Are there any Florida colleges good for the quiter, geek crowd?

College Search & Selection
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<p>I started college research to find a Florida college/university that my D could get excited about. We would be in state, have a prepaid plan, etc. Since Florida really wasn't looking too promising after initial research, I did look at many other schools and some of them seem great, but costly, even with meeting need, etc. So those will stay on the 'maybe list', but I really want to find a Florida school or 2 that she could really be happy with.</p>

<p>She is a Hermione type, an eager student, hits the books a lot...would also be happy hanging out with the characters from the Big Bang Theory (except maybe Penny lol)</p>

<p>New College sounded good for a little while, but D has crossed it off the list, too hippyish. Liberal is good, 'out there', not so much... other negatives were lack of structure and probably too small.</p>

<p>UF seems to be the recommended choice as the 'best' in Florida, but it also seem to be mostly known for football and parties...negatives. It also feels (at least near us) like it is where everybody goes, and D had never been the type to want to do what everyone else does. UF has an honors program, but I get the impression there isn't that much to it, and it is something of a lottery to get into.</p>

<p>FSU is much like UF with the football/parties, but does seem to have a more formal honors program. It is also less common to attend FSU in our area, so there's that. lol
Also, like UF, it is big on Greek...also probably not in their favor for our purposes.</p>

<p>USF and UCF don't seem quite as highly regarded, but do have decent honors programs, but still they are so huge, and I have read that the classes may not be strongly academic, not sure if that is just in the prereq. classes.</p>

<p>Am I missing something? Am I wrong in my impressions? Is there a Florida school that might be a good fit?</p>

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<p>Does it have to be public? Rollins and Eckerd in Florida are both great.</p>

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<p>25%, or maybe more, of the kids at UF have a ivy-league level credentials…literally thousands of students. It isn’t hard at all to find a group of serious “geeky-like” classmates. You will find this to be true at the other large schools on your list, just to a somewhat lesser extent.</p>

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<p>oops, quieter, not quiter! lol</p>

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<p>UF is a humongous school with tens of thousands of students. Yes, there are likely to be some partiers and football lovers, but with a school that large that serves as the Florida school of choice for many - there are also likely to be some quiet nerds, non-drinkers, non-partiers, people your D would get along with. Not everyone at big football schools are clones of each other.</p>

<p>At UF, 92% of the students hat a 3.75 or higher in high school; nearly three-fourths were in the top tenth of their high school class, and their SAT score ranges are above average. It appears that the vast majority of UF students were also good students in high school. I’m pretty sure that your daughter will find another nerdy, smart students to hang out with - and who knows - she may decide she likes to party every once in a while. Even if it “feels” like everyone goes there, in a school with 32,000 students, it’s unlikely she’ll run into anyone she knows unless she wants to.</p>

<p>Florida State has 32,000 undergrads, and the average SAT scores are in the above average range. Nearly 40% of the students were in the top tenth of their high school class, and 53% had a 3.75 GPA or higher in high school. UCF is even larger (49,000) but with similar stats.</p>

<p>I’m not sure what “classes may not be strongly academic” means. Classes are, by definition, academic.</p>

<p>I think that UF and FSU should probably be her two. Florida doesn’t seem to have a lot of small regional campuses like some states, and all of their state universities are huge with the exception of NCF. (I found one that is only 14,000 students, but if she’s the nerdy type she may not be happy there.) Both UF and FSU have above-average stats. Even at my Ivy there are lots of undergrads who are into partying and drinking all the time - they’re everywhere. But with 32,000 students, even if only 5% of then are the nerdy type, that’s still over 1500 students she can bond with.</p>

<p>Maybe some visits are in order? Perhaps she can sit in on some honors classes, visit academic clubs, see what there is to offer.</p>

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<p>@juillet, Thank you so much for your reply. It really does help to have that information clearly laid out. Where are you looking to find those percentages on the schools? I’ve read stats on the schools, but I’m not sure I’ve seen the percentage info you posted. Actually, I am surprised there is that much difference between UF and FSU in the percentage of kids with high GPAs/top ten percent.</p>

<p>I think you are probably right. UF and FSU are the in-state schools she should probably focus on, and visits will really help. I see the numbers, and logic tells me you are right that if even a small percentage of kids are the the ‘type’ she is looking for, that is still a lot of kids. It’s just hard to get past that reputation (football/party), and it seems every thread on CC discussing UF ends up with posts about football. I know she hopes to find a college where the majority of students in her classes will be prepared and engaged. It would be wonderful if she could find that at one of those schools. </p>

<p>When I said “may not be strongly academic” I meant that I was concerned that the classes might not be rigorous enough, perhaps not fully preparing students for grad school or careers, at those schools (UCF, USF)…I’ve read a few things that made me wonder, but have no evidence of it…just a concern.</p>