Michael Cornwell got into UF after all.
After worrying for weeks, the 18-year-old’s anxiety turned into excitement after he checked his status online and saw “Congratulations!” on the screen of his Toshiba laptop Friday.
Though the Gainesville High School senior originally planned a victory lap around his neighborhood, he instead dashed around his sister’s apartment complex in Altamonte Springs.
Some 11,423 high school seniors celebrated Friday as UF announced the students accepted for the 2011 freshman class.
UF spokesman Steve Orlando said he expects 6,400 of those accepted to enroll.
“I know it’s hard for some people to believe, but not everybody who is admitted comes to the University of Florida,” he said.
The university received 29,269 applications. Students who were admitted had an average GPA of 4.3, SAT score of 1963 and ACT score of 30.
Since 2000, the university has accepted an average of 11,443 students and had an average freshman class size of 6,684.
However, the percentage of students accepted versus the number of students applying has declined steadily over the past 10 years. UF accepted 62.5 percent of its applicants in 2000, but in 2009, accepted 41.9 percent.
Orlando credited the selectivity to an increase in the university’s prestige.
“Maybe a few years ago, the students we were admitting were deciding between UF, FSU and the University of Georgia,” he said. “But now, the students are deciding between UF, Stanford and MIT.”
However, the university isn’t being as selective as it once was.
The university was beginning an initiative to fix its student-faculty ratio. Its solution was to take less students.
But to offset the $150 million the university has lost due to budget cuts, it has had to freeze the cut-down on incoming freshmen, Orlando said.
“We’re not bringing in more, we’re just not bringing in less,” he said.
Still, the university’s admission process remains a competitive ordeal, and Orlando said the students benefit.
“When it comes time to graduate, we’re being recognized for the quality of students we turn out,” Orlando said.
