So I screwed up and didn’t take any extracurriculars at any point in my time at high school. I’m heading into my senior year and freaking out a tad bit because deadlines are right around the corner. I got a 1390 on my SAT and have a 3.9 unweighted and a 4.5 weighted GPA (all 3 of my B’s were throw away electives) with a large chunk of my classes being dual enrollment courses. I was wondering if I’ve basically thrown away any shot of getting in, and if so would I have better shot finishing my AA at the community college I did my dual enrollment classes at and trying to transfer in .
You appear to have a good GPA and test score. You should figure out your UF/SUS GPA which only includes academic classes and gives you a .5 bump for honors classes and 1 point for AP/DE. You also have a good test score for UF. As mentioned, the big question is your extracurriculars. All the research says that UF is looking for well-rounded superstars. What did you do when you weren’t studying? UF wants to know, because they know that kids have enough time in their lives (and over summers) to do more than just schoolwork. Your competition is not kids who had better grades than you but rather the thousands of kids who have similar stats but also did 100s of hours of volunteer work or started their own business or spent 10 years in Scouting.
What can you do? If you have a good reason why you don’t have any ECs, then explain that. Did you have to work? Take care of younger siblings or a relative? Was there some other reason? Also, it’s kinda late but not too late do something. Are you working or volunteering this summer? Have you thought about offering your time and talents to a local organization? Are you in any clubs at school that you can energize? Can you turn a current hobby into something that helps others?
You should also be sure to work hard on your UF essay. It’s important and can make/break an application.
To answer the main question. In my opinion, your grades and scores appear to be average for UF. You are close to the middle. But if you submit an application with essentially no extracurriculars, then I think your chances are very lean.
Good luck and let us know what happens.
Are you a Florida resident? If so, you need to stop whatever it is you’re doing now, or not doing now, and find a way to earn 100 hours of volunteer service that can qualify you for a Bright Futures Scholarship. Your GPA and SAT score qualifies you to have your tuition covered by this program, but you must have those volunteer hours. I do not know if you can earn the hours all in one year, or if it has to be spread out over high school. That should motivate you as much, if not more, than having that as a void on your admissions ap.
When you apply, they may give you the option of starting at Santa Fe and transferring into UF with automatic admission. There is no problem with applying.
Agree with getting the 100 hours for BF. Also, look at your activities and you may find you do have ECs - church, clubs, work, online programs? I can’t believe you have nothing.
I’m basically good to go for BF. I’ve got everything done including the Volunteering hours. In regards to not having extra curriculars, I’ve helped my mother manage some of her properties (Making listings for each property and communicating with potential tenants) if that counts. I’m working on getting more extracurriculars done asap but that’s all I’ve got for now. Also, some potentially big details I left out on my post: I can easily get a higher score on the SAT as I got the 1390 with realitave ease and absolutely no study time, my GPA minus the non core classes is closer to a 4.65ish, and on top of that I’m also going to be graduating with a technical degree in Computer Networking from a technical school that is affiliated with my HS. Not sure if any of those increase my chances, but I felt like they’d be important to include.
ECs are what you do outside of class. It sounds like you have done quite a bit outside of class. ECs do not need to be officially sanctioned clubs at school.
Also, I think that the importance of ECs is overstated. ECs are how Harvard and Stanford differentiate between too many students all of whom have perfect GPAs and very high test scores. For other schools, GPA and SAT scores can get you a long way. You have a great GPA, and a good SAT score with a likelihood of getting a higher score.
One daughter entered senior year with no ECs at all. She still got into every university that she applied to (with some merit aid at most). I similarly think your chances are very good.
I would do some SAT prep and see whether you can raise your already very good score. Otherwise relax and do apply to UF.