<p>Which sciences, etherdome? You’ve mentioned this before and I’d like to see how you come to this assessment.</p>
<p>I think FSU is underrated at a “3”. It should be rated a 4.</p>
<p>Perhaps I have over generalized my evaluation of the sciences at each school. As a physician, I am aware of UF’s proven track record of producing excellent doctors. FSU simply has not been in the game long enough to judge its product in this field. </p>
<p>I apologize for generalizing my evaluations and I concede to you that FSU may have stronger scientific programs outside of Medicine.</p>
<p>Thank you. I appreciate your response. :)</p>
<p>UF Med is likely tops in Florida (big debate with UMiami Med on this which I shan’t attempt to address) but I hope someday FSU Med will also better compete in this area. It takes decades to establish such a research foundation I suppose. FSU Med did recently garner some national rankings in primary care, however. Nice for a new med school.</p>
<p>"I could get a $9600 scholarship at FSU. UF offered me nothing.</p>
<p>FSU is the better value for meeeeee."</p>
<p>Basically my situation a few years ago. Wasn’t planning on doing engineering or medicine (which would have made UF the clear choice) so I just took the money at FSU and didn’t look back. UF might be better overall rankings-wise, but frankly there’s not a substantial difference between the two schools unless you’re looking at a few key departments (film, music, engineering, med, etc.)</p>
<p>Not to mention that in the statistics that truly do matter to alumni of either school - employment prospects and grad school placement - there’s almost zero difference between the schools. At least on a macro-level scale (perhaps certain companies in FL will be biased towards one or the other, but its effect is marginal in the grand scheme of things).</p>
<p>When it comes to making the bottom line employers don’t care if you’re an FSU or a UF grad. They just want you to perform.</p>
<p>I want to say though that what I was trying to convey when I posted this thread was to the area of the quality of the undergraduate education you would get… I believe this should be a very important factor when deciding on a school. Since from what srqman1 posted, after graduating your prospects for graduate school or employment are nearly equal than what’s left is to choose the school where you would get the best education.</p>
<p>An area that I think can show this is in learning outcome. There have been some non profit organizations that are testing students as freshman and then as seniors. One test used is the CLA-College Learning Assessment (see link below). Schools do not have to release the information but some have and more will be in the future and they are posting them on their college portraits. </p>
<p>FSU’s CLA results:</p>
<p>The increase in learning on the performance task is above what would be expected at an institution with students of similar academic abilities.
The increase in learning on the analytic writing task is above what would be expected at an institution with students of similar academic abilities.</p>
<p>[College</a> Portraits - Florida State University - Core Learning Outcomes](<a href=“http://www.collegeportraits.org/FL/FSU/learning_outcomes]College”>http://www.collegeportraits.org/FL/FSU/learning_outcomes)</p>
<p>CLA
[url=<a href=“Collegiate Learning Assessment - An Integrated Approach to the Analysis of the Quality of Higher Education and Student Performance | CustomWritings.com™ Blog”>http://www.collegiatelearningassessment.org/]Blank[/url</a>]</p>
<p>DrewCool, This is a very important point that you have made. The only way to judge the quality of education provided by a college is to measure the DELTA from freshman to senior years. </p>
<p>College portraits is attempting to do just that. I would like to see some comparisons between FSU results and other universities.</p>
<p>DrewCool, I tried looking through the site for comparisons. I couldn’t find any. It would be beneficial to be able to compare FSU with other universities (like Wisconsin-Madison or UF or U Miami). </p>
<p>Can you tell me how to get that sort of information?</p>
<p>Hi etherdome,</p>
<p>It appears that the schools you mentioned are not participating in the college portrait and some that are have not put all their data on it yet. FSU seems to be ahead of many on this. Anyway, i did a little research for you and from what i gather all universities do this type of testing in one way or another. Mostly, they are done through their office of university assessment or another similar department. Possibility, you can get some information directly from the schools. I put a link for one of them below.
Hope that helps!</p>
<p>[Outcomes</a> Assessment > index](<a href=“http://www.provost.wisc.edu/assessment/]Outcomes”>Student Learning Assessment – UW–Madison)</p>
<p>Thank you DrewCool. I read through some of the reports from UW. I am impressed by their aggressive self assessment and willingness to improve. Because FSU is also involved in this program, I assume that they are also a proactive university. </p>
<p>All of this pedagogy is beyond the scope of my knowledge. I can not judge their progress. All I can say is that I prefer a university that is willing to open itself to criticism. By accepting constructive criticism, universities improve. I have gained even more respect for UW and FSU and I hope that all major U’s adopt the same attitude.</p>