<p>I know that the rate for New College students for getting into great graduate schools i very high; however, my concern is whether it's necessary for the kind of lifestyle and aspirations I have. Basically, I'm from an extremely low income family and that's why I am getting my a.a. at a community college and transferring to a university in-state to get my bachelors and I am most defiantly planning to go to a good graduate school. I figure that it's more important to get through my bachelors degree without taking out students loans, since I want to get into a great graduate school. I want to be a scientist of some sort, most likely neurobiology but I also want to study anthropology. I'm worried that I actually won't be able to focus independently enough in New College as I would in say UF, USF, or UCF. I'm not sure if I am just getting cold feet or what, but the entire ideal of New College seems to be wasted if I will only be spending my remaining 2 years there anyway? </p>
<p>To simplify my question...is New College a good decision for a science student?</p>
<p>The answer to your question depends a lot on you. New College uses an alternative education model that will not suit everyone. IMO, for undergraduate science and engineering education, you are, in general, better off at a NRU where you’ll get better connections with research opportunities….especially for something like neuroscience. I’m curious…do you have other choices at this point?</p>
<p>New College is a phenominal school for a liberal arts education. That said, if you want to major in the sciences and engineering, go to a university known for those programs. UF has an exceptional engineering school and you have a research hospital on campus. UCF is another alternative.</p>
<p>My other choices pretty much are UF, UCF and USF …those are the best in-state universities I know of and I don’t want to attend a private expensive college for my undergraduate. </p>
<p>It sounds quite reasonable to say that New College is better suited to liberal arts education as orangemom12 said. The only thing deterring me from UF is the location, however the education quality is much more important.</p>
<p>I’m not familiar with NRU?</p>
<p>I’m a total math and science person, and as intriguing and creative as New College seems, I get a feeling I would struggle there.</p>
<p>My question now would be: What is the best public institution for science in Florida?</p>
<p>UF would be your best bet for what you are interested in. It has great research opportunities and Shands. UF offers a whole array of majors in case you change your mind on what you want to major in. Why would the location deter you?
UCF is good for computer science. (and I’m sure other things–I’m biased.)
New College is very different in its educational approach and is very much geared towards the self-starter and independent thinker. It’s not for everyone by any means.</p>
<p>I don’t know Gainesville too well but there’s a lot of areas in North Florida I don’t like, I’m sure it would be different in a college town though. I will most likely shoot for UF though, they seem to have the best variety of science courses in general. NCF is utterly amazing and charming though, I took a campus tour a few months ago and there’s some extremely bright people…but it defiantly isn’t really where I fit. Thanks for all the responses and input!</p>
<p>You should take a look at FLorida State. My son is also interested in the sciences and intends to go to grad school. We toured New College, UF, UCF and FSU and we both agreed on Florida State in the end. ( though New College was very appealing!) He really liked FSU’s science programs and we both liked the fact that the surrounding area has a reason for existence other than just being a college town. Plus, though not really important, the campus is very pretty!</p>
<p>I haven’t given much thought to Florida State, but I heard they don’t have as much funding there? I plan to take a road trip in a month to tour the UCF, UF, and FSU. One of the important things I worry about is also the surrounding city of the college I attend, I like more of an urban feel. If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly was it that set Florida State apart for your son?</p>
<p>As far as funding, I believe UF has the highest endowment, FSU comes in second. (I think USF is next with UCF below that, and then New College, if memory serves correct). </p>
<p>As far as urban, I think you will find UCF and USF to be the most urban. New College is in Sarasota, which is not vey big but it is very close to Tampa/St.Pete. UF to us felt like it was in the middle of a massive suburban sprawl. Tallahassee felt like the only location that, while definitely a college town, also had another reason for being. FSU is directly downtown, right behind the Capitol building in fact, and there is a lot going on around it, especially when the legislature is in session. </p>
<p>As far as academics, my son is interested in physics, and he liked the fact that the National Mag Lab is at FSU. He is pretty advanced in math and wants to continue in it and was afraid that he would not have enough advanced math classes at New College, due to it being undergrad only. He is also interested in research and decided that a larger university would better suit his needs. UF is a good school, but it just felt too large and too spread out for him. Neither of us liked dealing with the UF admin people over the phone either. Maybe we just called on bad days, but we never felt the “love” from UF. On the other hand, the FSU personnel were always friendly and helpful. Maybe it meant nothing, but we figured that he would be dealing with administration for four years and friendly = better. </p>
<p>From a purely aesthetic point of view, Florida State had a more traditional college-y feel to us than the others. The campus has the red brick buildings, there were lots of trees. It has some history behind it as Florida’s oldest university. My son felt like it was a place he wouldn’t mind living in for four years.</p>
<p>@physicsfreak Thanks so much. That was really helpful! I won’t be applying to colleges until next fall but its nice to have a basic ideal about what I want. I wish your son well on his pursuit of education!</p>
<p>Don’t underestimate LACs for grad school in Science. [nsf.gov</a> - NCSES Baccalaureate Origins of S&E Doctorate Recipients - US National Science Foundation (NSF)](<a href=“http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08311/]nsf.gov”>http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08311/) The Oberlin 50 LACs produced per capita more science phd’s that public NRU and is even with private ones. Check out the specific departments at New College and ask where their grads are going.</p>