<p>One thing I don't see discussed much here is the impact your high school has on UF admissions. It's a factor that I believe is as relevant as GPA or SAT score. </p>
<p>Does your high school have a strong history of getting kids into UF? rest easy, because if you fall into the average UF student statistic you will probably get in.</p>
<p>Is your high school one of those where not too many people get into UF every year? Well you better be spectacular, because you're at a huge disadvantage.</p>
<p>I believe that this will account for much of the perceived randomness involving UF admissions.</p>
<p>Based on what I've seen from different schools in the Miami area, the high school does play a factor. However, it seems as if rather than the advantage having something to do with the school's relationship with the admissions office, you are at the mercy of the competition within your school. It seems as if UF, while it doesn't assign a quota per se with each school, it reviews your academic record alongside those of your classmates' which can be detrimental in many instances.</p>
<p>That, however, does not account for the fact that some Florida high schools consistently putting many, many kids in UF, while others are lucky to place three. All I have is extensive anecdotal evidence, but I am utterly convinced that what I'm saying is true. People here complain all the time about the perceived discrepancy between quality of admits and rejects, and I'm sure that this is most of the reason.</p>
<p>I do believe that UF assigns soft quotas for each high school.</p>
<p>over the last few years my high school had hardly any people get accepted to uf, however this year we had a huge amount of kids make it. so i dont know if the high school plays a huge part, im sure it is considered though.</p>
<p>I think that actually strengthens my point. Why were there suddenly so many more people accepted at your school? Five hundred bucks says it wasn't that your class was much better than previous classes at your school.</p>
<p>UF decided, somehow, that your school was one they would accept more from this year.</p>
<p>your probably right. it doesn't seem that far fetched that UF would choose to have someones high school be a part of the basis for acceptance. im sure that looking at previous test scores and whatnot from individual high schools would show which schools are more likely to produce students that would succeed at the university level. this might not be the fairest method but when they have to deal with upwards of 28000 applicants they would have to have some abnormal deciding factors in order to widdle down the pool of applicants. and i must say. i have yet to come across a student who got accepted to UF that i didn't think was deserving. sure i have heard lots of stories of other people, as well as friends, who were deserving, (mabye even more so than some who got in), who didnt get in. but that dosent mean that those who did get in shouldnt have. everyone who i have talked to who has gotten in were all amazing students who worked their butts off in high school.</p>
<p>Some high schools just give you better opportunities. At mine, it wasn't uncommon to have a person rack up 8-10 AP classes by the time he graduated, and they got you prepared for standardized tests by paying for you to take the PSAT in 9th and 10th grade. I doubt either of these things are common at other high schools, and unsurprisingly 20-30 out of a graduating class of 100 went to UF. </p>
<p>I don't think a large fluctuation year-to-year of people admitted from a particular school is anomalous, and I think the idea of high school favoritism overlooks individual effort.</p>
<p>Here is my personal opinion: It's entirely possible that UF has recently changed the way they grant admissions, possibly weighing "stats" more importantly now in the past as they are making a push to move up the ranks by decreasing their student body size. I believe that as a result people that tried hard but had so-so stats and had a laundry list of extracurriculars would be hurt by such a move because many of those activities might not be seen as directly correlating to academic success.</p>
<p>I go to a very competitive prep school in which some kids with 4.0+'s and 1350's were denied. However, there is a nearby school that is not exactly known for its education. There were individuals accepted with 3.5's and 1140's. Most of them had scores that probably shouldn't have gotten them into FSU.</p>
<p>to the OP: I would venture a guess that your rule would apply to many,many colleges and high schools in the country, not just UF....We have certainly found that rule hold around here; the schools that have not accepted many from our HS certainly didn't this year......with higher stats I might add than in previous years' admitted students.....</p>
<p>vincanity you say 3.5's as if thats a bad gpa. thats a very respectable gpa. its not the best but it means that student got all A's and B's. their just as deserving to get to go to a good university as a person who went to a "competitive prep school". this is nothing against you as im sure you've worked very hard, but that doesn't mean those students shouldn't have gotten accepted. besides GPA and SAT aren't the only thing UF looks at. perhaps the students at the other school had more extracurriculars or did more community service or were in some other way deemed a more well rounded person and student. i'll be honest im confused by your motivation. i dont understand why someone who was admitted would be so angry at the admission process.</p>
<p>Lol whatthen, you were speaking in terms of who deserved to go. If I was to go by your logic, a 3.0 would be deserving as well, and so on. The point is, UF is the flagship for the state and standards for admission were bound to increase accordingly. The fact that I went to a prep school was only mentioned to support my previous point about the statistical competition within one's respective school. The level of difficulty is besides the point. Rather, the important thing is the statistical quality of students within the school. You asked me for their stats, and I responded with their stats. While I do not know every extracurricular of the individuals I was speaking about, quite frankly it makes no difference. Aside from the fact that UF doesn't pay much mind to EC's, not every individual with very sub par scores would have been boosted to that extent by EC's. You don't have to question my motivation because I was only contributing a point of view towards your thread. In addition, if everyone acted in terms of the motivation that you expect of me (acting or speaking in terms of only my own interests), every individual who indulged in the amount of information handed down to them in the admissions process on this site would simply back out once accepted. There would be no SSobick or ASMAJ on this site to provide any context. I have no anger towards the admissions process. It is simply a faulty system, just like virtually every other system on earth, and frankly I am not pleased to have seen so many friends be inconvenienced due to something like inter-school competition.</p>
<p>I'm going to be a National Merit scholar but I'm homeschooled. Does the former boost my chances of getting in by a lot?</p>
<p>Have you heard of any National Merit Finalists getting rejected? That would be interesting to know since my GPA is about 3.5 since I used to go to a competitive prep school.</p>
<p>National merit finalists are in, no questions asked (based on previous years - things can change). Good luck.</p>
<p>ATTN: This is NOT a thread intended to bash UF. I'm a Gator through and through but I also see things for what they are. This is occurring, and I commented on it. This is not to say UF admits are undeserving. Take my OP at face value.</p>