I’m currently a sophomore with a 3.65 Unweighted GPA, a 4.31 Wieghted GPA, I have over 75 hours of community service (by the time I apply will be over 100), and scored in the top 10% on my PSAT. Do you think I have a shot a UF if I do good on the SAT and ACT
I’m in the same position wondering the same thing! I’ve seen people with over a 4.0 get denied and some with under a 3.5 get accepted. So confusing…
A friend of mine just got accepted to UF. The average GPA for admitted UF students is 3.71 and average SAT is 1330. As long as you can get above that, you should be fine. However, in my experience, the extracurricular activities and letters of recommendations also matter quite much.
If you do not get into UF on the first try, you can always go to a Florida community college for two years. I’m currently in the process of graduating from a Florida community college, and I absolutely LOVED it there. Besides, after CC, you have a guaranteed admission into any of the public universities in Florida. In other words, you WILL get into UF after two years at CC - as long as you maintain a good GPA.
http://www.gainesville.com/news/20180212/uf-admits-36-percent-of-freshman-applicants
UF uses holistic admissions, about 50% is based on GPA, course rigor (it’s important that you take a rigorous courses), test scores and the essay (the essay is very important, plan to spend a few weeks on it).
The other 50% is based on ECs, volunteering, work, etc. UF does not consider letters of recommendations.
The holistic nature of admissions, is why you see a wide range of students, based on GPA/test scores, being admitted to UF.
Focus on your grades/classes, but also work on the other “50%”, by continuing your ECs, such as volunteering (which UF likes a lot). Even working a part time job is good.
My experience having just gone through this is that the biggest factor is academic performance (GPA) relative to your peers in your particular high school. Assuming you are in a Florida high school, the UF admissions team is familiar with your HS, understands the available courses and whether you took the hardest course load, how previous graduates have performed at UF and they have an idea of how many to accept to UF from your class (top 10%, 15% or something, or GPA cutoff). Your school may not provide a class rank to UF, but they can back into it by looking at the other UF applicants from your HS.
So, assuming you have a SAT/ACT in the range that they are looking for, HS GPA and course rigor is critical.
The other factors like the essay, extra-curriculars, work experience come into play if you meet the above criteria for GPA and SAT/ACT.
Your best gauge of competitiveness is looking at the graduates from your high school over the last couple of years. Trying to compare yourself to people from other HS is not useful. This is one reason why it often seems random why some people on these boards get accepted and others do not.
This is just based on my observations, I have no inside information.
@239SRS The first thing you need to do is understand how UF computes GPAs for your application. Admissions looks at your academic classes only and weighs things differently than some high schools. Overall GPA and course rigor is very important but UF also looks at ECs, volunteer work and other factors. It truly is holistic so they want to see beyond grades and test scores. Showing interest is also important and valuable during the process. I highly recommend going on a tour, for example, because they track it (as is shows interest) and you also can ask questions directly of the admissions staff when you visit. These forums are great but the most helpful information that my daughter received came from asking questions directly of the admissions staff, who welcome questions and want to help you.