<p>Originally from Tampa, and the homeplace not that far from the University of Tampa. Eons ago University of Tampa did away with football team in order to concentrate on academics. When I was a h s student it was considered a school that would admit C students. You would have to really haul it down a busy road and beat out all the lights in order to make it to Tampa Airport in 5 minutes, maybe 15 -20 minutes with good traffic and some luck. Unfortunately, the beach traffic is also a pain and I would give getting to a decent beach at least 1 1/2 hours, unless you stop off at the causeway's little beach. A friend's son chose U of Tampa and he was a good B student, not from the south, and an incredible athelete who didn't want to play sports in college. He and his family seem to be happy with the school. Tampa is a wonderful city. The area know as Ybor City (Ibor?) is fun. Great restaurants, great weather. 'Neath the Pines and near the Bay's Deep Blue is a great setting for a college. Maybe I am homesick.</p>
<p>sounds good to me</p>
<p>I live about 30 minutes from Univ of Tampa. Most of the kids from my school that choose UT are athletes; soccer players in particular. They love it and are doing well. A car is an absolute must, as there is hardly any mass transit in the bay area.</p>
<p>what school do you go to</p>
<p>It has been a few days since I've been here - but to answer previous questions:</p>
<p>I really don't know anything about the English/Writing Program, sorry. I was impressed, though, with the effort that the University seems to be putting into attracting quality faculty. I was also impressed by the "customer service" attitude of the staff. </p>
<p>As far as what my son did not like, he always knew he wanted to be in a city, and thought the idea of a Florida city would be great. He later realized that, as a product of the Northeast, he feels more comfortable with Northeastern cities than Southern cities. Honestly, I think once the novelty of being in Florida wore off, it was also just too far from home for him. He's now at AU in DC. Interestingly most of his high school classmates who spent their freshman years at other Florida schools have also transferred back north. </p>
<p>I do think, that for the right student, UTampa has a great deal of opportunity; it just wasn't the best fit for my son, who has not been a "go-getter" in taking advantage -and making - opportunity. The second semester, when he did have a car, was much better than first semester. Many students do have cars on campus, and it is not expensive to do so. Many of the parents we met had driven down to Tampa from the Northeast with their kids, and then flown back home. </p>
<p>I was impressed with the city, and enjoyed visiting. I would definitely recommend a visit when classes are in session for anyone considering applying.</p>
<p>Is there housing at UT? I'd heard it was more of a commuter school.
Please advise.</p>
<p>Yes there is housing at UT, with a new highrise dorm going up (could be finished by now) this year. I wouldn't call it a commuter school. Although it does attract some local students, I've always seen a lot of out of state license tags on campus. Locals are more likely to head for USF, located on the north side of town.</p>
<p>Thanks. Would someone please comment on the airport noise. Is it a distraction?</p>
<p>There would be no airport noise. It's not that close or under the usual flight paths.</p>
<p>D is seriously considering Tampa. We did visit the campus in February and found it very nice. Though the airport is about 15-20 minutes from campus, I didn't really notice excessive noise. The school does get a lot of kids from the northeast, so I wouldn't consider it a commuter school. In fact the day we visited, the had a blackboard outside the admission office and listed all the states where the "visiting" kids came from. On the day of our visit, there were more kids from the NE than Florida. In fact all the kids working in the admission office were from the NE too. In March, Tampa did a 1 week "Accepted Student tour" in the NE. They stopped in the DC area, Philly, Long Island (where we live), NJ, outside Boston and maybe another stop or two. At the Long Island session, I'd say there were at least 60 kids attending. Again these sessions were geared to accepted students. My impression is that Tampa is a solid school for the "average" student. (B student with 950-1150 SAT.) They do award merit scholarships for those with 3.2 GPA. and for a private U, their tuition was fairly reasonable (under $19,000). As my d was awarded a merit scholarship of $8000/ year, the tuition would be around $11,000-- so Tampa is looking good to me. I thought Tampa was a great place. I tend to like urban areas, and the city did seem to offer alot including lots of internship possibilities. They also expect to run out of dorm space, so they will be housing the excess students in the Hyatt Hotel. I am ANXIOUSLY awaiting my d's final decision as to where she's going, but Tampa is still in the running.. She is also considering a few SUNY's- we just came back from visiting 3 campuses this past week-end. I think her biggest hesitation to Tampa is that she may not want to go to school so far away. Though it is a quick plane ride from Tampa to NY, it still is over 1000 miles. All the Suny's are within 250 miles from our home. If it was my choice, I'd be going to Tampa.</p>
<p>Marny, some posts indicate that public transportation from UT is lacking. Do you feel that your D would need a car to get around the area?</p>
<p>Marny, my D goes to school 1200 miles away from home. I was concerned at first, and obviously she only comes home between quarters, but her plane ride is 2 hours long, versus a long 250 mile drive to go get her, which would be 4 hours each way!!!She is thrilled in the urban location she has chosen.</p>
<p>Just got back to these boards. NEmom- there is actually pretty good bus transportation in Tampa including Trolley service that takes you to Ybor city and all around town. U of Tampa is actually a few blocks from downtown Tampa and is an easy walk. The school is adjacent to downtown, and yet you don't feel like you in the heart of an urban area. Ybor city is an area with restaurants, stores, etc and probably a fun place for college kids to go. I often think suburban kids don't comprehend that people do use buses to get around. Maybe cause I grew up in Brooklyn and we all took buses and trains, the thought of taking mass transportation isn't unthinkable to me. Our tour guide also said that alot of kids use cabs and it is pretty inexpensive. Chocoholic- I said the same think to my kid. Driving from Cortland is still going to be over 4 hours. Tampa to NY via plane is probably the same 4 hour trip. I think it is a a school to be considered if your kid is a B student. A number of the schools my d applied to- George Mason-Temple-West Chester had a commuter school reputation. We heard that alot of kids go home on the week-ends. Therefore these schools are now out of the running. We also heard the same thing about some Florida state U's including U of South Florida. A big plus to us about Tampa is that the kids are there on week-ends and it seemed more like a college community with life on campus on Friday and Saturday. I gave my kid a few days to mull everything over and if she wants, we'll start discussing the decision process over the week-end. But as far as I can tell, she has no clear favorite. I believe only SUNY Albany-Cortland- Oneonta and Tampa are still in the running. If she decides she wants a school with a sports related major like sports management, athletic training etc, only Cortland and Tampa fall into that category. This is going to be a long week-end.</p>
<p>Thanks Marny. I thought you described that transportation as being workable. I just was a little bit confused about it. Well, good luck in the decision making. I think that if I liked both schools, I would vote for sun, and head for Tampa!</p>
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I think that if I liked both schools, I would vote for sun, and head for Tampa!
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<p>Currently 88 degrees :)</p>
<p>Sounds good to me too. It's one of those dreary, rainy cold April days in NY. It snowed when we were upstate last week. It also snowed here on Wednesday but it all melted within a few hours. The snow upstate wasn't melting so quickly. I thought my d would definitely go for Tampa after that- but she ain't making her decision yet. I guess I need to take a deep breathe and be patient. Maybe she thinks we're too interested in her going to Tampa and that we might visit here a wee bit too much during the winter months. Trust me, I wouldn't think to visit her in Cortland in February. I spent 4 winters in Oswego, NY. I have had my share of upstate winters.</p>
<p>this school is honestly awful. i seriously could not think of a worse place to go to school - one of my friends goes there and i have visited her a few times (i've also visited a number of other friends' colleges, and i never felt like this anywhere else) and the people are just really stupid. not only do they never do work, but its really difficult to hold a conversation with most of the people there.. that's how dumb they are. everything revolves around tanning, the beach, greek life, etc. i hate to be rude, but i got the impression that most of the people there were very trashy. </p>
<p>for what its worth, i am a very social person, i love to go out, i am in a sorority at my school, and i like the beach too! i just think that at u of tampa it is total, total overkill. i would hate to go there.</p>
<p>I am assuming from your name that you do go to Wustl. I'll agree that many of the kids who are looking at Wash U- or Duke or Emory may not be the kids who are contemplating going to a school like Tampa. There are many more "average" type students who have solid B grades and SAT's in the 1000-1150 range. Those are the kids who look at the 2nd tier state schools and schools like Tampa. The school also gave many scholarships to kids who maintained a B+ average in HS. Therefore it is geared to the average B student. We also spent two days in and around campus as we live in NY and weren't planning to make a second visit. Sorry- but I just didn't get that impression of U Tampa. Did you visit your friend during Spring break?? Maybe the U Tampa kids had all their "trashy" friends come down for the week from schools like Wash U and Cornell (PS older d goes to Cornell) D # 1 and her Cornell friends want "little sis" to go to Tampa so they'll have a place to visit and hang out during winter break. I appreciate the info- though I do not think it very accurate- and by the way--You were rude.</p>
<p>i'm not looking down on u of tampa because it is "average." my own younger brother is looking at colleges right now and he is the exact type of student you mentioned- i think there are plenty of great schools that attract those kinds of kids.. private and state schools.</p>
<p>i did not visit my friend during spring break. i have been down several times for a variety of reasons, both in the winter and in the warmer months, and my impressions never changed. i hate to say it, but i think that my experience staying the dorms there several times may be more accurate/true to the real sense of the school than your two day visit "in and around campus." </p>
<p>i really don't think i was rude. the things i saw at that school did constitute trashy... people wandering around drunk at all hours of the day throwing up, having sex in public places, getting drunk in class, openly talking about cheating. like i said, i have visited a lot of other friends too at a wide range of schools - ranging from harvard to fsu - and i have never seen anything like what i saw at university of tampa. the things you see as a visitor (at tampa, wash u, and everywhere else) are often quite different from how the school actually is. </p>
<p>honestly i really don't see the need for your sarcasm and calling me rude- i was only trying to help.</p>
<p>OK I appreciate the info. I'll take your word that you saw these activities. I've seen too many snobby- elitist type comments on these boards so I may have reacted too harshly. Speaking of harsh- I don't think U Tampa is in in cards anyway. During my very brief conversation with d this pm, she seems to be leaning towards the harsh winters of upstate NY in either Albany or Cortland. At least I don't have to worry about sex in public places, as its usually too cold. Anyway thanks for the info. ,</p>