New College of Florida Admissions and Financial Guide
This article was written based on the information and opinions presented by Sharon Alcock, Associate Director of New Student Recruitment at New College of Florida, in a CollegeVine livestream. You can watch the full livestream for more info.
What’s Covered:
The Admissions Process at New College
Applying to the New College of Florida is pretty straightforward. Prospective students can apply through the common application or directly through New College’s web application. Both options are free, so it’s only a matter of your preference.
New College does ask that you complete its essay or a personal statement, provide transcripts from your high school or any colleges that you’ve attended, and provide SAT or ACT scores. Since New College is part of the State University System of Florida, standardized test scores are required for all applicants.
Unlike many other undergraduate programs, counselor or teacher recommendations are optional. If you do have a glowing letter of recommendation from your teacher, though, include it as part of your application. New College takes a holistic approach to admissions, meaning everything from letters of recommendation to extracurriculars and academics will be considered as part of the admissions decision.
Beyond extracurriculars and coursework, the admissions committee will also look at your volunteer work and responsibilities at home, as well as any jobs that you’ve worked, to understand you better as an applicant and how you’ll fit into the campus community.
As far as academics go, New College does use a weighted GPA process when reviewing transcripts. Taking into account the rigor of your coursework relative to what was available at your school, New College will recalculate your GPA so all applicants are reviewed using a universal metric. The median weighted GPA falls between 3.8 and 4.4, and the median SAT score is between 110 and 1320.
Both of these statistics are based on the middle 50% of applicants, meaning students above and below these ranges are admitted every year. While your transcript is a crucial indicator of whether you’ll be successful on campus with the rigors of New College’s academic programs, the other parts of your application will also play important roles in your admissions decision.
Applying for Financial Aid and Early Admission
New College accepts applications on a rolling basis. However, the early action deadline for an early admissions decision is November 1st.
You don’t need to send in all your New College application materials at the same time. For example, you can send in your application first, even if you haven’t yet received your test scores. If you have your scores first but aren’t ready to complete your supplements, you can send those in ahead of time. Keep in mind that while admissions decisions are made on a rolling basis, applying as soon as possible can help ensure that you can maximize any opportunities for financial aid.
As a state college, New College has in-state tuition costs for Florida residents and out-of-state tuition for nonresidents. In-state and out-of-state costs are predetermined before you are awarded any financial aid or scholarships. If you’re a Florida resident, your estimated costs, including room and board and a dorm meal plan, are about $21,900. For out-of-state applicants, your estimated costs before aid are considerably higher at about $44,900.
For both in-state and nonresident applicants, New College offers a host of scholarship opportunities to students based on factors such as academic achievement and demonstrated need. For example, Florida residents who qualify based on GPA and test scores can receive an annual scholarship ranging between $1,000 and $3,000 per year for all four years. Eligible nonresident students can receive this scholarship in addition to the out-of-state scholarship, which is a flat amount of $10,000 per year for all four years.
So, as a nonresident, you could average between $11,000 and $13,000 per year in direct scholarships alone, which can make the costs of attendance much more affordable.
Understanding the true cost of attendance is an important part of applying to college and ultimately deciding where to attend. With CollegeVine’s free net cost calculator tool, you can estimate the total cost of attending your dream school before you even apply.
