<p>I'm a junior, looking to go to UF more than anything else. </p>
<p>While this site is full of all of the seniors posting their stats and whatnot, I was hoping one could answer my question.</p>
<p>How exactly does the UF Office of Admissions make their decisions? I mean, do they divide the applications? Are they split into groups? Does anyone know the process in which they choose who to accept? I'm just wondering how they go about looking at the applications holistically.</p>
<p>It’s all a numbers game. 10 years ago having a 3.0+ or about 23+ ACT (whatever’s equivlent for SAT) would’ve cut it, but now it’s completely turned around. People will say things like “oh well I might have a low gpa or not as high test scores, but my extracurriculars are really good” will soon realize that it’s not like that anymore. UF is definitely a good school, but people need to remember that there are plenty of other schools that are just as good as “gator nation”. </p>
<p>This year a record number applied to UF, mostly because the economy has hit florida hard and a lot of people who would normally go out of state now have to stay in Florida since it’s so cheap with things like bright futures. And with a lot of the public school systems in Florida being rated pretty low, aside from certain programs like IB, many people have ridiculously inflated GPA’s so selection becomes harder and harder.</p>
<p>So overall, if you have about a 4.0+ and 28+ you have a fair shot. Now if you’re out of state, that’s a completely different story.</p>
<p>I was just admitted to UF, so I guess I have some knowledge that may be useful to you. vox232 is right in saying that standards have definitely raised, especially this year. Several of my friends, who are in AP classes and have near perfect test scores did not get in. For example, my friend’s brother got in in 2010 with a mid 3 GPA and 2000+ SAT/34+ ACT. However, my friend, who had almost the exact same scores, got rejected today.</p>
<p>However, I do not agree that Florida schools are not up to par with the rest of the country. Florida is currently ranked #5 in the country. There’s just some weird and unjustified myth that Florida does not have good high schools. Personally, I go to a really good Florida public high school who has graduation and AP pass rates higher than most of the country.</p>
<p>Actually some of the info above is not entirely accurate. UF doesn’t use the same GPA as your High School because of all the differences out there - they take your core classes (Math, English, Science, Humanities, etc.), and use the standard A = 4.0 etc. They add 1.0 to each grade for AP/IB, and .5 for Honors classes. Don’t add electives like PE, Music and Woodshop because UF doesn’t use them in your GPA calculation. SAT and ACT scores are self-explanatory…rigour of your schedule counts (take the hardest classes your HS offers and do well in them), and try to show a focused passion as far as extra-curriculars vs. a bunch of general stuff. If your parents or siblings attended UF, it adds a little to the mix - no other family members count. Best advice, check the UF website for the average freshman stats each year, and good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks for all of this useful information everyone! Just one more question. I’ve heard that they divide the applications up into which term the applicants prefer and then choose them from those divisions. Is that true?</p>
<p>Can’t say on that - UF says it doesn’t matter which term you apply for, they consider all applicants at the same time and use the same standards. However, many people say you’re better off applying for Summer term as a Freshman, as there may be less demand to start in Summer and thus the threshold may be slightly lower. Know that this is just what people say, there is nothing officiial from UF on it, and if you ask them you’ll get the standard answer I noted above.</p>
<p>Yes, I’ve also heard that about the Summer term. And the admissions officer or spokesperson from UF that came to my school said it didn’t make a difference.
Thank you for your input!</p>
<p>I guess I was lucky here because I applied UF Summer B as an OOSer and I got in.
my scores are pretty low.
like a 3.4 gap UW at my school, prob a 3.8 UF weighted
1880 SAT score
but Im in the IB program
and I had a ton of extra curricular activities with a lot of volunteer and leadership roles
so I think that someone mentioned that UF takes into account your holistic part of your application.
I was really lucky cuz i didn’t think i would get in and I am so happy that I did.
Just looking at stats, the odds were against me
but my extra curricula’s helped a lot!
not to mention - I applied as an OOSer!</p>
<p>UF may claim that their admission standards are the same for Summer B, but I have seen stats that indicate that is a lot easier to get into Summer B than Fall. I don’t remember the exact stats, but the Summer B gpa and SAT scores were a LOT lower.
It was significant.</p>
<p>UF admissions are holistic. As you can see by one of the persons who posted his stats, you can get rejected even if you have good stats. You will PROBABLY get in with good stats, but there is no guarantee. </p>
<p>UF seems to place more emphasis on gpa than on test scores, but as someone else noted, gpa’s are sometimes inflated, depending upon the high school.</p>
<p>I am always amazed when some kid says he is #3 out of 500 in his high school class, but only has a 29 ACT, or 1800 SATs. Or a kid who gets “A” grades in his AP classes, but then can’t get a “3” on the actual AP exam.</p>
<p>UF has diversity concerns, and also geographic concerns as well. They don’t simply want to take Florida kids from just the Southeast Florida area.</p>
<p>So to a certain extent, it is a crapshoot, especially if you have good stats, but not great stats.</p>
<p>They also give a very slight weighting to parents or siblings who graduated from UF - people think other family members count (like grandparents, uncles, etc.) but it has to be immediate family only. That weighting is very small and only helps if all things are equal</p>
<p>It’s also important to note that UF admits applicants from every county in the state of Florida. I have friends there who know people who got in with GPA’s no higher than a 3.2. This is because there are some countys so small or have such a small school system that when you apply, they need the representation. So if you’re talking about a large populated area of Florida (like Orlando, Miami, Tampa Bay, ect.) then it’s going to be way more competitive than say somewhere up near the panhandle where it’s less populated</p>
<p>And yeah like everyone else has said, it doesn’t really matter what term you apply for because they view everyone’s app the same way without considering what term you put down. One of my friends who had fairly average stats applied and put down Summer B as his first option, but still didn’t get in (he wasn’t really expecting to though), so for those who put down fall as their first choice will just get bumped to summer or spring if their stats are less competitive, and those who put down summer or spring as their first choice because they have lower stats but still want a shot get the boot.</p>
<p>@vox232 So would it be wiser to just apply to Fall rather than Summer B?</p>
<p>And thank you to everyone else!</p>
<p>Regardless of which term you put down, you’re still going to compete against everyone applying. So if fall is your first choice then put that, because even if your stats wern’t competitive as the others who put down fall, it’s not like they’re gonna deny you right away, they’ll then consider you for either summer session or spring. And if you were still to get denied, that means that they looked at every angle possible to admit you, but still wern’t able to. Now if you were to put down summer first, then even if you’re stats were good enough for fall, they’re probably gonna give you summer since that’s what you put first and room is limited so it kinda helps them out. However, summer session definitely has it’s advantages, you get the feel and lay of the campus before any of the fall admits come so that way when school “officially starts” in August you’ll know all the ropes.</p>
<p>Okay! Thank you so much. I still have a few months to decide, but this has definitely helped me out!</p>
<p>No problem, happy to help! And good luck! UF is a great school with lots of opportunities, but there’s also plenty and plenty of other schools out there that are just as great.</p>
<p>Actually it’s best to choose the term you most prefer. Yes the average GPA and test score of Summer vs Fall is different, but far more students apply for Fall than Summer at Florida. The way UF makes decisions, they pick the students they will admit first, then look at the preferred term. So if you apply for Fall and you are not admitted, you would not have been admitted if you applied summer. If you apply fall and we admitted summer, you would have gotten that offer if you had applied summer. So when they start moving fall applicants to summer, who do you think gets moved the strongest applicants? No students who have great records but aren’t quite as strong as the other applicants. So yes, gpas and test scores between the two terms is different, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy for summer.</p>
<p>UFAssociate - do you work for UF, or is this more your theory/opinion? If you work for UF, thanks for clearing this up. If not, well…</p>
<p>@Stone: Regardless of whether UFAssociate is an official representative or not, what he posted is the fact of the matter… they tell you this at the campus info session and I think maybe online somewhere. I talked to an admissions officer when I was at UF and asked for clarification whether there was a difference in chances when applying to a particular term and her answer reflected exactly what UFAssociate posted.</p>
<p>Funny, it’s news to me and because I’m a UF alumni, we got to attend two private admissions sessions with the associate dean of admissions. These questions were asked and answered completely differently in those sessions, and they WANT legacy’s to get in because multiple family members will contribute more to the school over time…in any case my S is in, so I’m not overly concerned either way.</p>