<p>I am posting this in the UF subforum as well.</p>
<p>Basically, I need help deciding between attending the FSU honors college, and UF. I'm a pretty good, hardworking student and I'm pretty sure I'd get accepted into both FSU and UF. I have a really strong GPA with tons of AP classes, but my SAT scores are in the 1900s...meaning I would most likely get into the FSU honors program, but only the regular UF program.</p>
<p>Basically, which one would be better? I am looking to major in law or engineering, not too sure yet. Also, after my first 4 years I would like to apply to a better school for my masters and such, so which would look better on a transcript between the two?</p>
<p>Thanks for any help.</p>
<p>First of all, from what I have heard, you may not qualify for FSU’s Honor’s program. </p>
<p>However, if you do qualify, you should strongly consider FSU. If Law is your choice, then the Honors program at FSU will put you in a dormitory with other intelligent and motivated students. You will get more personal attention and be given plenty of opportunities to publish and assist in research. UF is a fine university, but an Honors program will put you in the best position to succeed.</p>
<p>Your grades and performance will dictate your post graduate opportunities. While UF enjoys a higher ranking (methodology is suspect), its reputation out of Florida is not anything special. If I were making the choice, I would go for FSU Honors.</p>
<p>You’ve got to be kidding me if you are actually making this a difficult decision.
You’re thinking too highly of UF. Be smart, don’t buy into the hype.</p>
<p>Well, according to the FSU site, these are the requirements for being invited into the honors program: </p>
<h1>3.9 or higher FSU-weighted high school GPA (Contact Admissions to find out your weighted FSU GPA) AND</h1>
<h1>1910 or higher SAT score (combined critical reading, math, writing)</h1>
<p>I don’t know my FSU-weighted high school GPA, but is currently 5.0 flat (with an A in ap class being 6.0, A in honors being 5.0)…my report card is all A’s and 2 B+'s with all ap’s/honors.</p>
<p>My SAT is 1910 exact, but I am taking it again in October, so it’ll most likely be higher.</p>
<p>Thank you for the input, any others?</p>
<p>Well the reason this is somewhat of a hard decision is because UF ranks about 50-60 spots higher than FSU and I’m just trying to decide what would be better in the long run…I think I would have more fun at FSU but academics is also key.</p>
<p>andrew, there is a reason why UF is ranked significantly higher than FSU – 50-60 spots higher as you noted. If you’re doing engineering, you are doing yourself a disservice by not going to UF. If you’re not going to UF for engineering I would suggest looking at UCF.</p>
<p>Law and engineering are just 2 majors I’m thinking of now. But who knows? I’m just a high school senior…many people change their minds. What would be the better place to be in if 2 years down the line I feel like I don’t want to major in either of those…</p>
<p>Remember, those are minimums to enter Honors.</p>
<p>UF would be better for engineering than FSU. But Honors FSU would be better than regular UF. I’d suggest visiting both. Forget about the ratings difference between FSU and UF.</p>
<p>Both would be preferable over UCF.</p>
<p>Ah, thanks for that link. And yeah, I agree UF would be better for engineering, but if I decide I want to lean toward law I’ll most likely choose FSU honors. thanks</p>
<p>At risk of confusing you, remember that law school is a graduate program. Many UF grads go to FSU Law and vice versa.</p>
<p>Visit both campuses. UF has more regional “presitige” per se, but nationally it is dubious to think a potential employer will see a difference between a FSU or UF Diploma.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I completely disagree with that. I know it is very common for UF to be on the “schools to recruit from” list of many of the top engineering companies in the country. Same goes for many other colleges/departments like pharmacy, dentistry, journalism, etc… recruiters and professionals know who the top rated schools are for their respective industry. </p>
<p>Same goes for the FSU colleges/departments. Professionals in the creative writing or meteorology industry know that FSU are strong in those programs. MIT is an over-all higher ranked school than FSU (and UF)… are you suggesting that a creative writing employer wouldn’t recognize that the FSU student comes from a much higher ranked program than the student from MIT’s program?</p>
<p>You can take that to the bank. Don’t kid yourself thinking otherwise.</p>
<p>It all comes down to picking the school that fits you best. You will have similar opportunities upon graduation, with a degree from either school. BUT, to answer your question, FSU honors > UF regular.</p>
<p>I completely agree with everyone here whose posts are concerning specific majors / programs.</p>
<p>But when you’re <em>generally</em> comparing graduating FSU with Honors to UF without honors, without going into specific programs, you’ve got to pick the FSU Honors.</p>
<p>On the other hand, remember that, at least at FSU, it is possible to graduate with honors without being in the honors program. See if that is also the case for UF, and then you might change your choices to “FSU Honors vs UF Honors.” And as some people have posted, sometimes it is better to go to FSU than to go to UF.</p>
<p>your statement, “I think I would have more fun at FSU but academics is also key.” implies that FSU has poor academics. FSU has had good academics… And also currently it is accepting the most qualified groups of students it has ever had.</p>
<p>You can graduate from UF with Highest Honors, High Honors, or Honors without being in the honors program.</p>
<p>^Common amongst all universities: [Florida</a> State University Registrar](<a href=“http://registrar.fsu.edu/services/graduation/distinction.htm]Florida”>http://registrar.fsu.edu/services/graduation/distinction.htm)</p>
<p>(Of course, at FSU we like to snobbishly use Latin to describe this… :D)</p>
<p>“You can graduate from UF with Highest Honors, High Honors, or Honors without being in the honors program.”</p>
<p>didn’t want to get involved but this has got to me the dumbest comment I have heard thus far on this topic. How could you compare the two? there is a major difference between an honors college and graduating with honors. Graduating with highest honors is prestigious but you can’t compare that with a student graduating from an honors college regardless of the university. I wish I could be in the honors college but unfortunately I am transferring in as a junior.</p>
<ul>
<li>don’t get me wrong because graduating with highest honors is very prestigious and looks very good on the students behalf; your comparing apples to oranges</li>
</ul>
<p>Andre3w216 –In my opinion you should be looking for the best undergraduate education you can get first vs name brand. Name brand may carry advantages in the short term, but I think the quality of the education you receive will take you further in the long term. For benefits of honors- see clip of article below-and though this article doesn’t feature any Florida schools and is dated, I believe it summarizes really well the advantages of being in honors. </p>
<p>The Best Deals in Public Education
Honors programs offer Ivy League quality at state school prices.</p>
<p>By Lesley Alderman
September 15, 1993
(MONEY Magazine) – CHECK OFF THE THINGS YOU’RE LOOKING FOR IN A COLLEGE: – SMALL CLASSES – TOPFLIGHT PROFESSORS – THE CHANCE TO DO INDEPENDENT RESEARCH – PLENTY OF PERSONAL ATTENTION – ROCK-BOTTOM TUITION – ALL OF THE ABOVE If that sounds like an impossible wish list, you’re in for a surprise. There is a place where you can get it all – and more. In fact, there are 436 such places – the honors programs at state universities. “The impression is still that you have to go to a small private school to get a personalized education,” says Julia Bondanella, president-elect of the National Collegiate Honors Council. “That’s not necessarily true when you look at what an honors program has to offer.” Instead of lecture classes with 500 students or more, honors students attend seminars with no more than 20 classmates. Honors students go on exotic field trips, such as the University of Georgia outing pictured above. They’re taught by top professors, not teaching assistants. They can confer with special faculty advisers on which courses to take, and they can conduct advanced research with senior faculty. And honors students often enjoy other perks as well, such as priority registration, eligibility for special scholarships and their own lounges and libraries. Best of all, they pay the same for tuition, fees, room and board as other undergrads in the state system.</p>
<p>Please correct me if I am wrong. It is my understanding that the Honors programs at all of the Florida State schools does not imply any university level accomplishment of significance. The Honors programs simply try to give the best students coming into college, the best environment to perform. A student that enters the Honors program must maintain a certain GPA and must take a few honors courses. That is all. </p>
<p>A student that graduates, from the university, with Honors does so because he/she ranks in the top percentiles of his/her class. </p>
<p>Participating in the honors program indicates that the student was among the best in high school. Graduating with honors indicates that the student was among the best in college.</p>