UF Honors College

Daughter was auto admitted into Honor program and undergraduate research scholar program with 2K scholarship. Does anyone know about the undergraduate research scholar program?

Gator2022, see post #27 above for link to UF explanation of URSP.

Thanks! Daughter is very excited about the undergraduate research scholar program.

Looks like FSU has changed their Honors College process as well. From what I recall, any admitted student was able to apply at both FSU and UF. Now, FSU notes on their web site that Freshmen must be either recipients of the Freshman Scholarship (in-state students), the full OOS tuition waiver, or National Merit Finalists. Is UF doing something similar?

Was the honors information on the initial acceptance screen or located somewhere else

@uga1990 It is on the acceptance screen. If you are in Honors, the second paragraph will tell you that you are.

Does anyone know if the $2000 honors scholarship is renewable for all 4 years? Is the URSP a program that pays any stipend? trying to compare apples to apples with Provost award son was offered at UCF. thanks

From the UF Honors FB Group:
Hi all! Here’s some info that is brand new for this year’s class:

The Office of Admissions selected a small group of seniors who fell into a certain standardized test score range for the Admissions Honors Scholarship which includes auto-admission into the Honors Program. We are still continuing with our regular admissions process into the Honors Program – that application opened today and will be available through March 1.

We will be contacting the admissions honors scholarship recipients with more information about the Honors Program as soon as we have the list from Admissions. Those students will still need to confirm their participation in Honors by May 1.

We don’t have any of the logistical info on the admissions scholarship, so anyone who has questions about that should contact Admissions directly. Hope that helps!

Hey all,
I also got that second paragraph in my acceptance letter, but even after reading all I could find on the URSP webpage, I still have no idea what it really is. It is just that we take some extra courses, then eventually end up with a mentorship for a research project? As far as I can tell, that’s not so much “accelerated” as simply the usual research plus extra courses before it. Anyone know more about it?
Also, for the eventual mentored research project, would that be a project that the faculty is working on or would it be an original project?
Thanks.

Honors College application is now available, due by March 1st:

http://www.honors.ufl.edu/prospective/admissions/freshmen-honors-program-fhp/freshmen-application/

The auto admit based on standardized score thresholds makes sense when you see the test scores of those who got in that way. Interesting.

I “think” that the $2,000 is $500/yr. That is what is needed for the National Merit Scholar - Florida Benacquisto scholarship. Presidential scholarships should be something different.

How many UF honor students are accepted into the program?

I’ve seen the number 700/year somewhere.

@Kelman13 I also believe it is just 2000k.
However, the 500/yr national merit scholarship is something different. I’d expect to receive both (and the much more significant Benacquisto scholarship)

I’m curious to find what the cut-off was for SAT or ACT for the direct-admit into the honors program, if you don’t mind posting the scores. Also, UF has sent invitations to a Top 10 Reception following the Florida Days events, and I’d be curious what the cut-off was for an invitation. (My son had 1560 SAT and adjusted GPA over 5.) Is it reasonable to assume that the Top 10 Reception implies the top 10% of the admits?

Yes, my son was invited, and the honor of the invitation has made him willing to attend Florida Days, even though he is almost certainly going to go to UF anyway. If it’s top 10% of the admits, that’s about 1400 kids. I wonder how many of them were NMF, since Florida has about 800 NMF this year. I suspect most of them applied to UF, even if it was only as a backup. UF typically gets 120 - 150 NMF to enroll each year, so the acceptance by this group has room for improvement. Because the Florida NMFs can go to UF for free with the Benaquisto Scholarship (any NMF in US could this year, but that’s not guaranteed next year), and because UF is the top college where the Benaquisto can be used, I’m somewhat surprised that the number of NMFs that attend UF isn’t higher. Perhaps UF could increase the number by offering Honors direct-admit to all of them. (Oklahoma had 320-some NMFs last year enroll, but they have a nationwide scholarship program.) I agree with an earlier post that the Freshman Honors Program can be a good recruitment tool, especially when if offers meaningful benefits and recognition to its members. The combination of the Benaquisto Scholarship and a superior honors program would be hard to turn down for students (and parents) whose alternative is an expensive private school or expensive OOS public school. Save the money for grad school!

Maybe UF will target NMFs with a mailing to highlight the availability of the Benaquisto Scholarship now that NMFs have been named. I know a parent whose child was NMF last year, and they didn’t know about the scholarship.

@oldandwise How did you get the invitation to the Top10 reception?

My D also got invited to the Top10 reception after Florida Days. The invitation came via email yesterday. I have a son who is a junior at UF and he was also a NMF and is in the honors program. He did not receive any of these newer perks. I have to admit it definitely has affected me and my D in a positive way, and UF has risen in her eyes. The Benaquisto Scholarship is amazing. My S has been able to support himself on it. He is completely free of any financial stress ( he is also careful with money). Someone asked about stats. Some basic stats for my D are 1580 SAT, 4.0 UW, 13-14 AP’s and NMF. D is not sure about UF yet, but it is in the running.