Last year, when I was a senior in high school, I applied to two Universities, the University of Florida and UF honors program (my first choice) and the University of South Carolina (my second choice). My entire family had gone to UF and I had grown up as a gator my entire life. In the end, I was accepted into both Universities and ended up choosing South Carolina over Florida because of money. Florida had given me next to no aid while I received a full ride at South Carolina. My parents hadn’t created a college tuition fund for me, so I was pretty stuck to pay 40 grand at Florida out of pocket and through loans versus virtually nothing at Carolina. I also would rather go in to debt when I go to law school
Yet, now that I’m almost done with my first semester at Carolina, I’m conflicted. I love the campus, staff, and faculty but strongly dislike the student body. South Carolina is also ranked significantly lower than UF (UF is ranked in the 40s while SCAR is ranked about 103). I feel like academically I’m at a disadvantage at South Carolina.
I love my school, but I now feel inferior to most of my family because I go to South Carolina. Although I proudly say I’m a Gamecock, I still feel partially like a Gator. I’m currently not in the Honors College at Carolina but I’m applying this spring to see if it makes an impact on my experience.
Does anyone ever regret there decision or feel angry for not being able to go to a different University?
It’s normal to have those “what if” feelings no matter what school you choose.
My son goes to UF, but we live in Florida and he has Bright Futures. UF is a great school, no doubt and he loves it - but would I be upset if our son did not go to UF had we been from OOS? No, of course not. And when you’re paying OOS fees, it’s easy to start getting resentful of online classes (some majors utilize these more than others), class sizes, etc. I’ve seen OOS parents on our family page do it. UF is an incredible bargain for in-state students especially with Bright Futures (and even without it’s still a good deal). But bottom line it is a large public university with the positives and negatives that go along with that.
I think you made a responsible and good choice. Get all the enrichment opportunities that you can at South Carolina (why no honors college?). And why not consider UF for law school?
I have to ask, how is it that you have a full ride and are not in the Honors College? This surprises me seeing I have a D17 who was accepted last year with great merit and got into the Honors College, but not a full ride.
@jeepgirl@SouthFloridaMom9 The Honors college at UF and USC both require a supplementary application. I only did the one at UF since that was my first choice (Looking back on it it was a mistake). Carolina doesn’t put kids in Honors with the regular application. I am a Capstone scholar but will apply this following year. My school and state Scholarships are Palmetto fellows (7,500 a year), Dean’s Scholarship (3,000 a year), President’s Scholar (1,000). I also receive a substantial amount of money from the School of Music (I’m a music major) that levels me out to almost a full ride. (I think my tuition for this semester is around 400 dollars).
I think you can’t beat the price based on your wanting to go to grad school. USC is a great school and if you go into the Honors College, it is one of the best. Good luck to you!
I’d make every effort to get into the honors colleges and see if that will improve your experience at the school. And with basically a full ride to USC there is NO I repeat NO reason to feel at all inferior to family members who went to UF. By taking advantage of the scholarship and graduating debt-free you will have great freedom to pursue many different opportunities for law school or whatever you choose to do after graduation.
USC Honors is one of the best in the country. If you get into it, anyone who matters will know you’re one of the top students in the country.
In any case, there’s NO reason to feel inferior because you attend your state’s flagship v. an OOS flagship. And you have a full ride, on top of it, which is amazing! Don’t forget to list your awards on your resume! It’s WAY better than being one among thousands at UF, and getting into debt for it.
@Gamecock2001 Really the issue is how you feel about your educational experience, not rep or rank.
If you really feel like you’re not in a place you love, I’d consider transferring. Sound like you have the stats. Finances might be difficult to match, but I’d at least investigate. (are there any states that would honor your SC tuition?) My guess is when you really look into it, you’ll conclude that there’s plenty of opportunity at USC and you can make it work for you, but I also think it’s important to do your due diligence. Who knows, maybe some other school will pop up that makes you go “wow.”
But you’re in a great situation. Worst case is you stay where you are, maybe do something cool like a semester or two abroad or find some other interesting program (since you’re full tuition you might be able to do an odd job here or there and squirrel away money for something like that.)
Congrats on basically “making” 45k a year after tax money, btw (what an OOS student would pay to sit at your desk.) That’s no small feat.
Here are some thoughts that came to mind while reading your post.
Law schools aren't going to necessarily care about the prestige of the school. If it's not an Ivy or equivalent, you're probably not at any advantage attending one school vs the other. I don't know about law school specifically, but probably doing related activities, internships, etc as well as a strong GPA/letters of rec will get you farther than simply the title of the school.
As others have said, can you study abroad? Do a student exchange at UCF? (Or virtually any other school?).
Is this your first semester? I know nothing about USC, I'm assuming it's huge. Maybe there's something you overlooked where you can find people with common interests/"your people".
I wouldn’t throw away the chance at a debt-free education just for one “mistake”.
@Gamecock2001 IMO Honors College at Univ of South Carolina is more impressive than attending UF regular. Anyway, why do you dislike the student body at USC, and why do you feel you are at disadvantage there academically?
Rankings are pretty much meaningless. It’s based on a group of opinions. Plus, being in an honors program will look better on a law school application. Here’s the big tamale…you have a scholarship and you have the ability to graduate debt free. That’s huge! How do you know that University of FL will be any better? In the professional world, a Harvard bachelors is worth just as much as a North Texas bachelors. Schools like to boast about their rankings to students, but the professional world knows better. The only difference is how much you pay for it. Remember it’s not the school, it’s you that makes all the difference.