Are FL admissions easier now bc liberals are avoiding the state?

[Anonymous]

They’ve voted for Trump and DeSantis twice. That’s all the proof I (and really anyone else) should need. Because facts …

[Anonymous]

400 professors fled from the UF system in one year. Accreditation at risk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The peer group one year behind DD is applying for college now. Between DD’s year and this year, there are several kids I know from moderately liberal families who are attending or are applying to SEC/Southern ACC schools for sun and fun, sports and Greek, good academics, reasonable cost. Alabama and UGA seem very popular, plus GT, NC State and Clemson engineering and CS. (UNC also, but it’s an almost impossible admit). App State in NC is fun without the sun and also popular. Red states (or purple for NC) per se aren’t scaring them away.

But, these families are steering clear of FL state colleges (and would normally have considered U of FL/ Miami a few years ago) because of concerns over what DeSantis did at New College and because he is acively directing policy, eliminating tenure, limiting what can be taught Etc. And faculty are starting to leave U of FL over DeSantis’s policies.

But, the big concern is not only what things look like in 2024, but where U if FL will be 3-5 years from now if DeSantis keeps interfering with the FL State college system or if Matt Gaetz runs for governor. And what the ROI will look like in 5-10 years if he continues to make social and academic policy at U FL and Miami.

These are parents who are pretty savvy about college admissions.

My kids looked at smaller schools. But FL state schools would concern me. My personal opinion is that governors should be more hands off with state colleges and let the Board of Governors do their jobs. State colleges should have stability and make decisions are free from politics and the culture wars as possible. It isn’t good for a college to have big policy changes every 4 years as administrations come and go. Not a Youngkin fan, but I’m very glad he hasn’t pulled a DeSantis with VA state colleges. VA has excellent state colleges and I will begrudgingly give him credit for not fixing what isn’t broken. DeSantis is actively breaking things. Maybe you like the direction he’s going. But if DeSantis can make huge changes on things like majors and classes feared and tenure, so can the next Governor.

This.

Medical school students or any science field for that matter better be very prepared to not get in if coming from a Floria undergrad.

[Anonymous]

ONE governor is standing up to the Leftist drivel many professors spew, & you people are acting like the sky is falling. You know your view are fragile & will be exposed as ridiculous if students are exposed to opposing ideas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ONE governor is standing up to the Leftist drivel many professors spew, & you people are acting like the sky is falling. You know your view are fragile & will be exposed as ridiculous if students are exposed to opposing ideas.

The “leftist drivel” is academic freedom. It affects all types of folk, including STEM research profs. UF had done such a great job in attracting STEM talent and upping their research capabilities. That is all being threatened right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know about all of the Florida schools, but as to FSU Early Action (only available to Florida residents) - here is the profile of the admitted students for this current application cycle:
ADMITTED STUDENT PROFILE:
FALL: GPA: 4.4-4.6, SAT: 1370-1480, ACT: 30-33
SUMMER: GPA: 4.2-4.5, SAT: 1300-1390, ACT: 28-31

Test scores are low for a supposedly “top” flagship in a TO world. Both UVA and WM are 32-34 ACT. Can’t comment on GPA because 4.4-4.6 is really high for most DMV school systems and very out of whack with the SAT/ACT spread. You’d need to know how they weight and whether everyone with a pulse gets an A in every AP.

Most Florida schools require test scores. UVA and WM are both test optional so it is an apples and oranges comparison. At WM for the 22-23 year, only 52% of admitted students submitted a SAT. 18% submitted an ACT. This makes it a lot easier for schools like WM to inflate their test scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know about all of the Florida schools, but as to FSU Early Action (only available to Florida residents) - here is the profile of the admitted students for this current application cycle:
ADMITTED STUDENT PROFILE:
FALL: GPA: 4.4-4.6, SAT: 1370-1480, ACT: 30-33
SUMMER: GPA: 4.2-4.5, SAT: 1300-1390, ACT: 28-31

Test scores are low for a supposedly “top” flagship in a TO world. Both UVA and WM are 32-34 ACT. Can’t comment on GPA because 4.4-4.6 is really high for most DMV school systems and very out of whack with the SAT/ACT spread. You’d need to know how they weight and whether everyone with a pulse gets an A in every AP.

Most Florida schools require test scores. UVA and WM are both test optional so it is an apples and oranges comparison. At WM for the 22-23 year, only 52% of admitted students submitted a SAT. 18% submitted an ACT. This makes it a lot easier for schools like WM to inflate their test scores.

Yep all Florida publics require scores do not test score inflation like at test optional schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The people who say they will boycott colleges in Florida, Texas, NC, whatever,
are the same who threatened to leave the country if Trump (or fill in the name of whichever Republican was running in various years) won the election. Well, surprise, surprise, surprise—they are all still here.

Not so. Our child was very excited Florida state schools! DeSantis changed this in a span of a year. A shame because it tarnished some great options. Professors and professionals leaving is a marker for long term devaluing of the area and its institutions. Unlike private schools, state schools are bound by these mandates and they do require curriculum overhauls to adhere to conservative agenda. Scary times.

This is it, exactly. Students who are in Florida schools now will probably be fine, but over time, the quality of education offered at these institutions will erode because top instructors don’t want to teach in this environment.

They may be fine now. But 5 years from now when they graduate. 10 years from now when they send out resumes? Once schools get downhill momentum started, it’s a hard thing to stop. FL schools are a risk. Lots of sun and fun schools out there with decent academics that don’t have DeSantis threatening to replace the entire Board of Regents with MAGA. Why risk it?

And to be clear. I would be 100% okay with my kids attending a school with a 50% kind, thoughtful, principled conservative student body. It encourages strong, thoughtful classroom debate and is a personal and academic growing experience, which is what college should be about. But, I want my kids to attend schools that are as close to 0% MAGA as possible. There is no principles, thoughtful debate or even factual debate there.

Good points on the first. Agreed on the second. I graduated from a Christian college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ONE governor is standing up to the Leftist drivel many professors spew, & you people are acting like the sky is falling. You know your view are fragile & will be exposed as ridiculous if students are exposed to opposing ideas.

ONE governor is violating the First Amendment by trying to control what professors teach.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2023/03/17/floridas-stop-woke-act-continues-be-blocked-colleges

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is what I’m hearing, but I’m not sure if it’s wishful thinking or a real thing.

Any insight?

From what I’m seeing, plenty of northerners are flocking to southern schools—including SEC universities.

What are you seeing in the latest round of applications and admissions?

I don’t think admissions to Florida universities have ever been particularly difficult. They haven’t ever been particularly coveted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They will have no problem attracting students & faculty who don’t want to deal with a steady diet of Leftist insanity.

Because the existing/retiring faculty of the state school people are lauding as "T10" are feeding students a "diet of Leftist insanity?" Statements like this just discredit you and divorce your perspective from anything factual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Florida college admissions are less competitive as no out-of-state, high stats kids are interested. Why pay for a lackluster, third tier education? Should make it somewhat easier for in-state applicants.

'

While I don't have data for the last two years, in 2021, the University of Florida was the #1 destination in the country for National Merit Scholars, with 382, a hundred more than second place University of Alabama, and the number of NMS had been increasing for years. (Note that NMS is not the same as NMF. NMF is a more reliable guide to smart students, but NMS is a good enough proxy when comparing against institutions similar to U of F that turn all their NMF applications into NMS). NMS applicants were trending up at every other major Florida college besides New College Florida, which has faced declining numbers since 2010.

Institution,2021,2020,2019,2018,2017
University of Florida,382,342,270,231,202
University of Central Florida,107,83,91,83,89
Florida State University,60,42,20,21,25
University of South Florida,57,34,35,23,15
Florida Atlantic University,25,19,24,9,0
Florida International University,5,5,0,0,1
New College of Florida,1,2,2,5,3
Florida Institute of Technology,0,1,0,0,0
University of North Florida,0,1,0,0,0
Florida A&M University,0,0,0,0,0
Florida SouthWestern State College,0,0,0,0,0
University of West Florida,0,0,1,0,0
Florida Gulf Coast University,0,1,,

Anyway, sometimes it's good to check how you feel things ought to be against how things are.

NMS at a school is mostly a measure of state population and lack of other desirable schools in the region. Florida is a high population, large, isolated region. From South Florida, there aren't many other nearby states to drive to like DMV has MD, VA, DE, PA, NJ, NY, MA...

https://www.compassprep.com/national-merit-semifinalists-by-state/

California (and UT Austin) don't participate in the NMS program.

https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/guide_to_the_national_merit_scholarship_program.pdf?gid=2&pgid=61

Look at the trend. NMS numbers at Florida schools have nearly doubled over five years. And while FL 's population has grown, it hasn't grown that much. So what we're seeing is a large increase in very smart students going to FL schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ONE governor is standing up to the Leftist drivel many professors spew, & you people are acting like the sky is falling. You know your view are fragile & will be exposed as ridiculous if students are exposed to opposing ideas.

The “leftist drivel” is academic freedom. It affects all types of folk, including STEM research profs. UF had done such a great job in attracting STEM talent and upping their research capabilities. That is all being threatened right now.

If “academic freedom” results in an intolerant intellectual monoculture, then we need less of it not more. STEM is being negatively affected by the encroachment of woke garbage not by the efforts to keep it in check.

[Anonymous]

I just don’t want my kid to have classmates in college who have gone through the FL public k-12 system. Sounds like a nightmare! I am sure many FL high school grads are well rounded due to parents putting in the effort, but how many will talk about slave owners being kind to their enslaved people? Hard pass!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ONE governor is standing up to the Leftist drivel many professors spew, & you people are acting like the sky is falling. You know your view are fragile & will be exposed as ridiculous if students are exposed to opposing ideas.

The “leftist drivel” is academic freedom. It affects all types of folk, including STEM research profs. UF had done such a great job in attracting STEM talent and upping their research capabilities. That is all being threatened right now.

If “academic freedom” results in an intolerant intellectual monoculture, then we need less of it not more. STEM is being negatively affected by the encroachment of woke garbage not by the efforts to keep it in check.

You do not know what you are talking about. Most STEM professors in this country come from elite grad schools. Florida has been doing an amazing job recruiting them to Florida. Many of these profs are now looking to jump and take their lab with them. I know several who are looking. You may not see it yet but UF research will take a hit until they stabilize. I really hope DeSantis backs off and maintains the independence of the Board of Regents.