We just found out our daughter was not accepted into the UF Honors Program. She is a National Merit Scholar, with a 4.5 GPA, and 2140 SAT. Her essays were great, imho. We hoped she was in a good position to be accepted. Does anyone have any insight as to why she was rejected?
I thought I would get accepted too; Stats include A.A Degree, great leaderships, 4 clubs, 3 sports, and pretty good essays.
Accepted here with 35 ACT and 4.1. Essays seemed to be the largest factor in admissions.
@halexx44 I have a 31 ACT and 4.3. I guess it was the essays that got me even though I thoroughly answered each one 
I have a 2260 SAT and 4.59 GPA with outstanding extracurriculars. I also thought my essays were pretty solid. Seems like many students who were more than qualified ended up being rejected. I read somewhere that a girl got nearly a full-ride to Dartmouth but was rejected from UF Honors. Awkward to say the least, but I wouldn’t worry about it.
I had the same exact stats as @disneymel (2260 SAT, 4.5 GPA), and I guess my essays were decent, and I got in, but UF is so random sometimes, both in regular and honors admissions.
Interesting factoid: The ones reading and scoring the essays are current honor students. It’s a 1 credit honors class.
I got accepted with 31 act and 4.3 gpa. Essays were a big part of the decision. My friend who got into duke was rejected from the honors college at uf.
This thread is making me feel better, and worse, about my son not applying. He has solid stats with ACT/GPA.
He just didn’t have it in him to do any more essays. And he had a big paper due in College Comp 2 around that same time (he dual enrolls).
Congratulations to everyone who got in. Hume is the big perk imho! 
Some things to keep in mind with honors at UF.
They do get preference for enrolling in classes. However, if you’re coming into school with a large number of AP/IB/AICE/DE credits, you’ll likely to be registering for classes as a 2nd or 3rd year student. So it’s an advantage that may only last 1 or 2 semesters.
Honor’s advising is great (any additional advising is great!), but if you’re already set on your major, especially something like engineering, then your core classes are already determined (Calc1, then 2, then 3, then …), and it’s really just electives where you have your options.
A lot of honors students lose interest in the program, once they get into their major (as juniors). Pre-med, engineering, etc., are very rigorous programs, with their own set of ECs. There is no “honors” track for your major, everyone takes the same critical classes. In other words, you may find an “honors” version of Chem 1, but you’ll not find an honors version of Thermodynamics.
Here’s a listing of the Fall 2016 honor classes:
http://www.honors.ufl.edu/courses/CoursesFall2016.aspx
A lot of honors students also lose interest when they get involved in other ECs, like joining a frat/sorority, design clubs, etc.
Keep in mind that the honors program is an enrichment program: it adds to your experience and helps you become more engaged in campus. However, it’s not the only path to such engagement.
Good Luck!!!
Gator88NE thanks for your post. Although I have just recently joined CC, I have been following your advice for a while. My daughter has been accepted into the FSU and UCF honors programs. We are wondering if being in those programs would be better than regular admission to UF. While the honors program is only one path to becoming engaged in campus, it does seem like a great way to do that.
Honors at UCF would be “different” from UF. It’s (IMHO) makes a bigger difference to your experience at UCF. My daughter’s safety/2nd choice was UCF, and we would have done the honor’s college.
The biggest knock against UCF (once again, IMHO) is the lack of resources, as compared to UF. It has a far worse Faculty to Student ratio, and spends less $ per student. Check out the “Finance and Faculty” tab in the following comparison.
http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/search1ba.aspx?institutionid=134130,132903
Being in the UCF honors program goes a long ways to closing this gap.
I would think (just guessing) that FSU falls somewhere between UF and UCF, likely closer to UF.
Here’s the same comparison as above, but I’ve added FSU:
http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/search1ba.aspx?institutionid=134097,132903,134130
Good Luck!!
One thing to note regarding the advantage of honors- the awesome advisors! Additionally, we were happily surprised to find MANY of my engineering daughter’s classes offered in honors even now that she has 66+ credits under her belt and is considered a third year. She is still taking honors classes because they suit her. Yes they may be harder but they are also more engaging or so she tells me.
Gator88ne, any idea what the new lateral admissions process will look like and how many students are accepted?
Your posts have been so helpful!
Also, if you come in with 30 ap credits, is it worth the effort to try for lateral admissions?
Thanks!
@ufmomfriend The only thing I know is what’s on the website. They let a few folks in through lateral admissions, but I don’t think that many students apply. After that first year, many have found other activities (and friends) to fill their time. To be honest, I don’t know if I would recommend doing it after your first year (that’s the time it’s has it’s most benefit, from dorms, to advising), especially if the student has already found their “tribe” and gotten engaged with campus. In your student case, they likely will be a junior at the end of the spring term and will be dealing with the advisor in their major.
However, it’s still an option for the student who’s really interesting in pursuing the program. 
Thanks so much for your insight and time taken to answer.
You really have been so helpful on this site!
My older daughter was accepted to the honors program a few years ago but my younger daughter was not accepted this year (4.8 gpa and 33 ACT). They are both very similar in extracurricular activities. I also think it is heavily dependent on your essays. Initially we felt the best perk of the honors program was the honors dorm but it turned out to not be so great. It is a nice dorm but it is further away from the main campus than the other dorms and doesn’t really offer an advantage in my opinion. My older daughter participated in honors activities the first year but then stopped because she got involved in many other school activities and has thrived. There are honors sections of certain classes but many fill up really fast. I really don’t think it makes a big deal either way (honors or not). UF is a great school and it is what you make of it.
I agree it seems at UF it is not that big a deal,is none the less disappointing because of the opportunity it creates for engaged students looking for that kind of community to find each other. Interestingly, this is the first year students were allowed to apply as they wanted rather than needing to be invited. As a result 2700 freshmen applied for 700 spots. I wonder if that is more than usual. My daughter is a NMF, 4.8 gpa (4.0 unweighted) with 13 APs and number 1 in her class, we thought great essays, extra curriculars, leadership etc.She did not get in Two students from her school ranked much lower than her, one who probably got into UF by the skin of her teeth got in. One student is not involved at all at school, takes much less rigorous courses, etc. The other is more involved . Both have lower grades and test scores ( not even National Merit Commended). Knowing them personally I can’t imagine their essays could have been that earth shattering to make up that gap. Even her guidance counselor was shocked both that my daughter was rejected and that they were not… It just boggles the mind. It seems somewhat unfair that top students who are good enough to be offered a Presidential Scholarship and a full ride due to National Merit are not able to participate in the honors program where these others are. Having current students decide their fate also seems unreasonable. My daughter was accepted to Michigan, Berkeley, UVA, GA Tech (including their honors program) and several other great schools. She is also a McNair scholar for the University of South Carolina and a finalist for Presidential Scholars at FSU. .It is frustrating to feel like her state’s flagship school appreciates her less than most others she applied to. She was at a reception this weekend for Georgia Tech Scholarship recipients and met two other students who were also rejected from UF honors despite acceptance to MIT, UCLA and UNC. Go figure. Do you think they thought these top students weren’t planning to attend?? They say it is easy to start a club at UF, maybe our kids should start a Unofficial Honors Club and do their own thing! I am sure they could create something amazing and find a great faculty sponsor!
I understand everyone’s thoughts on this. I was accepted. I have a 4.8 gpa, am number 1 in my class of 760, 36 ACT, commended National Merit, a lot of ECs, a lot of top leadership positions, research positions, varsity athletics, performing arts, etc. A total of four kids were accepted from my school. The other three do not have anywhere near my credentials. This entire college process has been a whirlwind. UF is the only school I was accepted to. It is very hard to comprehend the college admissions process. Diversity seems to be a big buzz, unfortunately I was not born a female or into a diverse family, or a family of wealth or priviliges. I have not been handed anything and struggled throughout school to find good science programs which were not only for girls and minorities or costly. Please be thankful for what you have been blessed with and embrace the choices you do have.