Anyone have any kind of advice for narrowing down FSU, for pre med? Other contenders are UPitt, UMiami and possibly UF (not out yet)? With the merit she has been awarded all either free or $25-$35 per year which we can afford without loans. I would love for her to go the free route but I’m not coming up with that as the best option. I hear a lot of good opinions on this forum. Any thoughts? (Her dad is a physician, we know what’s involved for pre med just looking for insight)
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I cannot speak to FSU (this forum) but my husband is on the med school faculty of UM. We know lots of students at UF too. According to my husband, UMiami students tend to do well in med school. We have a friend whose daughter did premed at The U and then did the early acceptance program right in the med school. She loved the undergrad (though it was not her first choice. She wanted Emory and was WL). She settled on UM and for her it turned into a wonderful decision.
As we are in Florida we know lots of students that go to FSU and some are premed. If it’s the right school the students love it and do well.
Years ago, without a doubt UF would have been the florida school for premed. It still has an excellent reputation for the experience.
I have seen all three campuses - to me FSU looks like a city (the campus I mean not Tallahassee) and I always feel very small there. UM feels like a school within a city. Some areas are beautiful, while others look like a hospital. The school has money and has been working to add more housing etc. the cognate system is really cool and it’s very typical for a student to list three or more majors. UF though large feels smaller than it is. It reminds me more of MIZZOU or UGA - the school is the reason for the city. Life functions around it. The campus is beautiful.
The vibes are different at all three. On all three campuses know how to enjoy life and you can find very studious students.
It will really depend on what feels right. If the campuses can be visited do for the experience and to feel the vibe.
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Thanks!
Did she get into honors at Pitt or others? Did she apply for GAP at Pitt? Pitt is always in the T10 for NIH/CDC funding. You can’t throw a rock on Pitt’s campus without hitting something medical related.
S21 is at FSU but not for premed. He loves it so far.
Our friend’s D graduated last year from U of Miami. She’s gotten into several PA schools. She loved her time there.
Your list is solid. No bad choices.
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Thanks for the input.
Waiting on UPitt honors, she got invited to apply for GAP but didn’t get invited to interview. She received 2/3 of her cost covered for UMiami and FSU would be free with possible extra money for her to use for necessities. She got into honors and invited to interview for presidential scholarship, waiting to hear about medical honors. Pitt gave her a big enough scholarship to consider and she could possible get invited to interview for their honors scholarship. Free at a top 20 public school is so hard to pass up when considering the added costs of med school. My husband did his residency at Allegheny Gen and I did some clinical rotations at UPMC, so we know the strength of that campus for medical opportunities. I really wish the decision were a little more clear.
We will drive up to FSU soon. She loves the Miami campus, I am concerned about the housing. We are going back in a week to try and get a tour of the dorms. Miami didn’t admit her to the medical honors program but gave her scholarships. Her stats are 1550 SAT, national merit finalist, rank 1st in her class, full IB candidate with several AP classes also, two perfect AP scores, straight As. Tons of school leadership, hospital volunteer, state level gymnast. The medical honors may be a deal breaker but I’m not seeing anything she can’t really access without it, I’ll have to do more research. UF decisions come out Friday, She really wants to be accepted, doesn’t love the campus, but likes the school feel and reputation.
She has some great affordable options. If she happens to get into an Ivy we will have more to consider but I’d like to narrow the public and in state choices down. So grateful for good options but still hard to choose.
Thanks for the input.
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The new dorms are spectacular. Whenever I have toured and we asked the question about if there is enough housing the answer has always been that anyone who wants to live on campus gets to - of course many choose to move off. The old dorms look like prisons but of course are functional. The new ones are amazing. My son was recently on campus after two years (he goes to Emory) and took a look at the new dorms and asked when the cool looking hotel got there. We had to tell him they were dorms and he screamed well than is two years too late.
The person that we know that went for premed and then got into the med school before graduating med school wasn’t doing an honors program. She applied while on campus I think towards the end of sophomore year and then it works like those accelerated med school programs.
UF if you get money to is a real bargain. Truth is so is FSU. Choice is a good thing for sure.
When you head up to FSU drive through the little neighborhoods all around campus. There are these cute little houses and most are lives in by students and are walkable to campus. They are nice. My daughter filmed an FSU movie in some of those and it was very impressive. Personally, on campus housing is my preference but these were neat. Right near campus and student filled.
She is a national merit finalist so UF will be free too, as long as she can get in with this crazy app cycle we are living through! I really think FSU campus is going to surprise her from what I’ve seen and heard. Thanks for the tips, they are definitely going to be put to use!
A friend of mine got rejected only a few weeks after submitting an application(~ 2 months after priority deadline). OOS. Excellent stats pretty similar to mine. Do you think her app was reviewed or that OOS spots were effectively full?
I know someone who applied around Jan 1 and got a decision Feb 17. Is that normal? I thought decisions for applications well after the priority deadline come out later.
@MommaBearJD3 - My son said he got an invitation to an FSU honors virtual info session this week - have your son check his email if he hasn’t already!
About OSU, we sat in on a virtual information session last year that was an overview of the various majors in the school where it is housed. Not very specific, but if you go to the website, you can also find the curriculum sheet for required courses and internship requirements. OSU invited my son to honors program and also awarded merit, but FSU is still his #1. 
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My DD is in Bioengineering at Pitt and loves it. Most of her friends are on the pre med track and Pitt is a well known T20 research university. Their Med school is T10 in the world.
That said i would strongly consider the cost comparison since going elsewhere for virtually a full ride can reduce the student loan load of Med School later on.
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We watched the FSU honors virtual info session last night. Even though we have a child in honors at FSU already, the session was very informative and S22 enjoyed it.
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Hi,
We Just signed the housing contract and we’re wondering if you can share which dorms you would recommend from best to worst. And would you happen to know which dorms are closer to the college of motion picture arts building. Thank you so much!!!
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Accepted with OOS Tuition Waiver. 4.25 W, 4.0 UW. 1430 SAT. Internship related to major, Captain of Varsity team, 200+ Volunteer hours
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We also watched and enjoyed it. I felt like the honors faculty and staff really want the students to be engaged and happy! Hope our son takes advantage of some of the benefits. If your older honors child has any suggestions or tips, please feel free to share! Our son is planning to live in Landis if he can. Paid the honors dues and filled out the housing contract! Awaiting lottery number 
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Hi,
Do you know what the class sizes have been for your older son who is in honors? Core classes should be smaller like 35-50? They mentioned this at a meeting we were at.
Our daughter was admitted to FSU for Fall 22. She was also admitted to University of Miami; we will find out the UF decision tomorrow.
We are from Tampa and have visited eacf of these campuses twice. Everyone will have their own aesthetic preference; here is ours.
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FSU: the most beautiful. It is all brick, has lovely green space and trees and reminds me of what traditional colleges look like. It is also closer to Georgia and Tallahassee is not flat like the rest of Florida. It also has seasons. Feels the largest of the three.
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U of Miami: very pretty with a definitive South Florida, palm trees (tropical) feel. Feels the smallest of three but not too small. Very manageable.
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UF. When we first visited, we parked by the student union. None of us said one word for at least 10 minutes because we were all shocked by how “unpretty” it was. All I could think was, these buildings desperately need to be power washed and painted
. But as we continued walking towards the center of the campus, we found more green space and trees and brick. The dorms looked pretty ancient and don’t have a great reputation. UF has a nice balance of campus and city because there is a Target, drug stores, restaurants and bars on their main street of the campus. My daughter rates this aspect of the campus very highly.
Visiting when students are on campus is the best way to see what feels right to them. There are pros and cons to each school and I feel fortunate that our daughter has 2/3 of these options to choose from so far.
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I would pick Landis for freshman year. Literally middle of the campus on the green. Convenient for everything.
So far our son likes his honors classes. Small with good professors. He’s already worked on a documentary as an internship.
Tally in August is hot. I would pick an early AM move-in.
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Landis is great. It has a very traditional, Hogwarts like feel to it. Check out the top floor reading room. It’s beautiful. The Landis resident hall counselors do a great job of drawing everyone out and getting them involved and meeting their classmates. My son made great friends there immediately. I can’t speak a lot to the honors classes because he is a music major and had AP credits for a lot of the required core non-music classes, but in general yes they were 35-50 students typically. He was not a big fan of the honors colloquium courses.
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