<p>Hello, everyone. I've been quietly lurking on this board for about 4 months now, drilling through 50 page posts for any little bit of useful info on admissions, and going greyer and greyer by the day waiting for a transfer decision. I want to share my experiences with anyone who may be in my position now, or a discouraged future applicant who may one day search for help like I did. Don't give up, because long shots can happen!</p>
<p>I just found out late Monday, 5/20, that I was accepted into the UF Nuclear Engineering B.S. program. I applied on 2/4, exactly 15 weeks before being accepted. It seemed like they'd never get back to me!</p>
<p>I applied with only 5 of the 8 critical tracking classes complete, and finished the last 3 at the beginning of this month, so I worried about that for nothing. They say you need 6 of 8 already complete to apply for engineering, but that wasn't the case.</p>
<p>I'm not at all the average for UF. Let me give you some stats:
- White, male, 31
- 2.32 unweighted HS GPA, 2.47 weighted
- 640 verbal, 670 math on SAT (score pre-dates the writing section)
- 3.85 community college GPA, with 3.87 pre-professional
- Florida resident, financial aid need, parents never went to college
- 61% completion rate of college classes.... (withdrew from a bunch over the last 10 years due to work obligations)</p>
<p>Despite all that, I was still accepted. The holistic admissions probably saved my skin. The trick is, those bad numbers can be put behind you if you genuinely try to turn things around and commit to getting top grades. I basically dropped out of community college 4 years ago. I went back to my college after several years away, having taken no pre-engineering classes (except Calc 1, which I withdrew from once about 10 years ago). I honestly thought I never had a chance in the world of being an engineer with my poor HS grades, so I never tried.</p>
<p>I spent the last 16 months taking all the engineering prereqs, plus finishing my A.A. general studies, without withdrawing or getting less than an A, aside from a B in Physics 2 (while taking D.E. and Calc 3). That must have impressed the admissions board, I guess.</p>
<p>I'm still a bit stunned that I got into UF, of all places, and as a nuclear engineering student.</p>
<p>So, again... Don't give up! Florida community college students DO get a fair shot, if they try very hard to turn themselves around. Write a decent statement of intent, too. Let them know how hard you tried to make up for your mistakes. They might give you a shot!</p>
<p>Good luck to all of you!</p>
Or at least it would make me feel that my chances as an OOS transfer student for an engineering major would be very slim for getting into UF in 1 1/2 year :)</p>