<p>Hey all ... My D was accepted to FAU for Fall 2011. We live out of state (NY) but wanted to get her into a FL college as we will be relocating to FL eventually (the in-state tuition will be a plus!). Anyway ... not being locals, it's hard to get a feel for how students perceive this school and want to make sure we're making the right choice.</p>
<p>My D has had a very active high school career - good grades, Senior class VP, varsity cheerleading, homecoming court, etc, etc. She would like a school with Greek life, school spirit, lots of socializing, and a good academic reputation so she can continue her education to the Masters level. </p>
<p>We've gotten mixed reviews from school search discussion boards and the threads on CC are kind of old, so I thought I would try a new thread to solicit more opinions. If you're a current FAU student or parent of an FAU student, please feel free to discuss the pros and cons of your college ... she will be a resident on campus (without anywhere to go on the weekends) and really needs to know if she's going to be bored to tears!</p>
<p>FAU is definitely has some pros and cons but here are some of them:</p>
<p>Cons:
-There is currently no Greek Housing, however the school plans to start building the houses in 2013.
-If your daughter is looking for a school with a big Greek life presence your not going to really find it here since about less than 1% are Greeks. They do have a presence on campus but it’s not huge.
-A lot of the students are commuters.
The food on campus is not bad but it can get monotonous. Luckily, they have a lot of on campus restaurants to eat at like Wendy’s, Starbucks, Quizno’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Papa Johns & some others, however, they are not really included in the meal plan unless you get a meal plan w/ a lot of Flex Bucks to spend there.
Boca Raton isn’t really a college town so your not going to always find student discounts at stores within the town.
-If your daughter wants to join the Homecoming Committee the application deadline has already passed.</p>
<p>Pros
The weather in Boca (and most of Fl) is amazing. Yes, there are some weeks during spring where one day you’ll be wearing your winter coat and then the next you’ll be wearing shorts.
-Although some people say there are not a lot of parties it really depends on who you know. It’s possible to find something going on every weekend with the right friends.
-The school has just received preliminary accreditation for their own medical school which is opening this coming fall (they had previously been working with University of Miami). The medical school is going to allow students to complete their M.D and Ph.D at the same time.
-The school is also building a 30,000 seat football stadium which is expected to be finished this coming fall which has definitely increased school spirit.
-The campus is very beautiful (the front of the campus is lined with huge palm trees), most of the dorms have been renovated within the past few years. Glades Park Towers, for example, was just renovated in 2007 which is an all freshman dorm. They also have activities specifically designed for those that live in that tower.
-FAU also offers the LLC ( aka Living Learning Community). It allows students to take the same core classes and room with other students who share the same major as them. Participating in the LLC would be very useful, for example, if your daughter has a major test coming up, pertaining to her major, she’ll be able to study w/ her roomate & the people on her floor since they all have the same major.
The students are very friendly.
Look up ‘Freakers Ball 2007 @ FAU’, ‘Freakers Ball 2010 @FAU’ & ‘Foam Party @ FAU’.
The Cheesecake Factory, P.F. Changs, and the mall are about 5 minutes away from the school.
The student population is very diverse and it’s actually one of the most diverse school in Fl. </p>
<p>There are so many other things I could say about the school, the lost goes on and on but I do hope this helped a bit. If you do have anymore questions about the school feel free to ask me.</p>
<p>My d looking at fau too. She is a junior in high school and is captain of varsity cheerleaders. She also wants greek life. My son is at ucf Her gpa is 3.7 but act is only 21. She can’t take those tests. I just want to make sure that it is not a commuter school</p>