<p>“Note that UCF has 16 different campuses, so you better have a car.” </p>
<p>You lost all credibility when you posted that.</p>
<p>I’m a Floridian, but not biased. My application is going to FSU and not UCF, however most of my friends are applying to UCF. I’ve read in numerous college books that UCF is one of the top up-and-coming universities, and my friends that have visited LOVED the campus and what it had to offer. New school, so it doesn’t hurt that it’s got such a high rating thus far. It only looks bad since it’s so new and people don’t know what to make of it, but trust me it’s looking good so far. Also, the rolling admissions basically accepted every single one of my friends who applied before October, and that’s nothing to sneeze at. The people applying now are the ones getting deferred (also, one of my friends).</p>
<p>FSU > UCF</p>
<p>However, this thread isn’t even for this admissions cycle so lets put it to rest.</p>
<p>“Depending on your area of interest, I’d say you’d be crazy to choose UF over FSU. Each has undisputed areas of strength in Florida.”</p>
<p>Besides the fact that this is just a ridiculous conclusion, what does this thread have to do with the University of Florida?</p>
<p>“1. Better Academics- Established by a 10 point SAT score difference?
SAT score is only one rather simplistic factor. Here are some additional things to consider: The faculty-student ratio is better at FSU (fsu-21.3; ucf-28.8; uf-21.7). This means smaller classes and better chance of work with faculty. FSU has a better faculty-student ratio than UF, btw.Overall GPA is higher at FSU than UCF.”</p>
<p>SAT (and ACT) scores are the ONLY standardized metric that one can use to compare student bodies, therefore the scores are VERY useful and they have no equivalent. All other measures contain a measure of subjectivity.</p>
<p>FSU wins here.</p>
<p>Overall GPA is higher at FSU than UCF.</p>
<p>Overall GPA really means nothing, as they aren’t standardized for grade inflation and different grading standards. This makes SAT/ACT even more important in comparing student bodies.</p>
<p>"SAT score is only one rather simplistic factor. Here are some additional things to consider: The faculty-student ratio is better at FSU (fsu-21.3; ucf-28.8; uf-21.7). This means smaller classes and better chance of work with faculty. "</p>
<p>This is a simplistic way of viewing this statistic, and I feel is a major problem with US NEWS ranking. A better metric would be the MEDIAN number of students per class. I think that going to college and having a lecture with 200 students for Chemistry 101 or psychology 200 is not such a bad thing. When students reach the advanced material and upper level classes, that is when it becomes more crucial to have more faculty interaction. In short, if you NEED a small student/faculty ratio in intro classes, maybe you’re not prepared to actually be in college. Again, the MEDIAN number of students per class would be much more telling.</p>
<p>“(fsu-21.3; ucf-28.8; uf-21.7) FSU has a better faculty-student ratio than UF, btw.”</p>
<p>by 1.8%, which is statistically not significant, as it boils down to another less than 0.25 extra students per 25 person class and 3.5 extra students per 200 student lecture course. </p>
<p>Again, I would love to see the median students per class.</p>
<p>Makes you wonder if the number crunchers at US NEWS ever took basic high school statistics.</p>
<p>FSU DOES have a significant advantage over UCF here, although, I highly doubt it makes a difference. In order for the students per class to make a REAL difference in educational quality, one must assume that the teaching quality of ALL professors is constant and the pedantic efficacy of ALL professors is equal on a “per student in the class basis”. This assumption within the same school is a ridiculous one, never mind holding the assumption when comparing across schools. </p>
<p>Some profs teach better to larger classes, some profs teach better to small classes, some profs just suck no matter what and some profs will excel at teaching no matter the class size. The blanket assumption that low S/F ratio is causation for a better educational experience, in the aggregate (not anecdotal) is, to my knowledge, without real, peer reviewed substantiation. If someone knows otherwise, please share with me, I would love to read your materiel, as I’ve been searching for a while to find proof of this.</p>
<p>UCF has regional campuses and not all offer every major available as far as I can tell. While you might be able to complete some work at some UCF regional campus, once you exhaust the regional resources you likely have to travel to another campus. Conversely, some regional campuses may offer resources not present at the central campus…so having a car is reasonable. This also lends to the notion that UCF is still more a commuter school than a traditional residential university. This was by design, as UCF is intended to be accessible, especially to junior college transfer students.</p>
<p>At Florida State, you can get by by walking and maybe a bus or bike if you need it. Most students live on or near campus. A car can be quite a challenge to park at times on campus, though many students have one to drive to the store and when they travel home.</p>
<p>I really don’t see why this set of facts is controversial.</p>
<p>Parent2noles It is obvious that you are a big FSU fan and that is fine, my sister went there and it is a great school but I don’t see why you feel the need to label UCF with false, derogative, myths because of it. I am currently a student at UCF and have visited both UF’s and FSU’s campus. While admittedly I am not up on my research on all the official “rankings” of the academic programs against other colleges (they seem like they would be rather arbitrary and more dependant on name recognition and prestige than anything, which themselves are not accurate predictors of quality) I can assure you that the traditional college experience is to be had at UCF’s main campus every bit as much as at FSU and UF. The main campus is modern, beautiful, compact, and well planned, much more so than UF and in my opinion more aesthetically pleasing than even FSU. It also bears little if any resemablance to a the commuter college it was some time in the past. UCF now has more campus affiliated housing than any other university in Florida and the newer dormitories are some of the nicest in Florida as well and have been compared to four star hotels. Almost every student I know at UCF is from a different part of the state and most are living in on campus housing or off campus housing, and I don’t know anyone that goes to the main campus that need to go to any of the regional campusus, those are mainly for transfer students from their respective community colleges. The vast majority of UCF’s population is on the main campus as well, over 40,000 students. Strictly speaking it is not in Orlando either it is slightly outside of the city limits on the eastern side, like a small town in and of itself with everything you need being in walking distance for students living in Academic Village or the Towers…</p>