Univ of Florida - Reach School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to UF and loved it (and went through the college of ed there). It is a fun environment, got a great education, met great people, loved the athletics, and fully enjoyed the weather. I don't know why people are being so rude about the school on here!

There is nothing wrong with applying and seeing what happens. The option of community college for a year is a good one if she does not get in. They also admit many additional students for off semesters such as summer and Spring, so those are options.

I'm glad she loved the school and campus- as that is how I felt when I first visited!

Where are you getting your information from? I know Texas has a policy of admitting the top 10% of high school classes (or something like that). I'm not aware of a similar policy at Florida, or any policy that encourages Florida schools to be strict about admitting OOS students.

[Anonymous]

To OP - I hope your daughter gets into U of F if that is what she really wants. My only advice is to discourage her from being an Education major as that is kind of a lame major. Only exception is if you want to teach elementary school or early childhood. Even then, I would encourage a double major in something else as well.

[Anonymous]

Nothing wrong with UF, especially if you daughter thinks she'd be happy there and you can afford the out of state tuition. They have some programs there that do not have strong equivalents in closer state schools (marine biology and zoology come to mind, but it's such a huge school I'm sure there are others). We have lots of UF grads in our family (not me) but they have studied everything - liberal arts, pharmacology, speech pathology, law, etc so something for everyone there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to UF and loved it (and went through the college of ed there). It is a fun environment, got a great education, met great people, loved the athletics, and fully enjoyed the weather. I don't know why people are being so rude about the school on here!

There is nothing wrong with applying and seeing what happens. The option of community college for a year is a good one if she does not get in. They also admit many additional students for off semesters such as summer and Spring, so those are options.

I'm glad she loved the school and campus- as that is how I felt when I first visited!

Some people are being rude, but most are trying to help (and OP is resisting...or at least not assisting). There is indeed something wrong with "applying [to a reach school] and seeing what happens": What's probably going to happen is rejection (that's what "reach" means), and if there's no backup plan in place, despondency. That's why people keep asking what specifically OP's DD loves about UF (and what she didn't like about the other schools she's visited): so that they can offer suggestions of similar but less selective schools--not to replace UF on the wishlist, but to complement it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to UF and loved it (and went through the college of ed there). It is a fun environment, got a great education, met great people, loved the athletics, and fully enjoyed the weather. I don't know why people are being so rude about the school on here!

There is nothing wrong with applying and seeing what happens. The option of community college for a year is a good one if she does not get in. They also admit many additional students for off semesters such as summer and Spring, so those are options.

I'm glad she loved the school and campus- as that is how I felt when I first visited!

Some people are being rude, but most are trying to help (and OP is resisting...or at least not assisting). There is indeed something wrong with "applying [to a reach school] and seeing what happens": What's probably going to happen is rejection (that's what "reach" means), and if there's no backup plan in place, despondency. That's why people keep asking what specifically OP's DD loves about UF (and what she didn't like about the other schools she's visited): so that they can offer suggestions of similar but less selective schools--not to replace UF on the wishlist, but to complement it.

OP here - I'm not resisting or not assisting. I just choose not to respond to the "advice" and "suggestions". If you read my original post I asked a simple question about a specific school. If shouldn't matter whether it is a good school or not or if I have done any research of other schools (we have) or if other schools are better. I didn't ask for "suggestions of similar but less selective schools", we already have that list prepared. It's not relevant to my original post.

[Anonymous]

UF is a very, very good school. My daughter turned down Yale for Florida. She went on a full academic scholarship. She had a job before graduation. She now lives and works in DC. She had an amazing college experience. I don't love Gainesville. There are other great schools in Florida. But UF is a good choice. My other child went to UNF. Gorgeous campus in a great, safe area. (St John's near Jax). She also went on a full merit scholarship, had a job offer before she graduated, and loved her college experience.

The alligator poster is ridiculous. We lived on the water (fresh water) and very rarely saw alligators. If I went out and looked for them, I could certainly spot one, but they aren't just crawling all over everywhere. They normally stay in or near the water. In Florida, you assume all fresh water has alligators and use common sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UF is a very, very good school. My daughter turned down Yale for Florida. She went on a full academic scholarship. She had a job before graduation. She now lives and works in DC. She had an amazing college experience. I don't love Gainesville. There are other great schools in Florida. But UF is a good choice. My other child went to UNF. Gorgeous campus in a great, safe area. (St John's near Jax). She also went on a full merit scholarship, had a job offer before she graduated, and loved her college experience.

The alligator poster is ridiculous. We lived on the water (fresh water) and very rarely saw alligators. If I went out and looked for them, I could certainly spot one, but they aren't just crawling all over everywhere. They normally stay in or near the water. In Florida, you assume all fresh water has alligators and use common sense.

Out of curiosity what did you not like about Gainesville?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UF is a very, very good school. My daughter turned down Yale for Florida. She went on a full academic scholarship. She had a job before graduation. She now lives and works in DC. She had an amazing college experience. I don't love Gainesville. There are other great schools in Florida. But UF is a good choice. My other child went to UNF. Gorgeous campus in a great, safe area. (St John's near Jax). She also went on a full merit scholarship, had a job offer before she graduated, and loved her college experience.

The alligator poster is ridiculous. We lived on the water (fresh water) and very rarely saw alligators. If I went out and looked for them, I could certainly spot one, but they aren't just crawling all over everywhere. They normally stay in or near the water. In Florida, you assume all fresh water has alligators and use common sense.

Out of curiosity what did you not like about Gainesville?

Nothing really specific. We lived in St Johns and St. Augustine. I loved living near the ocean. I'm not a fan of anywhere in Central Florida.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to UF and loved it (and went through the college of ed there). It is a fun environment, got a great education, met great people, loved the athletics, and fully enjoyed the weather. I don't know why people are being so rude about the school on here!

There is nothing wrong with applying and seeing what happens. The option of community college for a year is a good one if she does not get in. They also admit many additional students for off semesters such as summer and Spring, so those are options.

I'm glad she loved the school and campus- as that is how I felt when I first visited!

Some people are being rude, but most are trying to help (and OP is resisting...or at least not assisting). There is indeed something wrong with "applying [to a reach school] and seeing what happens": What's probably going to happen is rejection (that's what "reach" means), and if there's no backup plan in place, despondency. That's why people keep asking what specifically OP's DD loves about UF (and what she didn't like about the other schools she's visited): so that they can offer suggestions of similar but less selective schools--not to replace UF on the wishlist, but to complement it.

OP here - I'm not resisting or not assisting. I just choose not to respond to the "advice" and "suggestions". If you read my original post I asked a simple question about a specific school. If shouldn't matter whether it is a good school or not or if I have done any research of other schools (we have) or if other schools are better. I didn't ask for "suggestions of similar but less selective schools", we already have that list prepared. It's not relevant to my original post.

okay, well in that case... U. Florida is a big state school. They have very large numbers of applicants, and so the admissions people don't have time to think deep thoughts. They look for test scores, grades, and maybe athletics. They might be moved by a story of overcoming hardship (first generation college student, immigrant from a war torn nation). But that's it. There is no way to game it (assuming you can not afford to donate a building)

[Anonymous]

Look up admission stats for out of state. When my dd applied a few years ago it was 8% or so. She will not get in without strong grades and scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look up admission stats for out of state. When my dd applied a few years ago it was 8% or so. She will not get in without strong grades and scores.

UF admit rate for OOS is 40%. Here is a good article......

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/education/os-acceptance-rates-florida-colleges-20150530-story.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I graduated from UF. It's a fine school and I had a great time there. What I did was I went to Sante Fe community college, got my AA and transferred in. I never even took the SATs. Also, I worked while down there, established residency and paid 1/3 of what I would have paid coming in from out of state.

OP, this path is a real possibility if she is determined to graduate from Florida. Does she want that enough to do two years at a community college and do well enough to transfer? More students do this now, CC followed by a transfer to a four-year college, mostly to save money on tuition. I know several families in your situation who are doing this -- smart kids whose HS GPAs werent stellar but who get the academics done solidly at CCs and who will end up with degrees from the same colleges that many of their classmates sweated over getting into as freshmen.

If she wants the full four-year college experience at Florida, yes, absolutely get test prep classes or tutoring. It will be pricey but can help. But at the same time ensure she does apply to some other schools. Did she actually visit other colleges yet? Seeing a college in person makes a big difference; if she has only visited Florida, or loves it because she has some other association with it (a parent attended, or its near where she's vacationed, or she went to an event there and has a good impression)--she needs to see other options too.

Thanks for this and yes she has visited several other colleges of varying sizes and types (Georgia, College of Charleston, Delaware, Towson, UMBC). We have been trying to sell the CC angle but she only sees it as being a failure and not smart enough to get into college.

Maybe your daughter shouldn’t be in college if such a mediocre school is a reach for her. She can make a lot of money in the trades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To OP - I hope your daughter gets into U of F if that is what she really wants. My only advice is to discourage her from being an Education major as that is kind of a lame major. Only exception is if you want to teach elementary school or early childhood. Even then, I would encourage a double major in something else as well.

+100 long-time educator here

[Anonymous]

If money is not an issue, visit University of Miami.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Money is not the issue. We have saved enough to fully pay for OOS tuition.

I call bullsh*t. I'd bet you're planning to claim Florida residency via grandparent or vacation home.