@Anisqoyo - Can you please elaborate on what you wrote? I don’t know enough about UF to understand what you are saying. Thanks!
@Hoggirl I think that Anisqoyo is referring to the application process to the UF Honors program. It is stated by UF that selection is heavily based on the essay responses and less on prior academic and standardized test achievements. So, the thought is that those students that are more STEM and not creative writing inclined are at a disadvantage. Also, since current Honors students read and score the application essays, they are inclined to score higher those essays that are aligned with their interests and views, hence the ‘group think’ comment.
@fl1234 - thank you for the clarification. I understood it a bit more after reading further down in the thread, but I still wasn’t quite getting it. Is it ONLY the other Honor’s College student’s who read these essays? Interesting.
In this thread I read that UF does not use recommendation letters? Do they just disregard those that are part of the Common App? Didn’t they start accepting the Common App this year? Along with the Coalition App? I have no familiarity with the Coalition App and whether or not it has recommendation letters as part of it - though I would assume it does.
This is a very helpful thread for understanding the ins and outs of UF admissions!
@Hoggirl - Be happy to. Which post are you referencing?
@Hoggirl you can read more about the Honors Program and the application process on their website. It goes into more details on their philosophy and what they look for in candidates.
As far as recommendation letters, yes, UF does not consider them.
@Anisqoyo - oh, sorry! Post #17.
@fl1234 explained what you likely meant. I will have a look!
Gosh, doesn’t the Common App require them for completion of the application? Can it be submitted without them or does the application block them out once the student selects UF as one of their choices? That would make sense.
@Hoggirl I don’t know much about the Common or Coalition Apps, but UF states that recommendations are not considered. So, if they get them or have access to them via the apps, they say that they ignore them.
Page 7 of the Common Data Set outlines what they do and do not consider in the application process and their relative importance.
https://ir.aa.ufl.edu/media/iraaufledu/common-data-set/CDS_UFMain_1819.pdf
@Hoggirl - The Honors program at UF requires that the student write an additional two essays to be considered. These essays are the most important consideration for admission which, to me, is ridiculous. Making the process even more absurd is the fact that a chosen group of students are tasked with evaluating which essays are deemed worthy for entry into the Honors Program.
So the UF Honors Program has been, rightfully, labeled as a creative writing club and group think tank. It’s no wonder so many STEM majors eschew the program. We have more than a few students at our school who have chosen the Honors Programs at FSU and UCF even though they were accepted to UF. One student who went to FSU because of their Honors program told me that at UF they kept telling him how lucky he would be if they chose him, while at FSU, they told him how honored they would be to have him in their program.
In my opinion, the UF Honors Program isn’t much of an honor. It has so much potential, but it’s being run as an elitist club without offering much in the way of benefits.
@Hoggirl - This is the first year UF will be using the Common Ap. Hopefully it’s been incorporated into their system properly so that the applicants using it are not at any disadvantage. When I called admissions last month, they were still working out the bugs.
@Anisqoyo - all very insightful and helpful in furthering my understanding. Thank you!
Over the last few years, UF has been playing around with how it handles freshman admissions to the honor college. The essay is still very important, but as you can see below, they are considering academic record and extracurricular involvement.
Before these changes you first had to be accepted by UF, then you submitted a separate application to the honor college. That’s the “100% essay” based application.
Here is last year’s freshman class stats, so you can compare it to those that made it into the honor’s college:
The Class of 2023:
Middle 50% Academic Core GPA: 4.3-4.6.
Middle 50% SAT: 1330-1460.
Middle 50% ACT: 29-33
I don’t quite agree with the creative writing club labeling of the UF honors program. As can be seen from the post above, both the GPA’s and SAT/ACT scores of students accepted into the honors program are above the 75% percentile of the students accepted into UF. Just good essays will not get one into the honors program.
Does UF really have 16% admission rate?
For the Class of 2022, there were 38,905 apps and 15,077 acceptances. That would be a 38.75% acceptance rate. You’re probably using enrollment #'s in your numerator.