I know I may be a little early, but I’m already stressing that I won’t get into my dream school which has always been UF. I’m currently a junior in high school, lived in Florida my entire life, and will be the first to graduate from college in my family. I have a 4.25 weighted and 3.7 unweighted GPA (without my second semester grades put in, which were all A’s and one B, so it should go up a bit). I’m currently ranked 8th in my class out of 96. I have roughly 300 community service hours while having participated in several clubs (National Honor Society, secretary of Mu Alpha Theta, Astronaut Challenge Team, Relay for Life, Leadership, Student Athlete Leadership Association), having two jobs (accounting assistant and working at my local aquarium for two years), being a delegate for Girls State, and volunteering at the injured wild bird facility since I was 10. I’ve been a coach for youth club cheerleading 8th and 9th grade, an athlete playing 3 varsity sports a year, and was awarded a scholarship last summer through a leadership program to study abroad for a month in Botswana. A big project I started recently was Books to Bots, which entailed gathering up books and sending them to my host community back in Botswana (I have far more extracurriculars/community help than any person in my class). I currently have a 27 superscore on my ACT without any tutoring or studying, but have gotten help in the past month so I am praying for at least a 30. I want to major in zoology/exotic veterinary practice, and hope to attain this at UF. I also have a Take Stock in Children scholarship (pays for almost my entire tuition if I go instate) and Bright Futures Academic Award if I can raise my ACT score a bit. The reason why I’m really scared that I won’t get in is because I had a very rough first semester my junior year since I was dealing with a lot of issues within my family which caused my grades to slip. I’ve always been a straight A student with the occasional B, but I got more B’s my first semester this year. Also, the people ranked higher than me took the easy way out and only took a few AP classes compared to me and were able to have the stupid electives like Painting, but still beat out my GPA. Will UF consider how hard my course load was compared to the ones ranked higher? Usually only the top 5 in the class will get accepted. Our valedictorian and 2 other girls ranked higher are heavily considering UF besides myself. What are my chances?!
Here is my course load throughout the years 
Freshman: AP Human Geography
Sophomore: AP World History, AP Environmental Science
Junior: AP Literature, AP Calculus AB, AP Biology, AP United States History, DE Marine Biology/Oceanography, DE Student Success, DE Precalculus and Trig/Algebra
Tentative Senior schedule: AP Statistics, AP Calculus BC, AP Physics, AP Chemistry, DE Government
I’m also SGA secretary for my senior year! Forgot that one
UF should be a match. With holistic admissions, it can seem a bit random, but in your case, it should work for you (all of your EC’s, first in your family to graduate from college, etc.).
UF will re-calculate your GPA and they do like to see that you took the most rigorous class load. Just keep up the good work, finish your admissions essay this summer (the essay is important at UF) and make sure you also apply to a few safeties/matches, just in case.
Good Luck!
PS: if you haven’t already done so, try to attend a campus tour. UF does (to a slight degree) consider “interest” and they will track that you attended a tour. Every little bit helps!
I think it’s a fair bet. I’ve seen students with worse qualifications than you get in, and I’ve never seen anyone with similar qualifications not get in. If you are interested in Honors, that is a different story (more essay based, so some strong candidates academically didn’t get it), but for the general school I will be absolutely dumbfounded if you don’t get in. Just write a solid essay and you’re good!
Oh, and in addition, if you want any advice on Girls State, I’m your girl! I went to Florida Girls State last year (2015), and it literally changed my life. If you want some tips or anything, please let me know! I’d love to help.
Oh my god, you’ll be fine. I had a 28 ACT (technically a 30 superscore but they don’t accept the superscore for the ACT) and a 3.8 GPA (5.1 weighted - I took all DE classes starting sophomore year), with way fewer ECs than you, and I still got in. I don’t see why they wouldn’t accept you, and if for some god-forsaken reason they don’t, you have a decent appeal you could make. Just make sure to get a decent ACT score that doesn’t rely on superscoring (or if you want the crutch of a superscore, take the SAT) and make sure your essay is on point. But with all the ECs you have, you’ll definitely be fine, and you have some awesome material you could use on your essay
@IvyGirl27 I’d really like some tips!! I leave in 6 days and I’m kinda nervous!
@literalturtle I just got back my recent SAT scores and I scored a 1240. Am I in range? I took it again in June and am now waiting for the scores. I think I did better on it aswell
A 1240 on the new SAT maps to a 1730 on the Old SAT (using college boards new Concordance tables). A 27 on the ACT maps to a 1280 to 1200 on the new SAT.
Your SAT is a little low, but your ACT score is right in range. FYI: UF does not superscore the ACT. Based on how you did in Jun, you may or may not want to take the SAT or ACT one more time, in the fall. If so, UF needs the new score before the end of December. In other words, you can met the Nov 1’st deadline for applying, and then send in an update test score, later, as long as UF gets it before the end of December.
Good Luck!
EDIT: That should be a 27 on the ACT maps to a 1280 to 1300 on the new SAT.
I like your chances too. Definitely spend some time on your essay; you have some cool things to talk about! Wishing you luck!!!