Merit Scholarships

uf2019
Sat, 14 Mar 2020 06:29:00 +0000

@1917souci You are right about the quality of some of the departments at UF and the ranking does not add up. I do know that UF has a phenomenal medical program, outstanding business program and some very good engineering departments. and of course a great sports culture. However, the students who are getting these free rides from UF are also recruited hard by other out of state colleges with better departments in the area of interest to the student. In my son’s situation it was a a very agonizing choice because of the free ride plus $11,000/year but finally the opportunities in his area of interest at UF was the deciding factor after speaking to faculty, students in the department he felt it was not a right fit for him. However, he would have gladly attended UF as a Pre-Med or Business major if that was his area of interest. I suspect it was the same thought process for 18 of the 20 top ranking students in my son’s school decision to attend out of state schools and pay the full tuition.

@moscott It was an agonizing decision to choose between a free ride at UF and paying out of state tuition. You are indeed correct that for a programming job any CS degree from a top 150 college is sufficient. However we were advised by multiple faculty from top CS programs including UF and industry folks to bite the bullet and go to the college which is most aligned to your area of interest as it will open up opportunities not available in UF.and education was a 40 year investment. My son did not decide purely with rankings or Ivy league brands but choose the college which was the best fit for him. Your are right about Yale’s CS ranking, my son did not apply. He only applied to Six of the Top 10 CS programs and UF. The only dream college fo my son was Stanford and he did not get in. UF was his #2 choice until he realized that the department was not a good fit for him.

@charlixcx Congrats to you. Platinum scholarships at UF are normally only given to students with near perfect academics and EC’s. I am sure you will have some amazing competing admission offers from other colleges. My son would have chosen UF but his area of interest was not a good fit UF has outstanding academic programs and i hope that you will find a matching program in your area of interest and stay in-state with this amazing merit offer.