{"id":26075,"date":"2011-08-21T19:57:57","date_gmt":"2011-08-21T23:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=26075"},"modified":"2023-03-08T13:30:33","modified_gmt":"2023-03-08T18:30:33","slug":"ucf-starts-fall-smarter-bigger-and-greener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-starts-fall-smarter-bigger-and-greener\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Starts Fall Smarter, Bigger and Greener"},"content":{"rendered":"
The 海角直播 is starting its fall semester with one of the brightest freshman classes in school history and by launching several new programs and learning communities.<\/p>\n
The incoming freshman class includes a UCF-record 74 National Merit Scholars. The 3,700 freshmen that will call UCF home this semester boast an average high school GPA of 3.85 and an average SAT score of about\u00a01245. Last year 45 National Merit Scholars enrolled at UCF. The average GPA was 3.8 and the average SAT score was 1227.<\/p>\n
The university continues to grow, fulfilling a longstanding commitment to provide high-quality students access to higher education. Enrollment is expected to exceed 58,000 students this fall. Graduate enrollment is expected to surpass 8,300.<\/p>\n
Like the incoming freshmen, transfer students are making a name for UCF. The university\u2019s many initiatives to help community and state college students make a smooth transition to UCF won rave reviews from the nonprofit College Board in a report released this summer. More than half of UCF\u2019s bachelor\u2019s degrees have been awarded to transfer students for the past two years.<\/p>\n
And these students do well, earning coveted awards at UCF. Last year, for example, seven out of 10 students who received the university\u2019s top academic honors at Founders\u2019 Day ceremonies were transfer students.<\/p>\n
The record group of National Merit Scholars includes Landon Meahl, of Ocala, who turned down Georgia Tech to attend UCF.<\/p>\n
\u201cUCF has a great science program, and I want to get involved in research early,\u201d Meahl said. \u201cI want to major in physics and math, so this was a great choice for me. And the Honors College is unique.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morgan McSweeney, who starts his first semester at UCF next week, said he\u2019s thrilled to be at such a vibrant college. The Sarasota native applied to and was accepted at seven colleges and chose UCF because of its research focus.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen looking for colleges, I knew that I wanted to do research as an undergraduate student. UCF offers the best opportunities for research and internships out of all of the colleges I looked at,\u201d said McSweeney, who is majoring in Biotechnology with a minor in Psychology.<\/p>\n
Housing<\/strong><\/p>\n While no new residence halls are opening this year, many of the freshmen housed on campus will be living in new or expanded learning communities.<\/p>\n For example, 28 students who are interested in scientific research signed up for the Learning Environment and Academic Research Network<\/a> (L.E.A.R.N.).\u00a0 They will live on a floor of a building in the Hercules community on campus. The National Science Foundation funded LEARN to increase retention in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines for first-generation and minority students.<\/p>\n LEARN students will take three courses together \u2013 a freshman seminar, English and introduction to research. Participants also will work with graduate students and faculty members who will serve as their mentors as part of research apprenticeships.<\/p>\n