<p>What are my chances of getting in as a white, female, in-state student with...
1) Weighed GPA: 4.72
2) SAT Scores: 780 CR, 720 M, 730 W
3) AP Scores: 5 WH and most likely decent scores on Chem, Calc, and Spanish (haven't recieved yet)
4) ECs: Spanish Club, Spanish National Honor Society, Environmental, Academic Club, Literary Magazine
5) 75 Hours of Community Service (Bright Futures) and 60 Hours of Internship at the State Attorney's Office and many more hours on the way before I apply
6) Awards: Nominated to be a state representative for a National Leadership Summit</p>
<p>It seems okay in the way of academics, but looking at the qualifications of some of the other prospective applicants for UF, I still feel lacking in ECs. Hopefully I have a decent chance :/</p>
<p>idk what applications your looking at, but your resume is much better than mine and i got in. only advantage i had was weighted gpa and sports. unweighted gpa is more important btw; i’d suggest posting that. every district weights credits differently.</p>
<p>Ahh, sorry, the unweighed was 4.0. The only reason I gave weighted was because our guidance counselor gave us these college matrix sheets and UF had an average GPA over 4.0. </p>
<p>Well, there were a few applications that I glanced over in this thread that had like 600+ community service hours and maybe a few more ECs. Of course, maybe there’s an unspoken cutoff to the C.S. hours. But, yeah, it really works to my advantage that UF cares most about grades and standardized tests~</p>
<p>P.S. - Thanks for such a prompt post! I wasn’t expecting any until maybe the next day. Is CC like this all the time? ;o</p>
<p>if you have a 4.0 and a 2230 i should hope you’re looking at schools better than UF.</p>
<p>as for the GPA, the weighted one you posted must have been your UF gpa? if thats the case, nevermind, its more relevant than unweighted. its the district gpa thats irrelevent; i had a 5.5 with a 3.4 unweighted.</p>
<p>also, community service isn’t really a factor in admissions. it looks nice, but doesn’t really say anything about you. as long as you have enough for bf you’re good.</p>
<p>as for CC response time, sometimes its quick sometimes it not. summertime gets busy.</p>
<p>By UF GPA, do you mean the GPA I’d put in my application? Haha, sorry, it’s a pretty noob question, but it threw me off.</p>
<p>And, a 5.5…? How did you manage to have such a high GPA? Were you in the IB Program or were your classes weighed differently?</p>
<p>Also, I must also have a distorted sense of perception (or no self-confidence) because I thought that most schools would look at the relatively empty amount of awards and ECs and immediately disregard me. In high school, I never really took the maxim “You’re more than your GPA” seriously, and that has probably precluded me from getting in to the top schools. The amount of BSing and shallow pursuit of titles and awards one has to recieve to get in to these top schools almost seems like its not worth it.</p>
<p>Anyways, that’s enough ranting from me. And, even if there were better schools than UF, it would probably be cheaper than other out-of-state schools, with the already-low tuition, bright futures, and possible merit scholarships I may be able to get vs only a large financial aid package that only mitigates the cost of high tuition from an out-of-stater. </p>
<p>As this post comes to a close, could you tell me if you qualified for any scholarships or need-based aid and if you think that I qualify for any, as well? Regarding the need-based, I’m from an upper middle class family (combined gross income of about $75k) with fairly good assets. I looked at a tax return and plugged in some numbers, and it said that I basically qualify for no need-based aid. Maybe some figures from a person who’s already attending UF could tell me otherwise :P</p>
<p>I just thought that my GPA would be higher than my District GPA because of it only figuring in academic classes and adding weight to Honors and AP classes, but I guess it’s still pretty high~</p>
<p>every district has their own way of weighing credits; i took academic classes almost exclusively and my 5.5 only got me in the top 7% of my class. % class ranking says a lot more than district GPA.</p>
<p>your UF gpa is the one that they calculate, which has their own weighting system. i cant say how it might relate to your district gpa, but my uf gpa was probably not even a 4.0.</p>
<p>regarding EC’s, what i thought was important was leadership roles. i was only involved with 2 clubs, and only for my senior year, but i was a president in one of them. i sincerely hope that wasn’t a big part of my application because i agree completely about clubs being a complete waste of time.</p>
<p>regarding aid, dont expect any merit aid beyond bf. i have work study and sub loans on 60k a year with 2 sibilings and no family savings. no grants.</p>
<p>So… 4.6 is considered above and beyond when applying to UF? I’m actually questioning whether I calculated it right, because you have indicated to have completed a lot of academic classes to get a 5.5, only to really have something below a 4.0. </p>
<p>Yeah, but in all fairness, I guess they are needed to distinguish among those who already have extremely good academic records. I’ve heard state universities tend to be more number-driven because of the amount of applications they have to sort through, which will probably work in my favor.</p>
<p>Hmm, I’m surprised about the merit aid, actually. I saw a whole list of scholarships on their website (but on the other hand I’m not sure how many apply to undergrads). Who do those go to? o.O</p>
<p>Also, regarding class ranking, I’m currently 2nd in a class of about 380. That’s probably bound to change, though, because of the huge drop in students I saw in last year’s senior class at our school.</p>
<p>Thanks! I really hope so! I’m still wondering about the financial aid, though. There are places that say UF is one of the best deals for a public school. Now I’m starting to question that claim. :/</p>
<p>I think they base that on the quality of education more than the cost of attendance and financial aid. Although cost of attendance at UF really isn’t bad at all.</p>
<p>D’s stats were same as yours, essentially. And she got in last year. UF is very numbers oriented, geared towards GPA and course rigor, then standardized test scores, then rest of application. Being that you are 2nd in your class and with those stats, they probably won’t even look at the rest of the application … your chances are strong for getting in. (I don’t mean sluff off on the rest of the application, including essay … just saying, your chances are excellent)</p>
<p>As far as merit aid for incoming freshman, there is not a whole lot. There’s more after you are there and can go for departmental awards. D received academic bright futures, Robert C Byrd (nominated by her FL school and so many given in FL based on GPA and ACT combo), and a corporate NM scholarship, but she didn’t receive anything from UF coming in as a freshman.</p>
<p>Not sure how it is for need based scholarships, however, as we didn’t qualify for anything but loans.</p>
<p>D’s very happy at UF, and she was given a difficult time from high school GC’s, etc for not applying to more “elite” OOS schools. Do what’s best for you. Good luck!</p>
Indeed. People on here are being nice, and you are correct that you have no feel how you stack up. You are among the elite performers, academically speaking, in the nation. 4.0 UW GPA and 2230 qualifies you for 98% of the universities in the country. EC’s matter more to the private schools, but even there in only a handful of cases would they pass you over because of any perceived weakness there. Do you play an instrument or is there something else that takes up a lot of time that could be counted?</p>
<p>You are right that UF will be cheaper, unless you got a full scholarship somewhere. Would you prefer a smaller school? Is UF really what you want, or do you feel you have to go there because of the money? You may have many alternatives of which you are unaware.</p>
<p>Sorry I took such a long time to reply, guys. Heres my long-awaited response:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>@zebes
Thanks for the reassurance.
Getting this far, I wouldnt try to kill my chances by blowing off the essay, even if I was a shoe-in.
Ill plan accordingly based on what you (and all the other posters) are saying about need-based and merit aid at UF.
I have other schools on my list besides UF, but, yes, I too would be interested to see if my GC says anything when she sees Im applying to UF.</p>
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<p>@fallenchemist
I guess its humbling, even a bit intimidating when youre competing with the top 1-2% of the country. At least for me.
I dont do anything mainstream, but I do have a few hobbies that would probably seem pretty unique, especially if I wrote about them in an essay
Yes, in short, I would say I sort of feel obliged to go to UF because of the money. Although I havent been offered a full scholarship and all the summer research Ive been doing on prospective colleges hasnt turned up such results, perhaps there are opportunities elsewhere, and I havent been asking the right questions or looking in the right places.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your responses, guys. Although this is the first forum where I have posted more than just an open topic question, I feel like I have made the right decision to post it on CC. Your replies have been nothing but respectful and insightful. It’s all greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Someone earlier posted that you should apply to a better school?</p>
<p>Unless you want to attend an Ivy League school or maybe Stanford? IMO you cannot find a better school than U of F. It also depends on your field of study. And if you plan to stay in Florida post graduation. The contacts and network that you make while at UF last a lifetime.</p>
<p>And yes you will get in. Are you kidding me? With grades like that you can pick your school. Write a really good essay maybe emphasizing the difficult curriculum that you have taken and the demand on your time. </p>
<p>Good luck to you and congratulations on your excellent grades.</p>
<p>Definitely think you have a great chance of getting in. </p>
<p>OH! also, check out the lombardi scholarship. It’s a scholarship for incoming freshmen at UF. Only one person from each high school can be nominated for it, so make sure to research it and talk it over with your guidance counselor. it’s a really great opportunity. also, don’t stress about financial aid right now. Just apply to scholarships and with your 4.0, I’m sure you’ll have an awesome chance. Once you’re a student at UF, there are even more scholarship opportunities available.</p>
<p>I have a few Ivies/upper tier schools on my list (granted theyre lower echelons like UPenn and Cornell). Also, UF is a comprehensive university, so even if I wanted to switch majors, I think Id be covered. Regarding the essay, although I probably wont proclaim I went to an extremely competitive school, I will definitely make my best attempt to write a stand-out essay.</p>
<p>@Tbow</p>
<p>Thanks for the tip! I remember seeing it on the UF website, but I hadnt given it much prior thought. Ill definitely bring it to my GCs attention this upcoming senior year.</p>
<p>@Vertigo</p>
<p>Haha, with words like baffled, I honestly hope I get in now. ;)</p>
Good luck!</p>