I am trying to choose where I want to go and I have heard the debate about which school is the “Better school” and honestly I have concluded that they are pretty much the same, but that is beside the point.
I am trying to decide which school I will be happier and more comfortable at. Does anyone have an opinion regarding this?
From a non-academic perspective, the difference between the two schools are probably minor. Both universities generally have happy students that produce supportive and enthusiastic alumni. They both pull around 95 percent of their student body from the state of Florida, so other than UF students having higher high school GPAs and better SAT/ACT scores, the profile of the student bodies are similar.
However, there are some differences in the student body composition:
UF
Ethnicity of Students from U.S.
0.2% American Indian/Alaskan Native
7.9% Asian
6.5% Black/African-American
21.0% Hispanic/Latino
3.0% Multi-race (not Hispanic/Latino)
0.5% Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander
58.1% White
2.8% Unknown
International Students
1.3% from 133 countries
FSU
Ethnicity of Students from U.S.
0.2% American Indian/Alaskan Native
2.4% Asian
8.1% Black/African-American
19.3% Hispanic/Latino
3.2% Multi-race (not Hispanic/Latino)
0.1% Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander
65.1% White
1.5% Unknown
International Students 1.8% from 42 countries
They both have the same gender split. UF has a higher six year graduation rate of 87% compared to FSU’s 79%.
FSU has slightly more blacks than UF. This has been attributed to Tallahassee also being the home to FAMU which some black students might see as a plus for social reasons. However, UF has many more Asians than FSU. It is unclear why that would be the case. If the potential student is a member of one of these two groups, if might impact how they see the schools.
There are significant academic differences. Overall, UF is ranked #50 in USN, while FSU has a #92 rank. For engineering, architecture, building construction, business, journalism, agriculture, or the hard sciences (STEM), UF is generally considered to be significantly better than FSU. FSU traditionally has excelled in theater arts, political science, criminal justice/law enforcement, as well as the circus school. Other humanities majors are probably a toss-up between the two schools, but neither is particularly strong in these fields.
Another possible advantage for UF is location as it is much closer to the major population centers in the state. It is possible to do a weekend visit to South Florida from Gainesville. On the other hand, it is an eight hour drive from Tallahassee to Miami.
I am a philosophy major, so I think that is slightly leaning towards FSU, however not enough to matter. Also I am a white male, so the racial demographics dont really mean very much to me. I do very much appreciate the feed back.
Another thing that comes to mind for me is that 19% of FSU men are in fraternities while only 8% of UF men are. Also, only 60% of FSU freshmen live on-campus while 84% of UF freshmen do.
I did not intend on being part of a frat so that could make a difference. I am also going to be off campus, and I am transfering as a junior.