UA or UF?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Alabama
1

I have hesitated to post this, but I’m just wondering what the thoughts are on going to UA vs. UF?

We are residents of Florida, and our son would be Bright Futures eligible. DS would major in CS or CE (most likely CS). Son has full tuition covered at UA. He is in the honors college, and the deferred pool for CBHP (we still have hopes for that). I’m not sure if he will apply for HC at UF, and even less convinced he would get in.

The “rub” is that we didn’t expect to get in to UF because my son is a homeschooler and UF requires homeschoolers to jump through some extra hoops and they don’t take many homeschoolers. We were delighted he got in, and obviously UF is a great public university. He has been dual enrolling with UF online, so we’re already familiar with their system.

Then there is UA. We visited back in the fall and husband loved it and son said he could see himself there. I liked it, though I get lots of pressure from family members for him to go to VT (where he also got in and where I have visited many times). Of course VT is a wonderful school too (incredibly thankful he got in). Anyway, H, S, and I all loved the atmosphere of UA, the ease with which you can get up and running (DegreeWorks is neat), and the dorms. My son really wants a suite style dorm with his own bedroom, and you don’t see much of that at UF (would have to go off-campus). UA is obviously putting $$ into their engineering quad and CS program. DS enjoyed meeting one of the CS professors. Something about UA just seemed to click.

DS should have about 30 DE credits when he enrolls (not sure if that makes a difference).

Thanks for your thoughts. Our top 3 schools are UA, UF, and VT. VT is a long shot, though, because I don’t think he will get much, if any, scholarship money there. I’m also thinking he might want to stay further south.

PS: We have not visited UF in person but will do so in March.

2

Admittedly, I do not know much about either school. Just from reading your post, it sounds like everyone (and most importantly, your son) is leaning UA. Then I got to the end and saw that you haven’t visited UF. I don’t believe that anyone should make a decision without seeing, feeling, touching and trying. Visits are so important. You just may not be able to answer this question at this moment. Sorry, I know that is not helpful. My two cents with regard to the dorms – remember that the dorm is only for one year. College is for at least 4 years where most students have an off campus apt with their own room for the majority of the time.

3

Very good points @PhilaSkiMom! You’re right about visiting. I’m sort of mad at us that we didn’t do that sooner, but I would have bet $1000 he wouldn’t get in. Our homeschooling community has been talking for years about how tough it is to get in to UF. I (wrongly) assumed he wouldn’t. To the point I didn’t pay the dorm deposit so now we’re way down the list.

:confused:

4

Does your son plan to settle in Florida eventually? All other things being equal, he may be better off from a contacts/job perspective being at UF. Are the costs roughly the same? Frankly, I’m not sure how you make a decision until he’s visited UF.

5

I would wait until he visits.

6

You mean you guys can’t read the tea leaves and tell us what to do? :slight_smile:

DS seems to like the state of Florida but I don’t know if he necessarily wants to stay here.

I just get the feeling the UF campus will be different from UA. And UF will have many more Florida kids, whereas at UA you get more OOS. Not that that’s negative per se . . . but sometimes it’s fun to do something different.

I worry that UF will be a pressure cooker, too. DS is a very good student and holds his own in DE classes, but he hasn’t done a full time load of college classes yet.

7

We are from South Florida Also, and although not homeschoolers, have some similarities to your story. DS was accepted to Alabama and Florida, Bright Futures and NMF Scholly (which made Florida somewhat attractive). Bottom line, DS chose Alabama for the same reasons that you mentioned in the original post. CBHP has been great (good luck by the way) STEM PAth to MBA and all the rest. Lots of DS’s classmates went to Florida, he went to Alabama and the choice was a no brainer for him. We visited both schools and Florida paled in comparison to Alabama for us. Best of luck in your decision. :smiley:

8

Oh wow, @BocaTerp - that’s exactly what I was hoping for - someone who has been a similar situation (though I love everyone’s thoughts). Great to know. Thank you and I’m so glad your son has been happy at UA. You know how it is in Florida, and south Florida especially.

Thanks again!

PS: And wow, a NM scholar - awesome!

9

Yes I do…and visiting both places should give you the comfort level for your DS to make his decision.

10

I would look at the flowcharts for the CS program at each school. Son is CS major at UA and we also toured Va Tech but did not tour UF. We carefully compared required courses as well as how many credits were accepted at each university. Even though they are all ABET certified it was surprising how different the requirements are. My son won’t have to take calculus at UA as he received 5s on calc AB and BC AP exam and calc 3 is not required for CS at UA. Va Tech required the most amount of math. UA is very generous with the number of AP/CLEP credits accepted.
http://cs.ua.edu/files/2011/08/CS-Flowchart-2015.pdf
UF is a very highly regarded university, top twenty public university for engineering. UA is not ranked as high if that matters but I believe there are just as many opportunities at UA for motivated students plus it’s as much about “the fit”. UF’s OOS acceptance rate is 3-4% vs over 50% at UA. It was nice to know he would be one of many students from another part of the country all trying to make new friends.
Honors college was also a big plus at UA with honors housing and priority registration. If he is not in honors at UF how difficult is it to get the courses he needs for his major.

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@Claire3 - that is a very helpful point about the Calc tracking at VT - I hadn’t noticed that. I

DS is in Calc 1 with UF right now, but he’s not acing it like he did Pre-calc.

I did try to compare the course requirements between UA and UF but maybe I need to print it out and literally compare side by side. That’s a good idea.

12

I’d agree with the others who say- visit!

Think about how you felt about UA before you visited and after-it could be that big of a change for or against the other schools. At least this way you’ll be able to compare all the merits/ drawbacks equally.

13

Visit UF and don’t rush your son on a decision!

I really think it becomes clear to most students where they’ll be happiest, all things (or most of them) being equal, especially as senior year winds down.

IF he’s admitted to CBHP, I think that would be a game-changer for me. I continue to be stunned by the stuff those kids accomplish in four years! (Just read about one today who has to choose between MIT, Caltech, and several other schools for grad school!) :slight_smile:

14

If he’s in the reserve pool for CBH, he won’t know if he gets in until well after May 1st. CBH tends to talk to the “pool” at their Bama Bound orientations and then decides.

However, in the meantime, I would have him apply to Emerging Scholars. For those who don’t make it into CBH, then Emerging Scholars becomes a very significant alternative…in some ways, a better alternative.

15

^^ True. Although a girl from my D’s HS was admitted to CBH from the reserve pool in April, my D wasn’t interviewed/admitted until her Bama Bound, which was just after Memorial Day.

16

^^That would give me pause, honestly. What’s the difference in quality between the CBH and the regular honors college at UA? From their webpage, CBH seems particularly awesome. Not knowing you got into that until well after you’ve committed to UA seems a little, uh, hinky? Because then you’re not really, truly comparing what UA is going to offer you to what the other colleges are going to offer you.

17

The Honors College has, as it turns out, played very little role in my son’s education so far at Alabama (Honors, Presidential Scholarship, homeschooled from Florida.) It’s been nice to have great Honors roommates, really nice housing, and priority registration, but my son came in with so many credits that he had no need to take lower division Honors courses. He finished all of his Honors credits reqs last semester (his third semester) and does not anticipate taking another Honors class. He is hoping to be able to use that 4th year of scholarship money toward grad work, though. Alabama’s honors program is not like other honors colleges that require all freshmen to take a series of classes together that first year (every other honors program that my son considered at other schools did have those requirements - of course, they were more exclusive.) The CBH program at Alabama probably does give that more cozy honors college cohort experience.

UF is like one gigantic honors college, with that average freshmen GPA of 4.3 and other high stats. The Honors College there is the cream of the cream of the cream.

Definitely go visit UF to make your own comparisons. My homeschooled son wanted out of Florida, so he gave up admissions at the state schools, along with Bright Futures. Going to Alabama on scholarship was nearly $3k cheaper than going to UF - only another scholarship would have bridged that gap, but UF offers few scholarships. They don’t have to. Alabama’s campus is gorgeous, while UF is typical Florida (though what hills are in Florida are up that way - the drive to Gainesville is quite scenic.) Students have to take a summer semester when it is hot and muggy. Housing is not guaranteed at all.

Homeschooled students are usually very confident about what they want and need, so let your son tell you where he feels the best - he will do great at either school.

I only have one reason to recommend seriously considering UF over Alabama, and that is due to all of the very exciting opportunities for CS and other engineering students in Central Florida and the Space Coast. Your son is already in Florida, has already completed dual enrollment at UF, and is that much closer to getting that first job (don’t worry about grad school now, because unless he wants to go into academia, he should just go to work and it won’t be long before his employer would pay for him to go to grad school.) Going to UF might make it easier for your son to get plugged into internships and special initiatives between the industry here and the university. That said, I know that University of Alabama grads are hired by these companies. These companies are hiring young people from all over (and pushing out their long-time ones) and jobs are getting more plentiful week by week.

Alabama will definitely give your son a wonderful place to call home for four years, and that “college experience”, but you do have things to consider that my non-engineering, non-computer science student did not need to consider - opportunity cost. If my son had wanted to pursue CS, I would have encouraged him to stay in Florida and accelerate getting that first career job rather than be concerned at all about honors colleges or a residential college experience.

18

Same experience here! The UF ticket here in Florida is a big deal and hard to pass up. My child is in the same boat. Accepted to UF- and a bunch of other terrific schools as well! The visit to UA sealed the deal for her- the school just felt right- plus the incredible study abroad opportunities. My advice is to go visit UF and just let your son decide. He will know what’s best for him. Either way, it’s a win, win! GO Gators and ROLL TIDE!!!

19

The Honors College at UA offers great academic and social opportunities. The organizations within the College (CBHP, UFE and others) are very strong, but only because the Honors College is strong!

Floridians here with son in Engineering at UA. UF with merit (which was not awarded until end of March, by the way) was on our student’s decision list. As soon as you can, visit UF and spend some time on campus and in the dorms. It might be worth another trip to UA as well. The facilities,cultures and campus atmospheres are quite different and your student will notice this and this will help him make his decision. UF is 80% Floridians. UA is very proud to have a wide OOS presence. Also look at UF’s online courses. More and more undergraduates at UF are required to take online courses to graduate. That does not happen at UA. At UF, sophomores compete for majors within the Engineering Program. At UA, you declare your major your freshman year and do not compete for a slot. Also, look at campus organizations, churches/synagogues, and the Honors Colleges and compare what his experience would be like at each. That will help your student visualize what his day to day life will be like at each campus. There’s a lot of time spent in day to day life.

UF is ranked higher in engineering. Some use that as their only decision point. We decided the lifestyle and beauty and culture of UA were valuable and not always rank qualified. Intangibles count. Our student has not looked back and has received outstanding opportunities and personal attention from the engineering faculty, the Honors College, and his on-campus religious community.

Good luck to you and your student!

20

^^“UF is 80% Floridians” but Floridians are rarely native Floridians.

We’ve lived in Atlanta for 30 years, but I’m from MA and H is from Wisconsin (nominally, he was born in VA and moved to San Fran as a baby, moved to ATL when he was 14). Our girls are both native Georgians, but neither identify as “southern”, and many parts of Florida are similar.

When we lived in Miami, we were “anglo” (and I like that identifier because it’s not superior to Cuban or any other cultural group).

There are some parts of the US that have very deep roots (like MA, where I can trace my roots on one side back to Holland in the mid 1500’s and then the Mayflower, and 90% of my family has lived and died within 5 miles), and there are some parts where it’s very mobile and culturally mixed.

I think Florida has a lot of cultural mobility within the past generation…