<p>My rankings (descriptions will follow)</p>
<ol>
<li>New College of Florida</li>
<li>UF and UM in a tie</li>
<li>UCF</li>
<li>FSU</li>
<li>USF</li>
<li>FAU</li>
<li>NSU (Nova Southeastern U.)</li>
<li>FGCU</li>
<li>FIU</li>
</ol>
<p>Now I actually was accepted to New College, but turned it down for the UCF Honors College instead. I didn't factor in the existence of honors colleges when making these rankings.</p>
<p>Anyway......</p>
<p>New College- Extremely liberal. Probably more liberal than San Francisco. On one of my visits there, I actually saw a student with a brochure on "how to use Marijuana responsibly." I have no clue where he got it. It's in a beautiful location right on Sarasota Bay. They also have a "silent reputation" in a sense. Though they don't get much word of mouth, in certain circles they are extremely well regarded. They also pay extra special attention to their applicants and students. I even got a handwritten letter with an origami crane in the mail from a member of the admissions committee congratulating me on my acceptance.</p>
<p>UF- Throw all the hype you've heard before out the window about UF. It's an excellent school, but it's not the "Harvard of the South" you keep hearing about. I regularly hear of students complain of a lack of compassion of the school's administration for its own students, shown in the lack of new construction or renovations, low availability of advisers and professors, and large class sizes. In other words, they're very focused on increasing their rankings and public image first, and current students appear to come second.</p>
<p>UM- An excellent school.....if you can afford it. Coral Gables isn't exactly the ideal college town. Because the city of Coral Gables defines any building that houses more than five women as a brothel (no joke) UM doesn't have any sororities, but has a few fraternities. Also, there aren't many off campus hangouts or places to go off campus. Coral Gables is full of luxury car dealerships, luxury homes, a gas station or fast food chain here and there, two malls, and really nothing else. If you go here, go for the education, which is top notch.</p>
<p>UCF- Actually, UCF is statistically ahead of FSU in terms of the quality of its admitted students. The area around UCF is actually in unincorporated Orange County, and is socially separated from the rest of Orlando. The UCF area is just as much of a college town as Gainesville or Tallahassee, being full of small businesses, fast food restaurants, student apartment complexes, and is close by the turnpike. A local toll state road quickly takes you to the theme parks and other parts of Orlando. UCF, while not a flagship like FSU, is up and coming academically, is building a medical school, and has excellent student resources. UCF has a reputation for being the school that "U Can't Finish" but with the scheduling and advising resources I've seen there so far I can't see how that's possible without not caring about your classes. Excellent dorms and new football stadium are pluses. The UCF honors college is also gaining some word of mouth recognition because of its admissions statistical similarity to UF. (UCF Honors College this year on average admitted students with a 4.1 GPA and 1370 SAT)</p>
<p>FSU- Another flagship state school which, I believe, has an under recognized honors medical program. One of my peers was accepted into it, and it sounds great. However, there is essentially a struggle within Tallahassee as to how it's been developed. It's almost like the "college town" aspect of Tallahassee is drowned away by the fact that it's the state capital. There isn't really that much to do off campus or in the immediate area.</p>
<p>USF- I haven't really heard much about USF, so it's hard for me to give an opinion on it. Sorry.</p>
<p>FAU- It's still trying to find its image, but the fact that it hosted one of the Republican Primary debates (with very heavy FAU logo use EVERYWHERE) has helped it get on the right path to transforming its identity from that of a commuter school to a residential school, kind of like what UCF has been able to do with its image in the past decade. Boca Raton is nowhere near a traditional college town, but there is still plenty to do in the area, especially Boomers. Still, the abundance of retired people can't be escaped. If you go to the FAU Honors College, you also get the benefit of the Scripps Research Institute being on campus, which really adds to their science curriculum. Right now, their new building (also on campus) is under construction, but once it's finished, FAU will inherit their old laboratories.</p>
<p>NSU- Now for one that hasn't been discussed much here. NSU is a private university in Davie, right outside of Ft. Lauderdale. While its further behind on its image finding mission than FAU, it has a good academic reputation. Also, their university library is one of the MOST impressive I have ever seen, and I believe it beats many of the universities above it on this list in that respect. Also, the Miami Dolphins training camp is on campus, so you can watch them after class if you want to find out why they keep losing so much. (There is a public viewing area, and it's FREE!!!) NSU actually has a much higher reputation for it's graduate school, and if this was a graduate school list, it would probably be somewhere near the top, if not at it!</p>
<p>FGCU- This is a pretty unselective school, but is, in a sense, exponentially getting harder to get into because of its location, and the fact people are rapidly finding out it's another FIU in terms of selectivity, but has a MUCH BETTER campus and quality of student life. The dorms are excellent and have full kitchens with a fridge, stove and oven. These dorms are STANDARD. Dorms are also literally on the Gulf of Mexico, so you can walk right out of it and onto the sand and swim in the ocean. There is also a pool if you hate salt water. FGCU has a fairly new basketball stadium, so perhaps it will help grow its athletic programs. </p>
<p>FIU- Everyone applying to colleges should know that this is the school to avoid unless you have a family related reason for needing to be in South Florida. The school has a heavily Hispanic student population, which is usually a good thing, but its so heavy that it pretty much makes the campus undiverse. There are two types of diversity:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The type found at UM where there are many students of Hispanic descent, speak Spanish often, but also know their English. Also, there is a healthy dose of African-Americans, Jews, and other minorities. If I was to make a food out of UM's diversity, it would pretty much be like the everything bagel.</p></li>
<li><p>The type found at FIU where the Hispanics outnumber all other races, they barely speak English, and little other signs of other minorities can be found. If I was to make an FIU soup, the Hispanics would be the liquid, the whites would be the sprinkled Parmesan cheese, and the African-Americans would be the light dash of pepper.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I have regularly heard that Spanish is spoken heavily at FIU as well, including in classrooms, and that can detract some students. To be fair though, FIU loses a lot of good students to the University of Miami, which is extremely close by, so what happens then is that all the wealthier students attend Miami or another school, either elsewhere in the state or OOS, and the poorer population (mostly hispanic) is forced to commute from home to attend FIU. FIU is a school that went on the identity search but lost its way in the woods because of terrible directions given by the city of Miami's corrupt government, and won't be coming out of it for a good part of this century.</p>