so I already know that I want to stay in my home state of Florida and have been accepted into FSU, UF, UCF, UNF and USF. I also have a few interests picked out. First, I am a musician and applied to the college of music at FSU in January and I recorded a letter letting me know I got into the college, just not the program (music therapy) however I can take the basics and then reapply next term.
My other potential majors I’ve thought about are buisness, engineering and possibly biomedical sciences.
Proximity is a big issue for me. This is going to sound stupid but I have a boyfriend and I would hate to be too far away from him. That and I don’t want to be too far from my family. FSU, the only school that offers music therapy is 5 and a half hours away from my home while UCF is only an hour away.
I guess my biggest question is should I risk going to FSU being 5 hours away from everything I’ve ever known to have the chance to reapply for my program next year? Or should I go to UCF and pick a different major.
How easy is it to get in upon re-application to the program you want? How easy is it to switch if you change your mind about what you want to study in each of those schools? These are two core questions you should find out answers to before making a decision. If only 5% of people get in on re-application to the music therapy program then it seems like that reason would not be a good one to attend FSU (but if 75% got in then maybe it would be worth it). Financially which ones are the lowest cost?
A good number of high school relationships don’t last in college and generally choosing a school based off a significant other is not recommended. You also don’t want to be the person gone every weekend to see people from high school; it limits your ability to make enduring college friendships. Besides, if you and your boyfriend really are going to work long term then being long-distance for a few years shouldn’t ruin that.
If you think you want engineering, you need to start there. It is very hard to have all or even most of your credits from a first year program in PT/Music Therapy and certainly not business transfer in. You start freshman year again. Heavily science focused, my son first year took: Calc I and II for Engineers and Science majors, Intro to Engineering which was a programming course, Chem I and II, English Comp I and II and Physics for engineers I and II. All of those courses will transfer into the other programs as requirements or open electives more than likely. Point being, engineering and I’d say physics are the toughest majors on campus so try it if you are ready for the challenge, highly interested in the field and move to another major if it’s not for you (but hopefully you haven’t flunked out).
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to stay close to home, although I think you should examine your reasons for doing so. I’m not saying that you and your boyfriend might not last - you might. (I’m married to my high school sweetheart; we’ve been together for 15 years and married for 3.5. My parents are high school sweethearts and have been married for over 30 years; and my next door neighbors were also high school sweethearts and have been married for 47 years!) However, I am saying that at your age you should be putting your education and your career goals first. If you want to stay close to your family and to familiarity of your hometown, that’s fine - UCF is an excellent university, and there’s nothing wrong with staying home. But just make sure that you are making the decision for you, and that you’d be happy making it even if - let’s say - you and your boyfriend split up or your family moved further away.
That said, if the only reason you want to go to FSU is the possibility of this music therapy major, then I’d say consider going elsewhere. You’re not even into the major, and it may be competitive to transfer in after your first year of college. And what happens if you don’t get in? Will you be miserable and regret your choice? You have lots of interests and you seem to be relatively undecided about what you actually want to do, so I think it’s better to choose a university on the basis of broad appeal.
That said, you’ve been accepted to a lot of great schools. UF is the state’s flagship and a great option. FSU and UCF are also great universities, but they all have different feels. Orlando’s a larger city, and Tallahassee and Gainesville are college towns (Tallahassee is larger on account of being the capital and having two state universities - it’s about three times the size of Gainesville. I’ve heard good things about the town. I have lots of friends who went to Florida A&M and had a blast.) FSU is also known for having a pretty good engineering school, too, although I do agree that if you want to do engineering you’re going to have to know that going in and start from your freshman year. UF has an excellent engineering school! All of them have good business options, too.