gjoseph

Hello everyone, I received a letter from USF today and I found out that I'm denied. I'm trying to figure out why was I denied admission from USF but deferred from UCF? I thought UCF was more competitive than USF! This is quite a shock even-though I'm not too bummed because I plan on leaving Tampa.

IlikeRice

well first did u check that u sent everything ? or maybe ur gpa low or sumthing. just check

gjoseph

Yes I sent everything (Residency Affidavit, ACT/SAT scores, Application Fee, etc.) I should have sent them a copy of my h.s. resume and an essay. I think those helped me out with UCF as far as not getting denied yet.

Arsenal0328

UCF:

Number of applicants: 20,265
Number of applicants accepted: 12,542
Acceptance rate: 62%

USF:

Number of applicants: 18,307
Number of applicants accepted: 10,664
Acceptance rate: 58%



USF>UCF

redslash

Where on earth did you find those figures, Arsenal?

Anyway, yes, sending in essays does tend to help one earn an acceptance letter to a school. So that'd be why UCF is deferring you while USF shoved you off.

redslash

UCF says it admits 38%. Freshmen Profile

seiclan

Actually, last year UCF admitted approximately 50% of all applicants.

UCF - Common Data Set 2007-08

gjoseph

Thanks for the information you guys!! I really do appreciate it!

goot31

I've seen this happen a lot this year. I've had a few friends get into UCF and FSU, but either denied or deferred from USF. Everywhere is getting more competitive and it's for the best.

alongwait

i also know of a few people to get admitted into FSU and be deferred at USF this year.

swatdingo

Looking at acceptance rates is not the best indicator of the quality of a school. Look at the freshman profiles of both UCF and USF and UCF is clearly ahead of USF and is continuing to go up in the rankings.

Rocco0891

I am in the same boat as you

I was denied by USF in less than 2 weeks of submitting my application and it took UCF about a month and a half to tell me I was deferred. Haven't quite looked at the numbers and what not but last time I checked UCF was a more competitive and better school than USF.

I'm hoping to get into UCF though

GradBoy

The pool of applicants at UCF is a LOT more competitive than the pool of applicants at USF. In the Fall of 2008, UCF enrolled over 60 National Merit Scholars in their freshman class, which ranked 34th in the entire United States and second in Florida behind the University of Florida. USF, in the other hand, is ranked last out of the five major state universities in that category. However, it's good to keep in mind that the Tampa area is one of the largest metropolitan areas in Florida and with the current state of budget cuts and their effects on university enrollment, more students have been staying near their home (i.e. USF). In fact, in an attempt to lose their "commuter school" tag, USF will be forcing all accepted 2009 freshmen to reside in on-campus housing. The only exception is if the student lives within the metro Tampa area, in which case they would be allowed to live at home and commute to campus. All state universities are taking advantage of the budget cuts and while cuts are never a good thing for a university, they are helping the SUs in collectively improving their enrollment statistics. So, undoubtedly, you will see tougher standards across the board. However, as stated earlier in this thread, acceptance rates are not the best judge of the quality of an institution. In fact, there are many organizations out there right now that attempt their best to "rank" schools based on different categories such as value, progress, and even specific programs of study. For example, Kiplinger releases an annual list of "Best Value" universities based on academic quality and price tag. Here are the five Florida schools that made the top 100 best value list.

02 - University of Florida
08 - New College of Florida
17 - Florida State University
42 - University of Central Florida
75 - University of South Florida

(No other Florida institutions made the list)

In another ranking, US News & World Report ranked the "Best Colleges: Up-and-coming National Universities" based on peer assesments from other, sometimes older, national institutions. Only twenty U.S. institutions made the list in the following ranking including two Florida schools.

01 - George Mason University
02 - Clemson University
03 - University of Southern California
04 - Arizona State University
05 - University of Maryland--Baltimore, County
06 - Drexel University
07 - University of Central Florida
07 - Portland State University
09 - University of San Diego
09 - University of North Carolina--Charlotte
09 - University of California--Riverside
09 - University of South Carolina--Columbia
09 - Azusa Pacific University
14 - University of California--San Diego
14 - Ohio State University--Columbus
14 - University of California--Irvine
14 - Northeastern University
14 - Indiana University-Purdue University--Indianapolis
14 - University of South Florida
14 - Ball State University

emmarw

You should keep in mind, though it mite not be the happiest way of looking at it, I dont know a single person that has been denied from UCF it seems, to me, that thay dont really just deny people they deferr them and give them a chance to get thier test scores up, better grades ect.

Personaly I would rather go to any FL school over USF, I cant stand the area, yeah Bushgardens is nice, but I fear for my life when I vist my brother there and he lives in one of the nice apts. but they do have a nice engineering program. Thats just me.
Good Luch with UCF!

GradBoy

They do have a great engineering program. Even in that field, however, UCF is far ahead of USF and other, older, state schools. Here are the latest Engineering School rankings as per U.S. News and World Report for Florida schools:

Engineering National Rankings:

#24 - University of Florida
#80 - University of Central Florida
#92 - Florida State University/Florida A&M University

The following received no score and were listed alphabetically:

N/A - Florida Atlantic University
N/A - Florida Institute of Technology
N/A - Florida International University
N/A - University of Miami
N/A - University of South Florida


Also, both the University of South Florida and the University of Central Florida recently released their Fall 2008 incoming freshman class statistics.

Fall 2008 - USF Average SAT Score: 1160
Fall 2008 - UCF Average SAT Score: 1219

Fall 2008 - USF Average H.S. GPA: 3.73
Fall 2008 - UCF Average H.S. GPA: 3.76

Fall 2008 - USF National Merit Scholars: 22
Fall 2008 - UCF National Merit Scholars: 63

Sources:
USF: http://www.usf.edu/pdfs/USF_PocketFacts.pdf
UCF: UCF Newsroom