Help me choose! UF or UCF! Please!!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I have been accepted into both University of Florida and University of Central Florida. Both schools seem decent, and I don't know which one to choose. I have been wanting to go to UF badly ever since high school started (a dream), but now things have complicated. I have been considering a lot of factors when thinking about this. Please see what I have come up with so far and input your opinion about it.</p>

<p>University of Florida:</p>

<p>Pros: A couple of hours from home so would be able to come home every couple of weeks or so, strong academics, high prestige, new environment, new friends, perhaps better opportunities for research (pre-med here), good pre med program, awesome party scene :D</p>

<p>Cons: huge classes, feel like you are lost in the crowd, slight financial trouble.. parents are in a bit of a tough spot right now because of the failure of a business venture they undertook.. therefore don't know the amount of money they would be able to contribute to my education.. if it comes to worse, i would have to take small loans (around 3k).. i don't want to have any debt when i graduate as i will also go to med school and that will be enough debt as it is.. but if uf will be the better choice for me i'll sure go there</p>

<p>fin aid: around 13k with 3k in loans and the rest being some grants and some work study, outside scholarship of 2k (only for freshmen year) .. therefore if i wanted any spending money i would have to work my ass off during the summer</p>

<p>University of Central Florida:</p>

<p>Pros: No having to pay room and board and meal plan since its the town i live so college would be pretty cheap, got accepted into honors college so smaller classes would be the norm, know where to volunteer so it would be easy to get stuff to put on med school app, i would have no debt and would be able to earn some cash to blow when going out and etc</p>

<p>Cons: near parents so I feel like I might have less freedom and constantly be monitored by them, same old environment and same out people, less renowned than UF so perhaps I would have to do more stuff so i can compare to those who went to more prestigious school, don't know the quality of their pre med program (but they are building a new med school set to open next year)</p>

<p>Fin aid: around 9k per year with 3k being loans and the rest grants.. loans would not need to be taken as i could work year round at disney or something and have cash money to spend.</p>

<p>I am really confused about this.. I want to go to a school that is affordable and will provide me with the best education in my goal towards med school, but I would also want financial relief and not be constantly worried about bills and etc.. Please help!!</p>

2

I mean, I plan on going to UCF for pre-med. Most Universities shouldn’t really care, which pre-med you went into an I’m pretty sure they’'re both great schools. Go where you can afford. And if you know pre-med, it’s pretty damned hard to work and Study at the same time. UF may be more prestigious but is it prestigious enough to kill yourself over with all of that work, and studying at the same time? And why would your parents keep you from freedom lol, you’re going to be a college student!! I’m pretty sure they’re gonna be more lenient and let off. And smaller classes would be pretty good, especially in the honors program, to understand the material and be debt free. However, in the end it’s all up to you. Do what you think, is best.

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The UCF intro classes will also be huge, so that’s really not a factor either way. UCF is currently the second largest school in the country (52k students) so the crowd there will be much bigger than at UF (33k students).

Can you visit both schools and sit in on a couple of the classes all the pre-meds take on both campuses? That should help you decide which you prefer but you should take the size of the population off the table because both schools are big.

Edit: I missed the part about the honor college at UCF. Are you not eligible for any honors classes at UF? In any case, living at home and commuting to college is fine if it’s an absolute financial necessity but you will definitely be missing out in terms of learning to live on your own and become an adult. I’d think twice about missing out on the “college experience”. There’s no substitute for living on campus and learning to deal with people outside your nuclear family, IMO.