From the UF Honors website:
“The [Honors] essays are read by current Honors students, and they are tough critics, so you are advised to spend some time on them and give thoughtful responses.”
What this Mickey Mouse approach to a serious matter?
Following up my above comment. Since acceptance into the Honors College is required to be eligible for the Lombardi and Stamps scholarships, this means current students have a say in who gets these scholarships? Is this for real?
Hi everyone. I’m a current UF undergraduate who will be attending the ultra-competitive UF College of Medicine in the fall, so I know quite a bit about UF and what it takes to be successful here. A lot of people are concerned about not getting accepted to the honors program — know that the honors program does not really mean much at UF. During my time here, I knew people in the honors program who floundered while others outside the program flourished. I myself wasn’t in the honors program (back then you had to apply for it and I never did). Most of my future colleagues at the medical school were also never in the program, and some UF students I know who will be attending the most prestigious medical schools in the nation next year were also not honors. At UF, not too much of a distinction is made between honors vs. regular students. All of this is to say that being an Honors Gator has no bearing on what is possible at UF and beyond. I just felt compelled to let everyone know of my experience.
@KrysRN101 Congratulations! Where did you see the acceptance to engineering? Daughter was accepted to UF but it letter doesn’t specify engineering.
I don’t work in honors nor do I see the honors essay but it isn’t just random honors students reading, the students who read them are in a class together and of course there are guidelines and such. Honors students have been reading the essays for years.
@ildro UF doesn’t admit into specific majors at the freshman level. If she is certain of her major then that is her major and at preview she will meet with an advisor who will make sure your daughter is taking the right classes to succeed in her major. If she is unsure then she can choose again at preview or even be undecided for a semester or two.
@binlee This is my understanding of how the process works. If I am incorrect on anything from those in the know, please feel free to correct me.
All students who apply to UF and seeking honors write essays. Last years top 20(I believe) scoring essay students are given a special class and taught how to grade and evaluate essays. They read blind essays with no information as to sex, race, gpa, grades, SAT scores etc…and determine the best essays for admittance to the honors program so there is no bias.
Now the essay written for application for the Stamps and Lombardi scholarship is completely seperate. Those essays are judged by a panel of academia and pared down to finalists who will then have an interview process. From there the final students for Stamps and Lombardi are chosen based of of their interviews. Hope this helps.
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D (the baby) accepted! Summer B 1st choice.
In state
1440 SAT
5.2 GPA (28/1200 in class)
15 AP/AICE
Good EC/leadership
Very good essay.
Want to share that my older daughter is currently a jr at UF. She started Summer B. It was an amazing transition. A lot less people on campus. Lots of new freshmen students, so all learning the ropes together. Also UF requires students to earn some of their credits over the summer, so this can be knocked out early.
Also re Honors - great perks if u made it into the program. But by no means the only way to stand out or become engaged at UF. My current jr had applied & was rejected despite coming in with great academic stats. She currently holds a 4.0 GPA in Accounting, has already received internship offers from Big 4 accounting firms., has a paid on campus mentoring position, has taken a small invitation only course on leadership with the Dean, has competed in business case study competitions & the list goes on & on. UF offers opportunity in so many different ways. The Honors program is just one of the many.
It’s still students reading the Honors essays and having input into who gets in Honors, which one must be in to be eligible for the Stamps and Lombardi scholarships, so it’s still students impacting who gets these scholarships. It’s ridiculous.
You still have students reading the Honors essays and impacting who gets in Honors, WHICH ONE MUST BE IN TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE STAMPS AND LOMBARDI SCHOLARSHIPS, so you have students impacting who gets these scholarships. It’s outrageous…
@binlee What exactly is the issue? Over 9,000 applicants are narrowed down to about 700 based on essays. Really not too difficult for top 20 kids from previous year who have also taken a course by a professor in evaluating essays to get to the top 8% or so. Who would you choose to evaluate the current essays? Keep in mind there are over 9,000 to evaluate so certainly not academia who are teaching.
Again these are blind reads so no bias. From that 700 it is narrowed to around 22 I believe which is made up of the Director of the program and other academia. Then the interview process takes it down to the final 11.
I would say based of their past representation of top Stamps and Lombardi students, the system has worked quite well.
I just don’t understand why the essay is the most important aspect to the application.
- There is no way to validate that the student even wrote the essay. 2. Some exceptionally smart and achieved students are not great writers. Think, engineers, etc.
I don’t have a dog in this fight, neither of my Gator admits applied. So, no sour grapes here.
As I read these posts about people making a decision to not go to UF based on not being accepted into Honors, it does not make sense to me. I understand that these kids are used to taking all honors/AP/IB classes. But, this is not high school. They are going to be challenged. I have watched many of the peers of my 2022 Gator’s class (through a Facebook family group) struggle for the first time in their academic lives. Many kids had never earned less than an A had to drop Chemistry, Calculus and Accounting classes and changed majors from Engineering to Business and from Finance to Poly Sci. I know you think that this will not be your kid, but so did their parents.
I also understand that these kids are high achievers and are not used to rejection. They need to. As stated above, many are going to go through major adversity over the next 4 years.
Lastly, virtually nobody cares whether you were in the honors program when applying for a job or grad school. As a previous poster said, the ability to achieve success is not predicated on whether you are in Honors.
Rant over, thanks for listening.
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Just one suggestion and I hope this is read by someone in the admissions office. If only those students who are accepted in to the Honors program are eligible for the Lombardi and Stamps scholarships, then it would be great to have a deadline to submit essays for these scholarships after the admissions process rather than asking all students who are interested in them to submit beforehand.
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The issue is that no other elite school - which UF is aspiring to be - or any other school I’ve heard of for that matter, has STUDENTS determining who enters its Honors College or, even worse, STUDENTS determining who is eligible for scholarships.
You must have missed this fact: Admission into the Honors College is a REQUIREMENT FOR ELIGIBILITY for Stamps and Lombardi scholarships. That’s why 100% of Stamps and Lombardi scholars are Honors students! Because no one outside the Honors College is eligible for them! This is the scandal! STUDENTS read Honors essays and determine not just who gets into the Honors College, they determine who is ELIGIBLE FOR THE STAMPS AND LOMBARDI SCHOLARSHIPS! Get it?
Here, from the UF website:
“FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions about the Lombardi and Stamps Scholar Program
Do I need to apply to the Honors Program?
Application and admission to the Honors Program is an eligibility requirement.”
UF got it right a couple years ago when they had “auto-admit” into the Honors College based on merit/GPA/test scores alone. Too bad the “holistic” crowd won it back. What’s next? A “holistic” standard for who graduates with “honors”? Why not, right? That will surely propel UF to the top.
Daughter was accepted!
Applied for Summer B, did not apply for Honors
from FL
SAT: 1330
GPA: 3.83 unweighted, 5.14 weighted
Rank: 18/541
Extra: SGA Treasurer, Varsity soccer and flag football team captain, NHS, over 1000 service hours, all-state for flag football
Accounting major
Sister is a junior at UF
GO GATORS!!!
From what I hear about Honors college, it’s really not a big deal. Hume is inconveniently located and not very social. The major perk is priority for selection of classes. I know students currently in honors college that don’t encourage applying.
With thousands of deserving kids licking their wounds today, I find this honors argument quite dull. You got into UF. Be happy. The entitled whining has already gotten old.
Agreed. My D decided not to apply for these reasons.
DD didn’t apply for the honors because the pre med track will keep her very busy already.