<p>Good point Cybermom, we already had accepts from FAU and FGCU so we didn't pursue any additional options since we are optomistic we will get at least one of the three from USF, UCF, FSU. I think FIU is another that could be a possible for borderline kids.</p>
<p>UNF is going to be my daughter's safety school next year, should FSU or UCF not accept her. Since that school, like UCF, is on rolling admissions, she will wait until after the UCF decision to apply. I know of two current freshman at UNF who LOVE the school. The dorms are newer and nice however all the rooms are triples. Another plus about UNF...Jacksonville has a terrific airport with lots of reasonably priced flights (as opposed to Tallahasee where the flights to Fort Lauderdale are ridiculously overpriced). Jacksonville is also near the beach (the kids go on the weekends) and, right off of I-95 (it is an easy 4 1/2 to 5 hour drive to the Ft. Lauderdale area).</p>
<p>We ruled out FIU after two kids we know transferred out. They were unhappy that the school has a large commuter population...many kids went home on weekends and that Spanish was the primary language spoken (they felt as though they were exchange students in a foreign country).</p>
<p>I have been following this thread. UNF sounded interesting. I just had a brief look at the #s. Does anyone know why their retention rate is 75%, and 5 year graduation rate is only 44%? The tuition is good, so that probably is not the reason. Are students generally happy, and getting their required courses?</p>
<p>I am not sure about the retention rates...apparently most of the Florida Public Universities have less than stellar retention rates and one could only speculate as to why. The students that we know there are very, very happy. The class sizes are much smaller than at the other large Florida schools, with lots of individual attention. The two kids that I know there have had no problems getting their required classes. Check out their website at: <a href="http://www.unf.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://www.unf.edu/</a></p>
<p>seiclan, Thank you. Do you know why graduation rates are so low. My oldest son currently attends another state school about the same size as UNF. I think that this is perfect size for a school. The retention rate there is 91% and the 5 year grad rate flutuates btn. 78-80%. UNF looks like a great college experience, but I would love to know why those low graduation numbers. I will check out their website. Thank you.</p>
<p>I would speculate that some kids just can't or don't want to do the work so they leave one way or another. I suspect there are many upper division transfers to other schools in and out of state also. Some kids also just go to school forever and never graduate. Our tour guide at UF was in his 6th year and the end us not in site, double majors, changed my mind three times about careers ect.</p>
<p>You may also want to look into FAU's Residential Honor College.
<a href="http://www.fau.edu/jupiter/about-fau/%5B/url%5D">http://www.fau.edu/jupiter/about-fau/</a></p>
<p>Ray, that is true for some kids. Perhaps some instate kids can afford this luxury b/c the instate price is so good. I don't know, but I am speculating. There are kids on the 6 year plan everywhere, but at other state schools a high graduation rate is achieved. In some states it is b/c they need to drop out for a semester or 2 just to raise some money to put towards high tuition rates. It does make me wonder if the advising is poor, it is hard to get into classes, kids change majors b/c freshman and soph. gpas are too low to get into the school/program that they wanted within the U when they get into their junior year. I am going to look into UNF though. It sounds appealing.</p>
<p>After I thought about it it's really only a left turn, right turn consideration on the location. We have to come up 75 to start with, we van go left at I-10 for 94 miles to get to FSU or go right for probably about the same or less distance and be UNF</p>
<p>I think the low numbers for many of the State U's in Florida are due to several reasons. First, many of the U's have a large communter population. Second, the Bright Futures money has changed the college scene and affected the numbers.</p>
<p>Regarding communters, many are adults who take classes "here and there." Many of the adult students do eventually obtain a degee. But they are "in and out" of school over many years. </p>
<p>Of the commuters who are local recent grads,they often leave for two reasons: a) they decide to transfer elsewhere to get that "college experience" away from home, and b) many of this group are only going to school due to the Bright Futures lottery money.</p>
<p>I think the Bright Futures lottery money has changed the face of enrollement in Florida. There are a fair number in this group who would not have enrolled in a state U. 10-15 years ago. Some would have gone out of state, but parents do not want to miss out on the dollars, which are essentially merit money with no financial/income limitations. Others would not have gone directly from high school to state U, but are pressured to do so by parents and high school counselors. But these kids are not self-motivated to go. At least not "right now." And with no money in Bright Futures for room and board, and many not savey enough to realize they would qualify for aid for room and board, they stay home, go to school and don't stay for four years. Many may end up returning a few years later...as the adult communter group. </p>
<p>Finally, many of the larger state U's have satellite campuses that are entirely commuter and skew the numbers. USF has four satellite campuses and up to ten(?) "centers" where classes are given. Some of the satellites and all of the centers are entirely communter students. I do not know just how these effect the numbers, but I am certain that they do.</p>
<p>Edited to add: </p>
<p>D has mentioned another reason: many majors cannot be declared as a freshman. They are competitive majors that "begin" as a junior. You have to "reapply" during sophmore year, and you are applying/competing against students from other Florida state U's and Florida CC's. And by "law", you have no further standing than the CC students. So many kids who want to be an Athletic Training (AT) major, for example, will apply sophomore year for junior year, but because of the influx of CC students, or students transferring in from another U, maybe a U that does not have AT, that student will apply to 3-4 state U AT programs, and may end up transferring. Maybe the transfer is because the student was not accepted into their "home" program, and maybe, because they had to worry about not getting in, they get accepted to another site and just decided to transfer. Maybe site #2 has more prestige, more availability for internships. The way the state U's are set up, there is a fair amount of lateral movement after two years. And this is reflected in the numbers that are retained.</p>
<p>Was hoping some defered student or family had heard something either way and could communicate some info. I hope UCF and USF aren't going to string this out waiting for the everyone to apply and send updates, then shakeup the pot and see who falls out the bottom.</p>
<p>With FSU we are just waiting for D day.</p>
<p>Hey, I was accepted to MIT, Caltech, Nebraska, and I'm looking at applying to UCF.</p>
<p>I have a free ride at Nebraska, and UCF is offering one as well.</p>
<p>Going to MIT or Caltech would require about $30,000 a year based on my parents' financial situation.</p>
<p>I'm looking at majoring in math/physics. What would be the advantages and disadvantages of going to UCF (disregard the full ride for this question)? Then, considering the full ride, what advice would you give.</p>
<p>My son applied to UCF; we're waiting on UF, as he applied RD II due to a family crisis. Anyway, UCF was very quick in getting back with us. Essentially, they posted his admittance the day after they had just posted his transcripts had arrived. We love rolling admits. He was asked to join the honors program, which he did, and was accepted. He received Merit money, and he will be very pleased to go here. He's not sure he'd choose UF even if he does get in.</p>
<p>His stats:
weighted GPA 3.8
9 AP classes, (six tests w/ 4's, so far)
SAT crit. 710, math 690
ACT 31</p>
<p>Most EC's (except two years in band and FCA officer) are outside school</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm looking at majoring in math/physics. What would be the advantages and disadvantages of going to UCF (disregard the full ride for this question)? Then, considering the full ride, what advice would you give.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>As compare to Caltech or MIT in math/physics, UCF offers no academic advantage or any advantage I could think of, excluding better winter climate in comparison with MIT. As to full ride, it will depend on your family situation and it is hard for other people to comment.</p>
<p>drunner, MIT is one of the top rated engineering schools in the country. UCF isn't at a MIT level.</p>
<p>Another suggestion, you sound a bit like me many years ago. I did my undergraduate work at the University of Rochester, same concentration of Physics major Math minor. they do go hand in hand as you can't do the Physics with out the math. It was VERY Intensive especially the 300 series math and physics courses. The faculty is amazing.</p>
<p>I'm wondering how strong your Physics desire is? the U of R has by many peoples estimation the best Physics program in the country. Since Rochester is the center of the optics industry and has more than 75 optics companies in the immediate area it receives support from companies such as Bauch & Lomb, Kodak Xerox ect. It is also home to National Grant work being done on Fusion Reaction, the reactor itself is something to behold. U of R is also the home of the Eastman School of music and the Simon school of business. If you haven't taken a look at it may be worth the time, it is a fantastic campus. George Eastmann and Henry Lomb were very extensive benefactors of the University during there lives. It has a large endowment from past alumni like myself (only kidding I get the calls but don't make 6 figure contributions they seem to be Ok though with what I give) and lots of kids do get money, some a total free ride.</p>
<p>Got to look at FSU too for physics. Nuclear is #8 nationally, not to mention the NHMFL and related advanced programs.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I am not sure about the retention rates...apparently most of the Florida Public Universities have less than stellar retention rates and one could only speculate as to why.
[/quote]
It's complicated and the answers are as diverse as the students themselves.
And they're most of the reasons you'd expect:</p>
<p>Some take longer because they work full-time and go to school on the side. </p>
<p>Some take longer because double-majors and combined BS-MS degrees are becoming popular as students today are hearing that bachelor's degrees are basically worthless since so many people have them. </p>
<p>Some take longer because they want to take smaller loads to maximize their GPA and their extracurriculars. This is especially popular with pre-health professions students.</p>
<p>Some take longer because they get to their senior year and, at smaller and mid-sized colleges, required courses for their degrees are only offered at one time in one small class size by one professor, sometimes only in one semester.</p>
<p>Some adapt to college as a way of life and purposely lag behind so they can continue to experience it. If you have an aggregate of these individuals, it just exacerbates the problem.</p>
<p>It's a matter of tuition, too. Tuition in Florida is very affordable. If we were paying $25,000/year to go to college, you could bet your bottom dollar we'd graduate in four years too. So it's really only useful to compare institutions with similar budgets.</p>
<p>Anyway, if you are a driven student who comes into college deadset on being an engineer/lawyer/etc as quickly as possible, then you are almost sure to graduate in four years regardless of what the institutional graduation rate is.</p>
<p>I guess we will be checking the UCF web page today. The person on the phone at UCF said that the admission committee's meet continuously this time of year and a number of you said you got your decison's within a day of receipt of materials. Did you get an E Mail notification also? Was it the decison or did it just direct you to the website?</p>
<p>ray 111 said, "Did you get an E Mail notification also? Was it the decison or did it just direct you to the website?"</p>
<p>We first received notification on the status page. A big CONGRATULATIONS! Two days later we received the letter in the mail. Housing and Honors stuff arrived a couple of days later. After we signed up for MyUCF, we noticed on the student center section that he'd been offered a merit scholarship. This occured a almost 10 days before he actually received info on it in the mail. In fact, we emailed the scholarship committee, afraid we'd missed the mail notification. Apparently, the online stuff occurs much faster.</p>