Chance/match a FL senior with a mid gpa? [3.4UW, 1470 SAT]

I think that you should consider other in-state public universities in Florida in addition to UF.

I agree that Cornell is unlikely for your undergraduate study. However, your potential major(s) seem like an area where graduate school is a possibility. If you do at some point consider applying to graduate programs, they will not ask and will not care what you did in high school, and which university you attend won’t matter all that much. What you did in university will matter a lot, and this is all in the future.

I like the work that you have done at UF. Whether getting a reference from a UF professor matters is going to depend upon how well they know you, and it sounds like they know you quite well. I like the fact that you have excelled at piano. There are quite a few people who are quite successful in science (or math, or engineering, or high tech) who are also quite good at music. These are skills that often go together. Doing work for a family business is also shows responsible behavior and maturity. I like the fact that quite a few of your activities show cooperative behavior. Frankly most success in research, or business, or in inventing new things, involves cooperation between a group of people who work together well, and the ability to work with others is very important in almost any activity.

In my experience families that have small businesses often have a problem with the way that private universities such as Cornell compute “financial need”. The affordability of out of state public schools can also vary quite a bit. Quite often the small business owners who I have known have needed to have their kids attend in-state public universities for their bachelor’s degree. However, very often this goes very well.

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