<p>My daughter attended the Outstanding High School Scholars Program this past weekend and has just crossed Florida off her list. According to my wife and daughter it was unimpressive and very unorganized. Florida is a huge school with great resources and it's shocking to me that they couldn't do a better job recruiting students. I'll tell her that she still needs to apply because a lot can change in a year but Florida needs to rework this program.</p>
<p>That’s cool.</p>
<p>what was unorganized, the tour or the school</p>
<p>Would make sense if she didnt like the campus, “feel” of the school, or w/e but just because the program was half-assed, hope you receive a better tour somewhere else…just at tour</p>
<p>Hopefully that will make admittance to the honors program one person easier.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>It was not a tour, it was a program. The program was disorganized. What else are we to judge the school by? We can read all we want about how great the school is but you believe what you see. I guess with Florida’s strong reputation, they don’t feel the need to put forth a lot of effort into this program.</p>
<p>IntangibleGator, I don’t know if she has a real shot at the honors program but I do know her test scores fall in the top 25% of all admitted students so your welcome.</p>
<p>We were there as well. </p>
<p>I think that UF is still on my son’s list but he left less enthused than when he arrived. The presentations were not as organized as they should have been. The moderator gave the impression that he loved himself a little too much. There was a little too much “Gator Nation” talk and not enough talk of the quality of education. The “college fair” was particularly weak. We left with the impression that the Liberal Arts programs are marginal. </p>
<p>UF is a fine school and I would be proud to have my son attend. However, the group of kids at that affair were top notch. You would think that they could make a better case for the school.</p>
<p>UF will not be bending over backwards to attract students. It is not their agenda. Their attitude is that you will need to impress them, they do not need to impress you.</p>
<p>^^^^^Yep, that’s the impression we got.^^^^^</p>
<p>^
Is that a problem?</p>
<p>UF is at the point that, with an admittance rate nearing 36%, the most merit finalists of any university, and little competition in-state, they don’t need to ingratiate themselves to find high caliber students.</p>
<p>This isn’t FSU where they send you postcards begging you to visit the campus then offer university scholarships to marginal applicants.</p>
<p>IntangibleGator, regardless of the caliber of the education at UF a snotty attitude doesn’t help. UF is not an Ivy, so it doesn’t need to act like one. </p>
<p>I understand completely what you are all saying about OHSSP. I was underwhelmed. I recently visited Auburn and Georgia’s versions of OHSSP and they did a much better job. Although they may have a lower academic reputation (while all three schools have certain stronger programs than the others), they reflected a more positive overall college experience. Personally, I don’t plan to spend the next four years of my life with my head stuck in a book and would to enjoy my time. I have taken UF off my list, so you can gladly have my honors spot ;)</p>
<p>What other schools are being considered?</p>
<p>I don’t see what impression could have been made that the academics at UF are weak.</p>
<p>It would be mighty stupid to base the decision on this.</p>
<p>“There was a little too much “Gator Nation” talk and not enough talk of the quality of education.”
doesn’t mean anything, except that the program wasn’t tailored for your interests.</p>
<p>not talking about it doesnt mean it isnt there.</p>
<p>(positive overall college experience can be found in gainesville btw)</p>
<p>but you seem to be pretty well minded and are considering your other options which isn’t bad but im just saying that you might have got a MAJOR wrong impression.</p>
<p>No matter how “great” Florida thinks their program is, they still need to conduct programs like this one in a professional manner. UNC Chapel Hill is a good example. They act like they are great and appear snobbish at times, but programs for rising high school seniors are outstanding in every way. I think I would write a letter to an appropriate UF representative and let them know in a professional manner exactly how you feel.</p>
<p>Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear. </p>
<ol>
<li><pre><code>UF is still on my son’s list.
</code></pre></li>
<li><pre><code>Although we do not want or expect to be treated like royalty, we came prepared with intelligent and specific questions about the liberal arts program. Nearly every question we asked was either ignored or answered by some school spirit statement. This was not a football camp. This was an Outstanding Scholars Weekend Program. Shouldn’t the University prepare itself better?
</code></pre></li>
</ol>
<p>When asked about a Writing Across the Curriculum program, we were given a bunch of double talk. I could have let it go, but a trend of double talk had already been in effect all morning. When I pressed them for an answer, they finally admitted that they did not have such a program. Folks, this is pretty standard stuff I am talking about. Any Liberal Arts program worth a darn has had a WAC program for years. </p>
<p>This is why we walked away from the weekend at Gainesville disappointed. I am not posting this to anger anyone. I am simply pointing out that, despite all the stats and rankings, UF has not kept up with its LA programs. This will need to be verified by subsequent visits and inquiries, but it should be noted that this weekend did not do the university justice.</p>
<p>Who did you ask these questions to? Specific questions about the Liberal Arts department should probably be asked to people who work in that department, and not the staff in the OHSS program.</p>
<p>We had a similar incident occur within Preview a few weeks ago. Now, our d is going to UF, and we’re pleased that she’s going there … but we were frustrated during the second day of preview at an engineering seminar for parents of future engineers. We specifically attended this seminar because the previous day our d, and any other student going into engineering, sat through a similar seminar and we had been frustrated by what they’d been told … so we wanted to hear it from the horses’ mouths, so to speak. Apparently, we were not the only ones … as the room was filled with a lot of parents whose kids were in the honors program … and whose kids came out of the first day “freaked” because of the engineering counselors were telling them to do with their schedules. I’d already warned my husband to just listen … don’t react. Had to laugh as other parents did his reacting for him. Several parents whose students are tops in math and science were very perturbed as to the counsel their kids were getting, especially with regards to Calculus 3. And many of these parents were engineers, as is my husband, with kids who are the cream of the crop in mathematics. The people speaking kept trying to speak in generalities and non-specifics and changing the topic. The parents didn’t allow it, and finally the advisors had to admit they are “forced to counsel to the average student in their talks,” and “yes, what the parents were saying was correct.” Regretably, they didn’t say this during their talks to the students … “hey, this is what we suggest, of course, for some of you … it might be different depending upon your skill level, etc.” And, in fact, they were giving some incomplete info to some questions that I had the answer to as my d had met with a professor the previous day who’d specifically addressed these questions. Maybe if my husband hadn’t been an engineer we wouldn’t have known better, but it was very frustrating getting the run around and having her affected by it as she’s still in the “well, obviously, they must know … they’re the experts” kind of naivete (sp?). But … even with that frustration – and the general “you should be happy we want you attitude that does prevail” – to the point it really bothered my daughter – we are still very happy with the university. I do believe, however, that some of the “rah, rah gatornation … you should only be so happy to be a gator…” stuff is causing some bright students to look elsewhere. I know several in the past 3 years … some of the brightest coming out of our local high schools that are choosing UCF and FSU because “1. they feel wanted (personal phone calls and notes), and 2. the merit money is there for them and it’s difficult to turn that down in these economic times.”</p>
<p>zebes</p>
<p>I made sure to direct my questions to representatives of the English and Liberal Arts department. </p>
<p>We will go back and, hopefully, we will come away with a better impression.</p>
<p>Zebes, I did not feel disappointed at all during the student engineering seminar, and neither did my two classmates from high school (both of which did well on the AP Calc AB and BC tests)</p>
<p>What exactly did you find frustrating?</p>
<p>Also, when you say it caused some students to look “elsewhere”, do you mean future applicants or incoming students that now want to change majors?</p>
<p>gpowsang</p>
<p>frustrated because calc3 isnt recommended? i think its just advising, you are advised not to take calc3 first even with BC.</p>
<p>it would not be smart for all advisors to advise everyone at the session to take calc3.
besides you can register for whatever you like as long as you dont pass the maximum credit limit.</p>
<p>They advise against calc3 yes, but that can’t stop you if you want to take it and have the ap scores. If anything it’s a good thing, because the students who are really confident in their math abilities will press on and actually end up in calc3</p>