<p>I believe they do need to be more selective in the application process. Currently we have ~22,000 people that apply to UF per year for ~6,500 spots. Some times legacy students are getting in because their parents can donate to the school. The statistics from the last application cycle showed that ~10,000 legacies applied. It will be interesting next year because the number of applicant are expected to go up because of the basketball success this year. Also we need to raise the standards to get bright futures. Its stupid that people get 75% bright futures for only getting 970 on the SAT’s. We also need to raise tuition. Tuition is rougly $3,000. For the amount of things that the school has to pay for $3000 isnt anything and cant support the 48,000 students here at UF. Some recommendations that I thought were helpful was to have a major airport in gainesville. Most science research faculty that have to fly to different conferences and universities have to drive to Jacksonville, Tampa, or Orlando international airport to get to their location. The one reason we aren’t able to get some of the professors we want. Benefits of all this is that, when UF reaches top 10 your degree will be worth more.</p>
<p>What are your thoughts?</p>
<p>Currently the top 10 public research schools are:
<p>where's william and mary on that list? they should be between unc and uc-sd on that list; at least us news has them right there. go uva and michigan! but in all seriousness, uf will definitely rise up in the rankings. this year, the selection process was WAY more competitive than before, with even more well qualified kids getting rejected (there were a number of IB kids from my school with over 1320 sats and 3.7 gpas getting rejected). uf also needs a more cohesive student body; uf is a solid school with a large campus, but the university just seems like a town with classrooms in it instead of a town with a university in it. look at michigan; the school is very large, but the student body is very unified and the campus life isn't as divisive as uf, probably due to the fact that michigan offers more on campus housing. uf's housing is dominated by off campus apartments and such, making it feel almost like a commuter school once you get there. i don't think rising bright future's standards will help; bright futures doesn't equal admission into uf, a good application does. i think uf needs some time to attract better students as it most definitely has in recent years and have a more cohesive student body and it'll make its breakthrough.</p>
<p>Very enlightening both of these above. The 970 SAT thing is right? If it is that is ridiculous !!!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe people use it as a resource not to try to hard -bright futures I mean. I do wonder if they are toughening up their selction process - how would we know? Both of you above have really valid points. I really agree about the dorm availability too and cohesiveness. Especially thanks for pointing out the article above - hadn't checked the papers recently. My reservations about class sizes just got worse though after that article.</p>
<p>The point of Bright Futures is that even if you don't score well on tests but do well in school and participate in the community then you should be helped in achieving a bright future. Someone with a score of 970 won't have much of a chance getting into UF but that person will have a chance to attend another Florida college at an affordable price.</p>
<p>As to legacies, I graduated from Florida as did my wife. My daughter applied to Florida for the coming year and was accepted with a 1310 SAT and 4.6 GPA (weighted). I wish she would attend Florida but she wanted to study Engineering at Northwestern. A lot of legacies live in Florida and have kids so, of course, there will be a large number of legacy applications. I don't think it means much.</p>
<p>As for Northwestern, there goes my bank account!!! (lol)</p>
<p>but for 75% all you need is a 3.0 WEIGHTED and a 970 ... thats it.... (including the required courses).... but for 100% you need a 3.5 weighted, 1270... and 75 CS hours... HUGE DIFFERENCE for about $1000 (ann 300 in books) more a semester in tutiotn... heh, not cool</p>
<p>UF will ultimately become a top 10 public university. We have the research, alumni giving, endowment, top Graduate programs, and high quality undergraduates -- etc.... The problem is that this lofty goal will take more time than most Gators want to admit. </p>
<p>I believe that it will take around 10 years to achieve this monumental achievement.</p>
<p>I dont believe the alumni giving is that much and we do have high quality UG's but when they come to UF A LOT of them dont become involved at all. In HS they were in 5 clubs, volunteering 150 hrs per semester, and doing things to build their resumes so they can get into UF. Once at UF many just want the freedom and party and just worry about classes and not do or join anything that will help UF in its goal of being top ten.</p>
<p>For all of you that can't get over the fact that you can get 75% for a 970 SAT and 3.0 GPA with Bright Futures, here is the philosophy (at least what I think the philosophy is):</p>
<p>The southeast in general is behind the rest of the country in terms of test scores and school performance. For a while, Florida was pretty far down there (and it still is to a degree), but because of the increasing amounts of kids who come from northeastern and midwestern schools to finish out their secondary career here, competition is increasing. And these smart northern kids usually want to go back up north for school as higher education is WAAAYYY better up there. There are only a coupld good schools in Florida, especially considering the exploding population. So instead of losing all these smart kids, Florida instituted Bright Futures to encourage them to stay here, with a ton of kids qualifying for 75% or 100% tuition. And a lot of kids are accepting, not because they particularly want to stay here (though the weather is nicer here lol) but because it is ridiculously expensive to go out of state and guidance counselors down here are only set up to help kids get into UF or FSU, then get Bright Futures. Many counselors have never even heard of Fastweb, and until this year, my school had NEVER had a Merit Scholarship qualifier, not even for the first round (but I broke that streak lol). So in the end, kids who could have gone to Yale, go to UF instead because their parents transferred to work down here, and they clog up the state university system down here, effectively making UF a "selective" school.</p>
<p>And since counselors rarely ever encourage students to apply for outside scholarships, kids don't get money from anywhere but Bright Futures. So without it, a lot of these kids wouldn't be going to college and would be stuck working at McDonald's or Disney.</p>
<p>And the difference between 75% and 100% is VERY dumb. Basically anyone and everyone can get 75%, as it only takes a 970 and a 3.0 (or the equivalent ACT score). And for 100%, it is actually a lot harder. You need a 1280 SAT or 28 ACT, 3.5 GPA, and 75 community service hours. And while that isn't that hard either, the major difference comes in trying to keep the renewable scholarship. For 75% you only need to keep a 3.0 GPA in college, but for the 100% you need to keep a 3.5 GPA throughout college. So if you get a 3.4 first term freshman year (which countless numbers of kids do), you lost Bright Futures and cannot get it back. So some kids have figured this out and just went for the 75% because they knew that they couldn't keep that GPA in college, or were afraid they couldn't.</p>
<p>That's just my two cents on the messed-up education system of Florida.</p>
<p>I heard it was a 3.0 to keep the 100% Bright Futures not a 3.5... are you saying also, that if it is a 3.5 and you get a 3.4 that you lose the entire Bright Futures or do you go from 100% down to 75%??
Carol</p>
<p>Erhswimming you are mistaken.. I just got this from the Bright Futures page</p>
<p>Florida Academic Scholars Award: (this is the 100% Bright Futures)</p>
<pre><code>* 100% tuition and fees + $300 re-imbursed for books per full time term
* Book re-imbursement for students less than full time will be adjusted accordingly
</code></pre>
<hr>
<pre><code>*Must MAINTAIN a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0
</code></pre>
<hr>
<pre><code>* Must be enrolled in at least 6 credit hours per term
* Does not cover remedial (prep) course
</code></pre>
<hr>
<p>Florida Merit Scholars Award (this is the 75% Bright Futures)</p>
<pre><code>* 75% tuition and fees
</code></pre>
<hr>
<pre><code>* Must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.75
</code></pre>
<hr>
<pre><code>* Must be enrolled in at least 6 credit hours per term
* Does not cover remedial (prep) courses
</code></pre>
<p>you also get put on academic probation if you don't make the 3.0 or 2.75 that you need. if you don't pull it up after two semester, you get dropped down to 25% lower, i think. it doesn't just go away, though.</p>