Why do you think I was rejected at UF?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Florida
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<p>Mods: I know I have been banned in the past. Sorry, can I just ask this one question. Please. </p>

<p>SAT: 2040 (660 CR, 670 M, 710 W)
SAT 2 (Although not evaluated, I sent anyway): 710 US Hist, 720 Math Level 2
AP: I've taken 4 exams and scored 4 on two, and 5 on two.
Cumulative UF GPA: 4.24
UF GPA Freshman Year: 3.83
UF GPA Sophomore Year: 4.30
UF GPA Junior Year: 4.58
Top 7% of Class</p>

<p>Extracurriculars listed on App:
- Student government member (2 years)
- Youth Group and Playing the guitar at youth group (4 years)
- Campaigning for the mayor of my town (1 year)
- Science Honor Society Treasurer (2 years)
- Job as an office assistant (1 summer)</p>

<p>My guidance counselor said my essay and short response answers were excellent and I particularly loved my short response question.</p>

<p>I'm a white male from a large UF-feeder school. I'm a first generation college student and my parents are middle class. I applied as a Mechanical Engineering major. When I went on a college visit tour, they assured us that major has no impact on decisions. I called again to make sure, but after being rejected, I'm questioning the validity of that. My theory is that they just tell everyone that so not everybody puts Agriculture.</p>

<p>UF has been my top choice all throughout high school and it really sucks that I worked so hard for a rejection letter. Plus, everyone I talked to, my guidance counselor included, said I shouldn't worry about getting in. In the exact words of my guidance counselor "UF is nobody's safety school, but you should have no trouble getting in." I hate to be the one to compare myself to everyone else, but I'm just saying, there was an URM from my school who was accepted with a 1570(/2400) SAT score, and I know several people who were accepted with grades around an unweighted 3.0 and SAT scores around 1750.</p>

<p>At first I didn't want to appeal. They read my application once, and there was something about me they didn't find right for their school. But my friends convinced me that I had nothing to lose; UF would still be my first choice. The problem is I don't have a HUGE reason to appeal. Since I submitted my application, I've become more involved in youth group, started playing club soccer, and earned a 4.38 UF GPA so far this year (helpful, because GPA was a weak point for me). But still, these aren't huge reasons. </p>

<p>So, why do you think I was rejected? And do you think I stand a chance at an appeal?</p>

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<p>1)SAT 1330/1600
2)It’s likely they applied a minimum SAT cut, which you missed.
3)If and when they did the holistic thing, your EC’s and essay’s werent strong enough to turn back the the tide. (BTW very few are)
4)The poor oppressed white man thing is illogical since UF is full of like kind types.</p>

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<p>So you think they have SAT cut-offs that vary by major? Since the average SAT for the college was 1840-2100, and I’m well within that range.</p>

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<p>1) I was accepted and your scores are better than mine
2) If yours are below the minimum then mine were also
3) I had a hard time thinking of an essay topic…It was on cheerleading
4) I am a white female which would even be more of a disadvantage if they looked at that sort of thing</p>

<p>So who knows why some are accepted…they just have far too many qualified students…a lot probably has to do with the ACTUAL person that evaluates your application…kind of like you would rather have one teacher/professor over another</p>

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<p>“My theory is that they just tell everyone that so not everybody puts Agriculture.”</p>

<p>Fwiw, while I think my daughter’s decision to apply as an agriculture major (coupled with the fact that she has 4 years in an agriscience magnet program, passed a difficult state test to be a certified agricultural technician, has won honors within the FFA at her school, and did a competitive internship with the USDA) helped her get into UF, they don’t accept everyone who wants to major in agriculture either. My daughter was one of THREE people in her class of 40 in her agriscience magnet to get into UF. Most of the others applied, and most put down agriculture as their major. A girl who was an officer in her school’s FFA for two years got rejected, presumably because her SAT scores were lower than my daughter’s (Her grades were a bit higher). Of the three accepted, two had done the USDA internship (They were the only two applicants who had done it). So agriculture isn’t some kind of magical major choice, though possibly, having a ton of extracurriculars in your intended major helps. My friend’s son got accepted in engineering, and he had a ton of volunteer work in building a water filtration system and had done lots of engineering-type teams (While I haven’t been able to get his exact stats out of my friend, he sounds like a marginal candidate, and his guidance counselor told him to try for UCF). It doesn’t sound like you had that sort of related stuff. </p>

<p>In fact, your EC’s sound light, and I bet that was the problem. Unfortunately, all the great grades and good SATs start looking very similar after a while, so apparently, they look for people with leadership qualities. There was a girl who posted on here a few days ago (Her post just disappeared) that she got in when she didn’t deserve to, but she was captain of a team. They seem to like that stuff a lot. Sorry.</p>

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<p>Everyone can get the grades and SAT scores…I think the difference in applicants comes from the EC activities and their essay. They want to see leaders or attempts of leadership in a club/organization AND volunteering to help others - whether it is humans or animals. I am a firm believer is they want to see what you can do for UF not yourself with your essay. I helped my daughter with her essay and her boyfriend and both are now Gators!!!</p>

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<p>1Q. aparrently you should have been a cheerleader. Seriously 2013 Cheer: When they did the holistic thing, you did or said something that turned the tide. You appear to be a fine writer with a good sense of humour. It could’ve been as easy or as hard as that. GL</p>

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<p>Class Rank isn’t THAT great, it’s decent</p>

<p>Probably holistic. Essay and short answers.</p>

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<p>I would bet it was your extracurriculars…there aren’t too many and they’re kind of general</p>

<p>Your scores and grades are great, they’re better than mine and I got in. but I had a long list of varied and somewhat unique extracurriculars.</p>

<p>go head and appeal if you think you have a shot, you’ve got nothing to loose really, good luck</p>

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<p>I think the majority of you are right; it very well could have been my extracurriculars. Although the extracurriculars I listed on my app aren’t my only ones, I put a lot of characters into describing things that probably needed little or no explanation. </p>

<p>Sorry Alex23, I didn’t mean to attack agriculture majors in any way. I don’t know if it’s just at my school, but many students choose obscure majors as their intended major, in hope that the school gets few applicants for that particular major, raising their chances at admission. But considering what you said, you’re probably right. I’m sure they have enough experience to differentiate students like your daughter, with a lot of extracurriculars in the area, from students that are taking the easy way out.</p>

<p>GatorPhysics, I took just about the hardest courses offered at my school. Freshman aren’t offered any AP courses. I took AP World History as a sophomore and honors Math, Science, and English courses. Junior year is when students can do whatever they want, for the most part. I took AP Psychology, AP Lang, and AP US History along with honors math and science courses (Chose Honors Physics over AP Chem). I have a killer senior schedule. I’m taking AP Physics B, AP Calculus AB, AP Biology, AP Government, AP Economics, Honors English, Honors Anatomy, and Honors Spanish 4. I think my schedule is all right, but since I applied as an engineer, I definitely could have used some more advanced math and science courses like you had.</p>

<p>All of this being said, I guess there’s no way to know for sure what went wrong. Like 2013cheer said, maybe I had the grumpiest admissions officer in the building, or maybe my extracurriculars can’t even come close to competing with admits. I’m going to have to accept my fate and move on.</p>

<p>Thanks to everyone who responded. I’ll be sure to let you guys know if I get in with an appeal (don’t worry, i’m not expecting much… at all).</p>

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<p>Affirmative action…
They allow a certain number from each school….
You were unlucky…….
Eni Meni Mini Mo, you got not to go……
***** happens…….
That’s the way the world turns…….
Question for you----
Does it really matter anymore ?
Move on………</p>

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<p>1question, yeah, considering it took them 3 MONTHS to look at the application, I assume they looked at everything really carefully, unlike, say, UCF which clearly just looks at your SAT score and makes a decision in a day or two. You could definitely get in there, btw.</p>

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<p>I think you got rejected because of class rank. While your class rank is not bad by any standards, UF seems get to grab a select number from each school and admit the same amount of students from that school every year plus a few URM’s. For example, in my school, the top 5% get in every single year. However, a god 3-4 students below that top 5% always get in for misc. reasons.</p>