Questions about Florida State (Please Help!)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Florida State University
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<p>Florida State has essentially been the only university I have ever imagined myself attending. I have been obsessed with weather and from the age of eight, I knew that Florida State had an excellent meteorology program. Now as a junior about to take the SATS for the first time I am growing very apprehensive.</p>

<p>I live in Pennsylvania, so my backup is Penn State. I realize that being accepted is very difficult, especially if you are out of state. So I was wondering if anyone could share with me what they think my chances of being accepted are (I also have some questions)</p>

<p>GPA: 92.78 (I have read something about the Florida GPA, is that based on a 10 point scale or a 7 point scale?)</p>

<p>SATS: I take them March 17th, but in my English class we took the practice Critical Reading & Writing sections on the website. I received a 560 on the reading and a 600 on the writing. I will set up another account to take the math portion tomorrow. Are these good scores for an out of state resident? I know they have a minimum of 500 in each section.</p>

<p>Extra Curricular: I am a member of varsity quizbowl & varsity debate. By the time senior year ends, I should have the status of "Exemplary" for debate, something that has never occurred at my high school. I also volunteered for over 50 hours for a political campaign in November.</p>

<p>Also, I kept reading about applying early for Summer, rather than Fall. So should I apply this upcoming August?</p>

<p>Thank you for any help!</p>

2

<p>GPA is on a 4.0 scale.</p>

<p>SATs…I think the CR for OOS. When I went to their Info Session, they said they like OOS students to be in the top 25% of test scores, which according to collegeboard, are 630CR, 640M, 600W</p>

3

<p>I don’t believe Penn State should be a “safety” for FSU as the admission standards of PSU are more difficult. Just based on the people I know (and myself), shoot for a score in the 1200’s, and you should be fine for FSU if you apply early.</p>

4

<p>Thanks, but I have even more questions.</p>

<p>1) So based on this GPA, does that mean an A is 90-100, regardless of what your school’s system is (mine is 93-100).</p>

<p>2) How important are the SATS to Florida State?</p>

<p>3) When you say aim for the 1200s, do you just disregard the writing score, because I know many people struggle with that, but that is where I shine.</p>

5

<p>FSU counts the writing score. They look at all three and all three now matter. So aim for 1800 or better OOS. And yes, consider applying to start SUMMER 2010. It is worth it to get a head start if this is your dream school. </p>

<p>FSU, unfortunately, sees an A as an A. They will not be converting your A’s to number score and them back to a letter score. If you have a B that is a 92, they will not be converting it to an A. It will be a B. But if they are familiar with your school and it’s grading scale, they WILL take that into consideration. You can write an explanation of your schools grading scale on the resume. You can report your GPA and then explain how your school’s GPA is toughter. Heck, take the conventional grading scale of 90-100 A and 80-89 B and convert your GPA and report BOTH on your resume, explaining that if your school used the usual scale used in the state of Florida, your GPA would be XX.X.</p>

<p>Also, there is an FSU GPA and that is the only one that matters. THEY will recalculate your GPA using only core courses. They will take up to 4 English, 4 Math, 4 History/Social Science, 4 Science and 2 Languages to come up with a base core FSU GPA. They will not include electives, art, music, architecture, business, PE, health, etc. If you are on an accelerated track and have more Math and Science, then those are considered. They weight honors/preIB +0.5 and AP/IB +1.0. And dual enrollment college classes are +0.5 but soon (by state law) will be +1.0 for Florida DE classes. There is a link posted on threads here on the FSU board to calculate the FSU GPA if you search for it. I will try to locate it and post later.</p>

<p>The SAT/ACT is important. From posts about acceptance and waitlist/deferral/rejections, GPA and STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE (honors/AP/IB) seems very important. SAT/ACT seems next in importance. And they seem to be wary of students with very high SAT’s who have relatively lower GPA’s. It appears they are looking for students who apply themselves in school, and find that those with potential who do not apply themselves will be less successful at FSU. Lots of other temptations, perhaps–frats/sororities, drinking, sports, social scene. </p>

<p>APPLY EARLY. Apply in the first few weeks the application goes live. Get your transcripts in early. Get your Guidance rec in early. Guidance will also send a standard school summary which will also explain your school’s GPA. Work on essay’s as soon as the topic is posted. IT DOES CHANGE FROM YEAR TO YEAR, but you would use the current one to get some things on paper. You can have teachers send rec’s. They are not required or mentioned. But for an OOS student, have teachers who know you and what you are capable of send rec’s. And have your debate coach send a rec. They will read and place rec’s into your file.</p>

<p>Start working on your resume so you have it ready to go also. Practice writing one that has NO indents. The online portal for resume will take out any spacing/indents other than skipping lines. So prepare one with CAPS, and separate entries with double spacing and figure a way so that it reads easily in the constraints they give you. </p>

<p>In your resume show your passion for debate. In your essay, show your passion for FSU and get across what you have been passionate about in high school. </p>

<p>GOOD LUCK.</p>

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<p><a href=“http://cyberguidance.net/college/recalgpa.pdf[/url]”>http://cyberguidance.net/college/recalgpa.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Here is the link to calculate the FSU GPA. In the state of Florida, full year high school classes are now given a grade at midterm (9 weeks for block scheduling and 18 weeks for nonblock full year) and a grade at the end, but they are not averaged for a final grade. So for say Biology I, the grades are A/B. Then this is an A for 0.5 credit and a B for 0.5 credit. Even if the average was an A overall (say an 97 and a 89 which would be a 93 avg =A) they report two grades, each for a 0.5 credit. So you have to be consistent over the entire year. </p>

<p>So for your calculations OOS, if your transcript has only a final grade for a 1.0 credit, on the worksheet you make the adjustment and use the grade twice for 2 half credits. If your high school reports two half year grades, they both will be used. </p>

<p>If by some miracle your school reports only a number grade, then a 91 will be an A on the FSU recalculated GPA. But if a 91 is listed simply as a B, they will not make any adjustment.</p>

<p>Your high school has an official HIGH SCHOOL PROFILE that they compile every year. Guidance should send this along with your transcript. But you can always ask your school for a copy and send it along to FSU to be sure. It lists your school’s grading scale, how many students took AP classes, what the AP scores were as a composite, what the schools composite SAT/ACT average scores were, the graduation rate, the percentage of students graduating who go on to college, the number of NMF etc.</p>

<p>That is how FSU can see how your school stacks up to Florida schools, and how your GPA and class rank compares.</p>

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<p>“I don’t believe Penn State should be a “safety” for FSU as the admission standards of PSU are more difficult. Just based on the people I know (and myself), shoot for a score in the 1200’s, and you should be fine for FSU if you apply early.” </p>

<p>Matt125, I completely agree. I am not really sure what dtd2 is talking about with the admission logic. Penn State University Park is harder to get into and is much higher ranked. Florida State is a good school and I can understand why someone would have their heart set on there, but PSU would definitely not be a “back up” with a 92 average and an 1160. With those grades it’s a reach.</p>