<p>First I’d like to say I’m not insulting USF or anyone who attends the school, I’m just sharing my personal experience and why I didn’t find it to be the school for me…</p>
<p>Having a huge student body at the campus I attended made it impossible to get any sort of resolution for an issue without repeated attempts. I had a nagging issue with my initial application that was supposed to be resolved during my orientation before registering for classes, an error on the part of whoever processed my application. It required 4 phone-calls and two campus visits to resolve for the semester in order to be listed as active and register for classes. When I began the process of registering for the Spring semester (2013) the issue cropped up again and I had to make several phone calls to get it “fixed” yet again. </p>
<p>In order to get my financial aid taken care of and processed I had to make several 45+ minute phone calls that had me bounced between Financial Aid and Admissions like a ping-pong ball. Financial aid said I needed to talk to admissions about having a file switched to primary, admissions said it shouldn’t be an issue talk to financial aid, then they said it was an issue and had to be fixed before I would receive aid… It was almost comical how I was bounced back and forth. It took two days of calling and bouncing before I finally pleaded with someone to fix it and it was- temporarily.</p>
<p>I elected to take some classes online. Numerous blackboard issues were brushed off, interacting with the proper channels of support at the university was a lesson in patience. Every communication with them was short and rude, even with simple issues and general inquiries well before deadlines I was treated as though I was trying to squeeze out extra time or cheat… Not a pleasant experience.</p>
<p>I think the final straw for me was having USF stick with me with another semester of out-of-state tuition. I faxed in my documentation and residency appeal at the beginning of this semester and included the necessary photocopies of what they requested to establish residency. I paid OOS tuition this semester just to get started and checked in regularly about my in-state appeal; I was told it was being processed and they had everything. I finally heard back and found out I was missing a paper and I would be paying OOS until Fall of 2013…</p>
<p>Overall, I think the issue I had was feeling like I was another warm body and another number. My calls were never returned, my eMails rarely received a reply, lengthy campus visits ended in empty promises and temporary fixes. I honestly felt as though I was fighting uphill each time I needed the school for something.</p>
<p>I get that it is going to happen at any large university. However, after talking with someone who is at FSU as well as a recent graduate of FSU I was told things were a little different at Florida State.</p>
<p>FSU is closer to family, I loved the campus, I loved the vibe. I’m going to give FSU a try in Spring 2013 and see if this is a better academic fit for me. I’m just really, really hoping that I don’t have to fork over extra money to another school over something trivial when it comes to the residency determination.</p>
<p>-T</p>