New College of Florida VS GCSU

Parents Forum
1

Hello my younger brother is a senior in high school and he is currently deciding between these two college’s. I currently attend Goucher, but I am abroad in Australia (very racist, but let’s not go there).

He wants to major in Environmental Science. He is gifted, liberal, theatre kid, into env science/comp science/marine biology though.

He visited New College and fell in love with it. They REALLY want him to go there and are willing to match any financial aid package.

It is affordable, but he got into the Honors Program in GCSU (all honors classes except math I think) so it would obviously be much cheaper to go there. I have yet to get a financial aid package from Goucher yet.

I have a lot of friends who go to GCSU and they tell me how racist, conservative, and fratty it can be. I see statuses about how students will say the n word, etc. Milledgeville is a poor area in GA with a lot of rednecks. They have a good education program, but my friend who is a junior there has told me how poor the schools are, title one, etc. Not to say there is anything wrong with going to GCSU, but obviously Sarasota is a lot nicer IMO.

My dad doesn’t want him to go to NC because they have no grades. He is also sick of commuting me to college and doesn’t want to do the same for my brother. However, my grandparents live an hour away but they’re thinking of moving to GA but we still have family in Florida. I grew up in South Florida.

However my brother isn’t as liberal and progressive as I am. As I am a feminist and New College is VERY liberal, it only has 800 kids. If my brother hates it, he doesn’t have much luck. One of my best friends from Goucher (from NYC) transferred from Hampshire because she didn’t like the lack of grades and structure. So there is always looking at transferring if he doesn’t like New College. GCSU has over 6,000 kids so he could find his niche more. New College is known to sending kids to top grad programs though and IMO it has a better name. He does really want to study abroad in London as well.

I really want him to go to New College, but I also worry due to the small size. It does have a high transfer rate.

2

It seems you do a lot of prejudging of people and areas.

3

I’ve visited Milledgeville, Pizzagirl & I have several friends who attend GCSU. Am I saying everyone is a racist conservative hick? No. I am just saying Milledgeville, the town, is known for being very conservative and full of rednecks. I have a lot of liberal friends who attend GCSU. Just in comparison to New College, it is very conservative. Sarasota is a nicer place to live and enjoy 4 years of college IMO, but that doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with GCSU.

It’s just like the city I am in now in Australia. It is known as a very poor, poverty stricken, and drug infested area. Does that make the people horrible? No, but it’s not the nicest place to go to university in comparison to other cities. There are people from Sydney, for instance, who will refuse to even step foot in the city I currently am in. Does that make it atrocious? No, but the racism and bigotry I have experienced does.

Also don’t get me wrong, I will 100% support my brother if he attends GCSU.

4

If finances are not an issue, which place has the better ES program? I live in GA. UGA and Tech admissions have become increasingly competitive because of the HOPE scholarship and many talented students from my area go to GC.

Milledgeville is typical small town GA in many ways but he’s just going to school there for four years, not living there for the rest of his life.

5

I am not sure which college has the better EV program as I know nothing about EV. What I do know is by experience having gone to Knox College before I transferred: is that the college town does matter. I heard gunshots from campus while I was at Knox in Galesburg. I’ve had close friends get sexually assaulted while walking in Galesburg. So I guess it’s easy to say it’s just for four years, but maybe the crime rate and safety records are better there. Also living in the middle of no where literally made me depressed as there wasn’t much to do especially in comparison to Towson, Maryland.

6

It seems as though you have already made up your mind about which college is the better choice for your brother. Good luck to you.

7

Aside from the small, and kinda cute little street of shops right off campus at GCSU, he probably won’t be spending much time in Millegeville itself. And if GCSU is selected as one of the schools to host a presidential debate, they will certainly do a lot of mop and glow cleanup of the nearby areas. http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2015/04/01/presidential-debates-2016-host-sites/

As you know, students aren’t always happy with their choice and transfer. This is your brother’s decision. Let him make it based on what he feels is best for him. If New College will match any scholarship, the cost should be a non-issue. And best to stay focused on the positive aspects of both options, not the negative.

8

My son is at New College. You may PM any specific questions to me, but I can say that the lack of letter grades does not diminish the curricular rigor, and does not appear to hurt the students’ graduate school admissions. Cal Tech doesn’t issue letter grades, either.

9

@woogzmama Cal Tech doesn’t issue letter grades to freshmen but they do for upperclassmen.

10

What is GCSU?

11

Georgia College and State University

And BTW, Brown also doesn’t have grades for freshmen. But New College uses contracts, narrative evaluations research projects and ultimately a senior thesis https://www.ncf.edu/search/academic-overview

12

Thanks for that clarification, whenhen. NCF has a very good academic reputation, regardless. It generally ranks among the top 5 public liberal arts colleges, up there with William & Mary and the service academies. Sarasota is a fun place for students, despite its image as a community for wealthy senior citizens. NCF is tiny, and has a limited budget,so that the most frequent complaints involve housing and meal-plan issues. I know nothing about GCSU, but I doubt that it is academically superior to Sarasota, and it sounds as if its surrounding community is considerably less cosmopolitan.

13

They are very different schools. If New College really, REALLY is going to match the instate tuition (plus whatever state merit scholarship the kid might qualify for) then there is very good reason to consider the offer of New College. But that said, the instate scholarships (Hope and Zell Miller) require a certain GPA to maintain the scholarship, and New College doesnt grade, so how will they know if they are comparing apples to apples? Unless New College guarantees to match the GCSU cost for all 4 years, the family could be in for a rude FA awakening in a year or so, especially whenever they are paying for just one kid in college and the FAFSA EFC doubles.

14

It’s your brother’s choice. Nothing for us to convince you of. I live in Florida and NCF is not nearly the big deal among the high school kids as it is on CC. No one from my daughter’s school went there and no one ever talked about it. I think it is too small and neither of my kids had any interest in it, but it’s really a personal choice. Your brother’s choice.

15

Oh no of course the decision is my brother’s. I just wanted input to show him what others think. I know New College is quite rigorous as I wanted to transfer there. I love the whole written evaluation thing, but it’s not for everyone.

He is much more easy going than I am. However I do worry with 800 people he won’t find his niche. I actually just let him talk to one of my best friends from high school who is a junior at GCSU and she transferred from GA Southern. Also keep this in mind: I will be a senior at Goucher this fall and my brother will be a freshman so the financial aid package WILL change. My little sister is starting kindergarten and my mom is most likely going back to teaching, so our income will change again.

16

Please read the posts. The issue of changes in FA has been brought up. This is your brother and your parent’s decision to determine what is best for him and what they can afford. Good luck to him.

17

I don’t know whether NCF offered the same package this year as it did last year, but they had an automatic $15k merit scholarship for all out-of-state students who applied by the priority deadline. That brought their cost-of-attendance down to the same range as our own state public colleges would have been, exclusive of any need-based aid. My son did not apply to any in-state colleges, so I don’t know whether he would have received a merit package at Rutgers or TCNJ, but NCF costs roughly what they would have without a scholarship.

18

I have read every post Jym and I understand it isn’t my decision to make.

This is what one of my best friends told my brother:

"lol, okay. Just read all of this, I really like GCSU and I think there is honestly a group of people here for anyone. I don’t really feel that GCSU is super religious, I currently do not go to any group or place that is even affiliated with religion. Not because I’m against it, I just don’t. Also, for sororities: yes, girls wear sorority t shirts, but no more than any other college. I feel that the sororities were much more prevalent at GA Southern. Also, there are very little frats here, unless you are in a sorority or fraternity you don’t really hear anything about them. I like GCSU because it is really accepting and nobody cares what anyone else is doing because we aren’t in high school anymore. Also, the class sizes are smaller and allow you to make friends much more easily than a huge campus (like southern). I’m not bashing southern, I think it is a great school for some, it just wasn’t the right school for me. Also, if your gf is going to southern it’s only 2 hours away!

Do you have any ideas on what you would like to major in?"

She does go on to admit the town isn’t the best, but she says he won’t spend as much time there and it’s only four years like Jym has suggested.

19

Most students I know who have gone to GCSU have loved the intimacy. Milledgeville is sad when you get away from campus ( we do volunteer work at a veterans nursing home there every year). It used to be the capital of GA way back when but the government stuff has largely moved elsewhere.
If finances are a driving issue then brother and parents should get a clear picture of what NC is offering, and what will change next year.

20

Early_college…nothing is forever. You transferred schools because your first choice didn’t work out.

I would say…if finances are not an issue…stay out of this decision making process. It is your brother going to college…not you. Sure, offer your opinion of asked. But then step back and let your high school senior sibling make his own choice.

Worse case scenario…he transfers like you did.