So, despite getting rejected (twice) by UF, my love remains (question about transfer)

<p>Right now, I have 4 colleges on the table... FSU Honors, UCF, U Miami, and Northwestern University. Community college is out of the question.</p>

<p>I get 1.2k per semester at FSU, I'll have to pay around 20k/yr for Miami, UCF hasn't given me any scholarships (I'm going to try to appeal that), and NU is going to be ridiculously expensive.</p>

<p>Is there any point in going to either of the better schools to help my chances of transferring to Florida? Or is solely based on major/credit hours/GPA wherever I go? I expect to earn around a 3.7-3.8 realistically. </p>

<p>I know that common advice to my situation would be to keep low hopes and go somewhere I'll be happy for 4 years, but I really intend on going to school for a year with the intention of transferring.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.admissions.ufl.edu/ugrad/trapprocess.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.admissions.ufl.edu/ugrad/trapprocess.html&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.admissions.ufl.edu/ugrad/trqualifying.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.admissions.ufl.edu/ugrad/trqualifying.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I looked over the UF Admission site, and other than minimum requirements they don't say what they are looking for in students. Among other things, however, you should have:</p>

<p>A minimum GPA of 2.00 in a traditional 4.00 scale.
The minimum GPA required by the college & major you intend to purse.
The pre-requisite courses for your intended college & major.
A passing score on the CLAST (College Level Academic Skills Test).</p>

<p>(Note: Above "college" means a department of UF, so to speak. For example, engineering majors are granted by the college of engineering, math majors are granted by the college of liberal arts and science, etc...)</p>

<p>The above implies you should come into UF already knowing your major and having prepared for it accordingly.</p>

<p>According to their Common Data Set, as seen here <a href="http://www.ir.ufl.edu/data/transfer.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ir.ufl.edu/data/transfer.htm&lt;/a>, some 38% of applicants got in, which is a perfectly respectable number. They say that spaces are extremely limited if you haven't completed 60 hours of credit before applying, you should but I can't see any harm in applying that way and trying again if rejected. It's only a 30 dollar application fee, right?</p>

<p>Ohhh... Northwestern is an option? From the rankings I am seeing both <a href="http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php&lt;/a> and <a href="http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/hybrid.asp?typeCode=144%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/hybrid.asp?typeCode=144&lt;/a> , it seems to be ranked HIGHER than UF. Which is interesting... it is ranked lower here <a href="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0609.national.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0609.national.html&lt;/a> , but nobody cares about Washington Monthy's rankings anyway. XD</p>

<p>Okay, I am going to advice against UCF. If you want to go to a public university in Florida while trying for your transfer, go to FSU. They gave you scholarship money AND FSU seems to be better regarded, having been called Florida's other flagship university (the other one being, of course, UF).</p>

<p>Both Northwestern and UM are much tougher on AP scores than FSU; this may be a consideration if you have some AP credit that you would forfeit by going to those school. Each school's respective AP credit policy may be found here:</p>

<p>UM: <a href="http://www6.miami.edu/UMH/CDA/UMH_Main/0,1770,29532-1;36206-2;40339-2;40287-3,00.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www6.miami.edu/UMH/CDA/UMH_Main/0,1770,29532-1;36206-2;40339-2;40287-3,00.html&lt;/a>
Northwestern: <a href="http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/freshman/credit/ap.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/freshman/credit/ap.htm&lt;/a>
FSU: <a href="http://www.fsu.edu/students/prospective/admissions/credit/apcredit.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.fsu.edu/students/prospective/admissions/credit/apcredit.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Overall, I think I am going to recommend not going to Northwestern. Going to a school that is considered better only to transfer to one that is considered worse makes no sense to me. Couple THAT with the ridiculous prices you are talking about and... this is more a matter of personal opinion, though. Going to Northwestern will probably NOT hurt your chances of transferring, so the decision is up to you.</p>

<p>I really appreciate your post Jaime. I can't express how much I appreciate that someone would take the time to help with such a detailed post. </p>

<p>BTW - does anyone know if I would be expected to graduate in two years from then, or if I could start a double major and have my four?</p>

<p>Your welcome ^.^</p>

<p>You mean if you would be expected to graduate within 2 years of transfer? I believe so. The idea is that you would enter as a junior and work 2 years to finish your bachelor's. However, I seem to recall some people go into a 5th year, specially double majors, so maybe even if they expect it they won't mind that you go over, as long as you keep paying? If time really is an issue, you could take more credits per semester than normal and plan your courses to cover the bare requirements of the double major.</p>

<p>At any rate, I realize you may have ruled out community colleges based on their quality, but from a purely practical perspective (for the purposes of transferring to UF), perhaps you would be interested in an Associate of Art's degree from the Santa Fe Community Colleges, which is also located in Gainesville? Several sources seem to indicate a higher than normal rate of transfer from that place, including Wikipedia (Santa</a> Fe Community College (Florida) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia%5DSanta">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Fe_Community_College_(Florida)#Arts_and_Sciences_Program)), Yahoo Answers (What's</a> the possibility of transferring to University of Florida, in two years, after going to Santa Fe CC? - Yahoo! Answers%5DWhat's">http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080325161302AAc37Jl&show=7)), and several posts at College Confidential itself (see <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/492382-uf-cuts-number-transfer-students.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/492382-uf-cuts-number-transfer-students.html&lt;/a>, <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/273017-who-defferd.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/273017-who-defferd.html&lt;/a>, <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/439303-how-uf-junior-transfer-2.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/439303-how-uf-junior-transfer-2.html&lt;/a>, <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/461637-28-000-total-applications-sent-university-florida-2.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/461637-28-000-total-applications-sent-university-florida-2.html&lt;/a>, <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/487585-transfer-double-major.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/487585-transfer-double-major.html&lt;/a>, <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/459867-chances-junior-transfer-dual-enrollment.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/459867-chances-junior-transfer-dual-enrollment.html&lt;/a>, <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/465140-resubmitted-de-application-i-got.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/465140-resubmitted-de-application-i-got.html&lt;/a>, <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/485285-out-state-admission.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/485285-out-state-admission.html&lt;/a>, <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/467254-how-hard-transfer.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/467254-how-hard-transfer.html&lt;/a>, <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/461963-did-not-get-into-uf-community-college-option.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/461963-did-not-get-into-uf-community-college-option.html&lt;/a>, <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/428863-community-college-gainesville.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/428863-community-college-gainesville.html&lt;/a>, <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/462491-those-dinged-uf-pick-fsu-ucf-8.html)%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-florida/462491-those-dinged-uf-pick-fsu-ucf-8.html)&lt;/a>. However, some of these later make reference to UF transfer admissions being capped and to SFCC no longer being the back door it once was. Nevertheless, I will present information in it as an option.</p>

<p>SFCC seems to be tailor made for getting students into UF. This is easily seen in their website, where their FAQs include "What are the admission requirements for my major at UF?" (<a href="http://asksantafe.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/asksantafe.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=17&p_created=1112799635)%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://asksantafe.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/asksantafe.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=17&p_created=1112799635)&lt;/a>, "Where should I go for help if I don’t know what I want to major in, but I know I want to go to UF?" (<a href="http://asksantafe.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/asksantafe.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=23&p_created=1112800524&p_sid=7442h61j&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=17&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9Niw2JnBfcHJvZHM9MCZwX2NhdHM9JnBfcHY9JnBfY3Y9JnBfc2VhcmNoX3R5cGU9YW5zd2Vycy5zZWFyY2hfbmwmcF9wYWdlPTEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD1VRg**&p_li=&p_topview=1)%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://asksantafe.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/asksantafe.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=23&p_created=1112800524&p_sid=7442h61j&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=17&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9Niw2JnBfcHJvZHM9MCZwX2NhdHM9JnBfcHY9JnBfY3Y9JnBfc2VhcmNoX3R5cGU9YW5zd2Vycy5zZWFyY2hfbmwmcF9wYWdlPTEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD1VRg**&p_li=&p_topview=1)&lt;/a>, "Is there a foreign language requirement for transfer to UF or another university?" (<a href="http://asksantafe.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/asksantafe.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=120&p_created=1113584313&p_sid=7442h61j&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=17&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9Niw2JnBfcHJvZHM9MCZwX2NhdHM9JnBfcHY9JnBfY3Y9JnBfc2VhcmNoX3R5cGU9YW5zd2Vycy5zZWFyY2hfbmwmcF9wYWdlPTEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD1VRg**&p_li=&p_topview=1)%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://asksantafe.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/asksantafe.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=120&p_created=1113584313&p_sid=7442h61j&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=17&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9Niw2JnBfcHJvZHM9MCZwX2NhdHM9JnBfcHY9JnBfY3Y9JnBfc2VhcmNoX3R5cGU9YW5zd2Vycy5zZWFyY2hfbmwmcF9wYWdlPTEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD1VRg**&p_li=&p_topview=1)&lt;/a>, some other misc questions making specific references to UF and not other universities (Answer[/url</a>], [url=<a href="http://asksantafe.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/asksantafe.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=32&p_created=1112801572&p_sid=7442h61j&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=17&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9Niw2JnBfcHJvZHM9MCZwX2NhdHM9JnBfcHY9JnBfY3Y9JnBfc2VhcmNoX3R5cGU9YW5zd2Vycy5zZWFyY2hfbmwmcF9wYWdlPTEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD1VRg*&p_li=&p_topview=1%5DAnswer%5B/url">http://asksantafe.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/asksantafe.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=32&p_created=1112801572&p_sid=7442h61j&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=17&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9Niw2JnBfcHJvZHM9MCZwX2NhdHM9JnBfcHY9JnBfY3Y9JnBfc2VhcmNoX3R5cGU9YW5zd2Vycy5zZWFyY2hfbmwmcF9wYWdlPTEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD1VRg&p_li=&p_topview=1]Answer[/url</a>], [url=<a href="http://asksantafe.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/asksantafe.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=122&p_created=1113585756&p_sid=7442h61j&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=17&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9Niw2JnBfcHJvZHM9MCZwX2NhdHM9JnBfcHY9JnBfY3Y9JnBfc2VhcmNoX3R5cGU9YW5zd2Vycy5zZWFyY2hfbmwmcF9wYWdlPTEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD1VRg&p_li=&p_topview=1%5DAnswer%5B/url%5D">http://asksantafe.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/asksantafe.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=122&p_created=1113585756&p_sid=7442h61j&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=17&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9Niw2JnBfcHJvZHM9MCZwX2NhdHM9JnBfcHY9JnBfY3Y9JnBfc2VhcmNoX3R5cGU9YW5zd2Vycy5zZWFyY2hfbmwmcF9wYWdlPTEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD1VRg*&p_li=&p_topview=1]Answer</a>) and to the point where they actually have to add a DISCLAIMER that acceptance into UF isn't guaranteed (which implies its very likely... why else would that question be asked about UF and not about any other university?) Santa</a> Fe Admissions - Transfer Students</p>

<p>If you do consider SFCC as an option, tuition seems to be cheap ($1000 for a 15 credit semester, implies $2000 per year, <a href="http://admin.sfcc.edu/%7Efinance/fees.htm)%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://admin.sfcc.edu/~finance/fees.htm)&lt;/a>, and it still accepts applications for summer 2008 (classes starting on May 12, Enrollment</a> Services at Santa Fe Community COllege) though it seems classes are also available to begin July 2nd in case school doesn't end by that date (<a href="http://admin.sfcc.edu/%7Erecords/)%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://admin.sfcc.edu/%7Erecords/)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p>