Second Opinion - Babson or UF

theibstudent
Wed, 27 Mar 2019 21:24:29 +0000

Hello,

TLDR: I have been accepted both to the University of Florida and Babson. Which do you think I should choose?

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

For UF, I have been accepted into their Honors Program and the University Research Scholars Program (URSP). Under URSP, I would be able to take classes to learn about research, work one on one with faculty and have a mentor, and eventually present at professional conferences and publish my own work. They are even recognizing us at graduation with a medallion as they said only the top 2% of applicants are considered for the program.

If you want to learn more about the program cause it’s pretty small and hard to find since their main site isn’t working: https://www.cur.aa.ufl.edu/scholarships/university-research-scholars-program/about-program/

In addition, when I visited campus, they appeared to have an amazing first generation program. I intend on applying to graduate school (either business or law) and UF seems like the best option for me to be able to get into a better graduate school. And finally, one of the most important factors, it would be essentially a full ride if I attended UF and with my credits, I could graduate in 2-3 years.

BABSON

While UF seems amazing, Babson is an amazing school that I was excited to be accepted to. I don’t have my financial aid forms yet but I don’t expect to receive as much money based on their reputation (even though my EFC is 0). I am fairly certain that I would like to study business, and the ability to start a business as part of a course requirement as well as their other opportunities (like RICE) seems perfect for me.

Plus, I really wanted to go out of state for college (Florida heat is great until you live here year-round) and it’s 15 minutes outside of Boston, which is perfect. UF is essentially in the middle of nowhere and I am worried I would become bored given that I live in a pretty large city now.

My family and I are leaning more towards to UF, however I would like to hear what others who are unbiased think. I never imagined myself attending UF, however, the URSP program seems like an opportunity I’d be foolish to give up.