<p>Anyone going to UF because you can't afford to go to a top ranking school?</p>
<p>I might (though UF is an excellent school itself). Not finalize yet because still waiting on financid aid from other schools.</p>
<p>That's why most of my friends are going. I on the other hand, qualify for aid.</p>
<p>because it's free!</p>
<p>i am prolly cuz UMichigan costs $36,000 out of state.</p>
<p>yeah... wanted to go to stanford or dart or UVA... but, alas too expensive.</p>
<p>all the big schools i applied to are giving me no or small scholarships (with the exception of vandy - 75% tuition!) With all of the disappointing offers, UF is becoming increasingly appealing (Their NMF scholarship along with Bright Futures and Prepaid is pretty darn attractive!) i'm in the same position as TheKidd - waiting for the need-based offers to come in...</p>
<p>You guys shouldn't sell UF short....it is a very fine school. Do well and it will get you into any graduate or professional school in the country. For in-staters, it is almost a no-brainer.</p>
<p>i was going to go out of state... until i visited UF and compared it to other colleges out of state... GVille is really nice and you can't beat the football games...</p>
<p>like rogracer, i live in florida too...</p>
<p>UF will rank with UVA and U Mich shortly... with people like me (10 aps... 4.0... 1300 sat, etc...) and other people that I know are going to UF will make UF #1... or close too...</p>
<p>UF is also free or close to free with bright futures....</p>
<p>My S is going to UF specifically for the $$$. We are in Texas and even with the NMF money from UT it would still cost him around $10000 a year. UF is basically free. They make it very attractive. He loved Gainesville, it seems like Austin used to be back in my day before it became such a large city.</p>
<p>that is awesome!</p>
<p>the more people that have strong applications the better it is for UF... in 4 years UF should be ranked #5 out of the 50 state universities...</p>
<p>My S is strongly considering UF. I had definitely wanted him to get out of G'ville for college. Rice had been his top choice. However, the strength of UF engineering and the potential for individual attention at UF left us wondering whether Rice is $36K better than UF. In fact, we are so excited about the UF program that he might choose UF even if there was no price difference!</p>
<p>GatorOwl...it might interest you that in the 2006 USNews graduate rankings, UF now ranks 25th in engineering, while Rice places 29th.</p>
<p>It's now down to UF and Vandy for me! Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I don't think that I can make this decision on my own.</p>
<p>Hi slipstream, sounds like you have a decision to make similar to my S. He had narrowed it to UF and Tulane. What helped him was to revisit both schools. We just returned from UF and he has decided to become a Gator. The NMF scholarship is awesome and he feels that he will get a great education in Electrical Engineering at UF. Good luck to you with your decision; those are two great choices to have.</p>
<p>Tabbyzmom....glad your trip to UF went well. Your son is making a great choice.</p>
<p>rogracer: The USNews ranking would be great news if my S were applying to grad school!</p>
<p>Nonetheless, it does illustrate how close the two programs are. Engineering at UF is very, very good. It's one of the areas where the public universities may have an advantage over private universities.</p>
<p>my life is turned upside down. my dream was to go to notre dame. i got denied. i got waitlisted at number two : vandy. so now, i have to accept UF...my entire high school seems to be going there. im never getting out of florida..im spinning out of control of my own future. so much for being able to decide your fate. ah, this sucks.</p>
<p>Thanks rogracer. Appreciated your helpful comments along the way. My S was in at several colleges including Univ of Texas-Austin's Honors Engineering, but was so impressed with UF that he made this choice. UF is beautiful, full of friendly people, has very high standards, and seems to be a wonderful choice for a great college experience.</p>
<p>My son has also been accepted to Tulane and the advice about the need to visit (or revisit) the campus is right on. Of the 10 schools my son applied to U of FL is the only one we did not visit. Two weeks ago we went down to visit and I was absolutely delighted with what I saw. I had been urging him to pick Tulane but I have to say that after visiting Florida I think it is my favorite. I agree completely with tabbyzmom that the people were very friendly, it has high standards and couldn't be a better choice. My son spent a lot of time with a friend who is a freshman in engineering and he loves the school--works very hard. In short, a wonderful school.</p>