UCF Application questions/chances

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Central Florida
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<p>Hey guys!</p>

<p>Okay, I'm new to this site, but I wanted to ask a few questions about the University of Central Florida application process.</p>

<p>So, I started and finished my application along with my personal statements. I took my SATs and plan on sending them in. But when should I send my application in? I have emailed my teachers for recs and asked for my counselor to send in my transcript, but I have not recieved an answer. I heard that the your chances are better if you apply early and I really want to hit the "submit the application" button on my UCF application. However, should I wait until I have everything before I submit the application? Or is it okay to submit the scores, college app, and personal statements now and transcripts and recs later?</p>

<p>Which would you suggest? (would appreciate students who have been through the process as well!)</p>

<p>Oh and I was wondering if I had a chance at the school in the first place</p>

<p>Here are my stats:</p>

<p>I have a 4.04 weighted gpa (not sure what my unweighted is...maybe a 3.6? gotta ask)
I'm in the top 10% of my class
My first SAT score: 1660 (terrible, I know)
My second SAT score: 1750
First SAT combined CR +M is a 1030
Second SAT combined CR+M 1160</p>

<p>My highest combined score across all tests is a 1790/2400</p>

<p>I am also taking the ACT this September and hoping for something between 27-30</p>

<p>I was going to take the SAT, but I am afraid the scores will go down. I haven't prepped much and I mean, my improvement has been good with the CR and Math, so I don't want to risk it.</p>

<p>I am also in 4 or 5 clubs in my school. (Z-Club, FBLA, SOAR, NHS, used to be in Chorus (scheduling problem))
In chorus, we performed at Lincoln Center and Disneyworld (pretty cool, I think)</p>

<p>Oh and I am OOS</p>

<p>So do you think I have a chance to get in? When should I apply? Is it okay to submit my app in pieces? </p>

<p>Hope to get an answer! Thanks! =]</p>

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<p>You are a great candidate. They will only take the highest subscores of each section on the SAT, so don’t worry about getting lower scores if you take again. They will also recalulate your GPA using their own system. Basically they only count your core academics, plus give more weight for Honors, AP, etc. </p>

<p>I called and asked admissions about when to submit the application for either Summer or Fall 2010. They said we could submit anytime, but they will not even look at them until after Sept. 1st. I would suggest however, that you do not wait past Sept. 15th to submit. They will not process your application until your transcript/SAT/Guidance Counselor recommendation form arrives, so once you get all your paperwork in order, press that submit button! Good Luck!</p>

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<p>Alongwait- Thanks so much for the reply. Yeah, I understand what you mean with the SAT thing. However, would it be bad to not take it again? SATs are not my forte and the SAT math will only kills me. I am taking the ACT though! Also, I really liked my improvement and want to show this school this improvement. </p>

<p>Oh and that’s great with the GPA calculations considering I’ve been in mostly Honors and AP classes in high school. </p>

<p>So what you are saying is that I should not submit my app and scores now and my transcript later? Would it be bad if I just submitted a part. I read what you said about not evaluating my application until everything is in. I want to send in this part of the app just so I don’t have to worry about it later. Is that a bad idea? (i checked everything over and my application and scores are set)</p>

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<p>Your scores look great. My daughter is also OOS and was thrilled to be accepted to UCF. DEFINATELY apply early for your best chance at acceptance. If you’re OOS, your high school may not be in session right now, or the counselors are on a “summer” schedule.</p>

<p>On the first day back to school, visit your guidance counselor and explain that you want to apply ASAP, bring in a counselor recommendation form (I forgot if UCF has a form or the counselor prepares a letter), also, see if you can get one or two letters of recommendation from other teachers during your junior year. Also, have your guidance counselor send in your transcript with your final junior grades. DON’T wait for the first quarter of senior year.</p>

<p>My daughter’s file was complete and ready for review in early October. The guidance counselor sent in one package and included: counselor recommendation, 2 letters of recommendation, and a resume. By the end of October, she received a deferral (she applied to Summer because her scores were lower than yours). She turned around and sent in updated SAT scores from October, which were slightly higher. She sat on the deferred list until a few days before Christmas when they finally accepted her (we joke that it was the best christmas present ever).</p>

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<p>If you feel confident with your application and everything is in order, go ahead and submit!</p>

<p>Good luck and keep us posted!</p>

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<p>JerseyShoreMom-Thanks for the advice!!! Your daughter is from NJ then? So am I!=] Yeah, I tried to contact my teachers and counselor via email this week for transcript and rec information (2 of my teachers are writing recs this summer, i wanted them to directly send the recommendations via email to my schools), but they have not answered. I feel confident with the actual application and my essays have been rewritten about 3 times and now I’m pretty happy with them (wrote about why I wanted to apply and what I had to offer).</p>

<p>I would definitely submit my application now, but I do not have my transcripts or recommendations with me at the moment and that is why I am stressing out. </p>

<p>I have a question for you: How is your daughter doing at UCF? Coming from NJ as well, my mom doesn’t want me going that far. Does UCF support OOS students well financially? I have no idea how to convince my mom that UCF is more worth it than Rutgers. I am not even sure if I’ll get any scholarship money!</p>

<p>JerseyShoreMom…would it be bad to send in half my application now (like the app and scores) and my transcripts and recs later? Do you suggest I send in a resume? Or no?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>Most high schools have a skeleton staff that works year round. Perhaps go in and see if you can order your transcripts thru the Guidance office. Worth a try! You can def submit the application now, but they really need that transcript. I believe the counselor recommendation is something they send directly to UCF online. Or they can print it out and send. We are just now going thru it again this year with another student who has UCF on the list of potential schools, so we know what you are going thru!
JSM is right, you should have no problem!</p>

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<p>We are also applying to Rutgers! Too funny…</p>

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<p>alongwait-I wish my high school had that system. I think my guidance department doesn’t reopen till next week and that worries me! Hmm…so you don’t think I’ll have any problems if I submit my application now? I wish I had someone to read my statements though! </p>

<p>Yeah, I understand that the transcript is majorly important. Hmm…maybe I’ll call up my school and find out if my counselor can work something out. I even emailed her the link for the college recommendation! I also contacted UCF and they said I could send recs in any time and they aren’t required. I’ll have those in during the first week of September. </p>

<p>Thanks and I wish that student the best of luck! I am so worried I won’t get in (if only the SATs were not a big factor!)
Applying to Rutgers too? Are you a Jersey native? haha</p>

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<p>love2laugh- Submit your application now, whatever you have. The first day that guidance/teachers are back to school, go and request your transcripts and the guidance counselor rec. form (they can do it online). Send the SAT’s now. You will be fine, your stats should get you in right away. If you do everything now and they get the rest of your file gets completed by the first week in September, you should hear back by the beginning of October. My daughter applied in July and had her transcripts/rec. sent in August. She was accepted by mid September!!!</p>

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<p>seiclan- Thanks for your advice! I think I’m set on sending in the material I have tonight or tomorrow and I will be calling my guidance counselor tomorrow for transcript information! Thank you so much!</p>

<p>P.S…I wrote my personal statements and my question is that: do they scrutinize them as much as they say? I think they are quite well written, but I doubt they are FANTASTIC.</p>

<p>Yeah, but thanks for the advice!</p>

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<p>I really do not believe that UCF scrutinizes the personal statements. UCF is a HUGE school, the adcoms just don’t have time. They are very numbers oriented. Your GPA is good (safe for UCF) and your SAT is ok (should still get you in). You should have no problem IMHO. My DD got in with a 1140 SAT/3.7 GPA. The kids who were deferred from her school had less than the 1100 SAT and under a 3.3 GPA. Applying early (now) is also a big plus (it shows interest, motivation, and the school still has all the approx. 7000 freshman spots available).</p>

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<p>seiclan- I am glad I followed your advice. I have just now sent in my SAT scores and have sent in my application and paid the fee. I am so happy, yet nervous. I must have checked my profile 10 times before i submitted and yet I feel like “gosh, did i forgot”…I guess I’m just psyching myself out! Oh and I had a friend check over essays, so it’s all good. I’m a bit relieved now and thanks for sharing stats. I am quite close to your DD’s stats, so that makes me feel good. </p>

<p>However, do you understand the “myUCF” thing? It says I can check out my status and such, but when I looked up my PID and NID, it said the “lookup failed”. Hmm…do you think I should just give it some time (like a week or so) and try it again? Do they send us the myUCF information? Because it seems that UCF barely sends out emails about the application.</p>

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<p>D did not apply to Rutgers, she did not like the New Brunswick campus at all (too spread out over 3 towns). She did apply to Rowan and was accepted. She also applied to Purdue and was accepted, but UCF was her #1 school and as soon as she was accepted she did not pursue any of the other schools she applied to. She also wanted to go where she would meet NEW people and not run into her old high school crowd. She absolutely loves it in Orlando, the students, the weather, the campus, and especially the dorms (have you seen the dorm rooms in NJ - ugh - Montclair scared me, the dorms and common areas were so run down!)</p>

<p>You can show your mom the cost of tutition between schools in NJ and OOS tuition in Florida is only a little over $5k difference. UCF had her exact major (Event Management) but no other big public east coast schools offered it (D did not want a small LAC or private college), she wanted a big public with football.</p>

<p>Check your myucf in a few days, I’m sure it takes time for your information to get into the system.</p>

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<p>Interesting info JSM…we looked at Rowan online, but never saw the campus yet. I have a niece that goes to Montclair and was placed in a hotel the first semester since the dorms were full. This D likes the historic, smaller campuses, but also likes the feel of a big school (meaning around 6000+) and has no idea what she wants to major in. A school with a great Study Abroad program is important and knows that she would like to get out of FL and closer to the city. Unfortunately, most of the smaller schools don’t offer a broad spectrum of majors and have the action We just saw University of VT (perfect fit in almost every way, except for the fact of the frigid temps! She did not want to go there, due to the pretty radical climate change. I’m stumped, so she is applying to UCF, Flagler, UWF, FSU, West Chester of PA and Rutgers (but only because another cousin attends that school, I have not seen it yet!). Any other decent NJ/PA/NY schools that fit this criteria? I like UCF hands down and so does my other D. LOVES IT and can’t wait to go back on Monday for RUSH. The dorm rooms are pretty awesome too considering the choices at these other schools. Can’t ask for more!</p>

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<p>live2laugh - give it a couple of days to about a week until your stuff shows up on myUCF. You will not get much information from UCF. Just keep checking on your own. </p>

<p>This is where you look up your PID and NID.</p>

<p><a href=“https://my.ucf.edu/static_support/pidnidwrapper.html[/url]”>https://my.ucf.edu/static_support/pidnidwrapper.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>You will need to make a password for the PID and then you will be able to log on and check your admission’s status. When you do this, there will be a list of the items that UCF has on file (application, SAT scores, rec., transcripts).</p>

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<p>Also, I just looked up my DD’s old application stuff. She sent in her application on July 2nd and was able to log onto myUCF to check her status on July 7th. She learned that she was accepted online on September 14th. Hope this helps.</p>

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<p>I don’t remember exactly when my son sent in his application but I know that everything was not sent in all at the same time…I think the last piece to get there were the transcriptsfrom his high school which weren’t sent until mid August…he got the online acceptance about 10 days after his file was complete which was right before Labor Day last year.</p>

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<p>JerseyShoreMom- I am sure your daughter is not the first one to dislike Rutgers. Seems Jersey kids in general resent the school. I visited and found it pretty nice, but then again, it is the only big public school I visited. My mom has been willing to visit colleges in the area, but I don’t have much interest in them. I’m only really looking into UCF and Rutgers for my mom. I would look at the NYC schools, but tuition is ridiculous and I also cannot find my major at some of my favored ones. </p>

<p>Oh, I would not apply to Montclair only because I heard the same things you have just told me! And also, I showed my mom the tuition difference between UCF and Rutgers and she thinks that if they are close, I should stay close to home to minimize travel expenses. Apparently she expects to visit me loads during college. I love her, but I also love UCF. My dad seems to have less of a problem with me going to UCF. He knows I want a great college experience and he knows i can survive in another city if i so chose to. I just hope i get a better financial package at UCF than Rutgers, that way I could go to UCF. Does UCF give good financial aid JSM?</p>

<p>Oh and about your daughter wanting the whole new experience and meeting new people, I totally feel the same way. I know Jersey is way different from Orlando, but the experience must be worthwhile!</p>

<p>Also, since your D goes to UCF, how often do you visit her? Are travel expenses really expensive? Any tips on getting cheap tickets to visit family if I attend UCF?</p>

<p>Oh and thanks for the info about accessing myUCF</p>

<p>Alongwait- thanks for the info about accessing myUCF. I’ll check back in 5 or so days. I actually think I’ll call my guidance counselor tomorrow (because I forgot today)</p>

<p>Peacemaker- Thanks for the information!!</p>

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<p>If you are in South Jersey look up the Spirit Airlines website. They fly out of AC. I am a member and by paying $39.00 a year can get discounts for my entire family, as long as I fly with them. But you do not have to become a member. They have specials and coupons that they email me more than a couple times a week. I have flown to AC for $28with tax included many times. The airport there is small and easy too. These days most airlines are starting to charge for luggage, which Spirit does do. Not sure about Newark these days, but there are direct flights to Orlando.</p>