How competitive is it to get admitted into UCF?

No, first-year students are not required to live on campus. Most first-year students do live on campus because of the ease of transition from home to campus life, access to university resources and the ability to make lifelong friends.

Due to restrictive state regulations, UCF is not permitted to provide online courses or instruction to students in some states. The list of states currently restricted is available at the Registrar’s website. While residing in one of these states you may not be permitted to enroll in UCF Online courses.

There is no separate application for UCF scholarships. All freshman applicants offered admission are considered for these awards so long as funds are available.

Your GPA is recalculated based on the academic core courses (including English, math, science, social studies and foreign language). UCF uses a 4.0 grading scale, and also awards additional quality points for any weighted courses within the academic core. Courses marked as pre-AP, pre-IB, pre-AICE and honors are given an additional 0.5 quality point. Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), Advanced International Certification of Education (AICE) and Dual Enrollment (DE) courses are given 1 additional quality point.

UCF will consider applications from students who are educated through a home-school program.

If your home-school follows a traditional U.S.-based high school curriculum, you should complete and submit a SPARK form. Otherwise, please email ucfsparkhelp@ucf.edu for assistance.

Once you finish your home-school program, you will be required to submit a final official transcript that includes a list of all coursework, showing final grades and units earned for each course completed. A brief description of the methods used for evaluation should accompany the home-school transcript. If home-schooled applicants previously attended another school or completed courses through the Florida Virtual School or through dual enrollment at a local college or university, official transcripts are required. Those courses should also be reflected on the home-school transcript.

Applicants who present a GED will also be considered for admission. Official GED results, a partial high school transcript, and ACT, SAT and/or CLT results must be submitted.

Housing applications are available for freshmen after they are offered admission, however, the timing depends on several factors.

For students admitted on the Dec. 5 Early Action decision notification date:

• You may submit a housing application on your Housing Portal Open Date. This date will be determined by the date and time that you pay your $30 admission application fee or submit an approved application fee waiver to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. ​
• The Housing Portal Open Date is the first day that Early Action admitted students can enter the Housing Portal and submit an application for on-campus housing. ​
  • This is not the ONLY date you can submit an application – just the first date. 

​For students who are NOT admitted Early Action:

• You will be able to apply for housing after you have been offered admission to UCF.
• Admissions decisions made after the Dec. 5 Early Action notification date will be released on a rolling basis beginning in early January.
• A Housing Portal Open Date will not be assigned to you if you did not apply Early Action.

There is limited availability for on-campus housing, so we advise students who are able to apply Early Action for faster access to the Housing Portal.

There are a variety of options for scholarships.

• Your high school guidance or college counseling office
• UCF’s Office of Student Financial Assistance website
• Online sites like Fastweb and CollegeBoard

Currently, only first-time-in-college (freshmen) students may apply to UCF using the Common App. Students wishing to transfer to UCF should complete the UCF institutional application for admission. Additionally,first-time-in-college students may, if they choose, submit their application via the UCF institutional application for admission.

For technical questions regarding your Common Application to UCF, you may contact the Common App Solutions Center, 24/7 year-round.

The Solutions Center also holds online chats throughout application season and allows you to contact them via a web form. A search function also exists using keywords to direct you to the appropriate web-based resources.

Beginning in Spring 2017, UCF will not require the writing section of the ACT or the essay section of the SAT.