I’m really curious to know how many kids get accepted to UF on a percentage basis because a lot of teachers at the school are saying really only the top 10 (as in kids not percent) get in which means around 2% of the kids in our class get accepted. Does anyone know a rough estimate on how many kids got into UF at there school? I could see this being true, but i would think lots of people don’t end up going to UF after getting accepted especially if your the Val because you have so many other options.
The percentage varies by school. Some magnet schools may get more folks accepted than some rural high schools. On the other hand, some students will be accepted from rural high schools with stats far worse than students denied at magnate schools.
With that being said, in general, UF doesn’t only pick kids from the top 10 (though it may seem that way at your school).
For the last class (2014-2015) of enrolled Freshman:
Percent in top tenth of high school graduating class 75%
Percent in top quarter of high school graduating class 97%
Percent in top half of high school graduating class 100%
(data from UF’s Command Data Set)
So, clearly it’s helps being in the top 10%, but that likely means you have the grades, etc., to be accepted. Another way to look at it; at least 25% of accepted students are not in the top 10%. Keep in mind, that these rates would vary by high school, as some schools much more rigorous and have a higher % of high performing students than others.
UF does consider how you do against your peers but with holistic admissions, it’s not based solely on grades/test scores. The accepted students will be clustered near the top in rankings, but you’ll notice someone ranked 20 is denied, while someone ranked 50 is accepted.
Good Luck!
@gator88ne thanks for the info
I asked my son’s guidance counselor about this last year after my son applied. He went to a large high school with around 830 in his class. The counselor told me that roughly the top 10% usually apply, and around 20% of those are accepted. I think it was fairly accurate, but I’m sure it varies depending on the school.
A lot of variation by high school, but for UF’s overall numbers:
2014-2015
Total Number of Applicants: 28,662
Number Admitted: 46%
Number Accepted (Yield): 50%
The middle 50 percent of students admitted to the 2014 fall freshman class had the following criteria:
•High School GPA of 4.1-4.5
•SAT 1810-2060
•ACT 27-31
@gator88Ne i fall in the middle 50% but just barely (1820 sat 640 M 630 R 550 W and 4.1 GPA first gen) so im not banking on UF to accept but i would love to attend im just making sure I keep my options open and not make it UF or nothing kind of mindset
My school is extremely competitive. About 60 people applied last year, and about 40 are attending. More were accepted but are attending Ivys and such. Personally at my school, my 3.8904 unweighted GPA makes me ranked 40/152. My weighted 4.4555 makes me ranked 27/152. Many were accepted that were obviously not in the top 10.
Update to this post while randomly talking to my guidance counselor he showed me the list of kids (no name just stats) that got accepted about 55 applied and 22 accepted i think that’s the number he said. He also said no one got in to UF with an Sat under 1700 or a gpa under 4.6 which is around 4.0 the way UF weights it. So clearly there is a limit to how much leeway UF will give you on a low gpa or low sat
@overworried Keep in mind that the number I quoted (75% in the top tenth of high school graduating class) was for the overall group of admitted students. A few small elite schools would not have much impact on UF’s overall numbers (13K+ admitted students). Florida has over 900 high schools…in 73 school districts.
@Floridaboy954 That sounds about right. Keep in mind that UF compares you to your peers. If your high school doesn’t offer much in the way of AP classes and such, UF would be willing to take a much lower GPA, than someone at a school with an IB/AICE/DE/AP program. In other words, the stats for kids admitted at one high school could be different from the kids at another high school.
246 accepted out of 500 applications in the last 5 years from my school. Probably not typical.
UF"s acceptance rate (last year) was 46%, so that seems about right, and while it’s yield (% that enrolled who had been accepted) is high at 50%, that still means that for every 1 person that enrolls, another student declines UF.
I think it really just depends on the strengths of individual students’ application. Only about 15 kids from my graduating class were admitted and we had an IB program, but I’ve heard of some graduating classes having more acceptances even without an IB. I would focus on having a strong application with leadership positions in extracurriculars, a good GPA, and strong test scores. Also- have a high school AP or IB English teacher proof read/edit your essay so that you make sure it’s the best it can be!
Good luck!!
Oh boy, we have gone round and around at this house regarding UF. This is just anecdotal on my part but it seems like UF’s main criteria (in the big scheme of holistic admissions) is course rigor. That’s why it helps to go to a well-known high school and take the difficult classes. The smaller high schools that UF does not know as well - you have to work a little harder to demonstrate course rigor.
We are homeschoolers so we have to work at it too, especially when it comes to outside validation of grades (which is totally understandable). My son has a shot at UF but there are a couple of hoops that they want him to jump through that I’m not sure he is willing to do.
Good luck - it will all work out for the best.
@Gator88NE Definitly, wasn’t trying to argue or disprove you or anything. Just wanted to point out another side to the spectrum!
I think that comparison is valid when you are comparing applicants within a high school or school district. However, UF wants to draw from the entire state, so they will take some rural kids with lower stats/rigor in preference to some suburban kids with better qualifications. They also balance admissions from different parts of the state, so Alachua County residents had the most difficult time getting in, while, for some reason, Leon County was one of the least competitive from an admissions standpoint.
^^fair enough @Zinhead ! You could certainly be right there.