I get that way of thinking - I have a kid in high school (not a senior) who is in an accelerated curriculum and has straight A’s. They think they want to go to UF in part because both their parents work on campus and they understand where things are. Who knows whether or not that will happen = I continue to talk about keeping options open and finding their best fit. Although after watching To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before part 3 - also adding in - there is no way we will be able to afford NYU.
Holistic isn’t just the essay - it is extra curriculars/leadership/taking advantage of opportunities, number of academic courses in high school, accelerated courses senior year, awards etc.
I’m saying students admitted as traditional campus students are admitted regardless of major. After campus decisions are made, we look at major to see whether we may be able to offer PaCE or another specialized program like Gator Engineering at Santa Fe College.
UF has their favorite Florida feeder schools when it comes to acceptance. This is data from high school Class of 2019. To sure how large most of these schools are but my daughter attends Stanton College Prep and they usually have a class of 320-360
Are those numbers for all four years or just entering class of 2019? No way do over half of the students from any college going to a university as rigorous as UF. However, 49 out of 340 is quite possible at a highly accomplished HS.
Just checked:
From class of 2020, 75 out of 359 grads (21%) at Stanton Prep enrolled in UF. It was an incredible yield of 59%. Others with seven or more grads went to UNF (59), FSU (40), UCF (35), USF (17), FL State College of JVille (15) and FAU (7). Only four went to The U (of Miami). Also interesting that zero went to Georgia, Virginia, UNC or Vandy. Hardly any leave the state. And 34% of the class is of Asian descent. Strikes me as high for Jacksonville but shows my ignorance of the area. Jacksonville population is 4.5% Asian.
Kudos to Stanton Prep for the great detail. Few schools provide such detail.
My student is in his first year at UF. His first semester was all on-line except for one lab class. He was thrilled having a one credit class in person. This semester, he has 3 of his 5 classes in person and it has had a profound impact on his opinion of UF and the college experience in general. Many of the faculty were scheduled to teach in person but flat out refused to do so. The faculty at UF have far too much influence and will subordinate your students education in favor of their demands. This semester has been an eye opening experience.
But to your question, UF, in my opinion, offers far too many on-line classes (pre-Covid) and is not deserving their high ranking for that reason. If you are in the business program/school, most of your classes will be on line. Having majored in business myself, I think this is inexcusable. If you are OOS and paying that much in tuition (UF also charges a premium for on-line classes), I'd explore what UF has offered in the past for your students major and what the plans are going forward for face to face classes.
When visiting UF and FSU last year for frosh admissions, the FSU admissions team told the audience numerous times how they would be honored to have my student on their campus. At UF, the admissions team told the students that they should be honored to be accepted by UF. Those themes were repeated in every interaction we had with these schools leading up to decision day. In the end, my student chose UF for many reasons including prestige. There’s an old joke that asks what does every student at UF and FSU have in common? Answer: They were both accepted by FSU.
I live in Palm Beach County. Yeah a lot of students get in but so many students apply. I don’t think being from one of these schools gives an advantage that much.
I’m going to The Ohio State University btw, I’m just interested to see if I get in UF Friday.
We’ve seen examples of higher stats also waitlisted, they had a tremendous number of super qualified applicants. They were also test optional, I’m not sure how that factored into the whole process but I would think more applied. I know he will make the most of wherever he ends up, hopefully as a Gator! As you probably know from your experience, his time in college will be the longest he’s ever lived anywhere.
