FGCU Office of Admissions - Prospective Students

Freshman Admission Requirements

All applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible – up to twelve months before the requested entry date. The application and all official supporting documents must be submitted by the posted deadlines below for the requested entry term. Applications received or completed after the posted deadlines may not be processed for admission into the requested term due to space or time limitations and may be offered admission in the next available term.

Florida Gulf Coast University aims to promptly notify students of their admission status. Students are typically notified within three to four weeks, from the time that their application for admissions is completed. (All portions of the application form completed and submitted with fee, all official transcripts and official test scores received).  Students interested in applying for Financial Aid and Housing should also be aware of priority deadlines that exist. 

New for summer and fall 2008 ------------- Starting with the summer 2008 term Florida Gulf Coast University has a priority admissions deadline for Freshman/First Time in College Students (FTIC). This includes both U.S. and International Students. Students who are admitted by February 15th will be given 1st priority for enrollment under our Freshman Enrollment CAP. Students who qualify for admission after February 15th will be offered admission to FGCU on a space available basis. Florida Gulf Coast University will continue to accept applications for FTIC students until March 31st (summer term) or June 2nd (fall term).

Notes: * Freshman applicants who have been admitted for the summer and fall terms on or before February 15th will be given 1st priority for enrollment under the Freshman Enrollment CAP. After February 15th students will be admitted on a space available basis, based on their original application date. Application date is considered to be the date the application was submitted along with the application fee.

** All Freshman applications received on or before November 15th will be considered for the Undergraduate admissions Merit Award. No other application is required. Applicants are ranked according to a combination of GPA and test score. Approximately 100 awards are provided depending on available funds.

Limited Access Program Admission

If you are applying to a Limited Access program in the College of Health Professions, please check with the advisor for that program regarding individual deadlines and requirements or visit the College's web site .

Freshmen do not need to submit Supplemental Applications until their sophomore year or completion of program prerequisite requirements.

If you are applying to the Limited Access progam in music, visit the Bower School of Music's website, www.fgcu.edu/cas/bsm, regarding audition information, BSM application and deadlines.  Further questions should be addressed to Pam Harkins, Music Program Coordinator.

Admission Requirements

All Freshman applicants must show proof that they are high school graduates or in the process of graduating from high school or have a GED certificate. Official high school transcripts reflecting courses completed from ninth grade through the eleventh grade, must be sent by the applicant's high school to FGCU when the applicant applies to FGCU. Applicants who hold a GED must submit official GED test score results. Transcripts and test scores received and opened by the university may not be transferred to a third party or the applicant and become the sole property of FGCU. *NOTE* A final high school transcript showing date of graduation will be required following high school graduation.

Florida Gulf Coast University requires that applicants be graduates of a regionally accredited high school with specific academic units. An academic unit is a year-long course which is not remedial in nature. FGCU requires that an applicant have an acceptable cumulative high school grade point average in the following academic units as computed by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions:

• Four units of English (at least three with substantial writing requirements)
• Three units of Mathematics (Algebra 1 and above)
• Three units of Natural Science (at least two with laboratory)
• Three units of Social Science
• Two units of the same Foreign Language
• Three elective units preferably from English, Mathematics, Natural Science, Foreign Language, Humanities, or Social Science area.

Florida Gulf Coast University requires that applicants submit test scores. Scores from the American College Test (ACT) or the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) are required of all applicants for freshman admissions. Either of these tests should be taken as soon as possible and official test scores sent to FGCU. Information about these tests may be obtained from your high school counselor or by writing:

First-time-in-college applicants are considered for admission to FGCU based on the following:

• A 3.0 grade point average (recalculated by Undergraduate Admissions using academic courses) on a 4.0 scale paired with one of the standardized admission tests. Sub sections of each test should be above minimum/remedial levels. (A student must have at least a minimum SAT Reasoning revised Critical Reading score of 440 and Math score of 440 or enhanced ACT minimum score of 17 for English, 19 for Math, and 18 for Reading).
• A combination of high school GPA (recalculated by Undergraduate Admissions using academic courses) and admission test score as indicated in the scale below based on the State University System Minimum Freshman Eligibility Index for Admission Consideration (sub sections of each test should be above minimum/remedial levels as described above):
• Any student applying for admission who completed a non-traditional high school program of study which is not measured in Carnegie Units such as home schooling or a student who presents a General Equivalency Diploma (GED) instead of a standard high school diploma, must present a score of at least 1010 on the re-centered SAT I (Critical Reading + Math) or a 21 composite on the E-ACT.  In other words, if a transcript is provided without courses or grades where a GPA can not be calculated, these minimum scores must be presented to be admitted.  If the home-school transcript does provide a transcript with courses and grades where a GPA can be calculated, the following sliding scale will used to determine admissibility.  This admission criteria is also true for those applicants who hold a degree, equivalent to a US high school diploma, from an out of country school where the evaluating agency does not provide FGCU with an overall GPA.  If the evaluating agency does provide a GPA, the following sliding scale will be used to determine admissibility.  Sub-sections of each test must be above the minimum/remedial levels as described above.

*SAT taken after 3-31-95

An FTIC applicant who meets the State University System Minimum Freshman Eligibility Index for Admission Consideration is not guaranteed admission to the University, even though everything possible will be done to admit all qualified applicants who apply by posted admission deadlines. However, if the number of qualified FTIC applicants exceeds the number the University is permitted to enroll in a given term, admission will be on a selective basis.

Most students accepted to the University present a 3.3 high school grade point average and test scores of at least 22 on the ACT and 1050 on the SAT I.

Foreign Language Requirement

All students admitted must satisfy or meet exemption qualifications from the state foreign language admission requirement. American Sign Language satisfies the criteria of a foreign language for the purposes of this requirement. Students who do not meet this requirement may be admitted with the condition that they fulfill the requirement by completing a two-semester sequence of a foreign language prior to graduation from FGCU.

Students satisfy the requirement by having completed two (2) years of a foreign language sequence in high school or eight (8) or more semester hours of a foreign language sequence in a previously attended college or university. They can demonstrate equivalent foreign language competence through credit awarded on the basis of scores on the foreign language subject matter examinations in the College Level Examination Program (CLEP), which must be equivalent to 8 to 10 semester hours of college-level work. Acceptable scores for awarding CLEP credit can be found in the Transferring Credit section of the catalog.