<p>So I'm from Ohio and I'm visiting Miami very soon. I've heard a lot of good and bad about both colleges so I was wondering what everyone's opinion was. I'm a white female with a decent GPA. I'm nervous that I'm going to be a fish out of water coming from a smaller school. I want a medium to large school with small class sizes and I plan on majoring in pre-law studies. Thanks guys!!!!</p>
<p>FIU = among the easiest to get into in Florida, UM = among the hardest to get into in Florida</p>
<p>Is this a trick question? These schools are not even close to being academic peers. FIU is also HUGE.</p>
<p>They are both in Miami…? What’s important to you in choosing a college?</p>
<p>FIU is one of the large Florida public Universities…46K students (37K undergraduates), is much diversified (66+% Hispanic), high student to faculty ratio (26 to 1) with low out-of-state tuition (for a public) at $18k a year. It’s not very selective (40% admit rate, but, for example, the average ACT score is a 25).</p>
<p>UM is much more selective (40% admit rate, but the average ACT score is a 30), smaller (16K students of which 10K are undergraduates), much lower student to faculty ratio (11 to 1) with “private” tuition cost ($42K+ a year).</p>
<p>Freshman, who can get acceptance to either school, would usually only choose FIU over UM due to cost (a perfectly valid reason).</p>
<p>Important things I need in a college would be small class sizes, diversity, study abroad options, a good pre-law program, Greek life, and I want to be near/in a big city. I’m sorry I’m from Ohio and wouldn’t know about schools in Florida that’s why I’m asking. I’ll be visiting miami in a few weeks and these were the colleges I wanted to see. The courses offered at FIU for a history or international relations degree were amazing. I know UM is a great place to learn and I didn’t know much about FIU beside it having the highest percentage of grads passing the bar in FL. My family is moving south soon so any other southern college suggestions are welcomed! Thanks</p>
<p>I seriously doubt FIU has the highest percentage of graduates passing the bar in FL, but even if it is true, that applies to their law school, not their undergraduate programs.
FIU and UM aren’t in the same league. UM is first tier and FIU is either third tier or unranked. FIU is good for the combination honors college/marine biology (or marine science).
What are your current stats (GPA, APs, SAT/ACT)?
There are several schools that are better than FIU - UF, UCF, FSU, USF, UNF. Then depending on stats, you can look into FAU’s Honors College, Harriet Wilkes, and New College of Florida. There’s also Rollins, Flagler, Eckerd, which are private but more accessible than UM, plus UTampa, Stetson and Florida Southern which are easy to get into.
For what you describe, you’d need the honors college at a public university or one of the private universities.</p>
<p>Having lived in Miami for my entire life, i can tell you, its not as fun as you’d think… </p>
<p>Unweighted GPA: 3.7 and waiting on my ACT scores</p>
<p>With a 3.7 UWGPA, you can do much much better than FIU, even honors. </p>
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<p>“Selective” refers to the percentage of people they accept out of everyone who applies. If both universities have an acceptance rate of 40%, they are exactly as selective as each other. It’s just that what they use to be selective is different, or the quality of the applicant pool is very different between the two schools.</p>
<p>BTW, not everyone is looking to attend the most selective, highest-ranked program they can get into. This question is no less valid than any of the students comparing Columbia and UPenn or Ohio State to UCF.</p>
<p>To answer your question, OP, from your list it honestly looks like UMiami would be a better fit for you wrt diversity, small class sizes, and study abroad options. UMiami is also generally a better-reputed university if that’s important to you.</p>
<p>Other Southern schools to consider with what you’re looking for might be Vanderbilt, Duke, Davidson, Emory, Rhodes, College of Charleston, North Carolina State, Furman, Elon, Washington & Lee, Appalachian State, Clemson, New College of Florida, Berry College, Wofford, University of Alabama (good scholarships if you have the stats), Ole Miss/University of Mississippi, UF. The first 10 schools on the list have all or almost all of what you want; the others have some trade-offs (i.e., both Alabama and Ole Miss will have excellent Greek life, study abroad, and smaller classes in upper division coursework, but neither is very racially diverse or nearby a large city).</p>
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<p>That’s the common definition. However, folks often think of selectivity as “how hard is it for me to get in?”, and a percentage really doesn’t answer that question. To say FIU and UM have the same selectivity could be misinterpreted. Princeton Review and Barron’s have both come up with their own definitions based on criteria they developed (that include the % of accepted applicants).</p>
<p>For example, Princeton Review uses the following:</p>
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<p>Anyway, I think it’s best when discussing selectivity to include a reference point, such as average ACT score, GPA, etc., along with the % of accepted applicants. </p>
<p>@Mastewart we’ve toss a bunch of schools at you. How important is it to live near a big city in the south? If it is, which cities do you like (Atlanta, New Orleans, Orlando…)? We can give you a list to start your research. If you’re open to smaller towns, then the list gets big again, and we’ll need more criteria :)</p>
<p>By all means visit UM and FIU while in Miami!. You should also visit FAU, which is in Boca Raton, just north of Miami. </p>
<p>I have visited Vanderbilt and loved Nashville, I like Atlanta, Charlotte, and Jacksonville. It is very important for me to be near a larger city. I live in an area where the city near us is dead and there are no job opportunities. I was looking at the honors program at FIU I’m meeting with a representative when I visit. I’m open to visiting anywhere that may be a good fit and money isn’t a problem. Thank you all so much for the suggestions. I really would have been lost </p>
<p>Schools near Cities in the South:</p>
<p>Miami- Miami (FIU, FAU)
Tampa- UTampa, USF
Orlando- UCF
Jacksonville- Flagler College (about an hour south in St. Augustine, which is a great city in its own right)
Atlanta- Emory, UGA (in Athens), GT
Columbia- South Carolina
Charleston- CofC
Charlotte- Davidson, UNCC
Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill- Duke, UNC, NC State, Wake Forest and Elon both a little to the west
Richmond- Richmond, VCU, UVa (an hour to the west)
SE VA Metropolis- W&M
DC- Georgetown, GW, American
Lexington- Kentucky
Louisville- Louisville
Nashville- Vandy, Belmont
Memphis- Memphis, Rhodes College
Knoxville- Tennessee
Birmingham- Alabama (about 45 minutes to 1 hour west)
Montgomery- Auburn (a little bit south)
New Orleans- Tulane, LSU (a little bit north)
Houston- Rice
Dallas- SMU
Austin- Texas
Waco- Baylor
OK City/Norman- Oklahoma</p>
<p>I hope that this is a good start. I know stuff about many, though not all, of these schools. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have.</p>
<p>^^^ add the following</p>
<p>Jacksonville : UNF
Tampa: USF</p>
<p>UCF, UNF and USF are all a bit stronger schools (academically) than FIU and offer decent OOS merit scholarships. USF and UCF are huge (UCF is #2 in size, within the USA), and Orlando is great for jobs/internships, etc. UNF is a bit larger than UM in size.</p>
<p>You may find this tool of use, for your initial comparisons:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/search1ba.aspx?institutionid=135726,133951,137351,132903,136172”>http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/search1ba.aspx?institutionid=135726,133951,137351,132903,136172</a></p>
<p>You can add or delete any schools in the above tool, I’ve gone ahead an added 5 schools. </p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>