We live in New England. My daughter is choosing between these three colleges. We have a done a ton of research and have or will be visiting all of them before she decides. Since she will probably look for a job in FL when she graduates, I’m curious to here from FL residents about the reputation of each school. I should add that in the case of Tampa, she would be in the honors program. Thanks in advance for feedback!
I don’t know much about Rollins, but Eckerd and the University of Tampa are well respected schools in Florida. Of the two, my favorite is Eckerd. We took a tour of the school last November and I fell in love with their beautiful campus and seemingly devoted staff. The Eckerd’s students are very involved in volunteering in the community. A tragedy happened down here about two months ago and it was the student volunteers of Eckerd who found and pulled a little girl’s body from the Bay.
I would have loved for my son to pick that school but his heart went to another college. Good luck in your decision.
Rollins and Eckerd enjoy good reputations in FL. Don’t know about Tampa but son’s good friend goes there and loves it.
I’ll preface this reply with the caveat that I am not FL resident and don’t have first hand knowledge of your question. I think all three are fine schools, and we have visited all three of them… Rollins twice… for my D’s decision this year.
As far as getting a job in FL, I think your D would be fine having graduated from any of the three. More important, I would think than reputation, would be potential connections with alumni and/or internships during college.
For us, D recently made the decision to attend Rollins next year. She is extremely excited. She was accepted into the Tampa honors program too. While we visited Eckerd, D ended up not applying.
We moved from suburban Philly to the midwest two years ago. UTampa has a lot of kids from the northeast, including five kids from by D’s former high school in Pennsylvania who will be freshman this fall!
Happy to answer any questions you might have.
Thanks for the input. We are headed down this weekend to check out all three. It will be our second time at Rollins.
@nehiker I will be interested to hear your thoughts on these colleges after your visit.
@dadof1 After visiting my daughter has picked Rollins. Best of the three for what she wants: quality of education, liberal arts plus business, weather, music/theater options as non-major, safety, friendliness of people she met and the hard to quantify “I can see myself here.” Came down to Tampa and Rollins.
For those interested I posted my notes on each college under each college forum. Links below:
Rollins
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/rollins-college/1767356-notes-from-visit.html?new=1
Eckerd
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/eckerd-college/1766243-notes-from-visit.html#latest
@nehiker Thanks for posting. Rollins does that “it” factor for some people, including my daughter. It’s great to hear your daughter found her place.
My D was accepted to four Florida schools Eckerd, Tampa, Rollins, and University of Miami. We visited Rollins and Miami, and liked both. Which Florida school will provide her with the best overall experience? Our primary concerns are where she will be happiest and safest, and learn from professors that care about their students. We have to decide in less than two weeks. Right now the choice is Richmond, Miami, and possibly Rollins. Wish we had seen Tampa and Eckerd.
@cedarbridge I don’t know which of the three (rollins; richmond, miami) is best for your D. That’s a question your family will have to answer. All three colleges are safe. The student experience at rollins and richmond is very good, in general.
Among the things to consider are cost of attendance, professors in her intended major (contact them), courses available in her intended major, opportunities outside the classroom, and the all important “this is the college” that only your daughter can provide.
@dadof1: Thank you for your comment. I think she has decided!
@Cedarbridge What college?!
I can’t speak about Eckerd much, I’ve only seen the outside of the campus. What little I know of it has already been said in this thread. However, each of the other three have pretty compelling hooks:
University of Miami - They recently hired a new president, one that seems very promising in improving a lot of the areas that the schools lacks in. The quality of Miami’s campus buildings is very, very, very poor, except for the new student center–and that is quite marginal quality. Many of the buildings reek of typical cheap excess that was common in this nation in the late 1970s to the mid-1980s. I understand that many people visiting the campus from better established areas of the country with longer histories are underwhelmed by the campus when comparing it to the bastions of higher education in, say, the northeast. However, I truly believe this new president is going to change that. This school has a tremendous amount of upward mobility, a sizeable endowment, decent programs in nearly every field, and an absolutely killer location. Finding decent accommodations in the area is very difficult, however.
University of Tampa - Tampa’s president has been doing a wonderful job. He brought the school back from the precipice of construction, and most of the rather fine buildings on the campus were built during his tenure, not to mention the restoration of the endowment. The success of any school I’d say is tied to the success of the area, and, as I illustrated above, Miami as a city is doing quite well (it is Manhattanizing), but Tampa as a city has a lot of projects in the works. Jeff Vinik, who some in Boston may know, has embarked on a project to totally redevelop almost a third of the downtown area into a nice live-work-play environment. There’s been tremendous turnover in the ownership of some of the prominent buildings in downtown, some selling for premiums much higher than the previous owners ever dreamed. Tampa’s port and local industries pertaining to the port are going to see a huge benefit with the imminent opening of Cuba, as well. There are many office buildings and condominiums/apartment buildings in the process of construction or have been approved and are preparing for construction. Accommodations are superior in this area compared to Miami, you’ll be able to find a historic and well-put-together apartment close to campus in a very safe area for a reasonable sum. There’s no equal in Miami, where the carpetbaggers have destroyed lots of the old neat buildings in Coral Gables to replace them with utter nonsense. The same pattern has been observed in downtown Miami, unfortunately, though I must say that the city of Miami is very much rebuilding itself.
Rollins College - This is my personal opinion and it totally depends on the type of person your daughter is, but I find the Orlando area to be absolutely miserable. There’s a lot of ignorant, regressive-thinking locals who want to sprawl out as far as they can and seem to want to prevent the development of a cohesive and centralized city at all costs. I’m reminded of Atlanta somewhat, in that regard. Disney World, regardless what happy childhood memories many here would attribute to it, is a big polluter (in terms of nasty runoff) and promoter of the service-economy that Florida desperately wants to curtail. If you’re considering investing in real estate in Florida, Orlando is a very poor choice, considering nothing really anchors the area like in Miami or Tampa (Biscayne Bay and Tampa Bay, respectively). The dorms at Rollins are absolutely ancient, and not in a quaint way. If you visit them in reality, you’ll see that it’s like living in a crummy hotel. Winter Park is very nice, though. It’s much like Coral Gables in Miami or Hyde Park in Tampa, the adjacent neighborhoods to the two other schools. The Rollins campus is a veritable Eden. I would say that their campus solidly beats Miami’s and Tampa’s, despite Tampa having a really cool trademark building (the former Tampa Bay Hotel, AKA Plant Hall). However, considering the nastiness of everything else in Orlando (which is unfortunate, considering the natural beauty of the area), your daughter would basically be in an affluent enclave for the entirety of her time in college, whereas in Tampa and Miami she would be able to broaden her horizons some more and learn more in regards to urban planning, what she really enjoys in an area, the international perspective of both of the cities (more so in Miami), and the other trappings that being in a decently sized city brings.
Regardless of my opinions on the matter, all of the schools mentioned are very safe, with Miami and Tampa being investments that you’ll very likely see a return on, both in the rankings climb that they’re each poised to make and with the experiences in store for her wherever she goes.
Thank you for your thoughtful comments. Definitely helps. May 1 is just around the corner, and narrowing her choice down has been easy, but selecting one, very difficult!
OP, as someone who grew up in Florida and was educated there in the 60s, 70’s and 80’s, I would suggest you take the remarks in post #12 with a large grain of salt. Years ago, I had a job in Winter Park, just a few blocks away from Rollins college and I can promise you that the campus is lovely and that the people who live in the greater Orlando area are just as nice and diverse as in any other major metro area. In addition, if you care about rankings, Rollins is ranked #2 in regional universities and attracts students from all over the country.
Disclaimer: I did not attend Rollins College or any of the other schools the OP is exploring.
We just got back from visiting Eckerd and absolutely loved it. Obviously a campus with it’s own beach and waterfront is a bonus to my water sport loving son, but what really won us over was the people. Both students and professors went out of their way to engage us in conversation, and give honest, open feedback. As one student said, “at Eckerd if you walk by someone and don’t smile and say hi, there is something wrong with you”. Teachers genuinely care about the student from an academic and personal perspective (we witnessed this first hand while waiting for the class my son was to sit in on to start). It started late, because the teacher was helping a student out, and giving him some extra time to understand a concept that she had gone over in class.
My D and I recently attended an admitted student’s day at Eckerd and we both fell in love with the campus. After visiting dozens of campuses across the country, we almost weren’t going to make the trip out to Florida (the party reputation was off putting). We’re glad we did. It felt right from the moment we arrived. The campus is secluded and peaceful, and in some areas, it appears more like a botanical garden than a college campus. The students were happy, but what sold my daughter was the interaction between the professors and students. According to my D The class she sat in on was “amazing." The professor was interesting, and the students were well prepared and engaged. Also, everyone she spoke to reaffirmed that there is a strong the sense of community at Eckerd. She also likes the close mentoring relationships between students and professors, the study abroad opportunities, and the lack of Greek life, and the fact that they allow pets to live on campus. They even have a dog park. She is enrolling this August. We know she found the right school for her.
Much the same experience at Eckerd admitted students day last month. Son said the class he attended was the most interesting 90 minutes he had ever spent in a classroom. The campus is Edenic the people seem incredibly friendly and happy and nice. What’s not to love? Sending our commitment in today.
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I wouldn’t count out Rollins based on it being in the Orlando area. I live in this area and disagree with post #12. We moved here a year ago and I my experience is completely different than anything described in that post.
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I know its past the decision date but I’m posting this in case others may benefit. Our son is a current student at UT. We moved 2 years ago from NJ to Fla so I have very good data points for the schools in NE. Here are our thoughts (in no particular order ) that folks should keep in mind when deciding:
The fancy suite style/apt dorms are pretty much limited to Juniors/Seniors. The are allocated by # of credits. The underclassman dorms are doubles with some triples.
Living off-campus is pretty much not possible. The area around the campus is either really expensive or the ghetto, no what you would call traditional off-campus housing, unless you want to live up near USF.
There is a fair mix of students from Florida and elsewhere so its not a commuter school
The Art classes looks great on paper but unless you are a major they won’t be a good option. They also tend to have a long list of very expensive supplies you need. My son was planning on taking Intro to Photography but it would have cost him $500 in supplies on top of the camera (which he had). They aren’t really exploration type classes.
It isn’t a liberal arts school. Although its small, there aren’t any what I would call seminar type interesting, thought provoking classes you’d find in some of the little LACs up North or say New College. It’s more like a Lehigh than a Lafayette.
They do an excellent job of preparing the students to get a job. I think this is hands down one of UTs strong points. They start the kids off from the first semester getting their resume together, thinking about career options, there are tons of employers that come on campus to recruit for internships and UT has very strong ties with the local sports teams and businesses in Tampa.
The class sizes are small and from our experience the teachers seem pretty approachable. I wouldn’t say they are game changers but seem like they care and are interested in teaching rather than purely research.
My son had a car on campus his freshman year with no issue. Parking is plentiful and cheap in the multistory carpark.
The area around campus is not that safe. They routinely send out emails to the students about suspicious people on campus, theft, etc. I think the University does a good job within the confines of the campus but a block over is not really somewhere you’d walk around in.
Travelling in and out of the are is pretty easy with Tampa airport.
There are no on-line classes. That can be ok but not great if you want to try to take a summer class from home.
Administration is remarkably responsive and very helpful. They respond to emails, are easy to talk to in person and pretty helpful overall.
Financial aid is pretty generous
Classes are not always easy to get into- especially as a freshman/sophomore.
The campus is pretty, its compact an easy to walk around everywhere, and the facilities are good.
The kids generally seems like a nice enough bunch. Because it is a private school in a state where state tuition is very cheap, local kids tend to either be on scholarships or children of alumni. The rest of the population is made up of well off kids from the northeast, well off kids from Mexico/South America, well off kids from Saudi, with the rest being smart but of modest means on scholarships.
Food seems to be pretty decent given the size of the school.
The weather is great as long as you don’t mind the heat. I guess there’s always the pool for that.
Hope that helps