<p>goufgators,</p>
<p>i didn’t mean to imply that the film school at fsu or engineering school at uf are not good or not recognized nationally. I was under the impression that the op was thinking of majoring in education or pre-med. </p>
<p>Perhaps I didn’t read that correctly.</p>
<p>Honestly, the only reason to go to FSU out of choice is if you got a nice scholarship or if they have a very specific program that you’re looking into that none of the other in-state schools can match. Otherwise, there’s really no reason to go there.</p>
<p>No one has forgotten your thread from 6 months ago.</p>
<p>You either:</p>
<p>A. Are a ■■■■■
B. Failed miserably at FSU</p>
<p>In any case, get lost.</p>
<p>As a Florida transplant 17 years ago just 4 weeks after our D was born, I continue to be amazed at the people who think the University of Florida is the “only” school that matters in Florida. I do not have the time to research like parents2nole provides, but I can tell you that as a parent of a graduating senior, I am amazed at the way the two universities treat their prospective students.</p>
<p>UF - We have taken campus tours twice. Both times very apathetic admissions presentation, tour leaders could not pronounce the word “library”. Students on campus with noses to pavement not even minimal eye contact.
Absolutely no correspondence during the wait time for acceptance… Accepted… still have not received any piece of paper in writing. Obviously no scholarships, yet. They only keep sending my D emails for her housing deposit which is due March 1.<br>
Tried to make appointment with academic department of my daughters interest… they informed us of their availability and since it did not match ours,…we are out of luck.
My husband and I are still trying to wrap our heads around why everyone says this is the school for our D to attend. A great football or basketball program is not the reason why our D is choosing her school.</p>
<p>FSU: We scheduled a visit just like UF and OMG what a difference. The admission staff actually seemed pleased that we were there. Bottled water offered, it was way hot… oh wait … the same hotness as the UF visit and we were pointed to the “direction” of the water fountain.<br>
We over the months received a steady number of postcards, emails directed at our D. She was accepted into the Honors program.<br>
We have visits scheduled with the Classics Department, Student Disability Services and Education. All willing to offer us the “stop by” option so that we would not be locked into a time after our initial 1:00 appointment</p>
<p>All in all, after extensive research into both universities, our D will be attending FSU Honors. FSU continues to be on the RISE!!! no resting on past laurels.</p>
<p>Notice one thing:
Ask a UF student what they love about their university and they will quote the admissions and orientation garbage they are force fed: “Blah blah research money, blah blah grants, blah blah U.S. news ranking etc…”</p>
<p>Ask an FSU student what they love about their university and they will tell you what they love and how it relates to REAL students. I LOVE FSU because my professors are very open, available and hands on. I get real world experience while learning, I love my campus, I love tallahassee, I love being there, just walking and marveling at the university. Its amazing.</p>
<p>Yeah UF may have a great U.S. News ranking, what does that do for ME? So when I graduate I can leave with a huge ego and brag to everyone that I went to UF? Sorry, the elite attitude at UF really bothers me a lot. Congrats, you went to UF. Go into the job market and see where that gets you, employers aren’t asking “Where is your degree from” (technically they are) but what is more important is “What experience do you have, etc etc.” and coming from FSU I can say that by graduate I will have logged over 1000 hours in my field, I’ve worked with professors who are heads of their industry, and I’m supported by an amazing network of alumni.</p>
<p>But I still love everyone from UF, “Well, my degree will MEAN more coming from UF”, yeah get into the real job market and expect that to get you hired.</p>
<p><em>edit</em>
Wanted to throw this quote in
“Personally, I’d go with UF. The sports, alumni base, and prestige are worth it.”
<p>OP: If you are pre-med/dent/pharm etc then UF is probably the wiser choice. There actually is a disparity amongst the quality of students in pre-med when comparing FSU to UF (I can’t speak for what FSU is more known for, which is law, political science, and arts and what not, only the sciences). If you were getting into political science, wanting to get into law school, theatre, dance…etc then FSU is the way to go hands down no ifs ands or buts. </p>
<p>BUT if you want to get into a professional health school, at UF you have Shand’s which is a goldmine for doing research and getting clinical exposure right on campus, and the student’s taking the pre-med pre-reqs at UF are MUCH more competitive…which brings the best out of you, it challenges you and puts you through the rigors necessary to know whether or not you can take grad school (College isn’t supposed to be a 4 year vacation). It is no secret that UF produces A LOT more competitive prospective medical/dental/pharm/vet school applicants than FSU and any other school in Florida. Students from UF make up almost the majority of people who are accepted into medical school every year in Florida’s public universities.</p>
<p>To the poster above, your right it doesn’t matter where you go to school in the job market, but grad schools (medical) know which schools are more reputable for producing solid applicants (UF is known for that, it is a feeder school, a top 5 feeder school for pumping kids into medical,dental school etc…) Then again, go where YOU ARE HAPPY, you can accomplish your goals at any university, especially if you have the intellectual capacity to fully pursue being pre-med. It’s just if your getting into the sciences, UF tends to put those on a pedestal (unbelievable amount of resources for pre-med students), whereas at FSU they tend to put the liberal arts on a pedestal. Just my 2 cents.</p>
<p>^This position merely reflects the current position UF enjoys, which may well be due to things like sports success. We should recall that as late as [1996</a> Florida State had the better graduation rate than UF](<a href=“http://web.archive.org/web/19970427090346/www.fsu.edu/~rsect/muppets/mup9604.html]1996”>9604 Inst Research Report), which no doubt was due in part to success in the sports arena (crazy as that may seem). A surge in admission stats frequently follows championships. Good sports press equals better freshman recruiting, unless you are a Harvard or Yale; but even then I think it helps. </p>
<p>Frankly, if you are a striving student and have the science-related professions in mind you would do well to maximize your strengths and minimize your weaknesses while you learn. I suggest taking advantage of the whatever environment fits, but by no means does a degree from UF (or FSU, for that matter) guarantee entry into a professional school. I do strongly suggest that liberal arts make a significant difference in successful entry into professional programs, if the experience of my D1 with med school is any indication. Graduating Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in chemistry, for example, is far likely to be more competitive (all other things being equal) for professional programs than the mere degree and GPA alone.</p>
<p>This rivalry between FSU and what ultimately became the UF of today is nothing new. Even in 1903, there were indications of the competition in the college yearbook and the discussion has been passed down since.</p>
<p>yankee boy, yeah there is no doubt that the medical fields at UF/Shands are hands down superior. They bring in LOTS of research money and they have been expanding their research base by working very closely with the other engineering/science colleges/departments on campus… including UF/IFAS. This intra-disciplinary collaboration has made UF’s biotechnology research expand at an extraordinary rate over the past 10 years.</p>
<p>parent2noles, what other years besides 1996 did FSU have a better graduation rate?</p>
<p>You sure you want to ask me that question? You won’t like the results. </p>
<p>For starters, try this: [St</a>. Pete Times - July 16, 1996 - See page 23](<a href=“http://news.google.com/newspapers/p/st_petersburg?id=FjIMAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Dl8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=624,17264&dq=university+graduation+rate+fsu]St”>http://news.google.com/newspapers/p/st_petersburg?id=FjIMAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Dl8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=624,17264&dq=university+graduation+rate+fsu)</p>
<p>It is highly likely that Florida State had a higher 4-year graduation rate than UF from the 1800s to around the late 1990s, until Lombardi took over and started the “ratings” improvement at UF.</p>
<p>When I attended FSU in the 1970s we thought FSU had better students. FSU was awarded the first state chapter of Phi Beta Kappa in 1935 and it took UF until 1938 to earn their chapter.</p>
<p>page 23 talks about AIDS and how women graduate quicker than men. Where on that page does it show that FSU had better graduation rates than UF besides 1996? Maybe I’m not looking on the right page. Can you copy/paste? 1800s to 1990s is a wide span so I’m sure you’d find an extensive list showing it besides 1996.</p>
<p>See this page: [9604</a> Inst Research Report](<a href=“http://web.archive.org/web/19970427090346/www.fsu.edu/~rsect/muppets/mup9604.html]9604”>9604 Inst Research Report)</p>
<p>FTICs:
Summer/Fall 1989 (6-yr rate): FSU-65.36%; UF-62.15%
Summer/Fall 1990 (5-yr rate): FSU-61.12%; UF-55.35%
Summer/Fall 1991 (4-yr rate): FSU-38.43%; UF-28.50%</p>
<p>I’ll look for more, but suffice to say the farther back you go the harder it is to find as such things weren’t published and analyzed as they are today. Further, universities were known to not release data or to publish confusing data (well, they do that today too now that I think about it).</p>
<p>Probably the best indicator of early quality is the earning of the chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Isn’t that the same link you pasted a couple of posts up? I’m just asking for data for years other than 96.</p>
<p>Yeah, keep looking and share what you find. What about graduates from the early 90s?</p>
<p>I did find some fascinating discussion relating to the U.S. News rankings:
See: [College</a> and university rankings - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“College and university rankings - Wikipedia”>College and university rankings - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>Additionally, if the existence of historic data is any indicator, the state archives seem to have much more about FSU and its predecessor schools than UF and its predecessor schools. Photographs were expensive then (pre-1900) and the lack of UF-related graphics, vis a vis FSU is telling. Florida State was clearly a place while the wealthy sent their kids, where UF was an agricultural school, consistent with the land grant mission to serve the people of common means.</p>
<p>Well of course UF was the ag and mechanical school for the state… it was founded as a land grant school and therefore by definition its first programs will be ag and mechanical based. …But that was over 160 years ago. Now it is one of the most comprehensive schools in the country and a national top 20 in total research money. 
UF is no longer our great, great, great, great, grandfather’s ag school anymore! 
hahaha</p>
<p>Small point - what became UF (which did not exist in Gainesville in anything near current form until some time in 1906) did not receive it’s land grant status until the [Florida</a> Agricultural College of Lake City](<a href=“http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/general/n030610.jpg]Florida”>http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/general/n030610.jpg) was created in 1884 and merged with other small schools via the 1905 Buckman Act (which segregated students by race and sex in higher ed in Florida - very racist and sexist by today’s standards). So the 160 year estimate is a bit off.</p>
<p>The 1905 Buckman Act also made the [Florida</a> State College](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FSC_rc00002.jpg]Florida”>File:FSC rc00002.jpg - Wikipedia) in Tallahassee a women’s school, which lasted from 1905 to 1947. The FSC men, fraternities and sports teams had to go to the new men-only, whites-only UF in Gainesville. The “F” that the UF teams currently wear was the symbol worn by the FSC sports teams. I think [we</a> 'Noles want that symbol back](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Florida_State_rc01140.jpg]we”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Florida_State_rc01140.jpg)…you can have the [alligator</a> thingy](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Albert_and_Alberta.jpg]alligator”>File:Albert and Alberta.jpg - Wikipedia).</p>
<p>I know you want that “F” symbol – are you guys looking for an upgrade? Just to let you know, the reason why your football team has lost 6 in a row has nothing to do with not having that symbol. We just make that symbol look good. ;)</p>
<p>Upgrade? UF has yet to duplicate the FSU football dynasty of 1987 to 2000 with Top 5 AP finishes and again FSU was the first state university to win a top-division national football championship (1993) in Florida.</p>
<p>Last year UF had a shot at the wire-to-wire AP #1 performance but blew it against Alabama in the SEC game. FSU was the first team to go wire-to-wire AP #1…why can’t the UF Alligators duplicate this? It’s easy…</p>
<p>UF should give up the “F” out of shame. :D</p>
<p>(I’m breaking my no trash talking rule and I’m done)</p>
<p>Trash talking is fun and healthy when its done respectfully. We should create another thread dedicated only to respectful trash talking so we don’t lose focus on helping students with questions they have about universities in threads like this one.</p>
<p>GREAT idea. Thread created.</p>
![http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/general/n030610.jpg]Florida](http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/general/n030610.jpg%5DFlorida){kind=link}
![http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FSC_rc00002.jpg]Florida](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FSC_rc00002.jpg%5DFlorida){kind=link}
![http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Florida_State_rc01140.jpg]we](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Florida_State_rc01140.jpg%5Dwe){kind=link}
![http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Albert_and_Alberta.jpg]alligator](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Albert_and_Alberta.jpg%5Dalligator){kind=link}
