Student Life Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z Florida State University
1

<p>I ran out of things to think of on the admissions and academic front. So I thought I could get some comments on somethings we asked ourselves about but didn't have the answers on student life. I've been to the University so we understand where it is and how the campus is situated.</p>

<p>Do the kids get into the Football games for free? Can they go to every home game? How about the parents? Do the students just show-up at game time and show their ID? Are the student seats in the nosebleed area?</p>

<p>Is there regular transportation to the airport, to and from? How far is the airport? What are the major carriers? Is there a bus depot nearby? Does the college have a pretty set close time around the major holidays so if you need to fly them somewhere so you can plan well in advance and get low fare tickets.</p>

<p>What's it like on drop off day, general chaos or is it fairly well orchestrated and easy (yea right) to get the car parked somewhere close and unloaded.</p>

<p>Can the kids get around town easily if they don't have a car? Is there a mall nearby where they can just go and shop?</p>

<p>Does the college have a lot of activities on the weekend such as concerts, movies, coffehouse, Student union.</p>

<p>At UF it's an army of Mopeds and Bikes, how do most of kids get around campus?</p>

<p>Along with the regular meal plan stuff do they have Pizza, Subs and fast food/starbucks outlets right on the campus? Whats the general feeling about the food? Do you find your kids still grabbing food at the pay places in leiu of getting meals at the dining halls? Are the dining halls packed at meal time? can they have food and soda in the room?</p>

<p>A loaded question but do they go through money quickly? ie many distractions and places to just spend money.</p>

<p>Is it a suitcase college? Do they have a large commuter base and do alot of kids leave on the weekend.</p>

<p>It's pretty far north from us in Ft Myers, how cold does it get? Is the winter still shorts and tee shirts or jeans and sweatshirts? I didn't see many palm trees just a lot of conifers. I was surprised at how close it is to the Georgia border.</p>

<p>How is the bookstore especially getting books for the coming term. Can you order them online and then just pick them up? Does the bookstore sell and service PC related equipment like printer cartrifges ect?</p>

<p>I could never study in the dorm, do most of the kids head off to the Library to get work done?</p>

<p>How far is the Walmart?</p>

<p>Ought to get some comments and opinions coming</p>

2

<p>Let's see, in order of your questions...lots of this can be found on the FSU webpages.</p>

<p>Students get free coupons (must show FSU ID) for each home game. The coupons are had at the baseball stadium or the union. Coupons are redeemed for tickets. There is an online system now - first come, first serve. Many kids cooperate for block seating, where they sit together. Students sit in the student section, which are decent seats. Most kids stand and cheer the entire game.</p>

<p>Holidays and breaks are shown well in advance on the university calendar. Flights are not hard to schedule.</p>

<p>Drop-off day is controlled chaos. You can park for a short time near the dorm to unload stuff onto the sidewalks, but then have to move the car so others can have room to unload. It's August, it's warm and humid, so expect to sweat while carrying stuff up to the dorm rooms. Bring cold water to drink and towels. Dress for the weather, pre-hydrate.</p>

<p>We always bring a vacuum, mop and supplies to clean up the room BEFORE we move kids in - but we're picky about things being clean. Buy most of your stuff while at home - all the Targets and Bed-bath stores are well-supplied, but do sell out of some popular items. Come early, leave early. Book your hotel well in advance...they sell out. The hotels in town and away from I-10 are better than the ones by the Interstate. Jim and Milt's on Pensacola serves nice breakfasts...little known fact.</p>

<p>Most kids walk around campus. FSU's campus is more compact than UF's, so it's not necessary to have a bike. Good walking shoes are a must, as are cell phones and umbrellas. Many kids wear sandels - with socks <em>lol</em> ;) when it's cold.</p>

<p>Tons of things to do on campus. Kids make friends fast and enjoy the non-high school environment.</p>

<p>Most kids are residents at FSU, like UF. Few commuters like USF or UCF. Some go home occasionally on weekends, but this depends on the work load.</p>

<p>Tallahassee has a much more continental climate - unlike Ft. Myers. You get a real taste of seasons. Winter is much colder than SFLA and longer. Spring is simply beautiful and breathtaking...FSU has a beautiful campus, see it when the azaleas bloom in Spring.</p>

<p>Our daughters learned quickly to not overspend. Seems like they understand the financial dynamics quickly.</p>

<p>There are two main bookstores - the FSU Bookstore on Woodward and Bill's Bookstore near the Westcott Building. Both cover 99.5% of book and supply needs. Wait and see what your professors require before you order books...thay may/will adjust things at the last minute.</p>

<p>The FSU Computer Store sells computers, programs, supplies and the like. Decent student-discount prices. See: <a href="http://www.computerstore.fsu.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.computerstore.fsu.edu&lt;/a> Ensure you buy a reliable computer (Mac or Windows) with Microsoft Office - Professional. Buy the laptop lock, get a thumbdrive. (Other posts in the FSU thread go into more detail).</p>

<p>Dorm rooms have desks, study rooms and quiet hours. Kids still go to one of the several libraries as well to study.</p>

<p>Mapquest will give you accurate distances to the airport and stores... ;)</p>

3

<p>I can try to answer some of your questions from our experience.</p>

<p>Football ticket information: <a href="https://cfprod.ais.fsu.edu/dsa/TicketBlocks/%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://cfprod.ais.fsu.edu/dsa/TicketBlocks/&lt;/a>
The student gets free football coupons in August they can exchange for tickets to home games. They sit in the student section. My son was able to get tickets to home games through blocks with his dorm group. Parents have to buy tickets. Plan well ahead and book a room early for Parents Weekend if you will be coming.</p>

<p>We have no experience with air transportation in Tallahassee.
There is a Greyhound bus depot on Tennessee next to the campus.
There is also TMT Transport bus service <a href="http://www.tmttransport.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.tmttransport.com&lt;/a> for students to drive them from Tallahassee, Gainesville, Orlando and Southeast Florida and back on weekends and holidays.</p>

<p>Drop off day was very well coordinated. They let you pull up in front of the dorm, drop off your stuff and park your car. It went surprisingly smooth. You might want to bring a dolly if you have one and have one person stay with the stuff while the other(s) take trips up to the room. The Target and Walmart stores near campus were VERY BUSY on move-in day.</p>

<p>Many places are walkable, there are free Seminole Express buses around campus and StarMetro City buses are free with FSUID too. There is also a Night Nole bus to bring the students back late at night. There is Tallahassee Mall and Governor's Square Mall a few miles from the campus.
<a href="http://parking.fsu.edu/ti.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://parking.fsu.edu/ti.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>For planning -- the extended calendar is available online.
<a href="http://registrar.fsu.edu/extended.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://registrar.fsu.edu/extended.htm&lt;/a>
The semester calendar for Fall should be available at this link soon.
<a href="http://registrar.fsu.edu/dir_class/fall/acad_cal.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://registrar.fsu.edu/dir_class/fall/acad_cal.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>The campus has loads of free movies, concerts and activities.
<a href="http://union.fsu.edu/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://union.fsu.edu/&lt;/a>
The Moon had some big name acts this year with free concerts for students.
<a href="http://www.moonevents.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.moonevents.com&lt;/a>
There are lots of student organizations and clubs.
There are cultural events, community service projects and of course a circus.
<a href="http://www.fsu.edu/%7Eartsfest/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.fsu.edu/~artsfest/&lt;/a>
<a href="http://circus.fsu.edu/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://circus.fsu.edu/&lt;/a>
The Leach Recreation Center and Rez provide physical activities and sports.
<a href="http://fsu.campusrec.com/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://fsu.campusrec.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>My son walks but I saw a lot of bikes around campus too.</p>

<p>Besides for the three all-you-care-to-eat dining halls --
There is a diner, coffee and fast food places in the union that take flex bucks. There is a trading post store on campus too. They have a refrigerator in every room. There are kitchens in the dorms. Some dorms do not require a meal plan. Any dining hall gets old after a while so some students prefer garnet bucks. <a href="http://www.seminoledining.com/dining.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.seminoledining.com/dining.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>The FSUID has a smart chip that the student can put money on for laundry and vending machines. My son has his own spending money and seems to be able to budget accordingly. Many activities are free or low cost.</p>

<p>I think most students stay in Tally on most weekends. I do not think FSU is a commuter campus. One parking permit is included in the transportation fee so many students do have a car and may be willing to share a ride.</p>

<p>It is sometimes cold in Tallahassee in the winter. You will need some sweatshirts, long pants and a jacket. Steve and Barry's is a great place to get cheap FSU logo clothes. </p>

<p>Yes you can order books online at either the eFollet University bookstore <a href="http://www.bkstr.com/Home/10001-11003-1?demoKey=d%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.bkstr.com/Home/10001-11003-1?demoKey=d&lt;/a> or Bill's bookstores <a href="http://www.billsbookstore.com/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.billsbookstore.com/&lt;/a> and pick them up. If you can determine the precise ISBN you need, you may be able to order the books online at places like half.com and save even more money. They have a computer store on campus as well. There are also places like Best Buy not far from campus.
You can mail stuff they need to their PO Box or Fedex right to the dorm.</p>

<p>It does seem that many students use the library for studying. Most dorms have study rooms as well.</p>

<p>The FSU website is very informative and you can find just about everything you want to know there. </p>

<p>Hope this information helps.</p>

4

<p>Those are good, helpful questions I never bothered to ask. Lol I would probadly wait to the last minute to ask them, like when I'm already on campus and ask other people who been there forever. &lt;/p>

<p>I'm glad theirs walking, its a good form of exercise everyday. I was reading an article in the newspaper the other day when a father took his high school senior daughter to visit FSU, she loved it but he didn't like it very much because of alot of things. One of those things being parking, Is it true that you can't ever find parking? Because If I attend FSU I have to take that 6 hour drive from here alone and unload my belongs alone unless I make one of my older brothers come with me which I doubt because we have to drive two different cars. Iono yet.</p>

<p>Parent2noles,Did you send your daughters money at one time? I know their older now and they might work. but when they were just starting out did you send them money every once and a while?</p>

<p>How hard is to have a job at going to FSU? And having about taking about 7 classes?</p>

<p>Oh yeah I never thought about the cold. Do they have heaters in the dorms?</p>

<p>So since there are two major universities in tallahasse are the surrounding businesses mostly for colleges students?</p>

5

<p>How cold does it get at FSU? B/c around here in Jersey it's been like -15 degrees and I hate it.</p>

6

<p>I dont know, It's like 70 here in saint petersburg. So maybe its in the 50's or 60's</p>

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<p>We're always available to send money if they need it. Both receive Prepaid Tuition, Bright Futures and university scholarships. Plus student loans to cover any shortfalls.</p>

<p>Generally, they have more than sufficient $$ to cover all reasonable expenses, not to mention our gas cards. Plus, we pay the cell phone expenses.</p>

<p>Parking is do-able, but don't always expect to have your car right next to your dorm.</p>

<p>It's not THAT cold there, but it is colder than central and south Florida. I really enjoyed it. It will on occasion stay in the 30s or 40s for a few days during winter. Generally, it'll warm up to the 50s-70s during the day. Summers are less intense than here, but still warm and humid.</p>

<p>The coldest periods I've ever experienced in Tallahassee were temperatures in the teens for a day or so in the 1980s.</p>

8

<p>Today the lows are in the 40s at night and the highs are in the 70s during the day. The weather is actually beautiful in Tallahassee but it can get cold in the winter if you compare it to Fort Meyers in Southwest Florida. It will feel like a heatwave compared to NJ at 15 degrees. There are heaters and air conditioners in the dorms.</p>

<p>My son took a car up to Tally for the Spring semester and he has had absolutely no problem finding parking spots. I think parking would be more of an issue if you live off-campus and have to park your car during the day. They did open a new parking garage this year to add more spots too.</p>

<p>BBECKER = I think 21 credits is a very heavy course load and you have to have permission to take so many credits in one semester. If you take a normal load of between 12 - 18 credits, you should be able to work a part-time job. Some on-campus jobs, like working at the dorm front desk, you can probably study when not busy.</p>

<p>Tallahassee is also the state capitol so there are government type businesses in the area as well as businesses that cater to students.</p>

9

<p>Taking 7 serious classes at once? Not likely!</p>

<p>Don't you want to study the sciences? Science majors work very hard.</p>

10

<p>Yes, Biological science. I want do to the most I can.</p>

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<p>Which classes are you planning on taking? If one of those is an honors colloquium, that may not be so bad. I took 15 hours my first semester (4 classes + honors colloquium) and had so much free time I didn't know what to do with myself. Actually, I'm taking 17 hours this semester and I still have a lot of free time. Getting a part-time job will suck up your time pretty fast, though, so be careful about that.</p>

12

<p>I'm going to take the required classes for my major, which are like</p>

<p>Bio I&II
Bio lab
calculus </p>

<p>iono what else but a couple more</p>

13

<p>Take it from me - you'll kill yourself grade-wise if you're not careful in the hard sciences.</p>

<p>If you make Honors and have AP Calculus AB in hs, you'll walk into Calc II Honors at FSU which flunks out a lot of kids. Give yourself time to adjust...it's NOT hs - everyone is smart, competitive and ambitious. It's like all the smart kids are suddenly "average" and the really smart kids are flat-out brilliant. In bio, you'll need chemistry 1050 (Honors basic chem for science majors) and 1050L (Honors lab) and it will be tough. Not to mention the basic bio courses. </p>

<p>Add a couple of basic studies courses (honors, too) and you are going to work very hard. Space the killer courses out...give yourself a break.</p>

<p>Get your calculus and physics (more calculus) courses out of the way while you're fresh on the math. Chem and bio are more math and they're not easy.</p>

<p>All the pre-med majors will be right there with you - the kids that get to class 15 min early and work hard. No schlubs in these courses, they rapidly flunk out.</p>

<p>I am not trying to scare you - but emphasize that just being smart is no longer going to be enough to do well. You now need to plan, study, rest, do some laundry, eat, exercise and have fun. It's a blast at FSU (I loved it) but you now must manage everything...especially your time and energy.</p>

14

<p>Parent2noles, I have seen you mention this before, and I am not sure where you are getting it from. Not everyone is smart, competitive, and ambitious at FSU. Many kids do not qualify for 100% Bright Futures, although most do qualify for 75%. The average SAT score at FSU is somewhere around 1200 I believe. In another thread, bbecker mentioned that s/he scored a 1490 on the SAT. I'm willing to bet that is at least two standard deviations above the average, if not close to three. S/he is at the top of his/her class and has a pretty good GPA. Most kids at FSU do not fit this category, although it probably is more likely that they do if they are a science major.</p>

<p>If s/he takes the courses s/he wants to take and it turns out that it is too much, s/he should know that by at least the middle of the semester and could drop a class or two without penalty. Stop trying to scare him/her (which is what you are trying to do). Being smart and working hard is enough to do well. S/he will find his/her own limits, and there is no way that you can know what those are.</p>

<p>I am not trying to discount your experience; I know that you know a good deal about FSU. The rest of your suggestions regarding course selection seemed reasonable. However, I am one of those kids who thinks Calculus II is a breeze, and I get tired of people trying to scare me into not trying to maximize my course load because they think that I might struggle. Bbecker may be that type of person also.</p>

<p>I will probably try to take 20 hours next semester in addition to studying for an actuarial exam, and I intend to use the drop-it-if-it's-too-much strategy. I refuse to listen to the naysayers anymore.</p>

<p>Bbecker, you cannot take Bio I&II at the same time; one is a prerequisite for the other. </p>

<p>This is one of those times when a gender-neutral singular pronoun would really come in handy.</p>

15

<p>"Parent2noles, I have seen you mention this before, and I am not sure where you are getting it from. Not everyone is smart, competitive, and ambitious at FSU. Many kids do not qualify for 100% Bright Futures, although most do qualify for 75%. The average SAT score at FSU is somewhere around 1200 I believe. In another thread, bbecker mentioned that s/he scored a 1490 on the SAT. I'm willing to bet that is at least two standard deviations above the average, if not close to three. S/he is at the top of his/her class and has a pretty good GPA. Most kids at FSU do not fit this category, although it probably is more likely that they do if they are a science major."</p>

<p>First of all, not EVERYONE is smart, competitive, and ambitious at ANY university. ALL universities have kids that fit every category, some more than others. Most students at FSU are competitive, relatively smart, and above average. The ones who aren't, will find themselves in academic probation in no time. I had a few friends who transfered from schools like UM and UF, and failed out of FSU the following year. They came in with the idea that FSU wouldn't be as difficult, they were obviously mistaken. The point is that the student quality at FSU may not equal Harvard's, but most students are definitely smart, competitive, and ambitious.</p>

16

<p>That was a ton of he/she/him/hers...but I agree with FSU MBA.</p>

<p>The driven decide to continue their education from high school to college. The even more driven choose to attend colleges at the high caliber of UF, FSU, UM, and UCF. The SAT scores of an individual prove absolutely nothing about their motivation and ambition...and you will always find students that don't care about their progress at a university.</p>

<p>Parent2noles wasn't trying to scare him/her (haha), I am pretty sure he was just offering advice considering he knows an incredible amount about this university. I have two sisters that attend UF, and I know for a fact they would recommend not overloading yourself your first semester of college. Adapt to the FSU way of life, get to know people, learn to balance academics and being social, and once you discover the difficulty of courses and your own limitations...then make the decision to take more courses.</p>

17

<p>I'm not planning on talking both bio's at once, I just know its a requirement and I need to take it. But i took Bio AP in high school so I dont know how thats going to work, if ill auto. get bio II. I'm not trying to overload myself but I am trying to get in depth with my education. I love school and it hurts that I had to be out of college for a year so now that im going back im plan to take full advantage of what I have infront of me, If i notice that i can't handle it then ill drop some but for now i want the load.</p>

18

<p>I don't really want to comment on the matter further. You have your view and I have mine; I just wanted mine to be voiced.</p>

<p>Bbecker, what did you get on the AP test? Also, what other college credit will you have when you enter FSU? Did you pass any other AP tests? Do any dual enrollment?</p>

<p>And are you male or female? (so I can avoid the s/he/him/her thing in the future)</p>

19

<p>I'm a female.</p>

<p>I took a total of 12 AP classes and got 5 and 4's on all of them.</p>

20

<p>If you read my paragraph carefully you'll see my advice is mostly to give yourself time to adapt. Once done, then find your own limits. Kids will do this anyway. It's a bit challenging to breeze through one-size-fits-all college advice in a paragraph, and that's about all most folks read. I stand by my advice, because I actually have gone through the entire process at FSU and then some.</p>

<p>And yes - in Honors everyone is "smart". Outside Honors, there's more mix, but it is a cut above any typical high school. Note that the course selection I cited specifically was honors.</p>

<p>Now, if you believe you have better advice, by all means chime in and lay it out. There's plenty of room here. But from your perspective of cruising through Calc II Honors @ FSU you may want to throttle back just a bit in case the kid in question happens not to be so gifted.</p>

<p>btw - bb mentioned a 1490 all right but then did not say whether it was 1490/1600 or the new scoring, which would indicate a different position. Since it's actually possible kids might come on here with an anonymous screen name and exaggerate their credentials, it might be best to opt for a more conservative expression. (not you, of course, bb, but for the 50 other kids who'll read this post 2 years down the road.)</p>