FSU Honors or UF

College Search & Selection
1

Hi everyone. I was recently accepted to both FSU Honors and UF. FSU offered me an initial partial scholarship but now that I was accepted to the honors program, I don’t know if that amount will increase. I am still waiting to hear on six other schools but they are all private and all out of state and without financial assistance I can’t afford any of them. Basically, I wanted to establish what my safety school in Florida would be before I have to face the other admissions decisions. I am an IB student with 32 ACT, a 5.3 weighted GPA, and I am in the top 1% of my class.

I want to know which school, FSU Honors or UF would be the best fit for me based on the following criteria

  • Rigor of courses
  • Career Opportunity
  • Location (I much rather prefer an urban area)
  • Educational community (Basically I want to be around people who are driven like me and who aren’t consistently side-lined by college party culture. I know you find your niche everywhere but I want to know where I am more likely to find people like me)
  • Study abroad opportunity
  • Housing

At FSU I would be majoring in international affairs and at UF I would double major in political science and international studies.

The other schools I applied to rank a lot higher than both FSU and UF and are smaller and more rigorous.However, I’m trying to be realistic financially. So essentially I want to know which school will give me a similar feel to what I want out of state.

Thanks everyone!

2

I think you would find more “driven” students at UF, especially in the Honors Collage. You will find some of those at FSU, too, but from what I’ve heard the culture at FSU tends to be more collaborative than competitive. UF is great for academic rigor, just watch out for a creeping level of online classes. (unless that doesn’t bother you) FSU’s Study Abroad Program is fabulous, they have 4 fully staffed campuses abroad, plus opportunities in many other arreas beyond that. You can do multiple semesters abroad if you want to. (Don’t know as much about UF’s Study Abroad, maybe someone could chime in on that)

Career Opportunity: UF is proud of their Gator Nation network, which is supposed to give you a leg up. They are both premier party schools, but plenty large enough that you will find like-minded people if you don’t want to focus that much on partying. (that’s really up to you!)

I would give FSU the edge in housing, with 4 new dorms since 2015 with suite style housing. After freshman year many people move off campus anyway. FSU also is in an actual city with a certain city vibe, especially with its music scene.

You might want to delve into the course offerings at each school.

Good luck!

3

UF would be the better fit for you. Try to get into the Honors college there. Im in the same situation you are btw.

4

@Trisherella wrote:

Can you explain what you mean? This is not the first time I’ve heard this about UF.

Thanks!

5

UF Honors does not give much advantage except living in Honors dorm and one Honor class per semester. As an undergraduate student, one is just a number not a person at UF. The school is overcrowded, and they push more and more people to take classes on-line
On the other hand, FSU Honors gives priority registration for classes, as many Honor classes as you want, Honors and Fellows House with advisers and study areas, scholarship, undergraduate research opportunities as early as Freshmen year, findings towards studies abroad, and very personalized attention to undergraduate students.
The ranking is just matter of perception from outside of the school.