Good choice! After going thru this process twice with our daughters, there’s some irrefutable parameters: 1) for nearly all careers, you will need two degrees, 2) large state schools long ago decided to up enrollment and thereby reduce their individual distinction vis a vis other state schools, 3) your child is more likely to flourish when they are where they want to be. I’ll throw in a 4th parameter that is based on opinion: US News and other ranking services are authored by…graduates of the highly-ranked schools. After 22 tours, numerous conversations with admissions directors, hours of reading and conferring with parents, I’ve come to the conclusion that you cannot ‘go wrong’ at the top 100 schools in the country and any one school could be correctly ranked 5, 15, 25, 50 or 100 on your personal list and that especially includes schools living off of a reputation earned a long time ago and is not deserved today (Michigan is but one that falls into that category). So good for your daughter. Many OOS students are looking at FSU and accepting the experience.
Would you have chosen regular UF over FSU Honors? My daughter had the choice, picked UF even with the additional cost. Good luck!
That’s a good question. I don’t know. He probably would have leaned towards FSU over UF, due to the perks of the honors college and the fact that he is going to graduate school (so that trumps any undergraduate college “name.”).
But alas, he was pulled from the waiting list at his number one choice, so he is going there instead of FSU. We’re very happy for him but we were excited for FSU, too.
@Searching2020 stats?
@dillpickle17 - to be eligible to apply to the FSU Honors program for fall 2020 you had to have either received the University Freshman Scholarship (for in state students) or received the Out of State Tuition Waiver (for out of state students). To receive either of those scholarships you needed a 4.0 weighted gpa (no grade less than a “B” ) and either a 1390 SAT or 31 ACT. I will say they had a lot of applicants this year for the Honors College so even being eligible to apply still makes it a big challenge to get in.
@dillpickle17 @Searching2020 The other way into FSU honors is National Merit Finalist. My son was automatically admitted and didn’t have to apply.
UF denied him honors with a 4.0/4.8 GPA, 1510 SAT, IB Diploma, National Merit Finalist, Leadership EC’s, Math Olympiad Champion and Tennis State Champion/National Qualifier. Huh? They must have weighted the essay really heavily because that was only subjective part of his application.
My daughter was accepted to FSU honors and Uf without honors. she already preferred FSU so the decision was easy- also FSU gave her more money.
For an out of state student, what is the financial difference between the National Merit Finalist/Benacquisto Scholarship and the Presidential Scholars Program? I understand there are other program benefits/opportunities for Presidential Scholars not available to everyone in the Honors Program, but I’m having difficulty discerning the scholarship amount differences? Do they both cover full Cost of Attendance, but Presidential Scholars also receive additional money towards enrichment opportunities like Study Abroad programs? Thanks
For those who kids were offered and started summer term last year, how much more $$ was it than just the typical fall and spring year would be?