I was Questbridge Finalist this year and I literally got rejected by every single Questbridge school I applied to during RD; even with all the interviews I did 
besides UVA. I’m a BME major and I want to go to the university with best return of investment. Since I literally ended up with the worst case scenario I have to decide between 3 schools: University of Florida, University of Miami and University of Virginia.
UVA (OOS):
- Really hard to get into especially out of State
- Questbridge school so I can talk to Questbridge scholars
- Beautiful Campus
- Love Charlottesville
- Love the history of the school and has amazing professors and scholars in the fields I like
- BME program isn’t bad but not the best
-
#3 Public University (#28 Overall)
- Good Econ and Business program which I’m interested in
- Big school but not huge; so meh (16,777 Undergrad Population)
- 12k a year to attend
- Out of State makes my parents hesitant to send me there
UF (In-State)
- Not really selective (almost in-state got in)
- Pretty affordable at 2k a year
- Solid Engineering program but not that good in BME
- Good Econ and Business program which I’m interested in
- Lot of Friends are going there
-
#7 Public University (#34 Overall)
- Huge School which is something I don’t like (35,491 Undergrad Population)
- Sounds like High School 2.0
- Not a big fan of Gainesville
- Campus isn’t all that great
- Parents trying to force me to go here
University of Miami:
- Kind of selective
- Solid pre-med and BME foundation
- Nice Campus
- Really solid reviews of the university and success stories
- Smallest of the 3 which is really nice (11,117 Undergrad Population)
- Really nice facilities
- Kind of expensive at 23k a year
- Not the highly ranked (#57 Overall)
- Miami doesn’t give me good vibes
- Engineering Program overall isn’t that great
Also just a side note, I’m trying to go somewhere prestigious for a graduate program some school that has a really solid engineering or business program. Somewhere like UPenn, Duke, UChicago, MIT, or Princeton. I didn’t get into any of those schools RD because my test scores were too low but I really really want to get into their graduate programs. I want an undergrad experience that will enable me to do that.
Really would appreciate the help and advice 
My son’s a sophomore in UF, he’s a Chemical Engineering major, I would say his overall experience is pretty good, and the classes are very challenging. Before entering UF, he never had to study to get an A, but now he has to study all the time, he also thinks they have great professors and many smart, genius type students.
“- Sounds like High School 2.0”
Really, your high school had 35,000 students? College is nothing like high school even if every single kid from your high school goes to UF (and that’s not going to happen).
UVA’s UG business school (McIntire) is more than good it’s top 5 nationally not just in Public Universities. But you have to apply in your Sophomore year and acceptance is far from guaranteed.
Yeah I guess “…kind of high school” is definitely a bit of a stretch :neutral: But in terms of reputation are they similar or is there a difference between the branding of UVA and UF? Also how do their schools compare in terms of engineering and BME departments? And it is worth it to pay an extra 10k a year for UVA? Like will it affect me career wise in the future if I choose UVA over UF?
If you qualified for Questbridge, I’d have to imagine that finances are a big part of your decision and $10k/yr is not an insignificant amount to you and your family.
UVa was my dream school way back when, but I don’t think I could justify it when you have another option. Charlottesville is very hard to get to too, so there may be added expenses for you for travel.
One of my kids took the Florida Bright futures money and stayed in Florida (and it was when the amount was a lot lower). She didn’t really want to stay in Florida but it was the best financial decision for her.
Your only realistic options are:
The Univ. of Florida at $2,000 per year or
The University of Virginia at $12,000 per year.
Fortunately, these are also the two best schools on your short list of options.
Virginia’s undergraduate business school is worth the extra $10,000 per year.
UF is a great bargain at $2,000 per year.
I would say UF is better than Miami…UVA and UF are good options, depending on what you want to do it should come down to price.
prestige wise they are both in state schools with probably similar connections event though UVA is technically ranked higher
Here are the average starting salaries for undergrad b-schools for 2018. You can see where McIntire is yourself and see what company it’s graduates keep
https://poetsandquantsforundergrads.com/2019/01/14/starting-salaries-for-business-majors-in-2018/2/
McIntire seems really interesting and of course with 54.6% acceptance rate and average starting salary of $75k it seems like amazing program to get into. If I do decide to enroll at UVA, I hope I could take some classes in Commerce and Economics along with my Engineering and core prerequisites.
My question in terms of Engineering and in the hypothetical scenario where I commit to BME, is UF overall a better Engineering Program than UVA? I heard Weinberg school is what UF is known but is Weinberg comparable to UVA’s SEAS engineering program?
I want make decision not accounting that I will get into McIntire because that could be a huge hit or miss. I want to base my decision based on what I’m doing right now and what’s going to be available to me once I step into the university I commit to.
I’m not sure if this a big deal or not but UF isn’t a ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) accredited in Biomedical Engineering, while UVA is.
Should this really affect my decision because if I plan on just getting an BME undergraduate degree. Obviously UVA is best in the Business and Liberal Arts route, but UF is no sleeper in the economics and finance departments.
UF from what I heard for a another forum post focuses more on undergraduate research and prepares for an upcoming graduate degree in the intended field of engineering. UVA is more of get the degree to prepare you for the type of engineering job for your intended major. Can anyone confirm or deny this?
But the question still remains - do you HAVE an extra $10 grand per year? If you don’t, it’s an easy choice. And it is an extra $10k plus extra travel costs. You can only borrow $5,500 per year. You might be able to earn that extra $10k, but you’d have to commit to do it every year.
UF $2,000/year wow. $8,000 for a undergraduate degree is beyond a bargain. UVA is great, but if $10,000 more a year is going to be challenging UF is certainly a great option. Long-term, it probably won’t matter, even if you go to UMiami. All three are very good. If financially you can make UVA work then it’s definitely a great option. You can get into top grad schools from all three universities.
I decide to commit to the University of Florida, but I’m a little hesitant about the school. For me, it was a lot about finances and also being unsure on whether or not I want to pursue engineering or business. I know UF has a great engineering and business departments so I can definitely build a solid foundation on either. For me, I got a private of $5,000 per year ($20,000) in total, and another $1,000 scholarship ($4,000) scholarship but this came after the enrollment date of May 1st. I know UVA has a 37% transfer rate or Vandy which also has a similar transfer rate, which is always an option if things don’t work out at University of Florida or. So University of Florida for the 1st year is going to be about figuring out what I want to do and then deciding whether or not I should stay or transfer to someone else. If this virus didn’t happen, I probably would’ve visited all the schools and see which be a better fit.
My only problem with the University of Florida is the reputation and the vast size of the school. The biggest complain that I heard from UF alumni is that the school recognized inside of Florida and 70% grads tend to stay in Florida. For me, I really don’t want to stay in Florida or see any companies that really interest me that are in Florida. I see myself working and living in the Northeast. I’m know that there are a lot of UF alumni that go top grad schools like Professor Justin Johnson at the Johnson School of Business at Cornell is a UF grad, and went to on to get Masters and PhD at MIT, one Wharton’s top professors got his PhD at UF. I heard a few UF alumni that went on top grad schools at UChicago, Stanford, Harvard, and at UPenn. From what I heard, UF focuses more on grad school research and UF undergrads end up going into the shadows rather than have solid research opportunities. Also, I heard UF is really limited in resources and students often complain that often felt “like a number”. An 18:1 student faculty does seem like a lot student to professor interaction happens. Can anyone elaborate upon any of this or confirm if my suspicions are true or not?
I wouldn’t worry about what everyone else has done and concentrate on what you can do, and what you want to do.
You sound very hesitant to go UF. Personally I would choose UVA. UF is too big.
I live in NJ/NYC area, and I know a lot of local students who are at U of F. It has a good reputation in the northeast/mid-Atlantic.