<p>Ethnicity: Asian
Income Branch: 90,000
Education Background: Mother only graduated high school
Father- 4 year degree
WGpa: 3.03
Uwgpa: 2.675
SAT: 640M, 590W, 540CR
ACT: 25E, 25M, 25S, 14R (I'll explain later)
AP: Ap Lang (3), Ap Calc AB (4), Ap Gov (3)
ECs: 500+hours of community service at a hospital (involved in Ambulatory Surgery and helping fellow patients out in general)
Other: one letter of recommendation by my volunteer director
More letters to come in the future
In-State
Looking to join Army ROTC</p>
<p>Highlights of the hardship faced:
-wore raggedy "handmedowns" freshmen and sophomore year and criticized for outlook
-poorly fed sophomore year and was grateful to eat a meal a day
-accidentally broke my glasses in 6th grade, parents refused to buy new ones thus hindering my ability to learn
-attempted to try out for football freshmen year but parents refused to help out
-attempted to go out for track the next year but again fell to unsupportive parents
-spent my days at school squinting at the board attempting to get quality grades but as shown by my uw gpa, it did not work out for me
-I can't recall the last time I was called by my actual name by my parents rather recognized as more profane words
-accused of cheating by proctor for supposedly filling in a couple blank questions on the ACT when he was not looking, which was an invalid assumption, yet it deteriorated my focus going into the Reading section</p>
<p>Highlights of determination:
-spent from my freshmen year to the end of the first quarter of my junior year with literally my nose in a textbook studying to merely grasp for a B in my classes
-saved up over a long span of time to walk 6 miles for an eye appointment to get a new pair of corrective lens (junior year) (I live in a small town so 6 miles is a long distance)
-joined SGA for senior year though it may have a negligible difference on my application
-spent this last summer investing over 500 hours into community service at a hospital. Walked nearly 3-5 miles a day just to volunteer, rain or shine. Would wake up at 5:30 to begin my journey and come home to study the SAT and ACT.</p>
<p>Am I better off applying August 1 or waiting until I retake the SAT and ACT in October? Furthermore, I apologize if I come off as ignorant to anyone and the hardships I faced seem like a joke to you.</p>
<p>No need to apologize.</p>
<p>You can apply anytime after Aug 1, and you have until December to submit your final SAT/ACT scores. </p>
<p>Your SAT/ACT scores are a bit low; re-taking them would be a great idea.</p>
<p>Your GPA is the problem, its way too low. UF puts more weight on GPA than test scores, and it would be difficult to overcome your GPA score. That makes UF a reach. You should still apply, as UF will take your story into account, but you should plan on UF being reach.</p>
<p>You also have other options. You could apply to the other state universities (UNF, USF, UCF, etc) or go to CC (usually the best financial option). If you do go to CC, you then have the option to transferring to UF, after you’ve earned your AA (60 credits).</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>My honest opinion:</p>
<p>Unfortunately you have a very low GPA and also low SAT scores. They are far below UF’s standards (accepted freshmen last year had an average GPA of 4.3). Based solely on that I would say you have little if any chance of getting in. Definitely retake the SAT and ACT. The hardships you have faced may make up slightly for your GPA but I doubt they will really make a difference.</p>
<p>The fact is that you have valid excuses for why you didn’t do/accomplish certain things in high school, but you haven’t given UF many reasons why you <em>should</em> be accepted (good work volunteering though).</p>
<p>Other notes:
- Letters of recommendation are ignored. Do not send them in.
- Talk to your high school counselor and a UF admissions officer about your situation. They can help you maximize your chances given your history. These boards are just opinions by the public.
- Be wary about including what happened on the ACT on your UF application. If the ACT is going to notify UF about what happened, then you need to find a good way to explain that on your application (the way you have it worded here makes it seem like you really did do it but your proctor couldn’t prove it). If not, then when you take the ACT again your higher scores will remove the need to even mention it. Talk to your counselor about it.</p>
<p>About the ambiguity of the ACT anecdote, I did not cheat yet I was accused of it while taking the math section. The proctor (my physics honors teacher) merely had me erase two bubbles and threatened to invalidate my test. (Which I think is against protocol)</p>
<p>Furthermore, if I were to raise my SAT and ACT to competitive marks (i.e 2200+/33+, I have been studying proficiently) how much of a difference would this have on my decision?</p>
<p>I appreciate both of your evaluations to such an embarrassing thread.</p>
<p>Also my grades have seen a dramatic upheaval from C’s to A’s (some in AP) to deny assumptions of a continuous failure to succeed. Furthermore I am planning to take 5 AP’s next year but I doubt this has any relevance to my chances.</p>
<p>This is not an “embarrassing thread.”</p>
<p>Your senior schedule matters so that is a plus. You can mention your continually improving grades in the application too.</p>
<p>The recently admitted freshman class had an average SAT of 1967 and an average ACT of 30 so yes improving your scores will definitely help a lot. Will it be enough to outweigh your GPA? It’s difficult to tell.</p>