How to Get Into the University of Florida: Admissions Stats + Tips
The University of Florida is a public research university located in Gainesville, Florida. The university is known for its sizable 2,000-acre campus (with two lakes on campus!), its highly-rated engineering program, and its football team, the “Florida Gators.” The University of Florida offers 100 undergraduate majors across 16 schools and colleges. The University of Florida also provides esteemed graduate programs in the Warrington College of Business, Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, Levin College of Law, and College of Medicine. Gainesville is considered a popular college town, known for its well-preserved buildings and beautiful natural surroundings. If you want to attend the University of Florida, you’ll need to develop a strong academic profile. In this post, we’ll review what the admissions committee looks for, how you can improve your chances of acceptance, and the information you need to apply to the University of Florida. Getting accepted into the University of Florida isn’t impossible, but it does require hard work and a strong application. Last year, only 36% of applicants were admitted. Out of 42,193 students who applied, only 15,002 were accepted. While the University of Florida’s acceptance rate is incredibly low, your personal chances of acceptance may actually be higher or lower, depending on your profile strength. To better understand your chances at the University of Florida, we recommend using our free admissions calculator. Using your grades, test scores, extracurriculars, and more, we’ll estimate your odds of acceptance, and give you tips on improving your profile! The average high school GPA of the University of Florida of 2025 is 3.88 (unweighted). The percentage of students with a 4.0 GPA is 39%. To give you an idea of where your standardized testing scores should be, the middle 50% SAT scores for admitted students were 1310-1450. The middle 50% for ACT scores is 29-33. 81% of students submitted SAT scores, while 50% of students submitted ACT scores. The University of Florida recommends that students submit ACT or SAT scores, but it is not required. 82% of students accepted to the University of Florida were ranked within the top 10% of their high school class, while 98% of students accepted were ranked within the top 25% of their class. Since the University of Florida is a competitive school, most candidates will be academically qualified. Even though your stellar grades and standardized test scores are important, you’ll need to have extra qualifications that can help your application stand out. The University of Florida also considers extracurriculars, personality traits, skills, and talents to be an important part of the admissions process. Students who are well-rounded both academically and personally will be more likely to be accepted to the University of Florida than students who are strictly focused on excelling academically. According to their 2020-2021 Common Data Set, the University of Florida considers the following factors “very important”: These factors are “important”: These are “considered”: And these are “not considered”: If you recall, the average high school GPA of the University of Florida Class of 2025 is 3.88, and the percentage of students with a 4.0 GPA is 39%. If you’re thinking about applying to the University of Florida, it’s important to ensure your GPA matches or exceeds these statistics. The reason why? It’s called the academic index—a tool that calculates a student’s overall performance and represents it in a numerical score. Only students who pass the academic index will be considered for admission, so it’s crucial to have a competitive transcript to get your application seen by the admissions committee at the University of Florida. In addition to keeping your GPA high, consider taking the most challenging courses available to you, like honors classes or AP classes. This will demonstrate the strength of your course rigor—another factor that’s highly considered by the University of Florida admissions committee. If your GPA is lower, and you’re earlier on in your high school career, check out our tips for increasing your GPA. If you’re a junior or senior, it will be harder to increase your GPA, so the easiest way to increase your Academic Index is to get a higher test score. The middle 50% SAT scores for admitted students at the University of Florida for the 2020-2021 school year was 1310-1450, and the middle 50% for ACT scores was 29-33. 81% of students submitted SAT scores, while 50% of students submitted ACT scores. In light of COVID-19 test-optional policies, we highly recommend taking the test if you can do so safely. Since SAT and ACT scores are considered to be “important” by the University of Florida, it’s wise to submit these scores to boost your application to the top. Even though submitting test scores is optional at the University of Florida, we recommend submitting your score if it’s the 25th percentile or above for accepted students at that school. Get a free recommendation on whether or not you should submit your test scores using our free Chancing Engine. To improve your SAT/ACT score, check out these free CollegeVine resources: Even though all your extracurricular activities are important, some will rank higher during the admissions process than others. We call this rating system the Four Tiers of Extracurriculars. When you’re applying to a competitive school, it’s recommended you are involved in at least one or two Tier 1-2 extracurriculars to stand out to the admissions committee. Tier 1 activities include winning a prestigious national award or starting a nonprofit, while Tier 2 activities describe serving as student body president or earning first place in a local robotics competition. Since you can choose from tons of impressive extracurriculars for college, it’s crucial to highlight activities that reflect your accomplishments, passions, and personality on your application. Remember that your application will be more competitive if you develop a deep interest in one or two extracurriculars (a highly-developed interest known as a “spike“) rather than participate in a range of unrelated activities. For example, attending American Legion Auxilary’s Girls State as the delegate for your school and serving as your school’s student body president would be considered a spike—it demonstrates that you are interested in political leadership! Once you’ve proven your academic excellence, your essays are one of the best ways for you to set yourself apart from other applicants. The University of Florida rates your essay responses as “very important” for admission, and they also rate talents, abilities, character, and personal qualities as extremely important, too. Your essays are an excellent opportunity to showcase your personality and skills so that you can accomplish two goals at the same time! Discover our best tips for writing the University of Florida essays for the 2021-2022 school year to get inspired before starting your essay! Application Timeline Deadline Early Action & Early Decision N/A Regular Decision November 1st Students can apply to the University of Florida using the Common Application or Coalition Application. You’ll need the following:
What’s Covered:
How Hard Is It to Get Into the University of Florida?
Average Academic Profile of Accepted University of Florida College Students
GPA
SAT/ACT
Class Rank
What is the University of Florida Looking for?
How the University of Florida Evaluates Applications
How to Improve Your Chances of Getting into the University Of Florida
1. Achieve at least a 3.88 GPA while taking the most challenging classes available
2. Aim for a 1450 SAT and 33 ACT
3. Cultivate at least one or two Tier 1-2 extracurriculars (find your “spike”)
4. Write engaging essays
How to Apply to the University of Florida
Deadlines
Application Requirements
Learn more about the University of Florida