My son wants to go to med school after undergrad. He likes both UF and FSU He is trying to figure out which one he would have better opportunities at with internships and research. FSU he got into the honors program were UF he did not. Any feedback would be amazing
FSU Honors will provide him with better advising and fewer online classes, but peer quality at UF will be higher (which is a plus for the intellectual challenge, a minus for a premed since it increases the odds of weed out).
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Thank you , he’s having a problem trying to figure out which one will be the right choice
What’s his Plan B (all premeds must have a plan B)?
Would FSU honors be good in that field?
I think the academic experience will be better at FSU if he takes full advantage of the Honors opportunities (and leverages closer contact with professors for a research position, even if it means cleaning out beakers at first, to keep updated with news of clinical access…); the social experience will be similar.
Does he plan to stay in Florida or move?
In Florida, UF is a recognized, prestigious name.
The further north you go, the less people will know the difference between FSU and UF.
Note that university prestige has no weight in med school admissions (at least not when you’re talking 2 top publics) and business hiring depends on what was actually done by the student (internship, leadership, etc.) Much more than the university’s name.
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Plan B is to major in Marine Biology with research ( something to do with cancer research . Which he has talked about majoring in but taking the pre-recs to get into med school. He is just concerned about the research and internship opportunities. He plans to stay in Florida as of now.
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I would have your son spend some time researching the exact benefits which the honors program at FSU will provide. At some colleges the advantages can be meaningful.
In the end I’d trust your son’s gut and let him decide. If possible try to re-visit the two schools during accepted student days and he may get a feel for which he prefers. He has two fine options so congratulations!
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Thank you !!! We will go back in a few weeks since he is a presidential scholar finalist for FSU and then will visit UF right after. He is so stressed that he won’t make the right choice
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He should rest assured that there is no right or wrong with these options. Don’t ignore gut feeling as part of the decision process.
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with such excellent options there are only good choices. After the presidential scholar visit and the UF visit, he should have a better idea what’s best for him.
This is what I found about the benefits of Honors at FSU
If research is a priority than UF is a great choice. My son is a freshman and the opportunities are abundant. Also, UF is a member of the Association of American Universities, look into that as a consideration.
https://www.aau.edu/who-we-are/our-members
Also, he can try to get into the Honors program after freshman year. And the new honors dorm has some availability for non honors students.
Good luck!
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Thank you so much !!! This helps a ton.
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Now we have another option Duke. He is so confused now 
Closing. See update