The College Sage managed to miss the worst of winter so far on the East Coast with our January swing through the Sunshine State. After our busiest and most successful early application season, we needed a brief break to unplug and add to our campus knowledge. You’ll be hard pressed to find a college counselor who has visited as many college campuses as The College Sage! Walking the campus, meeting with students, and checking out all the offerings help us to truly guide students to find the right fit! With the cost of college today, you don’t want to waste money on a sad year. We’re here to help you maximize your academic and personal goals. Be sure to ask your counselor … how many college campuses have you visited?
The first thing you should know about applying to Florida colleges during COVID is that Florida is one of the very few states that has NOT gone test optional due to the virus. The Florida Board of Governors continues to maintain that test scores are an important measure to ensure incoming students have the necessary skill set to thrive at Florida public universities. Florida private colleges, on the other hand, are largely test optional for the 2022 admissions cycle.
Our swing through Florida couldn’t hit all the Florida options – University of Miami has certainly been a hot application this cycle! We didn’t make it that far South on this trip nor did we make it to the pan handle for Florida State University which is largely considered the state’s second ranked university behind UF in Gainesville. Embry-Riddle and the University of Central Florida are other great options that we have visited in the past. Now … on to what we did find on our trip!
FLAGLER COLLEGE: IN THE HEART OF HISTORY
Flagler College is a small liberal arts college established in the 1960s in the heart of St. Augustine Florida. The campus surrounds the historic Ponce de Leon Hotel which is now the College’s signature building (of which there are many haunting stories). It’s an attractive and active place to spend four years. The college has a new president as of 2021 with John Delaney taking over as the college’s fifth president. President Delaney has a background as a businessman, attorney, mayor of Jacksonville, and 15 years as president of the University of North Florida. With a low starting endowment and a last decade hiccup when the enrollment officer at Flagler at the time was inflating student information to appear more selective, Delaney takes over in a bit of a challenging moment. We look forward to seeing what he will do.
Things to know before applying:
· You can find Flagler on the Common Application
· $50 application fee
· Test optional – mean ACT is 23 and mean SAT is 1123
· Early Decision is available
ROLLINS COLLEGE: LAKEFRONT LIVING
Wow! We really loved Winter Park and the Rollins College campus! Rollins College is a small (just over 2,000 undergraduate students) private liberal arts college just outside Orlando. It was the first liberal arts college to be established in the state and modeled after New England style colleges. It’s 80-acre Spanish-Mediterranean campus is often recognized for its beauty. The newest dorm complex includes lake view rooms where you’ll see students boating and water-skiing for leisure and competition. It’s a truly lovely spot. Everything Winter Park has to offer, including an adorable Amtrak station in the center of town to easily get you to Orlando or beyond, is a very short walk from campus.
Academically, Rollins offers an interesting 3/2 Accelerated Management Program where you can study any liberal arts major and complete your bachelor’s degree in three years before adding the 2-year MBA from Rollins’ Crummer Graduate School of Business. Rollins offers intimate class sizes with a faculty to student ratio of 1:11. There is a similarly interesting pre-engineering track where students study for 5 years and receive dual bachelor’s degrees from Rollins and either Case Western University or Washington University. If your academic profile can’t get you to those schools out of high school, stepping into high level engineering through Rollins College is potentially interesting.
Rollins is a DII competing school, fielding teams in basketball, soccer, lacrosse, and numerous water sports and country club sports. Student life is also supported by 135 years of history with fun traditions like Candlewish for freshmen and Fox Day – think senior skip day but for the entire campus. Add in Greek life and many clubs and organizations, and there is plenty of appeal with the Rollins College overall package.
Things to know when you apply:
· It’s easy! No supplemental essays and test score optional. Use the Common Application.
· It’s free!
· Automatic consideration for major scholarships!
ECKERD COLLEGE: A GATED OASIS
Eckerd College is a gated-campus small liberal arts institution in St. Petersburg, Florida offering a range of liberal arts and business majors. Known for integrating short term international experiences, Eckerd students can add a semester at the London Study Centre or take a three-week winter term class at a variety of locations around the world. Since 1970 when Eckerd leased a 200-year Georgian row house in Bloomsbury, London has been the heart of the Eckerd study abroad program. And having lived in London for 10 years, The College Sage can tell you that as a study-abroad student in London, this is exactly where you want to be!
Eckerd offers a few unique programs like the 3+3 Accelerated law program with FSU or the 3+2 dual engineering bachelor’s with Washington University St. Louis or Columbia University. If you don’t have the credentials necessary to get to this caliber engineering program right out of high school, Eckerd is a unique way to ultimately achieve that dream.
Things to know about applying:
· Eckerd College is on the Common Application
· Apply Early Action by November 15 and receive decision mid-December
· Test optional
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN FLORIDA: CHECK OUT THIS RANKINGS ASCENT
USF is a large public university of 37,000 undergraduates set on a 1,600-acre campus approximately 15 minutes north of downtown Tampa. It’s a diverse student base, claiming students from every state and 146 countries. It is one of the country’s fastest rising university and public university in US News rankings and now ranks third in the state behind University of Florida and Florida State. With research and innovation as a core belief, it’s no wonder that USF is one of the top 10 American public research universities and 15th in the world for generating new patents. Academic strengths range from health to engineering to specialty niches. As an undergraduate, you can study gerontology with a BS in Long-Term Care Administration or Aging Sciences. You can earn a BA in Language, speech and hearing science, a BFA in Graphic Arts, or BS in Cybersecurity and various certificate programs.
New enrolled students last year averaged an ACT score of 28 and a high school GPA above 4.0. Out of state students account for 22% of the most recent incoming class. The campus is designed more as a commuting campus with only about 20% of students living on campus but the school has been rapidly adding on-campus housing in recent years. For athletics, USF competes at the DI level with a notable strength in sailing. Football was added in 1997. All tickets are always free for students.
USF offers one of the lowest tuition rates in the country, If you’re out-of-state and looking for a comparable cost education to your home option, check out USF! In addition to lower tuition rates, the university offers a variety of scholarships and grants.
GO BIG. GO BOLD. GO BULLS.
Things to know about applying:
· USF is on the Common Application
· Acceptance decisions are rolling beginning in mid-November
· $30 application fee
· Test scores are required
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA: SUNSHINE IN THE SWAMP
The University of Florida is one of the state’s largest by enrollment and the highest ranked. Located in Gainesville, the university dates to the mid 1850s and is now home to almost 38,000 undergraduates. Affectionately known as “the swamp”, Florida gators study in 16 different academic colleges on one campus a few miles outside of the downtown city center. Some of the highest global ranked programs include plant and animal science, agricultural science, and environment/ecology. More typically, we see students interested in the undergraduate business program and various pre-heath majors like nursing and pharmacy. The school’s honors program admits 1,500 accepted coveted spots each year. There is also a bridge program named PaCE that accepts about 2,500 students who are required to complete the first two years on-line before transitioning to on-campus learning.
From a student life perspective, undergrads enjoy an attractive largely red brick 2,000-acre campus with many historic buildings. While the student make-up today is less than 60% Caucasian, desegregation was slow, and some argue may still be hindered by test-required policies enacted by the state Board of Governors. The first African American undergraduate student graduated in 1965 and about that time began an African American Studies major which finally graduated its first major in 2014. About 15% of students are involved in Greek life, including 12 multicultural Greek organizations. Only about one-third of students live on campus with many students commuting to campus via scooters and public bus transportation.
Sports are a big component of student life at UF. Steve Spurrier-Florida Field is always open, and you’ll see students regularly running up and down the stadium seating getting their steps in! Steve Spurrier was the 1966 Heisman Trophy winner where he shattered every school record at the time for passing and total offense. He went on to be the most winning coach in school history from 1990-2001. Today Steve Spurrier is back in Gainesville as a fan and restauranteur. Sadly, his new Spurrier’s restaurant was closed on Tuesdays during our visit, but locals give it high marks.
Overall, we loved our visit to the University of Florida. With so many students getting shut out to the ever more difficult UVA and UNC, UF offers another similar Southeastern option. US News ranks Florida in the top tier of national public universities up with the University of California system, Michigan, and UVA. Granted Gainesville as a town isn’t quite as luring as some of its rival college towns, but the weather sure is nice. Combine a fun sports scene and great academics, and UF makes the cut. Just be careful of the alligators!
A few specific factors to remember when applying to University of Florida:
· There is no Early Decision – apply on the common app by November 1
· Out-of-state students make up about 16% of the student body
· They are not test optional and ask for all test scores to be sent – they promise that they super score!
· College majors are not required to be declared until Sophomore year
· Legacy is not considered
· UF recalculates GPA to include only core academic subjects with extra credit for Honors, AP, IB and Dual Enrollment
· The Honors College application is on the common application and requires two additional essays at the time of application to the university. The acceptance rate is 13% with middle 50% ACT of 34-35 and GPA of 4.6-4.7.
If you’ve read this Blog and intrigued with all the Florida college opportunities, contact thecollegesage.com! We can help you find your dream college. As they say in Florida, DREAM BIG MERMAIDS!
