I do! We have not yet visited USF. Studied up on it plenty, but would really like to know more about the school community. We will be taking a trip to NCal for sure, though. Last time my daughter was there, she was 2!
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Sure! We do not live in the city, but fairly close and know the city quite well. Happy to be of any help that I can 
We have visited the USF campus several times, but usually on the weekends or in the summer when it is was relatively quiet. The area near campus, however, is fantastic - it is right by Golden Gate Park, which you canât really beat.
DD accepted w/ merit scholarship. Waiting for financial aid in Feb. Acceptance letter was very tailored and personalized. Congrats to those who were accepted so far!
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My daughter was actually saying the other day that, if she goes to USF, one of things sheâs looking forward to is the diversity and meeting people from other parts of the country and world - she loves to play tour guide and wants to show new arrivals around the Bay Area
DD was accepted with University scholarship. Acceptance letter was personalized and really showed that they cared about their incoming students.
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Would anyone with merit mind giving stats? Their website does mention 4.07 gpa for presidential scholarship and somewhere I saw that a 1350 or 1450 had about $13k merit, though I canât find that anywhere.
The thing is, apparently USF recalculates the GPA. I am not sure how they do that. We were hoping for the highest merit, which indicates above a 4.1, which D23 has on her school transcript. But we got one in a a lower GPA bucket - they do make reference to the âUSF calculated GPAâ but havenât seen the exact formula they use.
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Right I saw that itâs for what they consider core subjects. Is 4.07 on their website a weighted gpa? So they weigh the gpa for the highest merit? And I wonder if they consider rigor of the school.
Iâm assuming itâs weighted (since it goes above 4.0), but likely recalculated because different high schools do weighting in different ways, so they need something consistent. But this is just a guess. I donât really know.
Although, if weighted, it seems a bit unfair, since some students have access to 30 different AP classes in high school, and some students have very limited access to APs (the case of my student). So seems unfair to privilege those who started out with a clear advantage toward a higher weighted GPA.
But I donât really know.
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Our school doesnât offer any AP classes but itâs really rigorous.
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Yeah, so if it is weighted based on number of APs that really stinks for kids in rigorous schools that limit AP options (ours is similar - it is considered relatively rigorous, but doesnât allow APs until junior year, then limits to a max of 3, and options are very narrowly focused on STEM). While Iâve seen students from other schools with 12 or 15 AP classes on their schedules. Just not possible at our school.
But again I really donât know how they do it. They may have their own system that doesnât have anything to do with APs. Might be something to ask admissions, just out of curiosity.
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anyone else accepted into the nursing program? super excited!!!
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Weâre not nursing, but congrats!
I asked. This was the somewhat mysterious response:
For GPA, we have a special formula that we use to determine a studentâs GPA that helps us look at each student fairly.
Thatâs all they would say.
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I looked at the chart and itâs not actually possible my student is below 3.1 for their calculation for merit meaning no merit. Iâm not sure what 3.1 translates but is that C+ or B-? Maybe there is no way to understand unless I contact them. If I knew how they determined it I could move on. Do you think the merit chart is accurate? I mean if a student has so and so GPA and above their 50% SAT range, then the merit award is guaranteed? I think Iâm just confused how the chart is not being followed in our case. Of course each student is different, but I relied on that chart.
I donât know - like I said, we expected a higher level of merit based on her school GPA, but got one corresponding to a lower GPA based on however they calculate it. Which is still quite unclear from their response.
It doesnât hurt at all for you to ask. A quick email might get some more info for you, or at least some reassurance that things were looked at fairly.
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I asked admissions how they calculate GPA and received a vague response as well.
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Yeah, I guess theyâre not going to give away the secret formula. Which, on the one hand, is disappointing as it lacks in transparency, but, on the other, I guess they expect some trust that they are being fair to all students.
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My dd as well. I think the Nursing program has a 25% acceptance rate so great job!
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D23 applied as it was free to do so - her unweighted GPA corresponded exactly to their merit chart (and her classes were not âonlyâ core subjects) and that is what she received -so maybe use your studentâs unweighted GPA to estimate? It was the same merit shown on the NPC - no surprises. Because of all the differences in weighting classes, unweighted is likely the fairest way to assess.
FWIW have a friend who worked in USFâs graduate admissions for years and told us going in that they offer very little merit, most $ goes to 1st gen in need of serious $$.
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