had already written for school, and since we’re from Miami, she is hedging her bets in case for some reason, she decides to stay local. If she makes the Honors College, she’d be more likely to consider it.</p>
<p>At this point, she is considering USF, Florida Institute of Tech, Eckerd, Clemson, and SUNY Stony Brook and maybe FIU. Eckerd and FIT don’t have an honors program – they’re just tiny schools (She did, however, get scholarships to those schools and an invite to apply for a full scholarship with all kinds of fringe benefits at FIT). Clemson is very competitive (similar to UF), so I wouldn’t expect her to be in the Honors College there. Stony Brook also doesn’t notify until March.</p>
<p>Anyway, really don’t care at this point. I just thought it was weird to send an invitation(s) to an event for something she wasn’t qualified for. It would be like sending a man an invitation to a Junior League recruiting event or something. Obviously, it was a mistake.</p>
<p>Yeah, it’s really weird and messed up, but I understand what you mean by holistic approach. Burnett’s application asks for creative works on top of the ECs and resume, which gave me the illusion that I might get in even though I know I probably won’t. </p>
<p>A mistake’s the only option that makes sense. USF’s a big university so they probably just send it to top students or something, regardless of whether or not they were allowed into the honors college.</p>
<p>Yeah. That’s what I’m guessing. I hope everything works out with your daughter. Eckerd seems really good, but isn’t there financial aid kind of mediocre?</p>
<p>Also, I’ve heard good things from students attending USF. My dad really likes it and he says the SUNY are great.</p>
<p>They gave her about half scholarship. With Bright Futures, her Florida prepaid, and something called FRAG ($2,000 for Florida residents attending Florida private colleges) on top of that, it was pretty much. FIT gave her more, though. What I figured out about private colleges is that the price on their website is only for people who just barely got in. So if you choose a private school that isn’t a huge reach, you can get merit aid. I’ve actually heard a lot of really good things about Eckerd from people who’ve gone there.</p>
<p>Oh, just saw this. Haven’t been on this board lately, AznFly, no we are past it. Daughter got into UF and New College and will attend one of them. Good luck to all still waiting to hear. I turned down her invite to UCF and am going to turn down USF, so hopefully, that will mean more spaces for someone else:D</p>