UF is a terrific public university. It’s ranked number 8 in usnwr for public universities. That’s the same group as cal UCLA Michigan uta uw etc.
It’s a populous state and unlike California and Texas, it’s network of schools outside of UF and FSU are in their academic infancies. There’s just less choice.
The value is tough to beat and with banquesto and bright futures the high stat in state students can go for close to “free” as one could hope for these days.
It’s a tough admit at 40 percent, especially since it is a magnet for the top students. I would surmise that the standard, unhooked Floridian admit would be highly competitive at the vast majority of schools nationwide.
UF"s domestic OOS acceptance rate is 41.1% It’s nearly the same rate as the in-state rate. It’s not comparable to UNC-CH, UVa or GT’s situations, where they get a huge amount of OOS applications, for a small number of slots.
High stat kids (GPA/Class Rank/Test Scores ALL in the top 25%) getting rejected from UF is overblown. It happens, but it’s not very common. Sometimes it happens because they are at a very competitive school and are not in the top 10% of their class, sometimes it because of very weak ECs. Sometimes (very rarely) UF simply makes a mistake and the student gets in via an appeal.
UFlorida has always been a selective flagship school. What had to have been one of the top students in the state was rejected from UF in my day, when he ultimately was accepted to MIT. We still joke about it to this day.
That story was because he applied late to an impacted major. With a lot of these schools, seats fill up on a rolling basis, and for some majors and schools , like Engineering, these days Computer Science, those seats fill up fast. Once full, Einstein himself couldn’t get accepted!
Hopefully, OP’s student has the apps in by now. I don’t know UF’s metrics, but Zi know Penn states, and a lot rises in three numbers,: Test score, GPA/class rank, and DATE OF APPLICATION. It’s late already, if one has not applied.
As for questions about being instate or not, and using a Florida State college finds as part of that issue, I don’t see the problem there. Most state schools give some sort of preferences to state residents and include certain non resident factors in that preference category such as legacy, state college money, connection to the state.
@Gator88NE i think i am following you…You are saying a-lot of the stories we hear about high stats kids not getting in are totally overblown? By the way, i totally agree with you!! let me get your thoughts on this! I think its because we really are not getting the real stats of the kids that are so called rejected… #1, because maybe the stats (SAT/GPA) are not really what the kids have and are exaggerated by the time we all hear about them! #2, we always hear about kids getting rejected and the stats that are always referenced are the SAT/ACT stats. Very few of the people mention the kids grades/rank etc and when and if we hear their GPA, it is 99% of the time not the recalculated gpa. so the GPA we hear is on any number of grading scales (some with + grades some on 7.0 scales so who knows). Im guessing 90% of the parents and kids you speak to have no idea that these schools recalculate the GPA’s and thus give their GPA that is on the report card and meaningless… I’m agreeing with you… the high stats kids getting rejected are few and far between and there is always another side to those stories that we are not getting. anyone else’s thoughts…
First, some high stat kids do get rejected, for reasons that are hard to determine. But it’s not many.
Holistic admissions is complicated at UF. GPA and Test scores are only a part of what’s being consider. It’s hard to tell from a post message how rigorous was the course schedule, how does it compare to other peers in the same HS (important for in-state students), What about EC’s? Was that GPA done via UF"s calculation? Who knows.
It’s even harder to make a prediction with an OOS student.
As a rule of thumb, if you’re in the top 25% for stats (GPA and Test Scores), took the most rigorous class schedule available at your HS, was in the top 10% of your HS class, put effort into your essay, and spent significant time/effort on our EC’s, you’re very, very likely to be accepted to UF.
Fun fact, students do get accepted who are in the bottom 25% for stats, but were in the top 10% of their HS class. How you do versus your peers does matter.
@Gator88NE when you say bottom 25% do you mean in both SAT & recalculated UF GPA categories. ( I truely wonder how many kids are in the top25% of both categories?). what about being in top 25% gpa bottom 25% for SAT AND TOP 3% ranking of a good Florida high school??
I just shared this thread w/ my very high stats/“average excellent” Florida kid who sees UF as something of a safety school, even though her guidance counselor has reiterated that UF should be considered a match, at best, regardless of the student’s credentials.
Now that all her apps are in, she’s going to focus on showing demonstrated interest, but It’s hard to know what’s being tracked and what isn’t. For instance, we submitted a housing deposit at UF. Does that show interest? We toured on our own, and she really doesn’t have any burning questions that cannot be answered with a bit of online research. UF isn’t her first choice, but it’s her most likely choice for financial reasons, so I definitely don’t want her to get shut out.
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What's the best/easiest way to demonstrate interest? There is a combined BS/M. Finance that she's interested in; she'll be reaching out to the contact for that program, but will admissions even be aware of this communication?
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This entire process all seems a bit much at the moment, and I’m beginning to dislike the “holistic” approach, which seems to add a layer of mystery and murkiness to the whole process.
It just seems horribly wrong that a state university is practicing either holistic admissions or yield protection against its in-state resident applicants. I can fully understand that for out-of-state applicants.
@Gator88NE the class rank thing is interesting because on the common data set UF lists class rank only as “considered”, not very important or even important.
Oh do not get me started on UF and their “holistic” way of admissions. UF should not be considered a safety. NEVER! Lots of high stat kids get rejected. Always have a plan. Many cases of Harvard bound (or the like) kids have been also rejected from UF in years past. It happens. So again. Have a plan. Do not assume. Do not fall in love with the school PRIOR to getting accepted.
@setter4life, are the top rejected students OOS or do high-stats in-state kids get shut out? We do have a back-up plan if none of her reaches pan out - and she is rejected from UF., but I would not be a happy camper.
Honestly, every interaction we’ve had with UF has struck me the wrong way - curt and impersonal, even compared to some other large universities she’s applied to.
@flprepaidmom i think the entire rank thing is interesting… At the end of the day its all relative… in order to be ranked high, you almost certainly had to take the most rigorous classes offered…you cant be top 5% at your school with out it. impossible to be ranked top 5% with mostly honors classes… have to take as many as everyone else ranked that high in your school… even the kids in the top 5-15% are taking rigorous classes… they just happen to be getting more B’s than kids in the top 5%… so while rank as a numerical number does not get evaluated much, it is directionally the same as your gpa…so rank might as well be the same as your gpa because its all commingled. cant have one with out the other. make sense? I honestly think the holistic approach is also interesting… i do think they look at all the items on the resume… but they only have 3-5 minutes to review an application (including the essay) given the volume and the time constraints… so i think what pops out first is grades/rigor, followed by SAT/ACT and the other items. think about it 4 minutes to review and either accept, deny or put into that maybe pile and go back to them at the very end. I think a vast majority of kids with good grades are doing all the EC’s, sports, leadership etc. i truly think grades and Rigor stand out first.( 3 years of hard work) followed by the remainder- AT/SAT, EC’s leadership. I guess we will find out in like 57 days, but who’s counting…
FYI: i was told by an admissions officer that UF got 46k apps this year up 5k from last year… i am guessing majority is from out of state…
PS: all this is my opinion outside of the 46k apps
Interesting discussion. I personally know a couple high stats, in-state kids who were shut out from UF in previous years and who ended up getting accepted to higher ranked schools. So I have no doubt that the holistic review is definitely a thing.
Because of this, my daughter has a plan B, C, D, etc.
I am not even going to try to predict what will happen at this point, because the app has been in since Nov. 1st, and she has done everything that she could. Now the only thing to do is wait until 2/28.
For those who are applying next year, I would just say continue do your very best in your (rigorous) classes and prepare as much as possible for the SAT/ACT; however, most importantly have one or more back-up plans just in case UF doesn’t work out.
@TrendaLeigh Yes, many high stat In-State kids had been denied over the years. Not just in the past few years, but stories abound for many years already. Then, you have lots of kids with 29/33 ACTs and the usual great GPAs, EC, etc. those are always are on the fall into the bubble category. meaning many get accepted and many do not get accepted. No idea why, but again the word “holistic” is probably the answer. UF has a reputation for being the premier top-ranked public school in Florida. However, I would agree with you. It is impersonal and for the reputation that they are perceived to have, lots of people feel like they do not check all the boxes when it comes to a lot of things. Think of it as flying first class vs coach.
@funfit Exactly as suggested by @Flprepaidmom Everyone has a number 1 and usually a number 2, but judging by the way the top Florida Schools have played out in the past few years, you have to look at the other In-State options or some of them out of state Flagships where Florida Stats would normally earn a nice a scholarship.
So circling back (more or less) to the original question, once the app is submitted, is there anything else these kids can do, particularly to express interest? From what I’ve read UF only considers it “somewhat important” but I suppose it could be the tipping point, particularly if they think the student is likely to go somewhere else.
I know UF is trying to move up the rankings, and is planning (finally but too late for us) to focus on their honor’s programs, so you would think they’d want high stats kid.
@cypresspat, thanks for stepping back and looking at this more systemically. This whole process has been educational for sure!
If it’s true that 46000 applied this year, then traditional acceptance to UF(excluding PACE and innovation) this year could be as low as 21%. Last year roughly 14000 were accepted and of those, ~3500 were PACE or Innovation, so it might actually be a lot harder to get in than previously thought.
The 14,000 number is the number admitted to summer and fall, they don’t include PACE or innovation academy. The federal government tracks First Time In College (FTIC) students who are enrolled and on campus by a set date in September or October (the fall). That’s why a lot of metrics, like acceptance rates, yield, etc, are based on FTIC students and not “alternative” admission folks, like PaCE or IA.