<p>On the point about admission standards to be accepted to UF for Fall/Summer B or Innovation Academy being the same that is simply not correct. UF posted the Fall 2012 admitted students profile as well as the information about those accepted to Innovation Academy. The stats bear out that for those whose only option for attending was Innovation Academy their stats were lower for Innovation Academy. The Fall 2012 mean for GPA was 4.30, SAT 1951 and ACT 30.</p>
<p>Hmmm…Actually Danielle2400, all that really means is that the applicant pool of students with IA interest differed from the applicant pool of traditional applicants (and that traditional applicant pool was much larger, if I’m not mistaken). That being said, I believe the same admission criteria are still used.</p>
<p>Out of my own curiosity, what is the profile for Innovation Academy Spring of 2013 students? :)</p>
<p>@JKidrauhl</p>
<p>It’s definitely unique. I mean, what other program is there that basically has a Spring/Summer undergrad program instead of Fall/Spring :P</p>
<p>In terms of IA restricting course and professor selection, I can’t say much on that. I mean, if I’m not mistaken, IA may have certain courses reserved for IA students. Regardless of course and professor selection, the same type of material and course content for each pertaining major has to be learned by each IA students, equally to each traditional student.</p>
<p>Whether the college experience/social life aspect is better or not, is up to the student. :)</p>
<p>The education for degrees is the same, except traditional at the moment has more majors and IA focuses on entrepreneurship, innovation, and leadership in addition to the degree seeking requirements.</p>
<p>IMO, whether it’s IA or not, it’s still UF. IA students are still getting the best education Florida has to offer, because they get UF education. In the end, that’s all that matters, right? :)</p>
<p>It is inferior. If it was not inferior it would not be different and the program wouldn’t exist, UF would just tack on another thousand acceptances to the 11,700 total. I’m not calling the degree inferior, it is the pathway to the degree these different classes of students are taking. It is like if I were to drive from Miami to Gainesville using the Turnpike versus I-75. One way is more convenient and straightforward while the other is not. </p>
<p>ChickenWing, you are missing my ultimate point: Traditional UF students COULD choose the “Innovation” path IF THEY WANTED. If I was a traditional admit and wanted to take off every fall semester to work somewhere and go to school Spring/Summer every year from Freshman to Senior year I COULD. Many traditional students HAVE. So far, IA students are DENIED the possibility to take Fall semester on campus classes at ANY point in their undergraduate careers. There is nothing new or different about being in school Spring/Summer and not Fall because there are plenty of UF students and alumni who spent a year, maybe 2-3, of their 4 undergraduate years taking their classes this way. There IS something new about FORCING a crop of 18 year olds to complete their studies this way for four years.</p>
<p>Of course it is obvious that the IA students are choosing this schedule when they enter, but how do they know that is what they want if they have not yet set foot into their college experience? UF will have to rework their rules later when these IA students are Juniors and Seniors and are asking or petitioning to enroll in on campus thesis credits or small group seminar courses during the Fall. Or when they are requesting extensions to complete their degrees after reaching the critical tracking and semester hour limits because they could not utilize a third semester in the year to make up courses. Unfortunately, UF’s thoughts are short-sighted and they only see the benefit of enrolling more students in under-enrolled Summer classes over max capacity classes like Fall semester Chem 1. These students are not the ones benefitting from the program, the university is. I DOUBT the university is going far out of their way to make IA exclusive career or advising resources that the traditional students could not access, even if they wanted. </p>
<p>I do not buy the idea that most of the IA students know exactly what they are doing by forfeiting the possibility of taking coursework on campus over the Fall in favor of being forced to take courses in the Summer. I believe the draw of UF education is great enough that accepted high school seniors will overlook the serious implications of this. A lot of the IA students are unfortunately going to fully realize the limitations the program is putting on them only AFTER they have arrived on campus. By then it is too late.</p>
<p>I disagree, I still can’t see how IA is inferior. It’s not. It’s different because it’s not the traditional undergraduate experience due to different terms and a small college feel in a big university. The program exists to allow more students to attend UF. It’s a win/win for the university and students in that respect. However, UF decided to also add the focus of innovation and entrepeneruship to IA, in order to make it even more unique.</p>
<p>While you do agree that the degree is not inferior (which it isn’t, considering it’s still the same UF education and teachings that every undergrad student gets, regardless of being in IA or not), you state that the pathway to the degree is inferior. You seem to assume that the traditional way is more convenient and straightfoward. However, if someone chooses to be an IA, they choose to do something different. Hence, what you said was more convenient and straightfoward, may not be convenient to them. From some further research, IA seems to allow the students to still pursue their degree meeting the same requirements as every other UF students, but they are required to take 2 innovation related courses each year. They basically are minoring in that. So given the fact a IA student chooses to be an IA student, the pathway to their degree is the pathway they chosen. Hence, in their eyes, it is convenient and straightfoward TO THEM. That’s what is mainly important.</p>
<p>BUT, I do see your point in traditional students wanting to take the innovation path if they so chose. However, I am going to assume that IA students actually would be able to do this MUCH more comofortably and efficiently than a traditional students given that UF may reserve classes for the IA students. Furthermore, you keep stating that IA students can’t do classes on campus, PHYSICALLY. While this is true, they can still do them online. They can still get credit hours during the fall.</p>
<p>Also, by my assumptions, UF designed the majors for IA to WORK for IA, so that no catchup would have to be made. Think about it for a second. If UF IA students had a huge potential to be unable to finish their credit hours and would have all of these major disadvantages and difficulties because of it, why would the state approve of it? Not only that, but you’re forgetting UF is one of the top schools in the NATION. They know what they are doing. Plus, as I have said before, UF may reserve classes for IA students. “RESERVE” is the key word. This basically means, guaranteeing them spots in certain classes.And if anything, certain required classes CAN be done online. And if all else doesn’t work, IA students can figure something out with their academic advisors (and they will receive the same academic advising as the traditional students).</p>
<p>Thing is IA students have not experienced the college experienced as you brought up. However, as you also agree, they chose to have a unique experience, the college experience and university enjoyment depends on the student. I mean, there are traditional students who just don’t like the college life and simply want to finish and graduate as fast as possible. But then there’s the students who take their time, explore the campus, and really try to have a good time. It’s all about the personality.</p>
<p>You state that you doubt UF will do anything to make IA exclusive resources but…UF already has a dedicated IA team with advisors, a director for each class, and etc. </p>
<p>IA students can still take coursework in the Fall, just not ON CAMPUS. And as more majors are designed to work with the IA schedule and program, more will be added. Class space is out of the question since UF can reserve courses for the IA students. Here’s what’s most important: If traditional students can complete their degrees in Fall and Spring, while not doing anything during their college Summers (except for the 9 or so credit hours required during one summer), then it’s DEFINATELY possible for IA students to complete their degrees in the Spring and Summer with a minor in innovation (or something like that :P).</p>
<p>One more thing: IA students have a big advantage with internships/jobs in the Fall. Think about it, what are most college students around the nation doing during the Fall? Well, they’re going to school. Most of them that is. IA students on the other hand, should not have much of a problem finding internships/jobs.</p>
<p>Now, let’s think about what critical tracking progress is: It’s the minimum requirements to a degree. MINIMUM. If a student is off track, what happens? They have to meet with an advisor. From there, the advisor and student will work things out to where they can get back on track. This is where, in my assumptions, class reservations for IA students come in. They can take extra courses during the terms they can take classes, to make up and get back on track. Traditional students can take extra classes throughout the course of their terms correct? So why can’t IA students do the same? Fact of the matter is, THEY can, just not in the fall. So making up is a possibility, but there is a draw back…it would mean more work load for that student during the terms. But, regardless, they still can make it up. This you agree with, no?</p>
<p>Also, correct me if I am mistaken, but if a student reaches the semester hour limit, I thought they could STILL continue college, but, they simply would recieve no more financial aid?</p>
<p>Also there is one thing I will say. When there are many dual enrollment/Ap credits a student comes in, that means the time frame to complete their degree becomes smaller. Thus, finishing the degree and squeezing all of the required classes for it within the small time frame can become near impossible.</p>
<p>This is something both IA and traditional students have to face if they are coming to the university with an abundance of AP/Dual Enrollment credits. Given that isn’t the case, then students should be more than capable of completing the required classes within the time frame.</p>
<p>But still, please answer my question in my previous post about semester hour credits ^_^</p>
<p>I might be mistaken, but doesn’t USNews use the Fall freshman profile to determine the selectivity of a university? The cynic in me suspects that this may be a way to boost income without affecting the USNews ranking.</p>
<p>If I request a term change from IA, does that mean its affecting my admission to UF altogether? Does that mean if I DON’T get the term change granted, they withdraw my admission!?</p>
<p>Can we all give mystifire a round of applause for seeing how it really is?</p>
<p>Mystifire’s posts are old, outdated, and full of speculation even for the time they were posted in this thread lol</p>
<p>We were thrilled to find out my daughter was accepted to UF, but never realized that she was locking herself into the Innovation Academy by checking the little box that asked if she was interested in other terms. There was nothing to indicate this was taking her out of the running for regular admission in Fall 2013. </p>
<p>After reading all of the material and looking at the majors offered, we’re perplexed that the degree programs offered are quite generic and nothing near the academic level of what she intends to study (Epidemiology/Microbiology.) </p>
<p>To us, it feels like they’ve created UFJC and are forcing students into an off cycle, lesser degree program. </p>
<p>I’m also curious to see how many in-state applicants were pushed to this schema vice higher revenue, out-of-state students. </p>
<p>We feel like we’ve been duped and wasted an opportunity to get into her preferred in-state college because of a vague application check-box.</p>
<p>Ohio Wesleyan just moved to the top of the list since they are offering a decent scholarship and have the exact degree program she’s looking for. </p>
<p>BuhByeGators…Go Battling Bishops! (That’s going to be hard to shout at the games.)</p>
<p>Saber, Guarantee if you ask any IA student they will most likely say they would rather be in fall than summer. It places kids and who have checked the box of without doing their research on a brand new experimental program for undergrads. People who complain about IA that are currently in it 1) didnt have to go to UF 2) Chose to click the button 3) probably didnt do the research to insure what they were getting into was what they wanted. So he is right about everything he said. His info is not outdated because this is still the first year IA is running</p>
<p>I’d agree except, mystifire posted when barely any info about IA was released. Actually, mystifire’s info conflicts with official UF info. Say what you want, it’s outdated. I understand some inaugural students complaining they didnt know they were applying when they checked the box, since it looked like a “request more info” box…but the new admits were told exactly what IA was. They knew it was applying, there was a dedicated section in the app, they had a website and staff directory to resort to. I hang out with IA kids because I have friends in the program lol. The majority of my IA friends would rather stay in IA because they are getting opportunities other uf students aren’t. TEDxUF just happened, and it’s an event you have to APPLY to, to get invited. If you were in IA, and put IA, it was like an auto-invite right there. That’s a benefit IA students have over regular. It’s things like that my friends are getting and the fact that, even the ones tht hated it before, are beginning to see value in the program and the benefits of it. Now of course, I’m speaking from the perspective of just having friends in the program, but from what I hear from them and what I SEE, its not like how you’re saying it at all. </p>
<p>I like how you state a lot of your post as facts when much of it is speculation. I at least have a backing for my info, a legit source for my claim. You just say “no, this is how it is, and simple,” without proper source</p>
<p>Sabertooth, do you find that the IA kids hang out together, regardless of major? We checked the box and are, in general, excited about the idea of IA because UF’s campus seems very big and overwhelming. My daughter is not the type to go Greek (My husband and I both were, and that was where we found a place to belong, and I was also in a tiny major), and thus, I think IA would give her sort of a group to be in. However, I am starting to have some worries such as would she ever be able to have a boyfriend, considering she’d be on a completely different schedule than 95% of people at her college. Have you found IA to be a close-knit group.</p>
<p>All my friends in it say it’s like a mini-fraternity/sorority. They say that the whole cohort is like a little family, regardless of major. It really does make you feel more like a student than a number. There’s a backstage pass info. on the IA website that you can sign up for, it’s basically like a “admitted IA student/interested in IA” orientation session of sorts. I’d sign up to get your questions answered.</p>
<p>Also, if your daughter got a boyfriend on the regular Fall/Spring schedule, and they had true love, it would work out regardless. Marriages with a wife’s husband overseas, on the other side of the world…still work out.</p>
<p>Like others in this thread, my son received his IA admission. When he applied, he thought the program sounded interesting but didn’t realize the limitations on terms/majors - shame on him. Although I agree there are positives such as Sabertooth mentions, my biggest concern is lack of available majors. It’s common for Freshmen (and beyond) to switch majors - it’s hard enough to decide what you want to do with your life when you’re 17 or 18, and you’re locked in to a select number to choose from within IA.</p>
<p>So my question is - a few have asked if requesting a term change essentially counts as “declining” the IA offer and could hurt your overall admission to UF. I have not seen anyone provide an answer to this yet. Does anyone have experience with term change (decision process, accepted/denied, etc.) from the 2012-13 academic year?</p>
<p>Sabertooth, yeah, we went to the Backstage Pass thing and it was, I have to say, not very informative. A lot of information that is readily available here or on other websites and then a Q&A session where people asked questions such as, “If my daughter has a lot of AP credits, would they still transfer if she’s in Innovation Academy?” (Like, really, why WOULDN"T they?). It was very short and people were rushing out to make the tour. It would have been nice if it had been longer. However, it was the first one they’d done so maybe future ones will be better. It would be great if they could think up a list of REASONABLE (meaning not specific to just one student) Frequently Asked Questions and went over it. Also, they made it sound like what you really needed to do, if you want to fit in in Innovation Academy is move to Gainesville in fall semester anyway, take your online classes from an apartment in Gainesville, and join all the clubs ahead of time so you can be involved in campus life. Unfortunately, that’s just not going to be a possibility for my daughter, and it left me wondering, if UF sees it as such a huge problem not to be in Gainesville fall semester, then why have a program that doesn’t start until spring?</p>
<p>But it is heartening that you think it is like a fraternity because, yeah, that’s what we were hoping. The large college atmosphere of UF worries me for my daughter, and so, unlike the people who are disappointed about getting into IA, we really wanted it. Honestly, you are more informative than the information session. So thanks!</p>
<p>Hi Alex23, I actually worked at Backstage pass.</p>
<p>Anyways, our FAQs are formulated from questions we have seen most often, dating back from the inaugural class to now. If you have another FAQ suggestion, tell us and we will add it. We don’t simply come up with the FAQs on the spot or think about random FAQs; FAQs are added as they come, that’s why they are “FREQUENTLY ASKED questions.”</p>
<p>I stayed at a backstage pass session until 4 pm answering questions once. The main idea of backstage pass is to go ask questions and get a face-to-face presentation/student interaction. It is primarily so that concerns and questions like the ones you state in your post, can be addressed and answered. It is for that reason the presentation itself is short. We had it short on purpose so that the majority of the time can be used for talking to the students, director, and faculty regarding questions and concerns. The presentation was just there to give a basic rundown of what IA is, whereas details could be addressed in the Q&A.</p>
<p>And we never said to fit into Innovation Academy that you needed to move to gainesville in fall. We simply advised it because it’ll help transitioning easier, which makes sense since you’ll know where all the buildings are and what clubs and organizations there are before Spring. I didn’t move to gainesville in fall, I stayed home until Spring, and I fit in just fine, both with my cohort in IA and students outside of IA (in UF, in general). Even more so, I’m super involved at UF in the Spring and I transitioned quite easily.</p>
<p>We do NOT think it will be a huge problem to not be in Gainesville during Fall semester. Actually, it won’t be a problem at all. However, we still wanted to acknowledge the benefits of staying in Gainesville during the pre-enrollment Fall semester. If you can afford it and you are able to do it, go for it, because it will give you a head start in extracurricular involvement at UF. That massive “Fall extracurricular head start” is an opportunity ONLY innovation academy students have. </p>
<p>My biggest advice to fitting in with the Innovation Academy is to join the facebook page and get to know the cohort. That’s the best way one could start fitting in well with their cohort in the Innovation Academy. Going to Gainesville in pre-enrollment fall is simply advised so that you get a better grasp of UF. Why is it so heavily advised? Again, it’s an opportunity only an IA student can get. There is no other UF student that can be as involved as an IA student in the Fall without having to be a full time (@ 12 credits) student during their first fall.</p>
<p>To be frank, everyone there at the Backstage pass was prepared to answer almost any question, all that was needed was someone to simply ask it. Many things you state as a concern in this thread could have been answered in a matter of two minutes or less, if you asked them at the Q&A session. Many parents and students stayed during the Q&A session both the first and second time, and every question they asked, we were able to answer. </p>
<p>Of course, I understand if you wanted to rush to the tour. We specifically have backstage pass presentation end at 1:50 pm so that you have time to get to the tour (and we had it so that you can either stay for a Q&A session or go to the tour). It would be preferable to have the Backstage Pass earlier so that you guys that go to the sessions can see the presentation, stay at the Q&A session for a good amount of time and still make it to the campus tour, however, 1:00 pm-1:50 pm was the best viable time to have the Backstage passes (you have to take into account that we have to find the right time when New students and family, certain faculty, the director, participating backstage pass student representatives, and etc. can all come). 1:00 pm- 1:50 pm worked best for the majority. Anything later or earlier would’ve had some kind of time conflict.</p>
<p>I hope this clears things up, please feel free to contact me (you can PM me if you want) for anymore info. </p>
<p>@BullwinkleJMoose: That’s an understandable concern. I will say this however, IA is a program geared to prospective students (students who have some general or definitive idea of what they want to do). It’s not for everyone, which is why you indicate interest as opposed to admissions randomly placing students into IA. Students who have no idea what they want to do are explorative. And by no idea, I mean, literally NO idea, as in they don’t know if they want bussiness, medical, engineering, journalism, communications, or anything, they are completely explorative. For these type of students, I wouldn’t recommend IA because where their interests may end up being is near completely unpredictable. If student DOES have a good idea however, and has let’s say, one or two “backup majors” offered in IA, I would advise to go ahead and do IA. Furthermore, IA offers the most popular majors at UF. If there’s a particular major (not offered through IA) one IA student wants, then they can work with the specific college to bring the major to the program. And finally, students in college normally won’t change their major more than three times (which is pushing it. Usually once should be enough). That’s because once you hit junior year, you get into the core of whatever major you are studying. Switching into another major means a lot of time and money going to waste, because many credits and classes will not transfer to the next major. Students mainly switch majors as freshman and sophomore, usually at the end of a semester. Switching majors too often will often mean some classes will not be counted for the major currently being studied, so again, that’s time and money wasted.</p>
<p>Also Alex23, if you could, please PM me in specific all the things you thought were wrong with Backstage pass. For the most part, students and families walked away satisfied and the evaluation forms we asked for them to fill out was filled with excellent reviews, however we would still like to know who was not satisfied with their experience (and why that is so). Thanks!</p>
<p>Was gonna give an epicly long reply but GatorWinner23 already did that lol, nice. One thing you forgot to mention @GatorWinner23, was @BullwinkleJMoose’s concern on term chance. @BullwinkleJMoose, don’t worry, if you apply for term change, you aren’t cancelling your offer of admission as far as I know. However, term changes are only granted if there’s some kind of extreme or special situation, just like with appeals. They aren’t given out left and right, you need a viable reason regarding health or family situation or something.</p>
<p>Also, guys, College Confidential IS NOT a source of information. Honestly, the site is a joke. If you guys want a proper source of information, contact UF directory directly and ask your questions to them. Get answers from UF itself, not a website full of speculation and people who spread rumors/false info. (example, my favorite to say the least: The silly “it’s easier to get into Summer B than Fall” phrase)</p>
<p>Gatorwinner, about what percent of IA students do you think came to Gainesville in fall? I just feel like I can’t be the only parent who wants my 17-year-old daughter’s first experience living away from home to be in the relative safety of a college dorm, rather than an off-campus apartment. You like to drop your kid off at the dorm and know that everyone else there is sort of in the same boat. But if that’s not the case, and everyone else has already been there a semester and knows one-another, that isn’t going to be great for her. At this point, we’re still considering other places even though UF was her first choice, due to this very issue. I’m just not sure it’s worth giving up a normal freshman experience. And I’m not seeing a huge advantage or opportunity to getting to go to Gainesville as an outsider in the fall when everyone else (including everyone she knows who is going to UF) is taking classes at UF. Sorry to be negative. IA was her first choice, but this issue never occurred to either of us. </p>
<p>The Preview: I don’t know how it went with the other sessions, but the one I attended had three speakers, then Q&A from the parents for about 10-15 minutes. Then, it sort of broke up because of the tour (We actually did not leave – we took the tour at 10), and there was a big group up front asking questions. My daughter did stay but eventually gave up. It would just have been nice if there had been a longer time scheduled for Q&A. I would have wanted to hear the answers to everyone’s questions (And doing it as a group would presumably make it easier for you guys too, by cutting down on repetitious questions). Maybe schedule the meeting for 12 or advise people to do the 10:00 tour. The fact that so many people stayed after sort of showed there was a need for a longer session.</p>
<p>My main question, which I did ask, was about the dorm situation for IA. Last year, apparently 300 spots in Beaty were set aside but only 300-something students ended up enrolling in IA (According to the Gainesville Sun article). So, presumably, everyone who wanted to be in Beaty got it. I trust this will not be the case this year, that they accepted more people for IA in order to get the 500 they wanted. The answer to my question was that they’d work it out somehow, but I really want to know what happens to that 301st person who wants Beaty. My daughter applied very close to the November 1 deadline and, thus, paid her housing deposit in November, probably after a lot of people (Again, never occurred to us that it made a difference when she applied – I have learned for my second kid!). Because of my concerns above (everyone in the same boat), I wouldn’t want her to be shut out of Beaty and be in, say, Broward with a bunch of people who’d already been there a semester. But I really didn’t get much of an answer to my question because, as I said, no one knew because it hadn’t come up last year. And it sounds like they won’t be getting dorm assignments until sometime in fall, so basically, she has to turn down all the other colleges that accepted her and take on faith that she’ll end up in the IA dorms. To me, being in the dorm with everyone else from IA is a big advantage and, again, because we are still deciding, I’d like to know EXACTLY what they’re going to do if more than 300 people want those spots in Beaty. Will there be more spots than the 300? Is there another specific dorm that will take on the overflow, or will they be randomly assigned anywhere there is an opening?</p>
<p>So if you’re in a position to research that issue, that would be great. Thanks.</p>