Can you guys evaluate my rising 10th grader
Supporting info: D rising 10th grader in West Texas
- Finished 9th grade in top 1% of her class
- May 2018 SAT 1490 700R/W 790M (taken while in 9th grade)
- Will have completed before she graduates: AP Calc BC (11th grade), AP Physics 1 (11th), AP Chem (11), AP Physics C (12), Multivariate Calc (12th at local juco), AP lang (11th), APCS (10th), APUSH (10), AP Lit (12th), AP GOV/AP Maco(12)…she has a 5 in APHG. , .may add if schedule allows AP STATS , AP Psych.
- Has taken 2 years Foreign lang (1st year unweighted, 2nd year weighted) NO DESIRE to continue FL.
- Shooting for NMF and will most likely attain it. (self motivated introverted kid).
- NO DESIRE for volunteering or leadership of any type.
- EC: 4 years of DEBATE, 4 years of Academic Octathlon, Decathlon (our 11/12 grade team won state and 2nd place in nations 2017/2018 , 4 years computer science classes
Camps: non competitive camps: UT Dallas coding camps: Python, Java, Java OOP, UT Austin Debate skills intensive, UIL debate and coding( no awards) (this is what she has so far).
The big take away, Test scores will most likely be above 75%, GPA high (but worry about only 2 years FL), no volunteering or leadership. Essay will be awesome, with the whole summer spent on it.
What I am trying to find out is: If she has the GPA, rigor, Essay, rank, test scores, but NO volunteering, NO leadership and ECs that are so/so. What are her chances?
It’s hard to guess with holistic admissions. The better your grades, the less important become the non-academic factors, but to what degree?
Volunteering is something UF puts a lot of weight on. Almost all of the in-state kids do at least 100 hours of volunteering, in order to earn the Bright Futures scholarship. Is there anything she likes? even tutoring? I don’t think it’s a game stopper, but grabbing some volunteer hours is a low hanging fruit…
Otherwise, what UF cares about in ECs, is commitment. They want to know how much time and effort was put into each “EC”, vs normal school work. It’s better to be in Debate for 4 years, than in 5 or 6 clubs for only 1 year each. How much time does she put into Octathlon and Decathlon? How much coding does she do out of class? Has/will she create her own apps, website, etc.? Perhaps she volunteered to setup/administer Websites for other groups/clubs? Working a part time job also looks great.
Both of my kids got in with only 2 years of a Foreign language. I think that’s all UF really wants.
Good Luck!
Edit: FYI: FSU, UCF, USF, NCF, etc. (all schools offering the OOS Benacquisto scholarship), are far less “holistic” than UF. Her EC’s are more than good enough for those schools.
@Gator88NE , thank you so much for replying. You were the one I hoped would. I had her read my post and yours and she agrees she can and will start volunteering!!! You gave me the info I was looking for! Thank you so much!
@BingeWatcher , I think no one knows how Benacquisto will affect UF admissions as the program gets better known going forward. On the one hand, the state is paying Benacquisto, not UF, so it behooves UF to take all the NMFs it can get its tiny little Gator arms around. On the other hand, as more OOS NMFs apply, UF can get choosier. Traditionally UF does not seem to take a lot of OOS, so if they keep that mindset it will get harder to get in OOS. I think your kiddo would be an easy admit to FSU and the other FL universities, if they fit her intended major. My OOS NMF son is starting FSU next week and so far the school is treating him VERY well. Also look at U of Miami, Fla, as Miami is stacking Benacquisto award of about $22,000 on top of its Presidential and Singer scholarships.