Infamous Decisions: UF vs FSU vs UCF?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm a senior in high school currently looking at colleges (I know it may seem a bit late, but I'm taking a year after graduation to stay at a community college before I go off into to "real world" - and that decision is final, so I have a little time on my hands to decide). As the title says, I'm currently in between UF, FSU, and UCF. I went ahead and made things easier for you and just took USF off the list, but if you want to say something about it, go ahead.</p>

<p>Right now, I'm looking at double major or minoring with Sociology and some English major (Creative Writing?) with a minor in Theater. (explanation: I'd like to be a playwright and a civil rights activist, or something along those lines.)</p>

<p>Of course, I already know the automatic bias toward UF and FSU. Trust me, I've felt it myself. My dad is a hardcore Seminoles fan, so there's bias there, but there wouldn't be any hard feelings if I chose a different school. And then to me, UF just looks very clean and professional (judging by their website). And originally I was looking at vet school, so obviously UF was high on my list at that time. Of course, I've changed my mind, so the factors are different now. The reason that UCF is on my list now, is because a good friend of mine recently applied to UCF and we were talking about college plans and the possibility of rooming together if we both went to UCF. That made me look into UCF a bit more, and there's no saying that it's not a good school. But is it right for me?</p>

<p>Basically, I want to hear your thoughts, preferably backed up with some hard facts, on my three picks and how they would relate to my current major choices. And of course, you can throw in a little bias here and there. I totally understand. But if it's all your bias, that won't help me any. I want facts and opinions in order to help me make the best choice. </p>

<p>(ps: I have read other threads here discussing similar choices, but none of them applied to my majors and plus, they were all super old mostly.)</p>

<p>Thank you for reading and replying if you do! It means a lot. Hard decisions, hard decisions. (:</p>

2

<p>UF is more prestigious and should offer more opportunities.
UCF is overcrowded and lacks the type of college experience that UF can provide.</p>

3

<p>In what way would UCF not give me a “college experience”?
I should probably mention that I don’t see myself being very involved in the “college party scene”, so the whole night life or party experience in the college options aren’t really too important to me.</p>

4

<p>UCF is more of a commuter school than UF.
UF has much more school spirit.
UF will offer more research opportunities (even in Sociology).</p>

5

<p>Do you know anything particularly about the English and Theater programs in either schools?</p>

6

<p>Do not attend a school just to be a roommate with a friend. I would avoid rooming with someone you know as this arrangement tends not to work out. The main issues are to see where you fit the best and which school has the academic program that is best for you.</p>

7

<p>Yes, and that’s exactly why I’m trying to look more into the school. If UFC turns out to be great for me particularly, then things work out. If not, I wouldn’t choose it just to be with my friend. That would be silly. Thank you for your words though.</p>

8

<p>You need to visit the schools. Actually speak with the faculty. </p>

<p>Dig deeper than a website.</p>

9

<p>I concur with parent2noles. A website can never take the place of visiting a campus or sitting in on a class. As Shawn T of Insanity says,“dig deeper”.and good luck to you.</p>

10

<p>I can’t speak for the specific programs that you’re looking at, but I think that UF probably has the highest national respect out of any of those universities, if that means anything to you</p>

11

<p>FSU is supposed to be best for your majors (the arts) but UF is better all around. UCF lacks out of state recognition.</p>

12

<p>Don’t go to UCF unless you have to. </p>

<p>UF is the best of the bunch, followed by FSU. UCF isn’t in the same conversation as those two.</p>

13

<p>Well, if you’re looking for the top nationally ranked university, UF would be the best. They are ranked around 50 in the entire nation. Neither of the other two are in the top 100. However, you say you are attending a community college for a year. Will you have completed your AA? If not, UF won’t accept you. I’m pretty sure they don’t accept transfer students without their AA. UCF and FSU may be the same. Surely both of those schools will still take preferences on students who have their AA. Unlike what one poster said, UCF is still a good school, and a degree from there isn’t going to stop you from getting a job. Obviously FSU is the same. You can’t go wrong with any of them so you’ll have to visit each(or form opinions from what you hear from people who go there) to see which has a better environment. Based on your major, FSU sounds like a good candidate for you, but as I’m neither of those majors, I can’t be positive. Good luck and know none of those 3 are a “bad” choice.</p>

14

<p>Yes, I will have completed my AA. I’m in Dual Enrollment at the moment and would have almost completed the degree, but I started a little late so I just have a few classes more.
What I’ve been thinking is that, in what I want to do, I don’t think that a degree from a “top college” is going to look any better than a degree from a “good college”. Sure, it might help a little, but overall, I won’t be going into something that people will really weigh what college I went to as a major factor. </p>

<p>Thank you everybody for the opinions and facts and such. It’s really helping me think about the situation from other perspectives and what will be the best for me.</p>

15

<p>I used to visit the UF campus all the time as a kid…and it was AMAZING. If you want a fun college experience and some notable academic reputation…UF is your place!</p>