Additional Admissions Information
Application Fee Waivers
We will waive the admissions application fee for your students based on the receipt of an original SAT or ACT test fee waiver. Although this is the easiest way to ensure the waiver of an application fee, the Director of Admissions will consider all requests for a waiver of the application fee based on evidence noting that the fee creates severe financial hardship and serves as a deterrent to your student's application.
Test Score Requirements and Recommendations
To be considered for admission, all freshman applicants must take at least one college entrance exam (SAT or ACT) that includes a writing / essay score. As the SAT and ACT exams are formatted differently, students are encouraged to take both tests during their junior year of high school. They are likely to prefer (and perform better on) one test over another - they can (potentially) focus on the test that they prefer during their senior year. The University of South Florida combines scores on the subsection of each test; as a result, we encourage students to attempt up to three administrations of the exam with which they are most confident and to submit all scores directly to USF (SAT - 5828, ACT - 0761). Because a strong writing score is one of USF’s academic success predictors, students are encouraged to take the writing portion for each ACT attempted.
Foreign Language Waiver
A student can document proficiency in a second language to meet the requirement of two units (two years) of instruction in a foreign language. In Florida, the course number that is designated to indicate a foreign language waiver is 0791920 and has a course title of “Bright Futures Foreign Language Proficiency Waiver.” For a listing of ways to document proficiency in a second language for a foreign language waiver, see the Florida Counseling for Future Education Handbook.
In addition, students with disabilities may be able to substitute particular coursework for required foreign language coursework under certain circumstances. Upon appeal of a negative admissions decision only, documentation may be provided to demonstrate that the student’s failure to meet the admission requirement is directly related to his or her disability.
Required Freshman Housing and Meal Plan
To enhance student success at the University of South Florida, all freshman admitted for Summer or Fall 2009 will be required to live on campus for the Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 semesters. In addition, students living on the Tampa Campus must also register for a meal plan.
The Office of Housing and Residential Education will allow for some concessions to this policy, particularly for students living in Hillsborough, Pasco or Pinellas counties who can provide documentation of their intent to live in the principal residence of a parent or legal guardian (in those counties) or those that reach the age of 21 prior to the first day of classes of their first term of enrollment.
Updating the Application
Our update form allows applicants to request a change of term of entry, campus, major, address and/or phone number. Admission to one term or campus does not guarantee admission to another term. Updates are evaluated based on the admissions criteria for the request provided at the time of the update.
Many applicants update their application because they are under the impression that it is easier to gain admission for one term over another. For example, many students think it is easier to gain admission for the summer. USF automatically considers freshman applicants for other terms in the event that they are not eligible for admission to the term to which they applied. As a result, freshman applicants should maintain an application for the term in which they wish to gain admission.
