Florida Bright Futures Requirements SAT, ACT, GPA, and More

Florida Bright Futures Requirements SAT, ACT, GPA, and More SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship programs are awesome education funding options for Florida state residents- if you can get through the application process, that is. The scholarships offered are particularly nitpicky and tedious about their eligibility requirements: the official handbook outlining these criteria is its own 14-page book chapter. Not to worry! I’ve outlined all the eligibility criteria for Florida Bright Futures Scholarships (general and specific, for each scholarship, with every single exception or special circumstance) in a way that’s a bit easier to get through. I’ve also included information about when to expect notification about your eligibility. Once you’re considered eligible, you’re one (big) step closer to winning a Bright Futures Scholarship. After you’ve processed all this information, I’ll get to the good stuff- how to increase your chances of winning your own Bright Futures award. What Are the Bright Futures Scholarships? Before we dive into eligibility for Bright Futures Scholarships, let's first briefly go over what the scholarships themselves offer. There are three different scholarship programs, all with different eligibility requirements and award amounts. Florida Academic Scholars (FAS) - This is the most competitive Bright Futures scholarship and the most generous one. It's geared towards â€Å"A students." FAS winners canreceive funding for the entire duration of their course of study. Florida Merit Scholars (FMS) - This scholarship is less competitive than the FAS, but it still has relatively high minimum test score and GPA requirements. It's geared towards "B students." FMS winners canreceive funding for the entire duration of their course of study. Gold Seal Vocational Scholars (GSV) - This scholarship helps students pursuepost-high school vocational and certificate degrees. It's the least competitive award and provides the least amount of funding. GSV winners can receive scholarship funding for up to 72 credit hours of a technical degree program or career certificate program or up to 60 credit hours of an applied technology degree program. General Bright Futures Requirements There are a few different Bright Futures awards, but these blanket requirements apply to all of them (unless otherwise mentioned later on in the post). In order to qualify for one of these awards, you must: Be a Florida state resident and US citizen or eligible noncitizen (noncitizen eligibility is determined by your college) Complete the Florida Financial Aid Application (FFAA) by 8/31 the year of your high school graduation Earn a standard Florida high school diploma or its equivalent from a Florida public high school or a registered Florida Department of Education private school Not have been convicted of (or pleaded no contest to) a felony charge Be accepted by and enroll in a degree or certificate program at an eligibleFlorida public or independent postsecondary institution Be enrolled for at least six (non-remedial) credit hours per term If you meet all of the above requirements, you're on the right track to getting your own Florida Bright Futures awards. Specific Scholarship Requirements The different Bright Futures scholarship awards have slightly different academic eligibility requirements. Use this info to determine which scholarship award might be the best match for you. Florida Academic Scholars (FAS) and Florida Medallion Scholars (FMS) Requirements There are certain minimum requirements for high school coursework, GPA, ACT/SAT scores, and service hours that must be met to qualify for either of these programs. You'll have to meet the requirements in all of these domains in order to be eligible for an award. If you've won another academic award, you may have an easier time qualifying for an FAS or FMS award- I'll talk about why and how after discussing allacademic requirements. Coursework We'll start off with the easiest of the eligibility criteria- I've laid out here all the high school classes you need to have taken in order to qualify for an award. The good news is that most high schools require students to take these classes anyways, so barring any special circumstances, you should meet these requirements. This chart outlines coursework requirements for both the FAS and FMS scholarships: High School Course Credits Required Comments English 4 Three must include substantial writing Mathematics 4 Must be at or above Algebra I level Natural Science 3 Two must have substantial lab work Social Science 3 World Language* 2 Must be sequential, and in the same language * A note about the World Language requirements: if you haven't taken the necessary courses, youcan meet this requirement by demonstrating proficiency on credit-by-exam equivalencies or other â€Å"university-approved† means. What this means is if you can test out of your language in college, you’ll probably also meet this language requirement even if you didn’t take two sequential language courses in high school. GPA, ACT/SAT, and Service Hours You'll need to demonstrate a degree of academic and community service excellence in order to qualify for either the FAS or FMS programs. You'll notice, though, that the FMS program is a bit less competitive in its minimum requirements. I've laid all of these eligibility criteria out in one chart so you can easily compare requirements for both programs: SCHOLARSHIP WEIGHTED GPA MINIMUM ACT MINIMUM SAT MINIMUM SERVICE HOURS FAS 3.50 29 1290 100 hours FMS 3.00 26 70 75 hours FMS- Homeschooled students without official transcripts 3.00 27 1220 75 hours A few important notes: You'll only need to submit scores from one standardized test- you don't need to meet score requirements for both the SAT and the ACT The SAT/ACT minimums do not include the writing section. All service hours must be completed by your high school graduation in order to count for the award. Future Changes to SAT Requirements The SAT requirements listed above are only valid for students graduating high school through 2020.Florida legislature recently passed a billthat will raise the SAT minimums for students graduating in 2021 and beyond. It's estimated that the SAT minimum forFAS will be raised from 1290 to 1330 andFMS from 70 to 1200. (The homeschooled FMS SAT requirement will likely be raised as well, but the exact amount hasn't been determined yet.) Here are some alternative options for those who like to venture off the beaten path. Other Ways to Qualify for the FAS or FMS Programs If you’ve received academic recognition through some other program, you may be eligible for the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship programs even if you don’t meet a few requirements. This chart outlines the eligibility requirements for scholars who have been recognized by any of the programs listed below. If a box is blank, that means thatyou would be exempt from that particular requirement. Program Florida Scholarship ACT/SAT Score Minimums Service Hours Minimums National Merit/National Achievement Finalists and Scholars FAS 100 hours NM/NA Finalists Scholars FMS 75 hours National Hispanic Scholars FAS 100 hours National Hispanic Scholars FMS 75 hours AICE Diploma FAS 100 hours AICE Diploma FMS 75 hours IB Diploma FAS AICE Curriculum FAS 29 or 1290 100 hours AICE Curriculum FMS 26 or 70 75 hours IB Curriculum FAS 29 or 1290 IB Curriculum FMS 26 or 70 If you have an IB diploma, you're in luck- that diploma is the only way to qualify for the FAS program without an ACT/SAT minimum or service hour minimum. Gold Seal Vocational Scholars (GSV) Requirements The GSV program is a bit less competitive in terms of its academic eligibility requirements than the FAS or FMS programs. Although this makes it a great fit for some students, keep in mind that the GSV award can only be used to fund a career education or certificate program- no four year college degrees. In order to qualify for the GSV program, you must meet all of the following criteria: Must graduate from high school with a standard diploma Must have a minimum unweighted 3.0 GPA in non-elective high school courses Must complete 30 service hours by high school graduation Must take at least three full credits in a single career and technical education program Must achieve a minimum 3.5 unweighted GPA in your career education classes There are also some minimum test score requirements for GSV applicants; if you’ve taken both the SAT and the ACT, you unfortunately can’t mix and match section subscores between the two tests to meet minimums; you can, however, superscore across multiple test dates for the same test (e.g., if you take the SAT twice). All minimums must be met for either the SAT or ACT (but ultimately, you only have to take either the SAT or the ACT!) This chart outlines GSV test score minimums: Exam Subsection Score Minimum ACT English 17 Reading 19 Math 19 SAT Critical Reading 440 Math 440 P.E.R.T Reading 106 Writing 103 Math 4 Want to learn more about the SAT but tired of reading blog articles? Then you'll love our free SAT prep livestreams. Designed and led by PrepScholar SAT experts, these live video events are a great resource for students and parents looking to learn more about the SAT and SAT prep. Click on the button below to register for one of our livestreams today! Special Circumstances: What If You Don't Think You Qualify? Feeling left out of all the scholarship fun? You could still be eligible! As you can see, the eligibility requirements for the Florida Bright Futures awards are quite specific. Perhaps fortunately for you, there are just as many exceptions to these rules as there are actual rules. If you were homeschooled, have a GED, or live out of state, you still might qualify for the award even given the stringent criteria described above. Homeschooled Students If you were homeschooled and don't have a Florida state standard diploma, you still may qualify for a Bright Futures award if: You meet all of the general requirements described at the beginning of this post You were registered in the district where you live for grades -12 GED Students In order to qualify for a Bright Futures award as a GED student, you mustmeet the coursework requirements and GPA requirements outlined at the beginning of this post before taking the GED exam.The processof applying or qualifying for an award won't be much different than that of a student with a standard high school diploma. Just keep in mind thatyour eligibility for a scholarship will be determined in the academic year in which your GED is earned. Out-of-State Students Usually, only Florida residents can qualify for the Florida Bright Futures scholarships (not a huge surprise there).If you earned a high school diploma from a non-Florida school while living with a parent or guardian who was on military or public service assignment outside of Florida, you may still be eligible.Keep in mind, though, that this parent must be a Florida resident. When Do You Learn Whether You're Deemed Eligible for a Bright Futures Scholarship? These eligibility qualifications above are tedious, to say the least. There are a couple of different official steps in place to determining program eligibility- these are implemented in order to make sure you’re checking off all the right boxes. Early Evaluations One option that the Bright Futures scholarship program offers is an early eligibility evaluation. If you submit transcripts and test scores to the Florida Department of Education early in your 7th semester of high school (think late winter your senior year), you’ll receive an â€Å"eligibility or ineligibility determination.† These eligibility decisions should be posted starting in March. Although an ineligible determination is not ideal, it may save you a good chunk of time- you won’t have to submit a whole application for a scholarship program that you won’t be considered for. Final Evaluations Once your final transcripts are submitted after your graduate high school, you’ll get an eligibility determination posted to your online account. The scholarship program will begin posting these determinations in July. How Do You Optimize Your Eligibility Chances? Ready to get started? Now that you know all about the Florida Bright Futures eligibility rules, you can start working on maximizing your chances of winning a scholarship.Many of the important eligibility requirements are long-term considerations, in the sense that you’ll have to plan out and work for the requirements starting your freshman year of high school. Here, I'll go through all the award criteria, giving tips and strategies to meet minimum coursework, GPA, test score, and service hour minimums. Coursework Like I mentioned earlier, most high schools require students to take the courses necessary to qualify for the Bright Futures awards. If you’re worried you won’t meet the course requirements criteria, schedule a meeting with your guidance counselor ASAP to see if you can work in extra course credits before graduation. GPA GPA requirements are easier to meet when they’ve been maintained over several years. If you’re just missing the GPA cutoff requirements, you should consider: Whether your GPA is weighted or unweighted.A weighted GPA will be higher than an unweighted one if you’ve taken any advanced or honors classes. Seeing your teachers after class or after school for extra help in your weaker subject areas. Asking your teachers if there are any extra credit projects or assignments you can complete in order to bring up your grades. The GPA requirement is lower for the FMS than the FAS scholarship- if you don’t meet the criteria forthe FAS, you may meet them for the FMS. ACT/SAT Test scores might be a sticking point for many students.The ACT/SAT minimums for both the FMS and FAS scholarship are pretty high- for example, the ACT scores required are at the 93rd and 87th percentiles. Here's what you can do to increase your chances of meeting those minimum scores: Start preparing for and taking the tests early on in high school. There’s no maximum number of times you can take the test in order to qualify for the scholarship. If you’re worried about achieving these test scores, plan on starting your sophomore year if possible. Decide whether you’re better off taking the SAT or ACT. Focus on one test instead of trying to do well on both. Don't have a lot of time to bring up your scores? Check out our ACT and SAT fast prep guides. Service Hours It would not be fun to try to fit in 75-100 service hours in the few months before high school graduation (remember that your service hours all have to be completed before you get your diploma). If you start volunteering as a freshman, you’ll only have to volunteer for an hour every 2-3 weeks in order to meet these minimums; if you start as a senior, however, you’ll have to volunteer 1.5-2 hours every week. So how do you stay on track? Find something that you're passionate about. Are there any interests that you want to explore, especially any related to future career paths? You could gain service hours and professional experience at the same time. Ask friends or family members if there are any service activities that they would recommend. Maybe you could volunteer together! Volunteer at the same time, on the same day, every week. Having a set schedule will help you keep your commitment. Don’t be afraid to switch it up. You have 75-100 required community service hours, but they don’t all have to be at the same place. If you’re losing interest, or if something just isn’t a good fit, it’s okay to try something else. Don’t just switch it up for the sake of switching, though- appearing flaky could hurt potential professional development and even your college applications. Volunteer with an established, legitimate agency. You want an organization that’s reliable enough to provide good documentation of your service hours when asked. Keep your own records of service hours as a backup. What's Next? Need more information on Bright Futures scholarships?Our guide to Bright Futures Scholarship programs answers all the questions you're wondering about. Ready to get started on your Bright Futures application?Follow our step-by-step guide on Bright Futures applications for all the information you need to create a top-notch application. Interested in more community service ideas? Check out our guide to 129 great community service projects. You may alsobe interested in other community service-based scholarships. Want to improve your SAT score by 160points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: