Additional Admissions Information
Test Score Requirements and Testing Recommendation
USF requires freshman and lower-level transfer applicants to submit official results of at least one college entrance exam (SAT or ACT), including essay. Because the SAT and ACT measure college readiness through different means and formats, we strongly encourage you to take each exam once during the spring of you junior year in high school. You are likely to prefer (and even to perform better) on one test over the other, which would allow you to focus on that test during the fall of your senior year. Except in rare cases, you should not take either test more than three times, as significant improvements on performance are unlikely at that point.
The University of South Florida uses only the best subsection score on each test for admission and placement purposes. Thus, we strongly encourage you to send all of your official test scores to USF as they are available. Opting for score choice on either the SAT or ACT could cause you to miss deadlines for scholarship consideration or opportunities to be invited to campus for special programs. Finally, because a strong writing score is one the academic success predictors that we consider at USF, we recommend that you take the writing portion for each ACT attempted and strive to perform well on this section of either exam.
USF’s code for SAT is 5828 and for ACT is 0761.
Currently, USF neither requires nor considers SAT Subject Tests for admission or placement.
Required Freshman Housing and Meal Plan
To enhance student success at the University of South Florida, all freshman admitted for Fall 2009 will be required to live on campus for the Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 semesters. In addition, students living on USF’s Tampa campus also must register for a meal plan.
The Office of Housing and Residential Education will allow for some exceptions to this policy, particularly for students living in Hillsborough, Pasco or Pinellas counties who 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 you to request a change to your term of entry to USF, campus, major, address and/or phone number. Admission to one term or campus, however, does not guarantee admission to another. We evaluate updates based on the appropriate admissions criteria at the time of the update.
Some applicants update their application because they are under the impression that it is easier to gain admission for one term over another. For example, some students think it is easier to gain admission for the summer. Please note that we automatically consider your application for other terms in the event that you are not eligible for admission to USF in the term to which you have applied. As a result, you should maintain an application for the term in which it is your first preference to gain admission.
Application Fee Waivers
We will waive your admissions application fee based on the receipt of an original SAT or ACT test fee waiver form. Typically, you may secure this via your high school guidance counselor who will send it to USF on your behalf. Although this is the easiest way to ensure the waiver of an application fee, the Director of Admissions will consider 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 ability to seek admission to USF.
Foreign Language Waiver
You may 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 the event that you meet waiver requirements, you are encouraged to work with your guidance counselor to document the waiver on your transcript or via letter to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.
Students with Disabilities
Per a consent agreement with the US Department of Education’s Department of Civil Rights, the University of South Florida is unable to provide consideration of a student’s disability prior to an admission decision. Although USF provides a full range of excellent services to qualified students with disabilities, we may accept documentation and consider any form of physical or learning disability only on appeal of an initial denial decision. Prior to that time, we must return any disability documentation to the applicant.
Under certain circumstances, however, if denied admission, students with disabilities may be able to appeal to the Faculty Committee on Student Admissions to substitute particular coursework for the standard requirements. Within 30 days of your denial, you must submit an appeal letter and provide official documentation demonstrating that your failure to meet standard admission requirement for academic units is directly related to your disability.
