We are in the same boat as many students. We haven’t visited FSU yet, (we are out of state) but son was accepted to the honors college for Fall 2020. He is seriously considering attending FSU in the fall but we don’t know much about the university. His dad attended UF and UCF and I attended U of Miami, so we’re familiar with some of Florida’s higher educational offerings.
Son was admitted to U of Miami and that really is his first choice, but the steep cost and little merit aid he was offered is preventing us from sending him there, unfortunately. He was also admitted in-state to the College of William and Mary.
If you, or your son or daughter attend FSU, what are some pros and cons of this particular university and Tallahassee? His major will be international affairs and he does plan on attending graduate school. He would eventually like to work for the State Dept. in D.C. (He was also accepted to GWU but again, merit aid wasn’t what we were hoping for).
Thank you for any insight into FSU.
What other options does he have within budget ?
not sure if FSU would be as strong as GW for International affairs. There is something to be said for being in DC for what he wants to do in the future
Focus on the benefits of the honors college at FSU.
College of William & Mary is a great option, but quite different than the campus culture at FSU.
Yes, we are definitely well aware that GWU is his best option in theory right now. However, the merit aid they offered is prohibitive. He thought he would receive more. With the merit aid GWU is approximately $60,000 per year. FSU would be roughly a 1/3 of that.
So because our visit to FSU this spring was cancelled, I’m asking for people familiar with FSU to let us know their pros and cons of the university. We really don’t know much about it.
He was also admitted to U of SC, Clemson, U of Richmond (too expensive), VCU, and JMU.
Hard to pass on the College of William and Mary. But FSU is a much larger school and sports is a major part of the experience and the culture. Honors is a nice perk but not an upgrade over W&M. Did you receive the OOS waiver from FSU?
Glad to see this topic discussed - also admitted to FSU honors but am unable to visit.
What is the in state rate for William & Mary?
I agree with above poster that if the all in cost is comparable to FSU it would be a very tough deal to beat. Virginia would be a better environment for his intended major…that would include internships and opportunities outside the classroom…FSU is a very good school, but you just don’t see a lot of FSU grads ambitiously pursuing State Dept. jobs
Resident tuition at Wm. & Mary is about $23,000. Room & board = about $13,000.
Yes, he did receive the waiver, which makes FSU very enticing. He attended a very academically intense high school and worked very hard for his grades. I think he wants to be able to chill out a little bit in college. He also likes bigger cities (Williamsburg is very small) and loves big time football. We really wish we could make U of Miami or GWU work financially, but since he wants to attend graduate school (possibly law school) we need not tap our 529 to the max for undergrad.
If Law School is in his future, FSU would be hard to pass financially. The in-state tuition is about $6500. The cost difference for the 4 years is about $70K. That is a lot of money. We are also OOS and admitted to both FSU and UF. He was not able to take an official tour either due to the cancelation, . But we got in the car and just went to see the school and the area. I would suggest doing this especially if things quiet down in the middle of April.
$36k for William and Mary vs. $17 for FSU all in? both good options…Agree if Law School is his future, i’d opt for FSU and save up for Law School which rarely provides any scholarship money…If he really wants to go into gov’t, int’l relations or PR having access to VA/MD/DC internships is quite valuable.
any reason why UVA was not an option if he wanted a larger town and college sports?
UVA was his #1 choice. Unfortunately, he was waitlisted. I agree that having access to D.C. and the internships and networking is ideal. It’s really too bad that we didn’t check out W&M in the fall for a tour and info session. Hindsight is 20/20. Senior year in the fall was so busy with sports and applications. I’m not sure how excited he was to apply there in the first place. His college counselor at his high school was the one who encouraged him. But it is a great college. Just wish my son was more excited about it, seeing as how UVA didn’t work out for him.
Too bad about UVA…hopefully he will still get in…heard of others who have received acceptances in April and May once UVA has a tally on who is accepting and who is moving on to other options. Your son has many good options and i don’t think he can make a bad decision. Some of the factors i would consider is would he rather be closer to home. Being driving distance in current state of affairs isn’t a bad option. Is the accessibility of the DC area more important than being part of a Seminole rah rah environment. These are personal decisions which only he can answer.
While FSU & College of William & Mary offer very different campus cultures, OP should focus on comparing FSU Honors College versus College of William & Mary
Law school in the future? Pick the cheaper school if you are looking at money or the one with the more personal environmental fit if you are focused on the experience. Law school is all about grades and LSAT…you can prepare and be successful for that at any school that you apply yourself to…and then select a law school in the area of the country that fits into your son’s long-term career ambitions…
FSU does a good job with pre-law advising and has a sizable number of students that go on to law school. Another benefit to Tallahassee is there are many law firms in the city, and finding an internship should be easy. FSU is large, though. Make sure when he says he likes bigger cities he gets how truly “big” FSU is!
I am a poli sci major at FSU (also in honors). You should talk to him about political science instead of international affairs. In the major you choose classes from three of five available subfields: American gov, comparative gov, international relations, public policy, and public administration. It’s one of the smaller majors so it requires either an additional major or a minor, which could be international affairs anyway. It’s easy to find classes that you’re interested in and the major is set up in an easily navigable way, plus FSU is popular for political science. The honors program has a lot of valuable events for career prep, etc. I was in the same situation with either 70k/yr in the northeast or staying in Florida. I want to go to law school so it didn’t make sense for me to take out loans on undergrad, but everyone is different and he should feel good about whatever he decides. Look into poli sci at fsu though, it provides a lot of opportunities for learning in different fields and means something on a law school or job application.
@sunwalker - The FSU Honors program offers your student the opportunity to participate with the FSU College of Law to develop a professional-track program that allows undergrads to participate in the legal community and culture while working on their bachelor’s degree. They have access to law school advisers and receive preference when applying to FSU’s law school.
I haven’t seen any programs like this from other schools. This may provide a genuine advantage over the other schools under consideration.
https://honors.fsu.edu/university-honors/honors-legal-scholars-program
@sunwalker We were in the same situation, different major. Son is a high stats student and had many choices, but we focused on schools that give a full ride for National Merit Finalist because costs in the northeast with merit still would cost us $30-$40k a year. This brought us to Florida and he chose FSU for astrophysics. It was the only school that has this concentration where he could get a full ride. Hard to pass up. He got into UF, but did not get honors and he wanted the benefits honors brings. He also liked the campus better from what we see virtually and not being able to visit. That a bit of a leap of faith, but it looks amazing.
If your son’s ultimate goal is the State Dept, one thing to consider is that Tallahassee is the state capitol and there may be possibilities of working/interning in state government while he’s there. Just something to look into.
The FSU Honors Legal Scholars Program does not appear to offer much to participants. In order to be assured of admission to FSU School of Law, participants must be above not just the law school’s median LSAT score & undergraduate GPA, but are required to exceed the 75th% score & 75th% GPA. In effect, those applying to FSU School of Law are punished for their status as an FSU Honors Legal Scholar.
P.S. I disagree with another poster’s assertion that majoring in “poli sci” will help one’s chances for law school admission. It will not.