@FINKELLY the status update will have the most current status information so have your daughter check that regularly. If accepted she’ll see that online first and then via letter in a couple weeks following.
Has her school submitted her transcript? If she doesn’t know her GPA how does she know what will show up on the transcript? I’d definitely recommend getting a copy of the transcript (every student should be able to get their high school to send one).
UCF weights the honors and AP classes in the core subjects (so English, History, Math, science - maybe foreign language but I can’t remember). Here is the info. on that. Once she has her transcript she can figure out what the recalculated GPA is based on her honors and AP courses. That should help her understand where she falls in terms of her stats (UCF median is about 1960 SAT/27 ACT/3.7-4.0 recalculated GPA).
"How is my high school GPA calculated for admission?
Your GPA is recalculated based on the academic core courses (including English, math, science, social studies and foreign language). UCF uses a 4.0 grading scale, and also awards additional quality points for any weighted courses within the academic core. Courses marked as Pre-AP, Pre-IB, Pre-AICE, and Honors are given an additional .5 quality point.
Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), Advanced International Certification of Education (AICE), and Dual Enrollment (DE) courses are given 1 additional quality point."
Thank you so much for your reply. Her GPA does not show up on her transcript because her school does not give a GPA. So based on her letter grades, UCF will calculate it. So she can try to calculate herself based on their criteria. She is attends a private prep school but they dont classify as honors so that will hurt her. She has only taken 2 AP classes because their regular classes were considered rigorous. So her GPA will be on the lower end of the scale. But when we were reading that students were posting their recalculated UCF GPA we were under the impression that the school was recalculating it. I am assuming by what you have said the students are doing the calculations? thanks again!
I was deferred for Summer. I attend a private prep school and have only taken honors and AP classes. I really screwed up and have a very low GPA (2.9 uw and 3.2 w), however my SAT is 1960 and ACT 31. I really turned things around this year and had a 3.97 first quarter and should have good semester grades. What are my chances of being admitted once my semester grades are in?
@FINKELLY I believe students must be calculating them. Your daughter should just take a standard 4.0 scale (A = 4, A- = 3.67, B+ = 3.33, B = 3, etc) and figure out what it would be unweighted, and then weighted for the two classes in which she took the AP tests. You both might want to get in touch with UCF Admissions and let them know that your daughter’s HS doesn’t offer honors or AP because the standard curriculum is so rigorous. Perhaps a guidance counselor can also send something about the school and your daughter’s academic performance.
My daughter also had some unconventional portions of her transcript because she doesn’t take AP History or English but instead an integrated class (so both subjects are taught at the same time). The students take the AP exams; however, the course isn’t weighted because it isn’t “AP”. Also, her honors isn’t Honors but “HP” (High performance). I sent a detailed e-mail explaining all of this as well as course descriptions and the school district’s weighting methodology to UCF and they were very helpful and responded right away. My daughter was accepted and I have no idea whether our explanation assisted in that but it did give us peace of mind at the very least!
@Mamelot would you mind sharing which email address have you used for UCF? I emailed ucf admissions general email asking about the application status, (applied October 4) and no response.
@Mamelot You have been very helpful! And I dont want to spend much more time on this as in maybe it should be a separate topic as to not clog up acceptances here. But the admissions officer told us to have the school send something labeling the classes as honors and they can give her more points or there was not much more they could do. They have the school profile, so it is what it is. She will send a response email maybe showing the schools profile and description once again of the classes. And I guess we just wait and see. Hopefully they accept students with lower GPA’s by taking the other parts of the application into consideration. I hope this feed has helped others. Good Luck to all!!!
@FINKELLY sounds like you’ve pretty much done everything you should to explain the situation so hopefully it all works out. Good luck to your daughter!
@FINKELLY: my son goes to a private Quaker prep school in the Philadelphia suburbs and we were concerned about his GPA too because his school does not formulate a GPA or rank students. Like your daughter’s school, all classes are taught at honors level. Fortunately for us the school report that is sent out with the students’ transcripts specifically points this out, so we were assured that colleges are familiar with this and give the appropriate increase in the student’s GPA.
@FCSmomRN Good Luck to your son. Sounds like we are in a similar boat. However, UCF specifically told my daughter when she met with them that unless her school would list as “honors” they can’t weight her GPA. So they may consider her rigorous classes in her application but her GPA won’t change from what they have calculated and will be low to their standards.
That’s really unfortunate that they evaluate the transcripts that way. Luckily my son was offered admission (he applied in mid September and heard back about 2 weeks ago) despite an unweighted GPA that probably appeared a little lower that the average. Every college he has applied to seems to do things so differently - it’s hard to really assess his chances. Good luck to your daughter!
My daughter is still waiting for a decision from UCF Admissions, she applied October 16. The wait is ridiculous. At least with UF we know we will not hear anything until February 12. I am glad she was accepted to other colleges as we may end up making a decision before we hear from UCF. Since she was accepted into UAB’s and FAU’s College of Nursing, those schools are at the top of her list. Good luck to everyone still waiting for the word “ACCEPTED.”
I applied in early September for Fall of 2016, and I still haven’t heard back from UCF. I’ve been accepted to Alabama and Michigan State already, but heard nothing from UCF. What gives?
Same with my daughter, she has been accepted to Alabama, UA at Birmingham, FAU, and Adventist University. And all acceptances have included a scholarship. I have no idea why UCF admission process takes so long.
My son also applied in September and UCF was his first choice…still nothing. Because the decision was taking so long and making us nervous, we started looking into other options. He was accepted to Alabama with full tuition scholarship and admittance to the Honors College. We visited the campus and he has already decided he’s going! We would of never looked elsewhere if he would of gotten a earlier admittance from UCF. He was also accepted to UNF, USF, Embry Riddle (with Presidential Scholarship) and Alabama Huntsville (with full tuition scholarship).
@mrslac1 Your son will love Alabama. My son is a Sophomore at Alabama on a Presidential Scholarship (Full Tuition) and he is in the Honors College and Emerging Scholars Program. He loves Alabama, the campus, the people. I don’t think he will ever move back home now.
@BAmom1996 I was actually surprised by his quick decision to attend. He loved the campus and atmosphere. The only negative is it’s 8.5 hours away vs 2.5 hours We’ll just have to go up and visit him… Roll Tide!
@mrslac1 We live in Orlando (Oviedo), Florida so we are about 10 hours away so I completely understand. Alabama wasn’t even in my son’s top 5 until he visited the campus and now he can’t imagine himself anywhere else. The campus is beautiful! We are 5 minutes from UCF so naturally UCF is preferred. What will your son’s major be at Alabama? My daughter will probably go to FAU (Florida Atlantic University) as she got accepted into their College of Nursing. UA-Birmingham (she was accepted into their Nursing Program as well) was her top choice but they do not award out of state student much in scholarships, she did get a $12K renewal scholarship but it just wasn’t enough to keep them at the top.
