So I narrowed down my choice of colleges to these three. I’m planning on majoring in Mechanical Engineering. I have visited FIU campus but never USF or Bama. I live in South Florida so that is why its hard for me to tour them. I’m kinda curious about the quality of education at these school as well as the social life. I’m more leaning towards the Florida schools due to cost, but I obviously want to keep my options open. Also, please suggest other schools I could apply regular decision too. Thanks
Let me put my 2 cents in, I’m a dad of a U of Alabama junior and U of South Florida freshman. USF is close enough for you to visit, which I would suggest you visit when school is in session so you can get a grasp of the environment. You are in-state so cost wise FIU and USF will be kind of equal. Engineering at any college that adhere to nationwide standards is equivalent in terms of what you study, but it’s important to get to know the companies that recruit at that school.
U of Alabama, you are paying out of state cost. Can you afford the tuition at $25,000 per year plus room and board. You are lucky that FIU and USF are way cheaper.
The quality of education is equal at USF and Alabama and social life is pretty good at both schools as my son and daughter would attest.
Good Luck on your choices.
@wvacupuncture: My son is currently deciding between U of AL and USF. We are OOS for both options, but he has received a small scholarship at USF and tuition is quite a bit lower even OOS. I am wondering if you can attest to the quality of advisory staff and administration at both schools. The reason for my question is that we have had very different experiences at the two schools so far, which may affect our decision. I just wonder what it’s like for someone who has experienced both schools. What has been your experience with timeliness of responses, ease of access with questions, quality and accuracy of written and verbal communication, easing the freshman transition, etc.?
@firstrodeo May I ask what are your different experiences? I am curious as I, too, am trying to decide between USF and another school.
@firstrodeo and @causticgas can you tell us what you decided and why? It would be helpful. Thanks
@causticgas @STEM2017 My son selected U of AL over USF. We were 90% sure he’d choose USF but when it came time to contact them with questions, we were often on hold 20-30 minutes and then a student (not an admissions counselor) typically tried to answer our question and often seemed unsure). Our guidance counselor had the same experience and had to go through 2 levels of staff to get clarification on one of their requirements, as she was misinformed by two other people working in the admissions office. In addition, when we sent transcripts from two college courses taken in HS, they entered the grade from one college and the name of the other college for that grade. So, we knew they received both transcripts (which would have totaled 6 credits), but they only posted 3 credits. We also found out they require all students to take 9 hours of summer courses during their 4 years at USF. We live in WI and he thought he’d want to come home for summer, so this was a negative. After he told them he was selecting another school, we received confirmation and deposits were returned, but to this day (3 months later) he still gets calls and emails from them asking him to be part of various programs. He’s responded multiple timees telling them he’s not attending. We feel they are very disorganized and we didn’t want to deal with that frustration for 4 years. U if AL on the other hand has been TOP NOTCH in their recruiting, record keeping, information, etc. He also loved the campus, felt great about the business program, after attending that specific informational session during our tour day, and is excited about attending their sporting events.