My son: (FL resident & Jr HS - will graduate in 2018)
PSAT = 1510 (225 Nat Merit Score - should = NMS scholar)
SAT = 1540 (17/24 essay) : 1460 (24/24 essay (figured out what sort of essay they wanted - but he said that the “School Day SAT” was much more difficult than the one the students pay to take))
ACT = 33
GPA = 4.0UW (6.04weighted currently)
Will graduate high school with his AA degree (4.0 in both)
Key club (200 vol hrs), Nat Hon Soc, cross country, track, Science Olympiad Team, Local Rotary Club speech 1st place…
Target major = Chem E / MBA
He wants to go to UF. Backup would be U South FL (USF). (2 top eng colleges in FL)
My question is this: Is there need for him to apply to ~10 colleges? Or when he gets the Nat Merit offer, just enter UF & USF as his first and 2nd choice & only apply to those schools?
What are the chances that UF will reject him?
Is there any chance that both UF&USF could reject him?
Reason for targeting FL, is the Benacquisto program in FL, which covers COA for FL residents.
Thanks for replies. Lots of good info on this site.
Great Stats. If there is one thing we learned this year is that a bad essay can trump those stats. Nothing is a sure thing. I would apply to a few more schools. Those numbers will be rewarded handsomely with aid packages. Alabama, Auburn, Georgia Tech would all be good options and historically offer very aggressive aid packages as well.
Great stats! I would recommend that he applies early to both schools. He will likely hear back quickly from USF - and based on their published admissions matrix of GPA and test scores - he will be auto admit (with $$ too, I would imagine). Then he has Plan B locked up.
For UF - he also looks like a very strong candidate. As @OrlandoGator mentioned above, S should work hard on his essay. And I highly recommend to go on a campus tour - an official tour where you register in their system. This demonstrates interest. Also do an engineering tour - and possibly weave that into the “Anything else you want to mention” part of the application or in essay if appropriate to other content. Even if you are Bull Gators and your S took his first steps on the campus - I recommend a tour. We have good friends whose son (35 ACT, NMF, high GPA, state champ golfer, great kid) got accepted to UF PACE which is not a disgrace, but jeepers the kid worked so hard in high school. All I can think is that he did not demonstrate real interest. He toured two years earlier with older sister, and family didn’t think it was necessary to go again. His sister, also a strong student, was accepted but opted for Notre Dame. I often wonder if UF looks at siblings that didn’t accept admissions offer…but that’s a topic for another thread.
As far as how many schools to apply to - I personally think why spend time and $$ applying and sending scores to schools that at the end of the day you MOST likely will not attend - due to cost, distance, etc - only you know the answer to that. But having just finished application year with my third child, I must admit I was not as practical with first child. As @gouf78 mentioned - you should consider schools that offer full rides to NMF - like OU and Alabama. There are plenty of threads on here that will give you oodles of information. But it’s hard to beat the reputation and ranking of Gator Engineering.
Good luck, your son has great opportunities ahead.
With those stats I would apply to half a dozen schools. He will definitely get into USF, most likely UF as long as he doesn’t bomb the essay. Congrats!
^^^RE: post #5 UCF doesn’t offer Chemical Engineering
My son had similar stats, and he only applied to two in-state schools UF and UCF (Aerospace engineering). USF will make a GREAT safety. UF is a great match.
Then you should apply to a few other out of state schools. Apply to OU and/or Alabama (both have good Chemical Engineering programs), but only if there is a chance you may select one of these schools over USF (they would be "safeties).
Then you want to look at schools that offer close to full ride scholarships, and are at least equal to UF These schools would be “financial reaches”, since you need their top scholarships to make them competitive with UF. At Georgia Tech that would be the Stamps scholarships (apply by 10/15, EA to be eligible), or the Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship at Vandy. You may also want to take a shot at a MIT, etc. Either way you don’t need to apply to 10 colleges, IMHO 4 or 5 would be enough. You can even stick with just UF and USF, as long as USF is an acceptable safety, and you don’t tend to ask your self “what if” questions.
It’s $#&$ hard to beat the Benacquisto Scholarship.
even if that’s the only good thing going for the student (which isn’t the case) i’d still think he would get in. NMF is a good stat for colleges to have
As the mother of an incoming Gator with the Benaquisto, it is hard to beat. @Gator88NE gave you excellent advice. Apply also to out of state schools because with your son’s stats, those schools and private scholarships could come close to meeting a full ride. You ( & he) don’t want to look back and think woulda, coulda, shoulda! My Gator girl was able to look at her choices and know, without a doubt, that UF ( and the Honors Program) is the best place for her.
And this site will be so helpful for you on this journey! Congratulations!!!
He should get in, but he didnt have to take the essay portion of the SAT as neither of those school require or recommend it. I just got accepted with a 1320 SAT, 3.85GPA(unweighted) and 4.7(weighted), 30 credits from DE and 250 community service hours
Any reason FSU wouldn’t be a backup for ChemE? D18 is looking at FSU and their ChemE programs seem to offer some unique opportunities. You can concentrate in ChemE/BiomedE or ChemE/MaterialsE, and they offer accelerated MS programs in both.
UCF doesn’t offer a Chem E program. FIT isn’t covered by Benacquisto (if that’s a requirement).
@shortnuke Visit FSU and USF and decide (of course UF is by far the better choice, if you can get accepted). You want to see the facilities, and then look at what courses and programs are offered. Also look into how well Chem E’s are recruited at both schools. FIT may also be worth a visit.
@OrlandoGator Are you basis this on USNWR? I personally don’t put much stock into their rankings. I’m a CMU alumnus with a BS in Civil Engineering and I spent the early part of my career working side-by-side with engineers from “lower tier” universities that were every bit as capable (and paid just as much) as I was.However…
The difference in undergrad engineering rankings from USNWR between UCF (91), USF(116), and FSU(135) are somewhat insignificant given how so many schools are tied and how far up they all are in the list. In terms of the overall national rankings, FSU is ranked much higher than the other two.
I suspect FSU’s engineering ranking belies the quality of the program. It’s a joint college with FAMU, I suspect that many of the people providing feedback for the rankings don’t realize this.
@Gator88NE D’s stats are competitive for UF, but of course nothing’s guaranteed. Something has definitely turned her off to UF, which is a shame since I think the school would be a better fit. She went up there on an overnight HS science trip and something during that trip must have bothered her. We did the Afternoon with the Honors tour a couples weeks later, but that didn’t change her mind. I’ve convinced her to apply to UF anyway since there’s really nothing to lose by applying, and her mindset may have changed by this time next year.
@shortnuke FSU is in many ways competitive with UF, but engineering isn’t one of them. I could list all of the reasons, but I"m sure you already know them all (nationally recruited, more research opportunities, better funding, more/larger engineering organizations/clubs/design teams…blah…blah…blah).
If she does choose FSU, I’m sure she can make it work.
