Last week the CACG counselors attended the State University System of Florida workshop for college counselors. The program provided information regarding the 2020-2021 admissions process. The following universities were represented: UF, FSU, UCF, USF, New College of Florida, UNF, FAMU, FAU, FGCU, FIU, UWF, and Florida Poly.
Key Points from the Workshop
SENIOR SCHEDULES
Schools continue to encourage students to take their most demanding schedule during their senior year. They indicated no preference between AP, IB, AICE, or Dual Enrollment courses; rather they indicated that students should choose the most rigorous courses offered by their high schools in which they feel they can be successful. If a student’s schedule has been impacted by COVID the student should indicate that on their application.
CAMPUS VISITS
Presently FAU, Florida Poly, FGCU, and UNF are offering limited in-person tours, for which students must register ahead of time. Other institutions are offering virtual tours.
EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Schools are aware that certain activities may have been canceled due to the pandemic. Colleges will look at a student’s overall activities through high school, understanding that there may be a gap in certain activities.
CAMPUS SAFETY
For information on how schools are approaching campus safely in light of the pandemic, students should check each institution’s individual webpage.
DEADLINE CHANGES
FSU has modified its deadline to December 1, 2020. Florida Gulf Coast University is offering Early Action admissions, with a deadline of November 1, 2020, with notifications coming out in mid-December. At present all other institution deadlines remain unchanged.
STUDENT DEFERRALS
While some counselors expressed a concern that admissions for the class of 2021 might be impacted due to students deferring their 2020 acceptances based on the coronavirus, schools clearly stated that the number of deferrals was low, and would have no impact on the 2021 admissions cycle.
SELF REPORTED GRADES
Eight of the 12 schools in the SUS will use the SSAR for the 2021 admissions process. These schools are UNF, UF, FSU, UWF, FAMU, FGCU, FAU, and Florida Poly. This year UCF will use their own self-reported grade system called SPARK. USF and FIU require that students send a transcript from their high school.