I get where @kaka711 is coming from. Within your own high school, if you see kids getting admitted that took no APs while your own child is busting their butt… I guess I would be pretty upset too. Between high schools and OOS, it’s harder to compare. As an example, my daughter’s UF gpa is 4.37. However her school doesn’t offer APs freshmen year and very limited sophomore. Also, her freshmen year they didn’t have block scheduling so you had one less class you could take, leaving less room for those AP electives (thankfully they changed that!) so the max UF gpa you could really achieve would be not quite a 4.6. So I see how it is very hard to compare between high schools let alone between states. But within a high school… yes that’s a tough pill to swallow, if you know the kids well and know what they have and haven’t done. I guess there is some elusive factor that they look for which we will never know. And knowing all this, I tried to make my daughter not so focused on UF as the be all and end all…but it just didn’t work. She would have been devastated if she hadn’t gotten in after working so hard towards that goal for 4 years. She was one of the lucky ones. We don’t take that for granted for a minute. I really feel for those that worked so hard and did not get in.
How do you calculate UF gpa from IB score?
@tippy46 UF applies a 1.0 adder for AP and IB courses. They do not consider + or - either. Semester grades are used. So, if you received a A- in a regular class, you get 4.0. For an IB class, 5.0. For Honors courses they add 0.5.
Also, they only consider ‘academic core classes’. No PE, Shop, Health, Band, etc.
@tippy46 - sounds like you are an international IB student. You should be able to figure out your average close to this
5.0 for 6/7
4.0 for 5
3.0 for 4
1.0 for 3/2
0.0 for 1
@excitingtimes Your daughter will be welcomed with open Gator Chomping arms, believe me! Decision day for UF is always bittersweet on this forum. And there are many reasons for it. Many parents on this forum are UF alums who attended in the 80s and early 90s when it wasn’t nearly as competitive. When I applied in 1986, there was no essay and no holistic process. If you were in the top 20% of your class and wanted to go to UF, you pretty much got in. Being a Gator gets in your blood and many of our kids grow up seeing us yell at the TV during games, visiting UF and reminiscing with our college friends. We want our kids to have a chance at the experience we had in Gainesville. But, and we know there’s a big BUT, it is so much harder to get in. When the child of an alum, who looks good on paper, gets rejected – all hell breaks loose. The response is often visceral. The harsh reality is that UF is looking for superstars and they can’t take everyone. The school has a process that is a bit mysterious, and every year, we hear about worthy kids who get denied.
For some reason this year, folks have jumped on OOS applicants to shoulder the blame. I don’t think there’s any data (except anecdotal) that suggest OOS applicants have it easier or harder than in-state. The admission rate is comparable – and this is a FACT from the admissions annual report. But we don’t know, and will likely never know, if OOS are judged differently.
My D’s advisor at her high school for continuing education… which is different than the guidance counselor… continually repeated during seminars that 50% of UF’s application process is the essay. That’s huge. Others have told my D that UF also looks for the well-rounded student, the renaissance man/woman, not those students with just a single focus and great academic scores. But I am just as clueless as most are when it comes to the mystique of the admissions process.
For those considering appealing a denial, you may want to review UF’s policy:
@BabaO I have heard it said that UF admissions is 1/3 gpa, 1/3 test scores and 1/3 everything else. i have also heard it is 1/2 gpa and scores and 1/2 everything else. For sure, it is different from many schools which only look at GPA and test scores.
@GatorDad305 My D was accepted to UF, but the process remains a mystery to me. For the amount of time I spent reading about the admissions process, I am still clueless about it. Every school seems to have its own process and there appears to be no bright line rule at any of them.
I think one thing is very clear from the UF admissions people wheather it’s via the blog or comments when they visit schools or when you visit the campus. The essay is VERY important. Much more important then getting high scores on a standardized test. The good thing about that though is it’s the easiest to get right. It requires the least amount of effort to do a great one. Why study for hours trying to improve a 1300 sat to a 1400, they don’t care, are you in the middle 50%, you are good. Don’t waste hours joining a bunch of clubs, be the president of 2. they don’t care about your attendance in clubs and sports. Are you taking the hardest clases at your school and getting mostly A’s, you are good. My advice for future students is get professional help writing an essay that meets the qualities they list on their blog post on the subject. There are plenty of services even online that can help. Look at schools like john Hopkins that publishes their list of their favorite essays each year to see what that tough school to get into thought were great. My son was left wondering why he worked so hard to get in and others in his same IB program did a lot less and still got in. My guess is they spent a few more hours on their essay.
@JamesFL There’s a lot of truth to what you are saying, in my opinion. The admissions landscape is littered with smart kids with great test scores who did not distinguish themselves outside of school. I have spoken with several UF admissions professionals and my take is this. GPA and rigor are paramount. Did the kid take hard classes and do well in them. You have to have both. Are the test scores in the range? UF doesn’t weigh scores as high as GPA but you need to be in the lane. Did you do other things outside of school and did you do it for a long period of time? Playing sports for 4 years. Scouting. Volunteering consistently. Working a part-time job throughout high school. A couple things like that far outweigh being in a bunch of honor societies. Leadership. Were you a leader or a joiner? I think UF wants leaders.
The problem that most kids face, and UF sees it, is that you can’t just decide in the 11th grade to start doing stuff outside of school and expect it to make a dent.
Lastly, the essay. Write one specific to UF. Show your passion. Show who you are. Show why you are a match for UF. Spend time on it and get some help on it but don’t let someone else write for you.
UF only give ‘tentative offers’ what does that mean? They said they expect me to continue at the level that allowed them to give me an offer. What does that mean? I applied with an IB 11the grade score of 33 and a predicted IB score of 36. What do they expect me to get in my finals.
Hope someone can answer me soon.
@tippy46 it is expected that you continue to do as well in your classes as you have been.
Accepted through PaCE:
ACT: 26
GPA: 3.6W
OOS
Good EC’s
@GatorDad305 - I think you hit the nail on the head. UF gets thousands of applicants with great test scores and a high GPA. These kids also have typical EC’s such as sports teams or student government. In CC speak, these kids are considered “average excellent”.
Let me explain a little bit further. Last week, my daughter was flat out rejected for a named scholarship at a small LAC. She has incredible test scores and GPA. She is an athlete and has 1000+ hours of community service. She saw a void at her school and actually founded a club at her school. She’s active at numerous other clubs at school including dance marathon and others. Yet even at a small LAC, this was not enough to have her stand out among the applicants for this named scholarship. On a different thread, it was explained to me that my daughter is “average excellent.” In other words, she wasn’t special.
The Bright Futures Scholarship program is doing what it was designed to do. It is keeping very bright, high achieving students in-state. This means that the caliber of students applying to Florida’s public universities is rising each year. It’s not enough to have amazing test scores and a high GPA. It’s also not enough to be involved in 1–2 extracurricular activities. I guarantee that there are THOUSANDS of applicants to UF with these qualities. An applicant needs to really stand out. For my daughter, I suspect it was her community service hours and the fact that she founded a club at her high school that made her stand out among other really excellent applicants. I am really grateful that she was offered admission to the University of Florida. Nothing is a given.
I understand a lot of parents on this thread are pretty upset. I really do. But they’ve got to realize that their kid with high scores and a great GPA is just one among thousands of kids with those qualities. A kid needs to have some really amazing extracurricular activities or a outstanding essay to rise above the numerous “average excellent” applicants.
Just my two cents.
Here is the press release for UF acceptance.
https://www.gainesville.com/news/20190211/uf-admits-more-than-14000
Accepted
Instate white male just making the cut probably
4.0 unweighted/4.6+ weighted
SAT 1430
19 AP
College courses taken: Python, Java, +2 others
Double major CS/MUS
FL Prepaid/ UF Music Scholarship received $12k / still waiting on merit if any
Honors Program aka Creative Writing Club = Nope
Feeling great about full ride for music and will get a double major in 4 years add 1 yr w/ Masters of Entrepreneurship.
@LakeAlto Great points. i don’t think any of us can truly grasp the size of 41,000 applicants. The top 10 percent of every high school in Florida is applying to UF. It’s an insanely deep applicant pool.
Denied
OOS
3.4 UW/ 4.1 W
SAT: 1470. 800 Math 2
14 APs
Major: CS
Leadership: Volunteering, DECA
Really disappointed I didn’t get in. My dream school and my fathers alma mater. Would’ve committed as a freshman but will not attend as a transfer.
Accepted honors, 2000 undergraduate research
OOS
ACT: 35
SAT: 1540
NMF
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
AP classes: 16 total,9 5s 6 in progress
400 volunteer hours
4-year varsity athlete, Captain - School record holder x 4 , State Podium all 4yrs in each ind event
Sig Research completed
Average essay
-Promptly declined as ED2 to dream school where D can cont her sport came through in same week.