What would be the best choice if I had to choose?
What do you think the best choice would be?
by asking this, you are assuming UF is better in general than FSU - but thatâs based on a rank and not based on what is most important to you.
FSU Honors is brutal to get into - my child was accepted into U of SC but turned down at FSU in Honors so congrats on great admission.
Honors will give you a smaller community, additional activities, and access to experiences you might not get as a non-Honors. Both are huge schools - so it really depends on what you want.
Both are fantastic schools - but Honors would make it a more personal experience.
Only you can decide if thatâs right for you.
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What are your degree and career interests?
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Assuming that both schools offer a major or program that you want to study, then FSU Honors because of the typical benefits of being in an honors program.
What are the specific benefits of FSU undergraduate honors program ?
Special honors dorm / housing ?
Priority course registration ?
I do know that there are special courses / seminars open to only honors program students.
In answer to your question, the better choice would be the school which is the better fit for you. Insufficient information shared in this thread for anyone to offer a reasonable suggestion as to which school is the better fit for you.
P.S. FWIW Every UF graduate whom I know loved their experience there.
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Biology and MD
If by MD you mean you are pre-med, I would definitely go with the FSU/Honors combo. Both in terms of course priority registration and also way better odds of getting âpickedâ for the most coveted research and similar opportunities. You might struggle to get ânoticedâ (vs Honors students) at UF.
FSU is a more nurturing environment to begin with, and then they prize their honors program and students.
Iâd asked about major because for certain majors, such as engineering, UF is way stronger. You canât go wrong with Biology at either school.
By the way, this is a nice problem to have, congrats on having such a choice to make!
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Be sure you understand exactly what benefits the Honors program at FSU will give you (it can vary greatly) before making a decision.
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My overall opinion on this is not specific to UF and FSU, but I feel like you should make your college choice based on which college is the right fit or which you like better or whatever factors matter to you, but NOT based on honors. once you have chosen your school, then Honors is icing on the cake, or gravy, choose your tasty metaphor. In the end you graduate from X university, and I donât think employers or grad schools will really be paying attention to that H on your diploma. Sure, maybe you can have an easier time fostering personal relationships with professors, but millions of students have always managed to do this without being in Honors- you just might have to be a little more go-getty. I donât think Honors will be so critical in changing a college experience to the extent you base a college choice on it.
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Med school acceptance is a daunting process. Takes grades, research, MCAT, LORs, etc. I would think the honors program at FSU would have a greater vested interest in helping you achieve your goals simply by virtue of it wanting to attract and retain top in state talent. Having great outcomes is a nice way to highlight their program. Perhaps you can do some research specifically geared towards med school prep support. What do they do? How do they help? How strong is advising within the honors program and for med school specifically. Do you get the best profs for the med school tracking courses? All that stuff. If the answer is yes, I would think it would provide more help in securing a positive med school admissions outcome. Thatâs what youâre shooting for. The prestige of either school is irrelevant towards your goals.
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I would suggest reaching out the contact on this page regarding the Honors Medical Scholars program at FSU.
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Not really⊠My question is real. Everybody knows that UF gets a better ranking than FSU⊠Itâs a factâŠ
OP: What are the benefits of FSU Honors Program ?
Priority course registration ?
Honors housing ?
An important consideration: UF is experiencing overcrowding. Affects classes & probably affects availability of on-campus or other university sponsored housing.
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Iâm simply saying - if there wasnât Honors - youâd have chosen UF for âprestigeâ - which isnât in general a good thing to do - because both are solid, in bio, neither will give you an advantage but a high MCAT will - even if you went to FGCU or FAU or FIUâŠ
You have to spend four years there - day after day after day - so going to the right fit is most important.
If you knew up front you preferred FSU - itâd be an easy choice.
If you would have chosen UF (and I hope for the right reason, not the rank reason which is not relevant to your career goal), then yes you have to decide - do the benefits of FSU Honors outweigh UF.
I would think any âlargerâ public school would put me at a disadvantage for pre-med.
Here are your top feeders adjusted for enrollment size - theyâre all small-mid size - so in my mind, assuming you can get the advising and opportunities at FSU (and it appears you can), itâs a much better fit than the larger and impersonal general school at either.
Yale
Duke
Stanford
Hopkins
Harvard
Princeton
Vandy
Dartmouth
Rice
WUSTL
Amherst
MIT
Williams
Pomona
Swarthmore
Columbia
Northwestern
Brown
Penn
Emory
btw - big schools like Michigan, UNC and UVA do make the list of largest but that list is adjusted for population size.
Best of luck to you - go where you want, not where US News wants to send you. Given no Honors, the majority (but not all) would choose UF - Iâm glad youâve opened it up to look deeper.
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Attend the online meetings for accepted FSU students. Iâm assuming theyâre still having them this year. They have them pretty much for everything including Honors. Ask questions. They pretty much sealed the deal for S21.
Heâs a freshman in Honors and really likes it. Landis is a great location and heâs really enjoyed the Honors professors. Heâs already worked on a documentary because of Honors. Heâs also just been accepted into his limited access major a year early (enough AP credits).
He seems to talk to the advisors a lot, at least compared to when I was in school. I think they look out for their Honors students, especially if you put in the effort. Good luck.
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What are the benefits of being in the honors program at FSU ?
This does a better job than I could. There is an Honors medical program.
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For the most part, medical schools will look at your MCAT and coursework/grades and not really care if you went to UF or FSU. Go where you think you will fit, make friends, and thrive academically for four years.
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I graduated from large public schools. When we started the process with my two sons I told them to think private schools or large schools with Honors programs. Extra attention and opportunities are a big deal in my book.
My oldest son at Georgia Tech visited his FSU brother at Halloween. Almost in disbelief his first comment was âeveryone seems happy hereâ.
@joelatte is correct. Go where you fit. Youâll do better. For med school it doesnât matter where you went. Itâs GPA and MCAT. That said, FSU has put a pretty good opportunity in-front of you.
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Thank you. I have read this page before I posted in this thread.
FSU honors program does not address priority course registration or honors housing which are common perks found in honors programs / honors colleges.
Another vote for choosing the best overall fit, and I agree with joecollege that an honors program shouldnât be the sole reason that you pick one school over another. That said, some honors programs open up doors to unique research opportunities and may therefore be more attractive to science-related majors than those who merely offer special housing and priority registration. Most colleges have multiple opportunities to apply to an honors program once a minimum gpa is met as a current student, so there may be another chance to get into UFâs honors program.
Many current and future MDâs find great success and fulfillment even if they didnât come from any of the schools on a âtop feederâ list. No matter where you go undergrad, the path to an MD will be a long and challenging process.
Also keep in the back of your mind that plenty of well-intentioned bio/pre-med 18 year-olds end up changing their majors for a variety of reasons, so make the choice based on where you believe you can thrive in any area of study.
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