<p>XnyER, you are right about the boys-the ones I know anyway. The girls, for the most part, seem to know what they need to do from the get go. As for the grade inflation, I'm not sure exactly what you mean. She did go to a super competitive high school in south florida where a good percentage of students do go to UF. She did not get higher than pre-calc and took her APs in language, gov't.,history, psych. etc. Her major is journalism. She wrote for the paper and had several columns throughout the community. She held leadership positions and did everything right. She has made the president's list all of her semesters at UF and I am sure that they are thrilled to have her. Imagine if SSobick had his way. She wouldn't be getting BF and wouldn't even be there. Alternatively, many of the high SAT kids are getting C's there. </p>
<p>Does it make sense to take "smart," yet lazy kids? For what reason? To post higher SAT's for the school's rankings?</p>
<p>
[quote]
You guys are missing the point that some people just don't test well for a variety of reasons
[/quote]
UF has a lot of exams. By that logic the hard-working-poorly-testing type wouldn't do well at UF either.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The scores were not nearly this high when I was in high school
[/quote]
Couldn't that be due to an explosion in college-bound students? Let's not forget that the SAT was recentered in 1995 making my 1500 equivalent to a 1390 pre 1995. I'm assuming UF has maintained the same size for about 30 years when I say that 3000 of the top 10000 or so students in the state should have much higher stats than that same group 30 years ago.</p>
<p>
[quote]
GPA is so much more important and a student should not get bright futures based on SAT.
[/quote]
While I agree with your observation that SAT isn't a great indicator of success in college, GPA's are not standardized across all high schools unlike the SAT. I personally can't think of a fair metric by which to determine who gets scholarships, though I do think that the application process should require a lot of work.</p>
<p>For the SAT: The national average for 2008 is 1017. This is the national average for all test takers in the United States (see USA today article below). It is also around the 50th percentile.</p>
<p>A 970 on the SAT is exactly 47 points below the national average, and is roughly the 35th percentile for all test takers in the United States. </p>
<p>Overall I am at a loss for words in describing how pathetic it is that the Legislature sees fit to pay the tap for such substandard students. I can understand some students do not test well -- But atleast set the scholarship at the National Average.</p>
<p>Mom,
Your niece sounds like an outstanding person who will represent UF well in the future. Sounds like the selection comittee saw more than just an SAT score.</p>
<p>I could see how UF may ultimatelly benefit in the rankings by accepting her.</p>
<p>1- If she graduates within 6 yrs -That's 16% of the total score.
2- With a 4.7 gpa, she is more than likelly to 10% student- That's 8% of the total score.</p>
<p>I guess the rub is that if UF is really trying to rise in the USNWR rankings then accepting anyone with average SAT's hurts their rankings initially but that's only 6% of the total score.</p>
<p>What's odd is that per the common data set for last year, females were accepted at a 45% rate while males were accepted at a 38% rate.
I guess too many slacker boys applied?</p>