Admission Policy & Procedure for Internal Transfers

Advertising

The Department of Advertising is a limited access program. It currently has an enrollment cap of 500 juniors and seniors. Students already enrolled at the University of Florida who want to change their major to advertising or to add advertising as a second major must apply for admission.† All applications will be considered on a space-available basis. Admission is highly competitive. Students currently majoring in Journalism, Public Relations or Telecommunication must be “on track” for their respective major to be eligible to transfer to Advertising. Students from all other majors must be making appropriate progress toward graduation in their current major.

Review Period

Applications will be reviewed only three times a year – once each fall, spring and summer. Prior to, or at a minimum during the semester/session of review, students applying for admission must take ADV 3008—Principles of Advertising. Earning a “C” or better in the course is a prerequisite for subsequent courses in the major. Prerequisites will not be waived to allow students to take other advertising courses during the review period.

Requirements

Advertising, as do all majors in the College of Journalism and Communications, requires a minimum UF GPA of 3.0 for admission (see other requirements in the undergraduate catalog) over a minimum of 9 credit hours of work at the University of Florida. Students must have strong writing and critical-thinking skills. Students who already have completed 45 or more credits are advised that changing to or adding an advertising major likely will require them to extend their time of study to obtain a bachelor’s degree by one or more semesters due to the major’s curriculum, which is structured by prerequisites and takes a minimum of four regular (fall and spring) semesters to complete after a student has completed MMC 2100, ADV 3008 and MAR 3023 with minimum grades of C. Due to limited space, applications from students with 90 or more credits cannot be reviewed at this time.

Procedure

Students must submit (hand-delivered or by USPS) the following documents to Dr. John Sutherland, chair of the Department of Advertising:

Completed Application for Change of Major Form.
Current UF transcript, downloaded and printed.
For students not majoring in Journalism, Public Relations or Telecommunication, a letter, on letterhead and signed, from an academic advisor for his/her current major stating that the advisor is aware of the student's interest in changing his/her major and that the student's progress toward graduation (in terms, of gpa and courses completed) is comparable to other students of his/her standing in the major, e.g., similar Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior and/or transfer student.
Semester by semester schedule of proposed courses starting the first semester after the semester in which the application is submitted. DO NOT INCLUDE SUMMER SEMESTERS. Information is available through “degree shopping” on ISIS and at UF’s Registrar’s description of majors (www.registrar.ufl.edu). Please be sure to take pre-requisites into account.

Business letter—in appropriate format and style—stating your reasons for changing to/adding advertising as your major and career aspirations.
One-page résumé outlining your education, work experience (paid and unpaid), extracurricular activities, honors, and special skills.
Communications plan (no more than 4 pages): The University of Florida's Department of Advertising sponsors a summer study abroad program each Summer A term. Traveling to different countries and different markets within a country, students enroll for two classes taught by faculty from the Department of Advertising earning up to 6 credit hours of required advertising electives. A typical day is class in the morning or afternoon with the other part of the day free for exploration. Most weekends are free for students to travel on their own. Choose a country of your choice and develop a campaign to create a minimum of 75 participants for the next Summer A session. Address budget and ROI.

Deadline

ALL documents constituting the application must be submitted one month prior to Advance Registration for the next semester/session. Standard deadline dates are the first Friday in October, first Friday in February, and first Friday in June.

Decisions

A faculty committee, including the department chair, reviews applications typically within two weeks following the application deadline. Decisions are based on numerous factors, including the applicant’s writing ability, understanding of advertising and how the UF advertising program will help a student achieve his/her career goals; past academic performance, number of completed credit hours (more than 60 hours usually means a prolonged college career to fulfill the major’s requirements), and the department’s current enrollment. The department’s decision is relayed to applicants in time for Advance Registration for the next semester/session. Change of major decisions will not be made in less than 48 hours from when a student makes application.

Questions should be directed to Dr. John Sutherland.

† Students with fewer than 59 credit hours who are on track for the major and have the minimum 3.0 GPA are exempt from this policy. They may change their major to advertising by requesting the change to staff in the College of Journalism and Communications’ Office of Student Services (Weimer 1000).

University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications

Advertising