<p>^^^
I wouldn’t base your decision on anything I’ve said, as I can only speak anecdotaly from our experiences. If I were you, I’d apply multiple places; keep your options open. :)</p>
<p>zebes</p>
<p>My friend’s sister told me the same too. She was accepted into both UF Honors & UCF Honors and declined UF because she was wasn’t offered any money there. I thought it was odd because I saw an article that said UF ranked high because of its merit aid and that the average merit-based package was $6000.</p>
<p>Just like zebes said you should try to keep your options open and apply to both UCF and UF anyways but speaking from my exeperience and what I said before, UCF offered me the Pegasus Gold Scholarship which is $10,000. Bright Futures covers tuition for me but I needed more money to help with the cost of dorms. UF offered me no merit based aid whatsoever. I don’t really know what it takes to get merit based aid from UF seeing as how I have a 4.0 UW GPA/ 5.16 W GPA and a 1420/2050 SAT =/</p>
<p>What public in-state school wouldn’t give people with a 4.0 GPA and amazing test scores no merit-aid? Wow, that sucks. I have it narrowed down to UCF and UT (U of Tampa) right now because they both have majors I like. FGCU has a major I want too, but I don’t want to go there that much because of its reputation.</p>
<p>You probably don’t know but registering for classes here is like going to war. UCF equates to “you can’t finish” simply because of this. The best thing about the honors college is that you can register one semester ahead of everyone else. This makes schedule planning a lot easier. You also have more classes considering the honors courses. UCF is definitely a must if one can get into the honors program.</p>
<p>Would UCF Honors be better than UT Honors? Not saying the reputation of the school, but as in the quality and size of classes? Like should I choose UCF Honors over UT period because I’ll have the priority registration…</p>
<p>I would say UCF Honors, from my own point of view.</p>
<ul>
<li>I got into UT Honors with only a 650 math and a 510 reading, way before I retook SAT and ACT and received better scores.</li>
<li>I got into UCF Honors only after I received a 29 on the ACT. My 670 math and 580 reading on the SAT did not get me in.</li>
<li>UT is private, which means it is more expensive. They offered me over $30,000 in financial aid, but with over $12,000 in loans (each year).</li>
<li>UCF offered me the maximum cost of attendance, with no loans or work study. I have a free ride.</li>
<li>UT has an honors program, unlike UCF which has an honors college.</li>
</ul>
<p>I received the invite to UT Honors back in October. I turned it down right away. I would rather go to UCF non-honors than UT Honors. But this is just personal preference, you may have a different view on this.</p>
<p>I know UT is a lot easier to get into, but my mom is worried about the “budget crisis” with the state universities. I was told UT has good financial aid, but I’ve never asked anybody personally how much money they were offered. Personally, I’d rather do UCF Honors over UT but my mom has kinda gotten me worried about how the state schools have no money.</p>
<p>I would think your mom would be worried about how much UT is. You would be paying a lot more out of pocket at UT than at UCF. Yes, UT does give a lot of financial aid, but that is just because it costs more to go there. UT is definetly not the cheaper option.</p>
<p>I agree with knightforum, hands down UCF is cheaper. The fact that state schools “have no money” just means that it’ll be a lil harder to get a full free ride than it was before. And as for UT offering more financial aid, yes and no. In terms of numbers yes they offer more aid because a private school costs a whole lot more. However, when you compare the aid they give you and the percentage of your cost of attendance that it covers, UCF offers you a MUCH better deal. I got into a private school in Alabama and they offered me a $64,000 scholarship and some grants and loans. Sure on paper that sounds like A LOT of money, and it is. But since it’ll probably cost over $110,000 to attend the school over 4 years I’d still be left paying $20,000 to $30,000. At UCF, Bright Futures covers my tuition, grants cover my books, and the Pegasus scholarship covers a little over half of my dorm costs for 4 years. So combined with money I have saved up I could be paying anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 for UCF over 4 years because of dorm which I’m sure I can pay off by getting a job during my years at UCF. It’s up to you to decide though and do a little research to look at the numbers and see what you like best but unless you get a full ride from a private school ( like 100% full ride - dorm, books, tuition - with no loans, becuz sometimes they try to sneak those in to make it seem like theyre covering a lot), it will always be cheaper for a FL resident to attend a public school</p>
<p>I’m paying for the majority of my college (my mom has like $5000 saved to help me). I’m not saying that she doesn’t care about how much it’s going to cost me, but it’s not at the top of her list… But it is for me. I like UCF better because they have more than 1 major I’d like, it has a better name/rep than UT and I want to get out of the Tampa region!</p>
<p>Edit:
Marlins, Are your grants from UCF or like fed need-based grants? I did an early EFC calculator and it said my EFC was like $7000 because my mom gets Social Security benefits for me and we had to include my step-dad’s income. So I don’t think I’ll qualify for any Pell, ACG etc money…</p>
<p>I agree with you lol I wanted to get out of Miami so that’s why I picked UCF over FIU even though if I stayed at FIU I would actually be EARNING money since some scholarship money that normally wouldve gone to room and board won’t be needed since I live here. </p>
<p>And to answer your question, yes my grants are need based. However, my EFC isn’t too low so I really dont get a lot of money from those grants. My EFC as 4188 (altho it lowered to 4008 this morning when I updated tax info) and that was only good enough to get me $1,200 from the Pell Grant each year ( $600 each semester so there’s my book money for every semester 
) and the Academic Comp Grant gives me $750 a year ( $375 a semester) From what I’ve seen, the Academic Comp Grant is always $750 and I think it’s need/merit based. The Pell Grant, however, can give you more money if you have a lower EFC and if you have a higher EFC than me, which your estimate says you do, you might not qualify for that grant =/ </p>
<p>Don’t lose hope though! Bright Futures is still there despite the whole tuition hike issue. UCF also offers their generous Pegasus scholarships, I got the Gold one for $10,000 in total, $2,500 a year. Even the other 2 Pegasus scholarships still offer a good amount of money. Hope this info helps!</p>
<p>When I calculated my EFC without the SS benefits, it was like yours, around 4100. My family is pretty broke so I don’t know why it’s so high.</p>
<p>I have Prepaid for my tuition, but I’m more worried about dorms and food money. (I don’t plan on getting a meal plan.) Are there minimum requirements for the Pegasus Gold?</p>
<p>I hear you loud and clear =/ we’re both in that awkward middle class. We obviously don’t have the money to pay for college out of our pockets yet we’re not considered poor enough to get a lot of need based aid. </p>
<p>If you have Prepaid for tuition and qualify for at least 75% Bright Future you should have tuition completely covered with some leftover money to direct towards dorm. If you combine that with a Pegasus scholarship (which you should qualify for if you apply early) and you’ll have most of your expenses covered! </p>
<p>As for cutoffs for the Pegasus scholarship I rly cant help you there =/ I don’t know if you’ve looked around these threads but it seems to be really confusing. For instance, student A has a higher GPA/SAT combo and got 100% BF but only Silver Pegasus while Student B, still a good student, has a lower GPA/SAT combo with 75% BF but somehow got Gold Pegasus. And everytime I’ve tried asking both student A and B to tell me about extra curriculars and community service they both usually have a good and comparable amount so I don’t know what’s the difference! I’ve tried looking for info on the Pegasus scholarship on UCF’s site but the best I got was a loose description of it. It never mentioned anything about the 3 different kinds available or the minimum GPA/SAT/ACT needed for each. But for the most part if you qualify for BF you should get a Pegasus scholarship, if you don’t get one then call UCF and theyll consider you and usually give you one because the fact that you got BF makes you a very qualified student. Good Luck and I’ll be glad to try and answer anymore questions!</p>
<p>I got a 27 ACT, so I need one more point for 100%, but I’m gonna study for a week straight aiming for a 29ish to get into Honors. I couldn’t find a chart on the Pegasus awards either. I guess I’ll just have to wait until I apply (in like 3 or 4 months?) to find out what I’ll get. </p>
<p>Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>no problem-
ACT: 30
SAT: 1300
GPA: 4.6 weighted, top 6% of a highly competitive school.
I was rejected from UF (now I’m a gator hater) but I would so much rather be at UCF honors than UF regular.
good luck…</p>
<p>I was lucky to get into UCF Honors with a 29 ACT, that I recently received.</p>
<p>I got into UF with a 26 ACT and a 1250 SAT. I turned down UF before I was even accepted to UCF Honors. </p>
<p>I was trying to find something about UF that I liked, and I just couldn’t.</p>
<p>knightforum when did ya applied? lol i still havent heard back for mine T_T</p>
<p>I submitted my application back in December, but I was just recently accepted. My April 4 ACT scores were used. I would email them if I were you.</p>
<p>oh, i just called them, and they told me that didnt havent made a decision yet o.o, i sent them my march scores of 1300 on sats which i improved from like 1250 so hopefully i get in ;D</p>