<p>I was wondering whether an expulsion(For an online incident) for 1 year during sophomore year will affect my application significantly? I am still a sophomore, but am wondering if they will reject me because of the disciplinary action imposed on me. I have taken 4 AP and rest honors up to date(Currently Sophomore), i plan on taking atleast 10 more AP classes in the next two years, so around 14-17 Total AP classes and rest Honors. I have decent/good involvement in school clubs and will be a member of National Honor Society, Science Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, Quiz Bowl, JV Lacrosse player, Ecology club, and some other clubs. I will most likely be in the Top 5%-10% of the graduating class. I have family members that have also gone to UF. I am aiming for atleast 2100 on the SAT, probably not the first try though. Also planning on taking ACT, and SAT IIs. I imagine myself writing an excellent essay, but still imperfect. </p>
<p>Can anyone chance, and please no negative comments or haters, just the truth and tips on getting in.</p>
<p>It is hard to say and chancing someone is a very inaccurate science. Too many apparently perfect applicants do not get in because there are so many spots. This weekend at an alumni function I was talking with a Dean and he told me he sits on the admission appeals committee and the reality was that even a really qualified applicant can’t always be accepted because of numbers.</p>
<p>State schools typically make decisions overwhelmingly based on stats and one’s state of residence, with in-state students being preferred. State schools use other things – ECs, etc – for merit aid consideration. </p>
<p>In general, parents do not estimate chances because we are not admissions officers, and they are the experts. </p>
<p>You can find out whether you’re in the ballpark for UF by comparing your stats with those of accepted students. You can find out info about accepted students by checking the admissions area of UF’s website, going to the College Board website or paying $15 to fully access the US News College information website.</p>
<p>Further, nobody can really “chance” you. You don’t have a GPA or SAT score. You are in tenth grade. You can “chance” yourself by reading the published stats of admitted students to UF and determine where you fall in that range, as well as examine the acceptance rate. That is a starting point. Also, admissions officers get to see things we can’t see such as recs and essays and so on. Your recs will be important in light of your disciplinary record. Advice was given to you on the other thread of things you could do these next two years to turn around your disciplinary record. The APs and all that are good but that is not all YOU need to do to make your app strong.</p>
<p>I didn’t realize that you are the person who had posted before about being expelled for making what was perceived to be a terrorist threat on-line.</p>
<p>Schools – including public ones – will regard with concern your suspension and the reasons for it. It will be very important for you to do things over the next couple of years that reflect well on your character. Due to your year-long expulsion and the reasons for it, probably schools that normally would be match schools for you will be reach schools and schools that normally would be safeties will be match schools.</p>
<p>Well, based on my current GPA, others have told me i am definitely in UF, or most definitely in the ballpark. And based on my predicted academic years, people that have been accepted into UF have told me i am in. That is what they said, and i know for sure there is no DEFINITELY no matter how good of an applicant you are. There have been some UF acceptances with below a 3.0 GPA, and many students below my academic range and average. </p>
<p>I’m not worried about the academic and ECs, just the effect of my 1 year suspension/expulsion waiver on my application. Soozievt, the advice on that thread is for Ivy league colleges such as Cornell, but UF is a state college that accepts many thousands of undergrad, so the situation is different.</p>
<p>Setting aside the issue of the expulsion, UF as state schools goes is not considered OOS friendly - there is fierce internal competition to start with so they don’t need OOS to raise prestige factor; their OOS tuition is relatively cheap (as compared to other state flagship OOS tuition and to their cost of delivery), so they are not taking OOS to “make money” like a Michigan or Berkeley.</p>
<p>There is a thread recently started about OOS Friendly Colleges - if you are interested in the flagship route, you might look there for ideas.</p>
<p>Publics are not a bad idea for someone overcoming a blemish in their record. They do tend to be admit by the numbers. A discipline issue may be an issue if you were a reach for OOS, but otherwise it is less likely to hurt you than at an equally selective private.</p>
<p>I think when you get to your Junior year and are visiting campuses, request a private meeting with the admissions rep for your location and discuss your situation personally and how you’ve made amends for your transgressions. Ask (in person) how they handle such situations. If it is favorable, make sure to keep in contact with the rep so s/he remembers you and your impression. When it comes time for the review (and your application will likely be set aside for additional scrutiny regardless of where you apply), that rep will remember what s/he heard and treat it accordingly.</p>
<p>What I’m saying here is that no matter where you apply, your application will receive extra scrutiny, but you have the opportunity to manage that situation both by where you apply and how you approach the school.</p>
<p>Not being a hater, but trying to make you aware of how you can affect your situation both now (see advice in other thread about making efforts to make things right) and when you go to apply (talking about what you did to make things right).</p>
<p>TheLogic, the point isn’t so much whether the other thread was about elite colleges and now this thread is about UF. As you said, your stats may be fine for UF. But an expulsion means more scrutiny for any applicant. As mentioned on the other thread, it doesn’t mean you can’t get admitted but what you do outside of your academic record (which is what I meant in my previous post on this thread here) is really going to matter in YOUR case. How you turn around your character and activities will HELP. Just ignoring the expulsion won’t help. You will have to demonstrate on paper in a statement, and in the recs, WHAT you have done to make things right and how you have been an exemplary person since this serious incident. The other thread outlined what you must do to help your situation in the next 1 1/2 years before you apply to college. The advice on the other thread is relevant no matter where you apply!</p>
<p>We can’t evaluate your chances on stats alone (not that you truly even have those in hand yet anyway).</p>
<p>PS…do not compare your chances vis a vie what GPA others had who got into UF. Your situation as a WHOLE is different. Your stats are only part of your picture.</p>
<p>I’ll give you an example of how certain applicants will receive MORE scrutiny than a typical applicant. I’ll point to my own daughter, who had nothing negative on her record and so the situation is totally different, but is still an example of “extra scrutiny” where you could not simply place her stats next to another applicant as she was a “special circumstance.” </p>
<p>I’ll go back to when she was just four years old. We approached the elementary school about early entrance into K as she did not make the deadline for the age. She was evaluated and we were told that she had to be BEYOND the entering K class (not simply “ready”) and thus beyond kids who were a full year older than her, not just on par with them. The other kids automatically enter K, but she had to meet special criteria. </p>
<p>Skip ahead to her college admissions process. She decided to graduate one year early from high school (and was a young junior to boot as she had the early K entrance). We were told with admissions that her application would receive additional scrutiny to determine if she was ready for college academically, personally, and socially. She included a special statement in all her apps (in addition to the required essays) about her rationale for graduating early. She had her GC and rec writers speak to this as well. </p>
<p>Similarly, you will have to write a statement to explain your expulsion (required of most applications) and your GC and rec writers will need to address your special circumstance. Your app will receive additional scrutiny beyond the typical applicant. You will be evaluated in terms of whether they feel you have turned around your personal behaviors and what you have shown to have learned from your expulsion and what you have done since to make amends and to do positive things to show you are going to be a good citizen at the college who they will not have to worry about on campus. </p>
<p>My D didn’t have to overcome a negative thing like you must do. But she did get additional scrutiny for her admissions process and I can assure you, you will as well and yours is a more serious circumstance.</p>
<p>The easiest way to stop worrying about your explusion is to focus on schools that don’t care about your high school disciplinary record. Whether UF is this kind of school, I have no idea.</p>
<p>Even if you handle everything perfectly from here on, you will still have to cast a very wide net because what you did was pretty serious. If you are out of state for UF, that will be very tough because it’s not a particularly OOS friendly school and they’ll have more applicants than they can accept and won’t have to take a chance on you. </p>
<p>You may have the right idea about a state school, but I beg you to leave the University of Delaware off your list.</p>
<p>I’m not OOS, i’ve lived in Florida for over 8 years.</p>
<p>I’m using UF as a main school/backup because i’m still going to want to apply to some of the top colleges and lower ivies. You never know, as others have said; maybe top colleges will admire that i tried very hard to ameliorate that bump in the road, and see that i helped the community and showed my good character in response to the mistake.</p>