<p>The acceptance list for those applying to the School of Communication (with limited access majors, so you can't apply until you have all of the liberal studies courses completed) is out, and my D (IB Diploma recipient so entered FSU as a Sophomore, FSU Dean's list last semester (first semester there)) was not accepted. I understand that the dynamic of all of the Baby-Boomlets has resulted in tougher competition throughout the college scene, but it's little consolation for my D who is crushed. To top it off, the notification email that contained the link to the acceptance list on FSU's website said "Once again congratulations on your being accepted to the Communication major.", so for a moment she was mislead into thinking that she was accepted. I have been impressed with FSU and think it's a great school with much to offer, but Communication is what she REALLY wants and if it is not to be at FSU.....just when I thought that things were stable for her and now she wants to explore other schools. Sheesh! I wish there was a way to get some information about how her qualifications fell short of those who were accepted.</p>
<p>Can you appeal the decision? What about entering another semester?</p>
<p>parent2noles -- the Communication Dept. only accepts applications once a year, in February, which for my D next February would be the end of what was to be her Junior year, so even if she did get in it would still mean 2 more years at FSU; for me, that's not a problem, but she sees it as one since she has her liberal studies courses finished and at this point doesn't know what classes she would take. Yes, the website mentions an appeals process, but nothing about what the grounds for an appeal would be. I assume she just did not make the cut because of something that can not be changed, but I really don't know. Hopefully next week she will have moved past her dejection and will see an advisor who may offer some insight.</p>
<p>knuckle, sorry to hear about the decision, it hard for these kids to not get the answer they are looking for.</p>
<p>I was curious as I'm curious about most things at FSU as my D tries to just get in. I did go to the communication school webpage and to my surprise you could just open up the accepted list and see all the names. I guess there were 318 accepts. Also there is a appeal process but it looks more like you are trying to prove that there was some issue with the process for the particular individual. It doesn't seem that is what is going on here, just that she didn't make it. I also noted that you can apply in a year, but it is pretty specific in encouraging you to seek out another major. It doesn't sound like many (any?) are successful on another go around. I guess it seems like the best course of action would be to try to understand as much as possible about what she wasn't accepted. They may not be very open about it but at least you may find out there there were no issues with courses or any other extraneous factors and it came down to the usual lots of great applicants and just limited slots. Next I'd try to understand from them what would be the realistic chances in a year, does it ever happen or never happen.</p>
<p>Perhaps the only option maybe to look elsewhere, probably better to pursue that now then wait a year if there is little chance.</p>
<p>I too am sorry to hear about the decision. I've long been aware of the limited access programs and they are tough. Here, D2 recently applied for an RA slot - after being nominated by staff - and was rejected. They received 400 applications for 90 RA slots and it's just very selective. She was urged to try again and also try for a slot in Summer. This wasn't even an academic program, just an RA job. She was disappointed nonetheless.</p>
<p>Do you think they are more likely to accept students who spent 2 years acquiring the necessary basic requirements at CC or University over students who used IB or AP classes to meet some of those requirements? Can your D tell or is the info available as to how many were current FSU students vs CC students or students at other state U's? I understand that by Florida "law", FSU cannot look more favorably at their own FSU sophomores over CC sophomores or sophomores applying from other state U's. </p>
<p>In fact, the info on liomited access programs states: "this has been designated as a limited access Program and abides by the rules for limited access Programs established by the Florida Board of Governors as follows: a. Students who have graduated from a Florida community college with an Associate in Arts degree or those who have successfully completed 60 or more semester hours of course work at public universities in Florida will receive priority for admission over other applicants. </p>
<p>b. Selection criteria will not discriminate against Florida community college transfer students in favor of public university students who are applying for admission or plan to continue enrollment after completion of 60 semester hours at the lower division level. </p>
<p>c. Where necessary to achieve established equal access enrollment goals, some students may be admitted to the Program using different criteria" </p>
<p>My D is will be intersted in the AT program at FSU (current HS Junior) and it is another limited access program where FSU current students will be competing for slots against not only other interested FSU students, but CC students and students applying from other Florida state U's. And the statement about "different criteria" is rather disconcerting.</p>
<p>Ray111 -- I had the same reaction as you....that the intent of the communication for non-accepted students was to say that if you didn't make it this time you probably wouldn't make it next time, and we are willing to 'hear' that and move on. I am not one to whine and cry injustice because I realize that we are privy to just a tiny bit of the huge pool of information that is relevant to the decision which is made with consideration of the school's needs on many levels. So no, there is probably not a lot of frank disclosure to be had other than the general 'things are just so competitive now'.....which will not be any better in one year's time so there is no reason to think that D's chances will be any better next year. I SO wish we could have known better in advance what to expect, some numbers at least. (For example, knowing that the Film school only accepts 25 students a year speaks loud and clear!)</p>
<p>sunnyflorida -- Your guess is as good as mine as to whether mastery via IB or AP credits might be seen as less desireable, although I could think of many reasons why that wouldn't make sense; it could largely be a financial thing, or maybe just related to Bright Futures money and the fact that if they accept fewer students that the state is paying for anyway and replace them with students who are paying their own way, especially if they're paying out of state tuition....?</p>
<p>As far as figuring out if the accepted students are from CCs or outside of FSU I would love to have that information because it could answer some of my questions. We had already done some detective work/grasping at straws: The email that my D received included a list of email recipients, some of which seemed to be real names. None of the 'real' names appeared on the list of admitted students, so it is possible that these particular email recipients were the 'rejects'. If so, over half of the names could be identified as FSU students. (Which still doesn't really tell us anything because those accepted could be well over half FSU students, but like I said I'm grasping at straws here!)</p>
<p>Ray, Sunny, and Parent2noles -- Thanks for your support, and for listening!</p>