I have always wanted to go to UF ever since I was younger and my dad went there. I’m currently a senior and have applied. I misunderstood what the Innovation Academy was, thinking it was just a program alongside regular students focused in the spring and summer. Thus, I “expressed interest” and wrote a short essay on leadership. Looking back at it, I only want to be in the fall semester and be a regular student at UF. My ACT score is a 32, which I scored 4 times but sent two to Florida where my science and math were the highest. My unweighted GPA is a 3.95 and my weighted is a 4.6. I was a captain of this year and my junior year of the varsity soccer team and hold office positions in multiple clubs. I am the over SGA treasurer and I volunteer through these clubs profusely. I’m 4/300ish students. Can someone help me by explaining the process of admissions for the fall semester vs. IA? I feel like I am well qualified for the fall semester, but will I get placed in IA simply because I chose to express interest in it? I really want to be in the fall semester and I have no idea what to do! Thank you to anyone who can help!!
I hope someone who knows can answer your question. I think you have strong stats for a Fall 2017 admission!
Innovation academy is a specific program, but only allows you to take on campus classes in spring and summer to make a long story short. Fall is the best time on campus because of the endless events and football season. You can still live near campus but you will not be able to live on campus during fall. If you are not interested, consider maybe emailing the admissions office to see if you can opt out of that option.
I read somewhere that when you select Innovation Academy you aren’t given the option to switch to Summer if you’re accepted…Hopefully you notified the Admissions Office as soon as possible and perhaps they were able to change it
@beachgirl12345 What did you find out? My daughter is in the same situation. We thought the Innovation Academy was a complimentary program similar to an honors program. We did not realized she would essentially be segregated from the regular student population. Not being on campus fall semester is a huge disadvantage, especially freshman year. I was under the assumption that if she is accepted to the IA she could turn it down and attend as a regular student in the Fall. That is the case for a lot of honors programs at other schools. It is not mandatory if you get accepted. She is also currently a high school senior and is expecting a decision on February 10th. Please let us know what you found out. Thanks.
@MamaDeer I don’t think you can change it. You’re applying for a specific term that’s separate from the traditional enrollment. A reason why IA exists is because they want to increase enrollment but at the same time they don’t have enough space for traditional campus terms (Fall/Summer). You might be able to change your term from Fall to Summer because they’re both still traditional terms that both have a set amount of students able to be enrolled, and because if you apply Summer you will be at Fall anyways, and Fall students will have a Summer semester at one point as well.
IA is completely separate from Fall/Summer, so therefore you can’t switch to it since they admitted you on the basis of you “wanting” to attend Spring rather than Fall/Summer, when they will have room for you. For example, a highly qualified applicant that expressed interest in IA compared to a lesser qualified though still viable applicant who selected regular admissions will be placed in IA so the lesser qualified applicant will be placed in his preferred term. They don’t know that you don’t want IA, so it wouldn’t make sense for them to take away the other applicant’s regular admissions spot, making both parties unhappy. They try to place you in the term you want, and if you’re highly qualified for IA then you’re going to get IA.
The reason why you can turn down Honors decisions is because they’re still intertwined with traditional enrollment that occurs in the Fall. You’re still a regular student if you turn down Honors because if you apply for Honors you were already admitted into the regular semesters in the first place.
It is not a 100% chance that she will be put in IA, though there is a high chance she will end up getting placed in it.
This was one of the things our guidance counselor stressed when students came to her for advice. It happens a lot, and it’s unfortunate that students who work so hard in high school don’t make it into their dream school just because of a simple mistake that isn’t related to their academic merit and achievement. At this point in applications there’s not much I think you can do. Decisions come out soon and I believe they’ve already gone through so many that they can’t go back and change anything.
Here’s some more information on the topic:
This is just purely based on past experiences, and I do not know if it still holds true today. My counselor told me that an incident like this happened a few years ago, and people on CC claim that it has happened to them as well. However, I don’t think it will have changed at this point. I would still try calling the Office of Admissions for help, but I’m guessing they’ll tell you the same thing I said.
@PupuLovesPickles Thanks for taking the time to explain the situation. I wish they would do a better job of explaining it on the application. She completed the Coalition App which has a terrible interface and does not let you proofread the application in its entirety before sending it in. She did mark Fall Semester as her preference but also “expressed an interest” in IA.
Her status says, “You indicated an interest in IA which requires Spring semester entry. Also, you likely indicated a preferred term of entry. The Office of Admissions will consider you for admission to your preference; then you will be considered for IA”.
That makes it sound like they will consider her for Fall entry first. It seems as if they are trying to trick students into applying to IA by not stating the Spring entry on the application (at least not on the Coalition App). I would think that in order to express an interest in IA on the application, you should be required to mark Spring as your preference. That would keep these mistakes from happening. It’s a miscommunication on UF’s part. I’ll call admissions tomorrow and see what I can find out. If she only gets admitted to IA she will likely chose to go to FSU or UofSC both of which she has already been accepted to.
Thanks again for the info.
I called admissions this afternoon and the admissions counselor I spoke with suggested my daughter send an email to freshman@ufl.edu requesting to withdraw her application for IA but keep her application for Fall admit. Fingers crossed!
The admissions office responded within an hour and said, “We have updated your application file to remove the indication of interest in Innovation Academy”! Her online status has also been updated. Impressed at how quickly they took care of it. Now we just wait for a decision… 3 more weeks!
@MamaDeer Ah, I guess I was wrong! Sorry for scaring you then, I guess this goes to show that CC isn’t the best place for information sometimes XD.
I guess the people who were placed in it and couldn’t get out forgot to contact Admissions. Anyways, good luck with your daughter’s admissions!
@PupuLovesPickles I’m actually surprised they changed it, and so quickly. Now we’ll see what happens! Fingers crossed!
I think the problem comes AFTER you’ve already been accepted to the program.
Glad they responded so quickly MamaDeer!
I agree @Trisherella I’m glad we took care of it yesterday!
@MamaDeer and @PupuLovesPickles,
Haven’t been on here for a long time, but was surprised to see all the feedback I got on this! After posting this, the next morning I emailed the office of admissions asking if I could do anything, and they emailed me back within THREE MINUTES saying they withdrew my interest! I was so relieved, as the IA was so unclear on the application.
Just a little over a week!!!