Hello there Parents!
I am planning a trip with my son in the spring coming from NY (LGA or JFK) to visit Florida State & University of Florida. . . . . .any advice how best to navigate seeing both schools i.e. which one makes sense to see first and what airports to fly in and out of. . .assuming we will go in and out of 2 different FL airport. MUCH appreciated !!!
When I did it, we landed in Tallahassee, did FSU, then went to Gainsville for UF (2 hour drive). Then we flew out at Orlando after a week at disney. We also visited UCF while in Orlando. But you could go back to Tallahassee to catch a return flight, it’s not that far away from UF if that is all you are looking to do in the state.
Fly to Orlando drive to Gainesville. Drive to Tallahassee and then to NY (probably go through Atlanta).
UF–Make a reservation for Embers in Gainesville (steak). For pizza and fun Satchel’s.
FSU–Kool Beanz Cafe. Bird’s for very casual but fun and good food.
The UF campus is large but segmented. You’ll find very center of campus is gen ed. pretty much. The different schools health, law, vet, agriculture, engineering etc. are in their own areas. A lot of people think UF is too big and overwhelming but it really isn’t. Once you hit your major classes then the area you are in is much more contained.
FSU has a very pretty campus area but is much smaller with definite borders. Some people like it and others do not. But very many happy students at both schools.
Have experience with both.
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That’s a possibility, but it’s a 16hr drive vs 2 hr flight. But you could visit other colleges on the way back if OP is interested in other schools.
I think Jacksonville is the closest airport to both schools. Fewer flights but often the cheapest and an easy airport to navigate. If you like outdoor stuff, there are good parks and springs in that part of the panhandle and northern peninsula.
? What 16 hour drive?
Orlando to Gainesville is 2 hours.
Gainesville to Tallahassee is 2 hours.
4 hours of driving.
Ae1231 is saying 16 hr drive back to NY from Gainesville.
Heck no!
I misunderstood. I read it as you driving through tallahassee then back to new york. lol
We plan on a similar trip. Fly into Tallahassee spend the night look around FSU drive to UF spend the night, look around drive back to Tally and fly out. I might look into 2 one way flights and drop the rental at the opposite airport
You could fly into Jacksonville, go to UF (about 2 hours) drive to Tallahassee (about 2 hours) and then drive back to JAX (about 3 hours but very very easy along (I-10). The reason I’d do that is to avoid paying for a one way rental and to avoid changing planes in Atlanta. Almost ALL flights in or out of Gainesville or Tallahassee are going to involve Atlanta. JAX is a very easy airport, especially compared to Orlando or Atlanta.
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Last June my mom and I flew from NY to Punta Gorda ( it was like a $65 flight) we rented a car and drove to Miami to start touring campuses. We started at University of Miami in the morning then saw Nova Southeastern in Ft. Lauderdale. We then drove to Melbourne to check out Florida Tech and over to Orlando for UCF (too big so didn’t stay for actual tour) over to DeLand to see Stetson and up to Gainesville to UF where we did our own super fast walking tour before heading to Alabama. The next day we toured Auburn then drove through Georgia stopping at Emory. We headed into South Carolina and the next day toured Furman and Clemson. We then drove to Tennessee and saw UTK the next morning and App State that afternoon before starting the drive back to NY. It was honestly the best week and I got to see so much!
Just a thought- as much as I loved UF, many faculty have been quite unhappy since the new president was put in place, messed with tenure, and many faculty left the university. Something to keep in mind….
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Yes, this is our biggest hesitation. And I don’t see it improving over the next two years, only getting worse.
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And FWIW, I used to be a generous contributor to my graduate program (to the point that the Development Director tries to have lunch or dinner with me when they are in town) but since the new Univ. President was put in (and I don’t even say selected b/c I don’t think they considered other candidates) I have not given a penny.
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yep
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Article overall is positive about Sasse first year
I don’t want to see faculty leave because they are unhappy, but I think there are lots and lots willing to take their places if they do.
At my daughter’s program, they posted one tenure track faculty position and they had 150 applicants. I think if this same position was at UF, they would have had 1000 applicants.
That’s a joke (and I don’t mean the haha type).
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