<p>It is very arrogant for someone to think that only elite schools are worth attending. If that were true, where are the other smart kids, who were rejected from elites (because elites can’t accept every genius), supposed to go to college? And, where are those who are smart, but don’t have elite stats, supposed to go to college. Where are those who don’t have the money for top schools, but can’t qualify for FA, supposed to go to school?</p>
<p>I’m sure that interferingguy has been helped many times in his life by doctors, nurses, teachers, etc, who didn’t go to HYP types of schools. One day, he’ll realize that. Maybe it will be when he’s stricken with some horrid disease, and the specialist that saves him will be from a Florida public med school.</p>
<p>^ I did not have any problems with U of F before I came to CC and observed the behavior of the Florida fanatics. Their assertions of elite-ness are unfounded.</p>
<p>If they want to be elitist, other CC posters will show them more elitism than they can handle.</p>
<p>My apologies to FSU and the other Florida state universities upon which the Florida fanatics look down, at the same time that they complain that private school kids look down upon them.</p>
<p>Oh god it’s so obvious that article was written by a Tech alum :):
</p>
<p>Athletes pull in so much money, but they’re so dumb academically. My office is next to a classroom that teaches athletes math, and they’re teaching stuff I learned in middle school (e.g. congruency) to these athletes. Just the other day I heard one of them exclaim in the hallway “My GPA is a 2.7! I’m almost good enough to be a real Tech student”</p>
<p>Probably true, especially given that the AJC is an Atlanta-based newspaper. And you should know, since you are “gthopeful”! :)</p>
<p>That said, Georgia Tech does have higher (average) football SAT scores than the likes of Michigan, Virginia and California. Not to mention, they had a much more successful football season than these “public ivies.”</p>
<p>I can say this without bias, since I have no affiliation whatsoever with Georgia Tech. Nor with Michigan, UVa or Cal, for that matter.</p>
<p>Rogracer, I’m not jabbing at UF as much as allowing a poster with a distinct point of view to post free of “■■■■■” labels. He has an opinion which he articulates reasonably well and makes what I think are fair criticisms.</p>
<p>I posted my own analysis based on the facts of real, current med school admissions at a state med school and I suggest those numbers speak for themselves.</p>
<p>“As a high school senior in Florida, the general consensus, fair or unfair as it may be, is that those who can’t get into UF relegate to FSU.”</p>
<p>That isn’t true for a lot of people. I remember meeting a guy at USF that had nearly a perfect GPA, but relatively weak SAT scores so he was rejected from UF. I asked him why he didn’t just go to FSU and he said he’d never even consider going to FSU… Remember, there is a big rivalry between UF and FSU; if someone gets rejected from their choice of the two there is a good chance they aren’t going to attend the other.</p>
<p>Someone mentioned that she might not be able to ‘compete’ with other students at UF because of her ACT. That is totally untrue. I’ve seen people with 7 points jumps or even higher on the ACT, so I don’t find it a test worth measuring an individual’s own college success or intelligence. Maybe it was her first and only time taking the ACT, or maybe she didn’t study one bit, in contrast to those that studies for years and takes it numerous times. I think all the main universities in Florida are pretty good in terms of academics, but UF does top them. UCF is a new and establishing university, so the progress that they made is already impressive. FSU and USF I’m not too sure about. </p>
<p>Queenb, if UF accepts you then go ahead and go there, but if they don’t, why don’t you start considering other factors from the other three schools? Such as, the atmosphere? Your best bet in my opinion, would be to visit all three schools and get a better look at them. The best school out there may not be the school for you. Whatever decision you make, I wish you the best of luck!</p>
<p>Btw, it’s funny how some people think everyone wants to attend UF, since it’s such a good school. You don’t only consider the academics when selecting a school- there are other factors that comes in play, and it would be IGNORANT to think that there isn’t. I’ve been in the UCF forum for quite a bit now, and learned that there are actually students who turned down UF to attend UCF.</p>
<p>What? UCF is 45 years old and has over 40,000 students. It’s hardly new and establishing.</p>
<p>I was the one who expressed concern that the OP may have trouble competing for the top grades at UF because of her ACT 26. An ACT 26 is in the 84th percentile. </p>
<p>I’m basing my concern on what I’ve observed with other students who have tried pre-med programs at schools with kids with higher stats. (It’s just my opinion; it’s not set in stone). My son is pre-med with a double major of Chem engineering and Biology. It’s no secret that the kids who have a mid 20s ACT (or SAT equivalent) aren’t at the top of their classes. Therefore, the OP would likely have a stronger GPA at UCF or USF. Her college GPA will be important to med schools. </p>
<p>While it’s true that she may have only tested one time with no prep or had a “bad test day,” typically it is harder for a student in a pre-med program to “stand out” and be a top student at a state flagship when their high school stats are an ACT 26 and GPA 3.5. </p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong. Those are fine stats, but look at her ACT when compared to middle 50 freshmen admits to UF</p>
<p>ACT™ Composite Scores 25 - 30 She’s at the bottom of the mid 50 admits. </p>
<hr>
<p>Now look at UCF’s mid 50 admits…</p>
<p>ACT™ Composite Scores 23 - 27 She would be at the top of the mid 50 admits</p>
<hr>
<p>Also look at USF’s mid 50 admits…</p>
<p>ACT™ Composite Scores 23 - 28 Again, she’d be at the top of the mid 50 admits</p>
<hr>
<p>It’s not rocket science to guess that she’d likely have a stronger GPA at UCF or USF than at UF. At UF, she’d be competing with many kids who have ACTs in the 31-36 range in her math and science classes.</p>
<p>thank you guys so much for your feedback. Through further research of my own I have narrowed my list down to fsu and ucf. fsu may be way out of reach in many ways and usf is not very safe and would be way too much of a distraction for me. If you have any further information about the biology program at fsu or ucf I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.</p>
<p>Thanks for suggesting my school is unsafe. I was just there a few weeks ago and it seemed pretty safe to me. I’ll admit it is on the edge of a bad neighborhood, but I think it gets worse a little further west… Columbia and Yale are in bad areas too but most people don’t complain too much about attending either of those.</p>
<p>I did not mean to offend you by that statement. Every time I bring up that school to someone they always remind me of that dangerous that entire city is so I just took it as the truth. My apologies.</p>
<p>Queen, I don’t think you meant to offend anyone. You were just repeating what you’ve heard from others. </p>
<p>This kind of stuff happens all the time. When a top school has a flaw (such as being in or near a bad area or not having much nightlife around), everyone ignores it. But, when a mid-tier, etc has the same “flaw” it gets mentioned over and over again.</p>
<p>Seriously, we could have a thread on CC where people list the flaws at the Top 50 schools that are routinely ignored, but repeatedly mentioned when they occur at lower ranked schools. lol</p>
<p>Can’t go wrong with any of them in my honest opinion. The Big-3 have strong endowments, great athletics, alumni prestige, top-tier faculty, and established academic programs.</p>
<p>UCF has nice dorms & USF has a good football team - but that is about it…</p>
<p>The area around USF is not very safe. You don’t have to be in Tampa law enforcement to know that. There are a lot of cheap motels in the USF/Busch Gardens area that rent by the week attracting a lot of displaced people.</p>
<p>Please put your bias back from where it came from (that would be Tallahassee). Your strategy here is to NOT take a jab at UF, rather allow someone else to do it then defend them, thus you don’t look like the cheap one. Someone has to call you out on this and I am doing it. </p>
<p>Interesting guy snipes this:</p>
<p>"In the Land of Oz, one of the munchkins is the tallest. "</p>
<p>You retort about him:</p>
<p>“He has an opinion which he articulates reasonably well and makes what I think are fair criticisms”</p>
<p>His criticisms are that the school has board “Zelots”, therefore, UF must not be an elite school. If you think that is fair, sobeit.</p>
<p>As for interesting guy, he has proven a long time ago once he is locked in on an opinion, quantitative data are to be damned, he will harp on UF due to a problem with the school faithful being vocal. </p>
<p>Example-It doesn’t matter if the average SAT score is a 1300, he feels that a low football SAT completely neutralizes the overall student body quality. Take one perceived weakness of a school and present it as representative of the school as a whole, admittedly because he is offended at the board members that espouse their school. It doesn’t matter that the low athlete SAT is already averaged into the overall average. If he wants to be consistent, I want to see him make the same argument about admitting minorities with low SAT scores cheapening the school, but somehow, I feel consistency isn’t part of his MO, so I won’t look for that argument from him anytime soon. Seems ■■■■■-ish to me!</p>
You were just repeating what you’ve heard from others. </p>