Gator head logos and orange and blue confetti clutter the screen of the college application portal, the words “Congratulations!” excite the Baby Gator behind the screen.
Oh yes, a Friday afternoon in February that current Gators probably remember as one riddled with anxiety and excitement. Welcome, class of 2025, to the Gator Nation.
Although the newly admitted class applied amid a global pandemic, numbers did not falter. Initially, the applicant pool looked grim, with the university facing a 23% decline in freshman applications. However, by the Nov. 16 deadline, 48,066 undergraduate applications were submitted.
UF’s acceptance rate is 35% at this time, according to spokeswoman Cynthia Roldán.
The newest additions to the Gator Nation had an average GPA of 4.51, an average SAT of 1392, and an average ACT of 31. These statistics fall within the middle 50% of the profile for the class of 2024: core GPA of 4.4-4.6, SAT of 1320-1460 and ACT of 30-33.
Even in the COVID-19 pandemic, test scores remained high for admitted applicants. On both the Common and Coalition applications, a question was added about COVID-19 impacts on the student regarding safety, family circumstances and education and access to technology.
According to UF Director of Freshman and International Admissions Charles Murphy, more than 13,000 applicants, 26% of the applicant pool, answered this question.
COVID-19’s impact on students ranged from mild to severe – all were considered in the university’s holistic review process.
“We know UF can’t fully appreciate what some of these students are going through; nonetheless, their perseverance is quite simply amazing,” Murphy wrote.
However, this does not mean that all impacted students were admitted, but instead means their circumstances were reviewed and considered.
According to Roldán, 11,972 Baby Gators were admitted for the fall semester and 3,248 were offered summer B, which begins June 28, for a total of 15,220 students. Of this number, 624 were admitted to the Innovation Academy.
“The university’s plans for summer B and fall classes are still being formulated, and nothing has been finalized,” Roldán wrote. “We will continue to monitor developments with vaccines and conditions with the virus, and we will announce plans for this summer and fall when we have more certainty.”
Before the class of 2025 can embark on their educational journey at UF, they will have to attend Preview.
“Preview is an essential part of the Gator orientation process,” Roldán wrote. “Last summer, Preview was completely virtual. We also are closely monitoring health data and under the guidance of UF Health will be making determinations on the modality of Preview for this year soon.”
Although these Baby Gators might not have experienced a traditional final year of high school, their future lies ahead of them. ‘Tis the season for stocking up on orange and blue, planning a dorm room color scheme and finding roommates via Facebook. Welcome to the Gator Nation – here’s to the next four!