<p>Does anyone have any information?opinion about this school. My S seems to like it and is interested in astrophysics. It is 1000 miles away so I am hesitant to visit if it is not a good choice for him. Any thoughts would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Once again, does anyone know anything about this school? I would love to get some feedback by either current students, alumni, or others who have simply visited, Thanks</p>
<p>I am an alum, entering in 1970 when it was a much newer and smaller school. </p>
<p>I did enroll in Space Sciences - Astrophysics however my interests switched to computers almost immediately, thus I have no direct experience with the upper division physics courses. </p>
<p>The fit with your son will depend upon his GPA, SATs and preferences for style of school. The SAT range is 1050-1280 CR+M for the 25th to 75th percentiles, 3.5 GPA is average and is in the third tier of national universities in the US News rankings. </p>
<p>It is located in Melbourne, Florida, a reasonable sized city that is near enough to Cape Kennedy and Orlando for side trips. Undergraduate attendance is roughly 2,000 plus graduate students. The main campus is 130 acres with pretty decent facilities. Crime rates are low in the area. Not a huge school in class size. Decent dorms and plenty of room to stay all four years if he wants, plus plenty of parking if he gets a car while there. Good school spirit, well rounded activities available. </p>
<p>Post or PM any more specific questions.</p>
<p>rider 730- thanks for your response! I think we will try to visit in the next month. My son's situation is complicated: Gpa of 3.7 after 10th grade and down to 3.0 after 11th grade due to serious sleeping disoder that went misdiagnosed for 3 years and got continually worse. He is slowly getting better but he is not 100%. His test scores are good though with SAT: 1440, and 800 on his physics SAT 11 and a 5 on his AP physics exam. He thinks he would love astrophysics/space sciences. Do you recall if there was an emphasis on pilot training to the detrement of other majors/students.</p>
<p>Very sorry to hear of the travail seeking an answer to years of health problems. The great news is that you now know the cause and that the effects are abating nicely even if slowly.</p>
<p>FIT was founded by aerospace and electronics engineers and many of the biggest donations to build structures come from the founders of nearby high tech firms (e.g. Radiation, Inc. which is now part of Harris Corp) and from senior execs at companies like RCA that were involved in the space race at Cape Kennedy. People like Werner Von Braun were supporters of the school. RCA built the first science building, the Crawford Science building. Other supporting firms included Western Electric and TRW. Your son's intended major is at the heart of the school. He will feel very much in the mainstream. The school motto is "Ad Astra" - "to the stars". </p>
<p>The aeronautical school is a separate college, mainly housed near the airport and separate from the main college campus. Flight training is part of that school, but nonexistent in the main programs and for the non-aeronautical students. The best analogy of this schools relationship to the main colleges would be at Cornell University, which has multiple colleges including one for future hotel employees. Those enrolled in the arts and sciences college would not have any classes on hotel administration; that college is quite separate. It is a pretty small part of FIT, with just 7% of the undergrad population. Engineering is the biggest at 36%, with sciences the second biggest - all this excluding University College which provides the distance learning, certificates and contining education outside of the full time undergrads. </p>
<p>During my time, electrical engineering was probably the biggest major but space sciences was the second big focus. Physics, math, business and oceanography were other choices. In my day it was one four year college with most of the majors, then the off campus aeronautical and Hydro Technical institutes. Now it has forked into several distinct colleges while the aeronautical school, then focused most on flight training, has grown to a full four year college and the marine institute became an integrated oceanography department in one of the main colleges.</p>
<p>thanks for all the Florida Tech info! I do appreciate the time it took to share it all. It looks like my son will visit at the end of August for a tour, department visit, and an interview. Who knows? Maybe he will apply right on the spot! Thanks again.</p>