<p>UF is my son's 1st choice and we are anxiously awaiting decision day. He is very light on ECs which worries me a lot.
GPA 3.95 unweighted 5.04 weighted. He has only had one grade below an A, and it was IB Spanish and it was a B. His class rank is 11 out of 862. ACT 26. He took it 3 times and the composite score was exactly the same. He recently took the SAT hoping it is a better fit for him. If the score is good we are going to try to rush it to UF hoping they will consider it. He would have continued with IB his senior year, but we moved to FL over the summer and his school does not have IB. What are his chances? </p>
<p>NHS
Beta Club
Mock Trial
Volunteer Give Kids The World
Volunteer Feed My Starving Children</p>
<p>8th grade
Alg 1 Honors A
Spanish 1 A</p>
<p>9th grade
Eng Honors A
Geo Honors A
Phys Sci Honors A
World Hist Honors A
Spanish 2 A</p>
<p>10th grade
Eng Honors A
Alg 2 Honors A
Chem 1 Honors A
AP Euro Hist A
Spanish 3 Honors A
Bio 1 Honors A</p>
<p>11th
IB Eng A
IB Pre-Calculus A
IB Chem A
IB History of Americas A
IB Spanish B
IB Psych A
IB Theory of Knowledge A</p>
<p>12th
AP Eng Lit
AP Chem
AP US Hist
AP Calculus
AP US Govt
AP Psych
AP Macroeon</p>
<p>UF’s holistic admissions can seem a bit random, so keep that in mind.</p>
<p>The AO’s will say that 50% of admissions is based on GPA, class rigor, test scores and the essay. The most important item is the GPA and class rigor. UF does like IB (as well as AP classes) programs and your son’s GPA is great. You may want to re-calculate it for UF, which gives + 0.5 extra points for honor classes, and +1.0 points for IB/AP/DE/AICE classes. He’s GPA would be something less than a 5.0, but whatever it is, it’s above average for UF. The next in importance is that essay. Finally, test scores would be viewed as last (important, but not as important as GPA, class rigor and essay). </p>
<p>The other 50% of admissions is based on EC’s, leadership, volunteering and work. Here UF doesn’t necessarily want to see a dozen different items, but a few that show commitment. </p>
<p>Several other factors can come into play, such as first time (in family) students or geographical residence, all factors you can’t control for, so I wouldn’t worry about them.</p>
<p>He’s an academic match (with the 26 ACT), but we really can’t tell about EC’s and such. </p>
<p>Good Luck!!</p>
<p>PS: If you’re new to Florida, you may want to check out and apply to a few of the other state public universities (UCF, UNF, USF, etc.), where they don’t put as much focus on EC’s and would award him merit scholarships based on his GPA, etc. New College of Florida is one of the few public “LAC’s” in America and may be a good fit. You may want to wait till you get the SAT scores, before applying (if they are better than his ACT score, it would help with scholarships), but apply soon, while scholarship funding is still available.</p>
<p>Thanks! He also applied to FSU, UCF, and USF. We went to open house at UF the week of Thanksgiving and it just sealed it for him. He will be crushed if he doesn’t get in. After all he’s had to go through this year (moving so far away from all his friends, changing schools for senior year) I really hope this goes his way. </p>
