My pleasure! I’m happy I’ve been helpful. Enjoy your visit to FSU!
Hi. Thank you so much for doing this! I’m really curious about FSU’s Honors Programs, and I have a couple of questions for you.
- Is there a sense of community in Landis Hall? I know you mentioned in an earlier reply that it tends to be a quiet hall (which is something I don' mind), but is there any sort of community engagement in the hall? Has the environment within Landis helped you in any way? Also, slightly off-topic, but are the dorms in Landis suite style?
- How has being in the Honor Program benefited you? Do you believe that it has prepared you well for your specific field?
- How are the internship opportunities? I plan to be a business major, and this is something I'm especially concerned with. I know that Tallahassee is not a big city, and I'm worried that because of that, there will be a lack of internship opportunities.
- What is Study Abroad like? This is one thing I'm really looking forward to in college. I think you mentioned (albeit briefly) that you studied abroad in an earlier comment. What was your experience?
- What is your favorite part of FSU?
Phew, that was a lot of questions. Sorry if this sounds more like an interrogation, rather than a causal Q&A session, haha. Feel free to answer whichever question you’d like, especially if you feel as if you’ve already answered one of these questions before. Again, thank you so much for this opportunity!
No problem! Great questions, and I apologize for the length of my responses!
- It definitely depends on your personality, who your neighbors are, and how involved your R.A. is. The R.A.s put on lots of events (usually with free food!) for Landis residents, such as taco night, Harry Potter showings, and game nights. Some students are much more social and will start up conversations with you, while others keep to themselves. I guess the bottom line is if you're searching for a community within Landis, you'll find it. For me, Landis was really just a place to live, with easy access to my friends who lived in the building. My freshman roommate and I had very different personalities and never became friends. My suitemates were both in sororities and were never home, so I didn't get close with them either. Landis is great because it's a relatively nice dorm, the R.A.s are very friendly and helpful, and you really don't have to worry about people's parties keeping you up all night or preventing you from getting homework done. Most Landis dorms are indeed suite-style.
- The Honors Program is fantastic! Like all programs in college, you get what you put into it. I put a lot into it, so I get a lot out of it. Others may say that they don't really benefit from it, but they also don't take advantage of it. Honors students get priority registration--this is HUGE. First semester freshmen are generally the last people to choose their classes for the semester. By this point, most classes--always the ones you need--are full. Honors students, even Honors freshmen, get to design their schedule and register for classes at the same time as graduate students and seniors. You get first choice. Because of this, I've never once had an issue taking whatever classes I needed or wanted. Honors students have access to smaller honors classes, special honors topics taught by distinguished faculty, extremely competent honors advisors (I haven't spoken to my major advisor once because I've had all of my questions answered by the very knowledgable honors staff), quiet study spaces in the Honors, Scholars, and Fellows House, free food, and other perks. A requirement for the Honors Program is the Spring Honors Colloquium, which is being completely redone and I'm very happy to be involved in the revamping process. The Honors Colloquium is a once-a-week large lecture and smaller breakout session to introduce EVERY opportunity available at FSU to Honors freshmen. Most students unfortunately don't pay attention and miss out on information about fellowship opportunities, entrepreneurship guidance, and study abroad scholarships.
Basically, Honors is the gateway to getting involved in academic opportunities that would blow you away. Right now, I’m working with the Office of National Fellows (also located in the HSF building) to apply for a paid summer research position in Germany. I found out about all the amazing things ONF can help me accomplish THROUGH the Honors program. FSU Honors has been a huge asset to my college career, far beyond the “Honors” distinction on my resume.
- Internship is very much encouraged, and you can earn class credit through it. The Career Center can help you with finding one, and there are regular Internship Fairs occurring on campus. If you're into entrepreneurship, especially social entrepreneurship, we have a department dedicated to it in the HSF building. Here's the link to that: https://socent.fsu.edu/
- Studying abroad was life-changing. I studied in London for two months, and I had an overwhelmingly positive experience. You take classes, some of which are unique to that particular study center and aren't offered at FSU's main campus, but also have a lot of free time to explore the city and travel to other cities and countries on long weekends. The faculty who teach at the study centers compete for spots, so you already know you're getting great, fun professors, and the courses they develop and tie into the city are very innovative. Excursions are built into each course you take. I did the Psychology program in London, and I took two courses: Psychology and Art (one of the best classes I've ever taken) and Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Psychopathology. Some of our excursions were to Freud's home, Darwin's home, Bedlam Hospital, the National Gallery, the Tate Modern, and so on. We received free theatre tickets, discounts at certain restaurants, weekly pizza dinners at the Study Centre, and money for traveling by Tube around London. I had enough free time to see my favorite band in concert, travel to three other countries, explore a lot of historic parts, spend hours in my favorite museums, and share a pint with local psychology students studying at University College London. FSU owns the property that the study centers are on, and they're always located in a very nice (and expensive), central location of the city. In London, the Study Centre is in the Bloomsbury District, and is a five minute walk from the British Museum. On the weekends, I would go get a cup of tea and then spend a few quiet hours in the British Museum staring at the Rosetta Stone and whatnot. If you want to immerse yourself in a new place while still having the security of being on FSU-owned property with capable staff who know the ins and outs of the area, the definitely study abroad through us.
For concerned parents who may be reluctant to let your child study abroad: I ended up having health problems while abroad and needed to go to the hospital and eventually a specialist. The Study Centre arranged all of my appointments (very helpful due to how ill I was), took care of putting in for the insurance claims, and had a Program Assistant accompany me to every hospital visit and doctors appointment, never leaving me by myself. They did a REMARKABLE job of helping me get through my health issues and making me feel safe and comforted. FSU’s study abroad is incredibly well-run and prepared to deal with anything. I have nothing but the highest praise for them.
- My favorite part of FSU is its dedication to undergraduate research. Research is my life, and it's amazing to have a university so committed to nurturing that. Research isn't just offered for science majors--there is research going on in the arts, in history, in business, in languages, in anything you could want to research. Even if you don't want to do research in the long-run or it's not something that's ever crossed your mind, I'd highly encourage you to try it through UROP or a Directed Individual Study (DIS) position.
@obocks
Wow… wow… thank you so much for your reply! I really appreciate that you took the time to come up with such a detailed response for each one of my questions :). Again, thank you, this means a lot to me. I’m so happy that you elaborated on your study abroad experience - I can only hope my study abroad experience will be half as fun as yours, haha. I’m also glad that you mentioned social entrepreneurship, as it coincidentally happens to be something that I’m becoming interested in. Don’t worry about the length of your response, because I actually asked a lot of questions, and your answers were amazing!
You’re very welcome! I’m very fortunate that the mentorship I received through the Presidential Scholars Program threw me right into the middle of all of the FSU happenings–I just want to pass on all of the good information and advice I’ve received to other who don’t have access to that same level of guidance.
Also, here’s more fun stuff for you: http://www.international.fsu.edu/Types/Internships/England/London.aspx
You can do international internships in business through FSU. Knocks out two birds with one stone, right? The link is for information about London internships specifically, but if you explore the webpage a little more, you’ll find information about internships in a bunch of other countries, including China, the Republic of Panama, and Spain. Let me know if I can get you anymore information about international programs or social entrepreneurship (I was so thrilled to hear of your interest in that)! Don’t forget to apply for scholarships through FSU when you study abroad; you can earn up to $2,000 towards your studies. Good luck!
I know I already asked something similar, but how does registering to live at Landis work? I heard the housing application opens in January, but the honors app deadline isn’t due until 4/1 (I’m applying for the presidential program so I’ll have it done this month anyways). I’m just trying to figure out when Landis fills up. FSU is my top choice right now, and I want to commit but I can’t until I hear back for everything from my others schools which will probably be in March.
Here is the best of what I can remember–my mom really helped me with the process, and we’re both racking our brains trying to remember all of the steps.
Wait for the notice that housing opens, and then apply IMMEDIATELY. And I mean immediately. When you submit your housing application, you receive a priority number that corresponds to how many other students applied before you. The lower your number, the better of a chance you’ll have at being placed in the dorm, room style, and with the roommate of your choice. Even if you haven’t heard back from Honors, put in Landis as your top choice; you can switch your top three dorm choices as many times as you’d like between February 17 and May 1. Only Honors students live in Landis, but in previous years this did not guarantee you a spot in Landis. Generally, there are more Honors students than spots in Landis. You can apply for housing and break the contract if you decide not to come to FSU. This does incur a $50 cancellation fee.
Here’s the webpage for more detailed information: https://housing.fsu.edu/future-residents/contract-and-processes/housing-contracts
@obocks Thanks so much! I was thinking that signing up for housing meant commiting to FSU. That’s such a relief it isn’t!
You’re welcome! Best of luck hearing back from your other schools, and I hope FSU continues to be your first choice!
Hi!
I was accepted for the Fall 2016 year. I’m making a decision between FSU & UF.
My current major is political science (which is what draws me to Tally, being the state capital) but I also intend on either dual majoring with journalism or switching to just journalism. UF has one of the best journalism programs in the country, and as far as I know FSU does not even have one at all…
Where would you recommend I go?
Also, my current college GPA (I’m full time dual enrolled) is a 3.8 with a very rigorous schedule (junior and senior level classes I had special permission for) but my HS GPA alone probably isn’t enough to get me into the FSU honors program. Could I apply for Honors based upon my college GPA and 36+ semester hours rather than HS stats?
Also, I was told to apply for the service scholars scholarship by the undergraduate admissions. Any advice/tips you can offer for that?
Thanks so much!!
Congrats on your acceptance! FSU doesn’t specifically have a major named Journalism, but we do have a Media & Communication Studies major, as well as an Editing, Writing, & Media concentration within the English major, that might be what you’re looking for with regard to Journalism. As for choosing a school, that’s a very personal decision; since I don’t know you, I don’t think my opinion would be very helpful here. Weigh both options looking at all aspects, not just pitting political science against journalism. Do you like the atmosphere and community of FSU? Do you prefer it to UF, or vice-versa? Are you interested in getting involved in internships, international programs, or research in either political science or journalism? If so, which university would be best for YOU in finding and taking advantage of these opportunities? Are you definitely going to switch to journalism, and will you be able to find the right mentor at your school if you decide to switch? What about if you don’t switch–will you have a mentor for political science? And if you drop both entirely and switch to something else, will you regret your school choice? Which option is better financially, or are they both comparable? And so on. It’s easy to answer questions like, “Does UF really have stronger academics and smarter, more hardworking students than FSU? Because I love FSU, but I don’t want to feel like I’m not being academically challenged and have people think I only go there because I was rejected from UF.” That has an easy answer. But when it comes to choosing the school that you feel will help you become the best person you can possibly be, that’s something only you can figure out. FSU has a great political science program (the freshman Presidential Scholar who I mentor is a Poli Sci major, and she LOVES it), but choosing a college is more involved than that. FSU isn’t going to be a perfect fit for everyone. Do some soul-searching and visit both campuses if you haven’t already. Ask lots of questions, and don’t be afraid of sounding annoying. You’ll figure it out–I promise.
Since I didn’t have the option to do Dual Enrollment in high school, I don’t know the answer to that because it never concerned me. You should call ( (850) 644-1841 ) or email (honors@fsu.edu) the FSU Honors office to make sure! If I had to guess, I would assume you report both separately, and they would make their decision holistically.
Service Scholars is awesome! One of my best friends is in it–it’s his whole life! I’ve met quite a few Service Scholars, since Presidential Scholars and Service Scholars have occasional mixers, and they’re some of the most awesome people I’ve met at FSU. I didn’t apply for Service Scholars myself, so I don’t know what the applications asks, but just be genuine and don’t try to sound more interesting or devoted to serving others than you really are. They can smell exaggerated answers a mile away. Consistency in past service endeavors is typically more important than breadth. If you’ve volunteered for nine years at the same place and found yourself utterly transformed by your experiences, don’t feel bad if the person next to you has volunteered at 53 and 1/2 different organizations on a shallow level. If community service isn’t really your thing, then don’t feel like you have to apply. There are plenty of other opportunities to get involved and make a difference.
Best of luck, and I hope this post has been helpful!
@obocks It certainly was helpful! Thanks so much for taking the time to reply, I’ll visit both schools before making my final decision 
It’s my pleasure! Stay true to yourself throughout the whole decision process, and good luck!
Sorry if this was asked earlier, but when does the housing application open? I’m going to put Landis down as my first choice, but what dorms would you suggest as my second and third choices?
My son is NMF and is attending FSU Honors on the Florida Incentive Scholarship. Please contact me if you have any questions about this scholarship. There are some helpful threads on the UF forum (boo-hiss) about FIS as well.
He is very happy with his choice of FSU. He’s an economics major but added the polysci and history as second and third majors since he was admitted with an A.A.
Regarding Landis, he’s very happy with it. We were a little late in getting a priority number (it was around 4000, I think) but he still got in.
Do you have any insight as to the business school? Also do you have any advice for OOS students? Thank you
Hey
I’m really worried. I applied to FSU for fall 2016 as a transfer student. I want to major in Biology and will transfer as a pre-dent. student. I am currently studying at Indian River State College. I will be done with my AA degree in Summer 2 before transferring. Since I completed Spanish 1 last semester and enrolled in Spanish 2 this semester, they’ve put my application on hold, so I can send them the updated transcript of spring 2016, which will satisfy the foreign language requirement. They will then send my application to biological science deparment. The thing I’m worried about is that I’ve only taken Biology 1 and 2. Done with Chemistry 1 as well and enrolled in Chemistry 2 this semester. However, before trasnferring I’ll only be done with Trigonometry only and my AA degree along with the courses I mentioned above. I’ve take Statistics before as well along with college algebra ofcourse. Will they allow me to take pre calc and calc at FSU? Will this affect my chances for getting into FSU if I’ve not taken pre calc and calc? Please let me know I will really appreciate it! I reay want to be a nole I’ve worked really hard to maintain my GPA.
@subtropicus I can use your help and also the help of @neur0n3rd My daughter is a NMF and has a lot of options. She is very torn. She would have the FIS at either UF or FSU. She wants to do the whole Greek thing too. Are there many people in the honors program who are into that or do they scoff at those who like that sort of thing too? She does like to be very social and also very academic… a cheerleader and a student lol. She was invited to interview for Presidential Scholars and is very excited. She is still considering another school aside from UF too, but my question is why did you make your choice for FSU over UF? What did you like better? What is it like to be a presidential scholar? Is that what tipped the scales for you or did you already want to go to FSU? Any imput would really be helpful. She worked so hard in high school so she doesn’t want people to feel like she is going to a reject school and the others who are attending fsu from her high school, to be honest, are NOT very good students at all. It is really bothering her to think she would be atttending the same school after her hard work when she’s gotten in places like Berkeley, UVA and Michigan.But FIS is a powerful motivator and this Presidential Honors program has her attention.s Can you tell us what it is like to be a student in the program? Do you have relationships with professors? Small classes? Extra seminars or advising? There is another state school she loves out of state that has a very special honors college she loves. She would just love to be able to find an experience like that in state. I feel like the weekend she spent there has spoiled her lol.
How do you like your major? And do you know anything about the exercise science major?
fbhs mom, my daughter is a current Pres Scholar She is absolutely thrilled with the program, and with the accomplished interesting students in it. These kids have done amazing things, their accomplishments make her proud to be a part of it. Like everyone else in it, she had many other options, and she is 100 percent sure she made the right choice. My daughter and my husband found interview weekend inspiring, I think you will be impressed, as well. if you aren’t, then at least you will know it isn’t the right choice for your daughter. as someone else commented, you are treated as a vip. the research opportunities, mentoring, it is all fabulous. we are OOS, so the camaraderie of the program was a real bonus.
this year the pres scholars first week was the same week as rush, so I don’t think they can rush until sophomore year. maybe some years the schedule dosent work this way I don’t know, but if Greek life is important to your daughter, it is worth checking into. I don’t know how many of them join sororities as sophomores.
Pres Sch meet every other week for a seminar, they have some weekend meetings, they collaborate on choosing and implementing a community service program. the expectations are very high, these advisors want to develop these kids into Rhodes Scholars. They start the year w team building, and they really bond. they hang out together quite a bit. My daughter says she likes and respects everyone in the program. obviously you can’t be best friends w everyone, but her closest friends are in the program
My daughter says her friends who applied to UF were accepted to UF but chose FSU. bc we aren’t Floridians, we weren’t so aware of the whole rivalry. In New England people don’t really know the difference between a gator and a nole. I didn’t, either, and I was unaware of the fierce rivalry, until we visited the school, . we had no opinions until we visited, and we visited both places twice before making a final decision. we found the atmosphere amazingly more welcoming at FSU. Much better vibe, nicer people. for example, UF required a small non refundable housing deposit to put your name on a housing list, before they even accepted you. it was a nominal amount,but still, a bit off putting, no other school did that, the other schools let you sign up once you were accepted. I felt like at UF, they wanted you to know that you would be very lucky to get to go there, whereas FSU’s message was, we would love to have you here, we have great programs and I think you will be very happy.
the honors and fellows center is a beautiful comprehensive facility, Landis is in a great location. We believe she is getting a better program and more opportunities here she would get at a school with a 60k plus annual price tag. we both feel so lucky to have found FSU!
BTW, FSU is one of the top research schools in the country
The weather can be very hot and sticky, but if you live in FL you know about that, and Michigan weather is way worse. she dosent love the dining hall food. it is ok, but more fresh fruit and veg would be appreciated. those are the only criticisms I can come up with.
I get that UVA has more name recognition, but honestly the educational quality is top notch at FSU.
I don’t think anyone can say that UF isn’t objectively a good school, So i understand it is a hard choice. FSU was the right choice for my daughter, no school is right for everybody, but I really think your daughter will know for sure after interview weekend. Good luck with your decision, try to enjoy senior year.