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| Century Tower chimes the hour |
Last stop for the day: University of Florida. University of Florida (UF) is located in
Gainesville, Florida and serves almost
55,000 students. As you might expect
from the State’s flagship university, there are tons of majors and students can
work all the way up through a PhD. UF
has inviting campus and is tied to a city with plenty of great options for
dining and entertainment. On campus,
there are over 1000 different student groups and clubs that are available to
students. With all of the great things to do at UF, the academics opportunities
are boundless. UF was determined by US
News and World Reports to be the 9th best public college in the
United States. This respectability is
bringing applicants to UF to the tune of 32,000 this past year, 13,700 were
admitted for an acceptance rate of 43%.
It is easy to see that this is a desirable place for students who are
wanting to extend their education. In
order to help students and parent better understand UF’s and many other schools’
admissions practices, a deeper look into the process is helpful. The following terms are integral to the UF
application and to many others:
Coalition
Application- The Coalition Application just finished its second full
year of existence, and it is a common application that is meant to increase
access for all students. The Coalition
Application includes tools that can be used by students as early as the
freshman year to help prepare for college application process in the senior
year. 140 college and universities from
around the United States participate in the Coalition. UF uses this application exclusively. To
learn more about this free tool, go to www.coalitionforcollegesuccess.org.
Demonstrated Interest- This is a set of statistics that
colleges keep on prospective students.
Whenever a student “touches” a university in the form of a campus visit,
a stop by the table at a college fair, registering for the admissions twitter/email
list/facebook page/blog page, emails a question to the admissions office, these
are deemed as a student demonstrating interest.
For colleges (many times private) this can be a great way for them to
tell if the student is interested in going there or if the student is just
fishing. If a college offers admission,
they typically want a student to accept and demonstrated interest can be a predictor
of that likelihood. Because UF is overrun
with applications, they do not take into account this statistic when making an
admission decision.
Holistic Review-
A holistic review is when the college looks at the GPA and test score of a
student AND takes also into account the activities, leadership, community
service, and learning experiences that went beyond the classroom. In short, they are looking at the “whole”
student. UF looks at students
holistically, so resume activities and essays are a very important part of the
consideration, along with the GPA and scores.
Many other schools also are holistic reviewers.
Context-
Students are put into context of where they got their high school
education. UF looks at and judges a
student by the opportunities that were available in that student’s local high
school. If 5 APs are offered at SCHS,
then UF cannot hold a Redskin to the same consideration as a student who went
to a school where 20 were offered. GPAs
are recalculated to level playing fields for all students, so local weights,
like our 10 points which are added to final grades for AP and Dual Enrollment
are removed and reconsidered with the college’s weighting system. It is important to note that this idea of
context is NOT universal, and schools, as much as the students who come from
those schools, are judged. This is why
SCHS’s relentless push for excellence is not to be compromised. It puts students at a disadvantage when the
high school is not deemed to be a rigorous high school.
If you are interested in attending UF, be aware that 17% of
incoming freshmen are from out of state.
This can increase competition if plenty of students from out of state
are applying as well. With all of this
said, UF is a great school with many great opportunities. Notable alumni from UF include Tim Tebow,
Steve Spurrier and our very own Ms. Erin Claridy received her training from
this reputable university. Scooters, bikes and skate boards are immensely popular at UF. The roads have been modified to accommodate these vehicles and automobiles at the same time. Bike racks outside of the dorm are pictured to give you an idea of the scope of this campus' love for these single-rider vehicles.
University of Florida Profile
Recalculated GPA 4.3-4.6
ACT- 28-32
SAT- 1280-1430
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| Downtown Gainesville |
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| main thoroughfare on campus |
