<p>Hey, so I've been accepted to both USF & FSU for a while now and haven't quite made my decision to which university I should attend this fall. I really want to go to FSU because it seems like it would be more fun, but I rather go to a college that would benefit me for my future instead. I've never visited either campuses, but I've seen pictures and videos on them and FSU campus is beautiful, USF on the other hand I'm not so sure of. Many of my close friends are going to attend USF and not FSU. My older sister is about to graduate next year at usf so my parents are pushing me to attend there. The biggest factor pushing me to go to USF is that it's known for their medical program, and its in Tampa so there are plenty of hospitals to get experience and other things, while in FSU it's more of a liberal arts school (I just read this). Would the classes at USF be easier than the classes at fsu? I know that in med school the only thing that matters are your gpa & mcat score. Basically, all I really want to know is why should I pick usf instead of fsu? Sorry for all this rambling, I just woke up lol.Oh, and I got like the 9k scholarship from usf, and nothing from fsu. How is life at usf anyways? It's like a 45min drive from my house while fsu is about 4 hours....I'm not sure if I like being so close to home or not. Thank you!</p>
<p>Congratulations on your acceptances, and scholarship to USF! You are off to a great start, and should be proud of yourself.</p>
<p>You’re going to probably get some biased responses here on the FSU forum; as a Florida State alum you shouldn’t be surprised I’m going to advocate for Florida State on this one.</p>
<p>Firstly, there’s no question that USF’s med school is better than FSU’s. In fact, it aint even close.</p>
<p>But you’re not choosing a med school, you’re choosing an undergrad school. FSU is a preeminent university in the state of Florida. USF is not. This means FSU receives more money from the state than USF. As someone entering college pre-med, you will likely major in Biology. USF’s biology program is ranked 144 per US News. FSU is ranked 92. According to US News, USF is ranked #170 for nation’s best universities. FSU is ranked #97.</p>
<p>FSU will give you the full college experience. Top notch campus life, campus, tradition, a true college town, and in my experience, a faculty and student body that were an absolute pleasure to share four years of my life with. I didn’t go to USF, but I can’t imagine it being even remotely the same. Tour the campuses, and I believe you will see this for yourself.</p>
<p>Lastly, you seem like you’re a smart kid. I have no reason to doubt you are capable of getting into med school… but heed this warning. You will need over a 3.7 GPA taking some of the most challenging courses (IE: Organic Chemistry I & II). You will also need a ridiculous MCAT score, among other things I am sure. I know lots of people that wanted to go to med school; I only know ONE person that got in. And that person needed a gap year, and is extremely smart. Have a backup plan. Majoring in biology with no plans after graduation might not be such an attractive option.</p>
<p>Just my rambled thoughts. Visit the campuses, and make the decision that’s best for you; don’t let anyone (including parents) pressure you or influence your decision. </p>
<p>Also, check out this link for volunteer opportunities at FSU for pre-med students:
<a href=“http://med.fsu.edu/index.cfm?page=AdvisingOutreach.volunteer”>http://med.fsu.edu/index.cfm?page=AdvisingOutreach.volunteer</a></p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks a lot! Do you think classes are harder at FSU than USF? </p>
<p>That’s tough to answer having never taken classes at USF.</p>
<p>If you go into any school thinking it’s going to be easy because of the logo, you’re not going to succeed. Both are state schools and the curriculum for classes should be similar. How easy the grading is will be more dependent on your professors than anything.</p>
<p>Half of succeeding in college is knowing how to schedule. Picking the right professors, building a schedule that you are comfortable with (Ie do you perform better with late classes or early classes… Classes bunched together or spread through the week). This can all make a huge difference.</p>
<p>One other thing that really helped me being an Econ/Stats major was the overlap in the two majors. If you enter a class already knowing some of the material, you already are at a huge advantage compared to your classmates. </p>
<p>You’ll have a more “traditional” college experience at FSU. USF still has a bit of a commuter college vibe.</p>
<p>USF has the older, more-established medical school, but you aren’t going to medical school yet, right? You’re still an undergrad. Why not go where you’ll have the best undergrad experience?</p>
<p>Also: to be blunt, most aspiring medical students don’t actually make to medical school. They get burned out, or they realize that their GPA has fallen too low, and they have no chance to get into medical school. If you make it, terrific! If not, where would you prefer that you have your bachelors from?</p>
<p>Can’t disagree with anything croc said, especially the med school.</p>
<p>One can’t emphasize enough: DO NOT put all your eggs in the med school basket. I don’t care how smart you are; it’s a reach.</p>
<p>The thing is my dad and mom are both doctors and they’re pushing my two sisters & I to follow their footsteps which I don’t mind lol. I mean who doesn’t want to be a doctor, right? So I’m like forced to do this. Anyways, I’m really leaning towards FSU because of both of your replies! (: But I’m still not sure…I really want to go to FSU, but I’m not sure if USF would be better for my future. You did say that undergraduate doesn’t matter so…</p>
<p>Just because your parents want you to be a doctor doesn’t that you have to be a doctor. Once you are away from them, you will be exposed to new people and ideas. You may find that you have a different calling. </p>
<p>And again, you’re not deciding between FSU and USF for medical school. You are deciding between them for undergrad.</p>
<p>When someone says that undergrad doesn’t matter for med school, they mean that where you go really doesn’t matter. What med schools want to see is that you have a damn near perfect GPA, and really high test scores on the MCAT. While you should probably major in something that’s related to human health (biology, etc), that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to be a Pre-Med/Biology major only. </p>
<p>I know plenty of people that went to USF for pre-med, thinking that they would be able to get into USF’s med school upon completion of undergrad. To my knowledge only a couple of them actually got into med school- anywhere. </p>
<p>Make sure that you have a backup plan in place, no matter where you go. I have a close friend from high school that spent 3 years applying to med school before he was accepted. He actually went to grad school and got a Master’s in biotechnology at USF while he kept applying to med school. </p>
<p>Have to again agree completely with Croc and Pasbal. One concern I have for you is it seems it’s more your parents pushing you for med school, and you’re going along with it because “who wouldn’t want to be a doctor.” I doubt I need to tell you what a difficult path it is to become a doctor, but there’s a reason why those are the only guys I would trust to cut me open unconscious. It’s extremely extremely difficult just to get into med school, then med school is an extremely difficult phase all in itself, plus your residency. The goal of becoming a doctor won’t be realized until you are at least 30. This shouldn’t just be your parent’s goal for you that you’re going along with; this needs to be what YOU are passionate about. It just won’t work otherwise. </p>
<p>Regardless of any of that, if I were in your shoes, my only consideration for FSU versus USF would be that $9,000 scholarship you got to USF. All I can say is that in hindsight, I wouldn’t trade my experience at FSU for what I believe the USF experience to be for $9,000. Lizard (USF alum) might come in here and tell you otherwise of course!</p>
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<p>Also I think it’s worth saying, I hope it doesn’t come off like any of us are trying dissuade you from persuing med school. At least for me, I just want you to consider how bad YOU really want it, and why. Lot’s of people enter college with aspirations to become a doctor. Why do you want it, how bad do you want it, and how hard are you going to fight for it? Your honest answers to those questions are as good of a predictor as any of your chances of success moving forward.</p>
<p>Is that $9000 per year? Or, just a single shot? For $9000 x 4 = $36000, I’d take USF. Medical school is terribly expensive. You want to keep undergrad as cheap as you can. </p>
<p>That being said, I would pick FSU if it’s just a single $9000, for the better experience.</p>
<p>Thanks guys, I appreciate all your replies & I definitely know that it won’t be easy. I don’t know, it’s stressing me out …FSU is like 4 hours away & my dad keeps telling me I won’t be able to focus on my studies and stuff considering it’s a party school, but I generally don’t do that kind of stuff. While USF is like an hour away and I might be able to focus better…I don’t knowww</p>
<p>Sounds like some serious helicopter parents you are dealing with.</p>
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<li><p>Several people in here made an excellent point. In order to get into med school your GPA and MCAT’s have to be nearly perfect unless you plan on going to the Caribbean. You may be too young to understand it now but unless it is absolutely YOUR passion…not that of your parents…it will be impossible to do. Many years ago when I went premed all it took was my second semester to realize that I did not have that kind of dedication and I bounced around until I did find my passion. That is the advantage of going to a large university. The vast majority of all incoming Freshman will change their intended major at least once.</p></li>
<li><p>If your father thinks you have trouble focusing with any distractions then they are setting you up for failure if they are pushing pre-med on you. There are distractions at just about any school you go to. If they are suggesting USF as it is close and they can keep an eye on you, then run to the farthest school you can find. This is the time to let go of your children and let them succeed or fail…but most importantly grow and learn responsibility such as knowing when to study and when to party.</p></li>
<li><p>You will only have one opportunity with your undergraduate education. As I told all of my children, where do you see yourself enjoying the next 4 years? With the exception of the Ivy leagues it does not matter where you go for undergrad. Choose the place that feels right to you and that offers many areas of study. Choose the one that feels like home and looks like it will not only challenge you academically but offer other social and learning opportunities. Can you imagine how great football games will be or tailgating as national champions? That is very much an important part of college life. If it is important to you, choose one that you can go home on an occasional weekend but not too close to home where you will go home often. It is far better to go out and meet all new people then stay close to home and hang with the usual suspects. In my daughters opinion (and mine which I didn’t share with her until she told me hers) FSU beat every FL school we looked at hands down. Oddly enough she did not like UF. USF was not even on the radar after the first visit as it had a commuter campus feel. Most of the kids commute and go home weekends from what they told us and that is not what she wanted (Or I for that matter).</p></li>
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<p>The best of lock to you son and hopefully your parents will let you make the decision that is right for you. Even if you screw up and party a little too much and can’t nail the 3.95…it is all part of growing up and becoming the man you will be.</p>
<p>I have to agree with what was said by gonolesdad. Your parents have some legitimate concerns though about you not focusing on majoring in binge drinking vs Biology/Pre-Med/whatever but they should realize that if you don’t have a habit of trying to go out every night and beat your personal record of how much alcohol you have consumed before blacking out, that you probably won’t suddenly become a binge drinking alcoholic the second you step foot on campus. </p>
<p>FSU is a party school, but it’s not like everyone focuses solely on partying. Given the, to be nice, rather poor bars and night clubs anywhere near campus, most people aren’t exactly living up the night life that is available. </p>
<p>I would say though, if your parents are pushing you towards USF because it’s closer, either they think you’ll be coming home a lot (something that can be just as big of a distraction from your studies) and want you to be able to come home as much as you’d like, or they are helicopter parents and you need to get the heck out of the nest and show them that you can live on your own and that they have to begin to let go. </p>
<p>If you were dead set on a medical school, and you were already going to be looking at somewhere that you could possibly transition from Pre-Med to Med pretty easily, I’d suggest USF. But since you aren’t set on med school, you should, if feasible, tour both schools and see what you like about both. </p>
<p>If you’re not sure about med school, do yourself a huge favor. Write down 5 majors that you would love as possible backups to med. Compare the list of majors at FSU and USF, and if your backups are more prevalent at one than the other, you know what school will most likely suit you in the event that you do end up swapping majors.</p>
<p>4 hours from home is just the right amount of time. I am from the Tampa area as well. You can go home if you need to, but you’re not going to go home more than twice a semester, nor will you be tempted.</p>
<p>College is a growing experience, which gives you the opportunity to mature from a kid to an adult. It won’t happen the same if you go to HS 2.0 and remain under the wings of your parents. FSU is a party school, but it didn’t distract me. I graduated with what I consider great numbers and didn’t have near the résumé you do coming out of highschool. I actually believe having complete independence in managing my time and studies made me a better student.</p>
<p>Going to FSU gave me more than just an education. I doubt I would have had that experience at USF. </p>
<p>Visit the campuses, then make the call. Maybe USF is the best school for you; I told you we’d be biased here, but I wonder if the USF contingent feel this strong about their school. Regardless, don’t let your parents influence your decision. You need to write your own script.</p>
<p>Most of the wildest partying is among the greeks, which is probably why so many of them seem to major in things like business and communication :). It’s hard to do pre-med with that kind of lifestyle. </p>
<p>Just promise your parents that you won’t join a frat, so you’ll have time to spend essentially all of your waking hours studying, which is what you will need to do in order to get into medical school.</p>
<p>^Lots of good advice above. I don’t have a horse in this race, but even from far away I know FSU is better overall than USF.
The fact your parents are pushing so much should be a sign you should NOT go to USF (I’m saying this as a parent myself: college freshmen should spread their wings and 4 hours really isn’t so far that you can’t go home, but it does prevent helicopter parenting :p). Both you and your parents will need to have some space if you’re to grow as a young adult.
If your parents really worry about the partying, promise you won’t join a fraternity. If that’s not enough, join a Living Learning Community*. (As a very last resort, if push comes to shove, you can even apply for the substance-free dorm.)
*note: even without parents, those are great and I strongly recommend them if you can get into one.
This one should be up your alley: <a href=“http://www.chs.fsu.edu/Departments/Nutrition-Food-Exercise-Sciences/Undergraduate-Programs/Pre-Health-Professions-Learning-Community-At-Reynolds-Hall”>http://www.chs.fsu.edu/Departments/Nutrition-Food-Exercise-Sciences/Undergraduate-Programs/Pre-Health-Professions-Learning-Community-At-Reynolds-Hall</a>
Another concern is that only about half prospective premeds actually complete their requirements; and among those, only about half get into even just ONE med school. (BTW, all American med schools are good. Some are better for research, others better for specific types of surgery, etc., but you’re lucky to get into one, and you’ll get excellent training. BTW2, there are lots of health professions beside doctor: Physician’s Assistant, nurse, radiologist, sport/exercise science specialist, etc.)
So, you have 3/4 probability NOT to make it into med school: you’ll need the strongest college, with the best facilities, the most opportunities for you. As one of the state’s flagships, it gets priority for state funding. It means FSU students have the best of everything compared to USF students. On campus recruiting isn’t even comparable. So, if med school doesn’t pan out, FSU is the best bet. And guess what: attending FSU will NOT prevent you from attending USF’s med school. In fact, there can’t be any “favor” to USF’s undergrads in med school admission. So, FSU gives you the same chance to get into USF’s med school and into med school, but also better chances overall if med school doesn’t work out for you.
In terms of cost, I assume you have Bright Futures so it shouldn’t be a big concern. Students in PA or IL would like to be so lucky as to live in FL (or CA, or NC, or NY… ie., the states that make college financially accessible for their in-state students.) If your parents are doctors, they can afford FSU, especially with Bright Futures.
From a practical point of view, I wouldn’t recommend majoring in biology: first, there’s a glut of bio majors right now so outside of med school employment opportunities are not good at all; and even for med school, you’ll be one among many. Odds are greater if you choose another STEM subject (math, CS - bioinformatics in particular, chemistry…) or, even better, if you choose a NON stem major AND show you can handle the premed program. Someone who majors in philosophy and keeps a 3.5-3.75 science GPA will have better odds than yet another biology major. Remember that the new MCAT and the new med school requirements include English/freshman seminar, psychology, and sociology; some med schools like to see a working knowledge of a foreign language (not necessarily Spanish, but in FL I assume it’d be Spanish.)</p>
<p>^Good post.</p>
<p>I agree with everything, except don’t choose the substance free dorm… I don’t know who they’re kidding with that one, and I used to work in housing.</p>
<p>Especially agree with not majoring in Biology. If you don’t go to med school, I can’t think of any value a Bio major has. It’s a very challenging major, but that doesn’t make it valuable.</p>