Well, a lot of students from your high school, especially those you're friends with, are also probably going to UF. UF isn't like going to a private college out of state, where you're pretty much guaranteed to be separated from everyone you knew from home. At UF, a lot of buddies from high school are most likely going to be there, especially if they were academically successful like you.
I wasn’t going to join this thread until I read the last several posts re ucf. Our s goes to fsu and loves it. We are from oos, so we didn’t get all caught up in the UF/FSU thing. We visited both and our s just liked the feel of FSU more than UF. We did experience the elitist attitude some have expressed at UF, but we also met many students who were not like that at all.
For the op, lorrainemichaels, I say you should go where you feel most comfortable spending the next four years of your life. At this point you are unsure what you want to study (normal), so it really gets down to where you can see yourself and how well you feel you would flourish and adapt to the college community. Obviously, you are gifted academically and have worked hard to reach this point. The one thing I can say, is that both universities will provide you with a very good education. While some on the UF board believe that if you go to any other college other than UF, you are sub par, and this simply is not true. Is UF ranked higher?, yes. Does it matter? In my opinion , no. What matters is what you make of the experience. I am an adjunct professor (International Business) at a community college in New York. Each semester, I always have several students who get accepted to first tier universities. Last spring, for example, I had a student who was accepted to Columbia and two students to Brown.
Re UCF. I think to say it’s just an extension of high school is not fair. UCF has developed many strong and unique programs over the years and no matter where you go to college, if you go with a bunch of friends from high school (our s knew no one at fsu when he went), and you choose to not broaden you circle of friends, then yes you will remain in a high school click. If you also choose to party in college, this can be done at any university. UF, FSU are no exceptions to this rule. In fact, I recall reading last year that UF was ranked one of the top partying schools in the country. Does that mean that UF is a party? Certainly not. College is what you make of it. Some students break away from their high school crowd and take full advantage of all the services available at the larger universities. Some don't.
I think it’s important on these boards to be careful knocking other institutions, simply because you think you are better. The fact is that there are students in Florida who get accepted to UCF, FSU and UF and choose to go to UCF. The same can be said about the other schools. Making someone to feel like their school is not very good, in my opinion doesn't accomplish anything. After all, its not you who are going to that school.
For those students going to UCF, I say congratulations. It will be great. For those going to UF, FSU any other college or community college, I say the same thing. I am all for the rivalries and school spirit. After all, UF did kick FSU's butt this past weekend and I wasn't very happy about it. But good for UF. They were better.... a lot better last Saturday.
I believe, it’s a good rule in life to treat others the way you would like to be treated. This world needs a bit more compassion and the sooner you get on that bus, the better off you will be.
All right, I want to give my two cents because I wanted to go to UF since forever and ended up at FSU. Obviously I spend a lot of time at FSU, but I travel to UF quite often.
In terms of strict academics, it's very hard to evaluate. As an undergraduate you won't notice much difference in the quality of education itself. Both FSU and UF make use of TAs and have large class sizes. This can be minimized through honors classes and getting out of gen ed requirements. Both schools have good and bad professors. I believe FSU has more Nobel Laureates (correct me if I'm wrong) if that means anything to you. Don't believe people when they say that FSU is very inferior to UF academically. I can attest to having met very distinguished faculty members... lots of good research going on at both schools. For instance, I recently interviewed a professor here who discovered a new layer in the cell division cycle which, in the future, may be targeted by cancer drugs to stop cancerous cells from duplicating and such. UF has it's fair share of distinguished faculty as well, of course. I've had some boring classes here and have sat in on boring classes at UF.
For extra curricular opportunities, both schools have much to offer. FSU has an office just for placing undergraduates in research positions, which makes the process of finding a professor to work under much easier. I don't believe UF has such an office, but once again, correct me if I'm wrong. One other interesting thing is a program that lets students devise their own volunteering service project with the help of FSU staff. I don't think UF has that either. One advantage of UF if someone is pre-med is having Shand's Hospital... it's awesome. I wish we had an affiliated hospital on campus, but I don't feel like I'm at a great disadvantage.
UF tends to have much better students. Lots of kids go to UF over top colleges out of state because it's recognized as Florida's flagship. But, I have to say that the student body here has some brilliant kids -- MANY who picked FSU over UF, especially in honors. Most kids I've met in honors, in fact, came to FSU by choice and not because they got rejected by UF. I'll admit, though, that FSU students in general aren't as bright as UF students as a group.
FSU's campus is prettier in my opinion, but UF has nicer facilities inside. Our student union looks archaic compared to UF's and our food options are horrible. Why do we have a Hardy's on campus? No one knows. We do have an on campus concert venue that has great shows and a sweet movie theater. I wouldn't say one campus is better than the other, it's all personal preference.
FSU athletics, in terms of basketball and football, suck. For instance, last night we got beat by a school I opted not to attend in basketball... I regretted my decision after we got smoked. : (.
Note that FSU has no journalism school and our engineering school does not have as great a reputation as the engineering schools at UF or UCF.
As for the surrounding areas around campus... I appreciate both Tallahassee (Tallanasty) and Gainesville (Hogtown). Tally is less centered around FSU, but the area around the school is VERY college... I'm talking beer keg drive-thrus. Tally has some nice areas near downtown, but is pretty hood. Gainesville is nicer as whole I'd say, but has it's fair share of scary areas. I personally like the immediate area around UF a bit more than the immediate area around FSU. It feels more unified with the college.
The girls are considered better looking as a whole at FSU, if you care about that. Both schools have their share of weasels, and of course the whole GATOR NATION, HARVARD OF THE SOUTH!!! thing gets old at UF, but hey... you'll be one of them so I doubt it'll matter.
The ultimate impression I get from FSU is that it's more nurturing and has more of a liberal arts-type, hug your neighbor, type feel to it. UF seems more pre-professional and full of go-getters.
I think someone choosing between the two shouldn't dismiss one or the other before visiting both. I didn't visit FSU until I got rejected by UF. If I had, I think I would've seriously considered it beforehand.
Personally, I like UF and Gville a little bit more, but I'm not saying that it's better than FSU per se. They both are large universities, but have very different feels. I know people who bleed garnett and gold and wouldn't have it any other way and vice versa. When evaluating, don't just view FSU as the UF reject school like I ignorantly did. Look at the schools for what they are. UF isn't quite UC Berkeley and FSU isn't quite UC Mercedes. They're closer in academics than the folks in Gainesville would have you believe.
*DISCLAIMER: the following is based on my own personal experiences and emotions, and is not intended to offend or hurt anyone in any way.
I agree with you on those points, johnnytremain, but after seeing kids ranked in the bottom half of our class with SAT scores 200-400 points lower than mine and no ECs get into FSU, it honestly is hard to be excited.
Call me a snob, but it's just disheartening to know that I theoretically could have done essentially no work in high school (you don't have to study for every class to get an A or a B), skipped my hundreds of hours of SAT & PSAT prep, and never joined a club or sport- and still gotten in to FSU, if the people that I know that got in are any indication.
PLEASE do not take offense to this! I realize that a lot of people are not able to have a lot of the options I did (namely, money and an elite school grad mom). SAT scores can only go so high before you plateau. And for my end, I am not looking at other top schools because, not only do I feel that I couldn't get in, but I also feel that there are students who have put forth more work than me and therefore deserve Harvard, Stanford, whatever.
I still have a lot of respect for FSU students (my beloved boyfriend, who was also accepted to UF, is one) and am aware that many turned down UF. Maybe I am overreacting or being a snob, but one of my friends had a 2.8ish, 1200something, and a ridiculously fabricated resume- and was accepted. Looking at her- her extremely terrible study habits, her lying, her cheating- it makes me wonder, "if she was accepted, how many other students like her were too?"
To put it frankly, on admission day this week, I was angry. I never thought that I would feel this way, but I was just on a tirade after seeing what kind of incredible slacking off and overall lack of integrity were able to secure a spot in my beloved FSU. It is like how a person feels when they read a 500-page book and spent a week on the essay, and get the same grade as a person who read sparknotes and did the essay the class period before.
I visited UF recently, and was very impressed. The facilities were beautiful, the campus was beautiful, everything the guides said was impressive.
What was more impressive, however, was how WRONG everything I had heard about the school was. "the campus is ugly! the students are arrogant and obnoxious! they don't care about students! harvard of the south!" etc. After listening to everyone from my parents to friends to FSU students go on and on about how little FSU/UF differ, I honestly felt betrayed when I saw that it was all untrue.
The tour guides were very humble, and had also turned down top schools (UMich, Vandy, UNC-CH) to attend UF. They encouraged us to go "wherever we felt more comfortable," and stressed the idea of "falling in love with a campus". They were making jokes and having fun, answered all of our questions, and spent one on one time with each of us. The options there seemed to be endless as far as research, dining, residential halls, etc.
I have spent time at both schools, talked to students of both schools, and learned as much as I could about the options offered. And while I do prefer Tallahassee (tallanasty??) to Gainesville, and believe UF to be a nicer campus than FSU, they are otherwise equal in my eyes. The admissions standards and the ranking/prestige are the only thing that is separating them for me.
Thank everyone for the extremely insightful replies! Again, I really did not intend to offend anyone. The people that posted on the FSU admissions thread the other day were certainly very qualified, and probably will earn acceptances to even more difficult schools in the future.
Another thing is that a 3.8/1250 can be very different depending on the person- it can be a girl that I know that is constantly cheating on every assignment, or it can be a good friend of mine who is very smart, but just "doesn't feel like studying all the time". So really, I am not trying to offend anyone, I do not know any of you personally, but I'm sure that if you are on this website, you are of the latter mold and not the former.
I still have a lot of respect for FSU students (my beloved boyfriend, who was also accepted to UF, is one) and am aware that many turned down UF. Maybe I am overreacting or being a snob, but one of my friends had a 2.8ish, 1200something, and a ridiculously fabricated resume- and was accepted. Looking at her- her extremely terrible study habits, her lying, her cheating- it makes me wonder, "if she was accepted, how many other students like her were too?"
Umm, you'll see this same type of scenario at UF and in all facets of life. There will be people who do not work as hard as you but end up better off. The real world is certainly not fair. Better get used to it now. Just because some ostensible slackers get accepted to FSU does not mean that academics at FSU is subpar.
I got a different vibe than you when I visited UF. I have not visited FSU so I do not know if it is any better, but at this point I can say I'd rather go to UCF than UF.
I never said that the academics were subpar, I actually stressed that they were equal in all aspects except ranking.
And I was just saying, generally, (for me alone, in my opinion, in my experience, in my eyes), most of the students (at my school that are connected to me) that are accepted to both universities tend to have greatly differing GPA/SAT/work ethic, and so if both of the schools are equal (to me), why not go to the one that was harder to get into (in my opinion)?
I wonder if there are any FSU/UF transfer students floating around.
Do any FSU/UF students regret their decision to go to either university, or wish they had gone to the other? Or is it more of a "once you get to college, you are happy" sort of thing? It is hard for me to get opinions from a lot of people I know because they are so fiercely biased one way or the other, by nature or by nurture.
My boyfriend is at FSU honors and has taken a couple of honors classes. His science and math classes both have under 25 students in them. I heard through a friend's mother that UF honors courses tend to be more "fluff" courses, like "Blockbuster Film Analysis", etc., and that they are very difficult to get into. Does anyone have any experience with this? How is the UF honors program?
Additionally, I heard that it was very hard to change majors at UF. Is this true? When I did my application I was in a very strange mood and put "linguistics". I am not interested in this subject at all. Will I be able to change my major? I have heard conflicting stories. Is it difficult to switch majors at FSU?
johnnytremain said:
Quote:
FSU has an office just for placing undergraduates in research positions, which makes the process of finding a professor to work under much easier. I don't believe UF has such an office, but once again, correct me if I'm wrong.
Does anyone know about FSU vs UF research opportunities? Even though our tour guide at UF stressed how important research is for everyone, I still had the impression that a lot of those opportunities were reserved for graduate students.
I was confused by what the UF tour guide said about the "season" tickets for football. Does anyone know how this works?
Finally, how is the partayyyyyyy scene!!!!!!??????? okay just kidding.
Okay, I'll to answer best I can cause I'm pretty familiar with UF, although I've never attended.
"Do any FSU/UF students regret their decision to go to either university, or wish they had gone to the other? Or is it more of a "once you get to college, you are happy" sort of thing? It is hard for me to get opinions from a lot of people I know because they are so fiercely biased one way or the other, by nature or by nurture."
I have friends at both schools. Some who got rejected by UF and are here now are VERY happy and wouldn't have it any other way -- genuinely. Honestly, I'm not quite like that. I like FSU for what it is but I still think I would've liked UF more. Being neutral as possible, your experiences at both schools academically will be really similar. UF is definitely more known for science research, but as an undergrad that will have NO BEARING on your research opportunities. Take me for my word. It will have no bearing what so ever. You will be able to do whatever you want at FSU and the Undergraduate Research office does a good job at placing people. One recent honors student even got to work with a Nobel Prize winning chem professor. Honors Chem 2 students can opt out of regular chem 2 lab and instead work on a science research project with a professor, which is awesome. I regret not going through the honors Chem path but oh well.
Both schools have their share of not-too-bright kids, even UF. You'll find yourself thinking "HOW DID THEY GET IN HERE?" I think it has to do with legacy admissions and grade inflation at certain high schools (UF loves boosting GPA stats). Generally - out side of honors - there are more smart UF kids than FSU kids. But hey, look at the last 3 Rhode's scholars in Florida. I can't say FSU isn't educating well.
I doubt it'll be harder to change majors at UF. No worries there.
The UF ticket system is done by a lotto, and likelihood of getting tickets is based on your classification by credit hours. Sophomores are more likely to get tickets than Freshmen and so on.
Party scene at FSU and UF are both good obviously. No difference in my eyes. I do enjoy partying at UF more just because I have more of my old friends (not to mention my gf) there.
Although I can't say I picked FSU over UF, I did pick FSU over U Miami and NU and I don't regret it at all. FSU, so far, has given me all the opportunities that I could imagine. I got to start writing for the newspaper as a freshmen and I know of people who have gotten intensive research positions as freshmen. There's so much you can do around Tally/FSU too... volunteer in shelters, volunteer for the on-campus concert venue - Club Down Under, take a course that leads to a tutoring job in writing that pays well, etc. I'm not saying there aren't good opportunities at UF, because there definitely are. But, only someone very ignorant would tell you that you're missing out by going to FSU over UF. I say choose the place you can see yourself for the next four years. It might not be the same for everyone.
How does UF calculate GPA? I'm starting to get kind of nervous because my GPA isn't so great (3.6 uw, 4.0 w), however I have pretty good scores-1360 m+r (hoping to have improved them today)
I "believe" they take core classes only (Math, English, Social Studies, Science, Foreign Language) and for every honors class add .5, every AP class add 1 with the exception of grades below a C.
1- University Scholars Program: allows you to pursue your own research and work one- on- one with UF faculty . You need to apply to the program.
LINK: University Scholars Program
Bottome line....the only people who can answer a question of this U vs. that U are those who went to both. Which is exactly where my USF vs. UF argument came from on other posts (although I do realize that argument is rather obvious). But what I am trying to say is that unless someone went to both, it would be really hard for them to compare the two, no matter what institutions those were. I think out of all the posts I've read, johnnytremain comes the closest, but still for a complete understanding, you'd have to find someone who went to both. Otherwise a bias may influence their comments without a full understanding. Based on job prospects, I happen to think UF is the best school in the state, but maybe I am biased as well :-). Just my two cents.....
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