UF Honors versus FSU Presidential

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Hey everyone. I’m trying to decide between UF Honors and FSU Honors with a Presidential scholarship. I’m planning to major in biology, possibly with a minor in chemistry. I’m also considering double majoring in these subjects.

With scholarships and financial aid included, UF comes out to approximately $13,500 per year. FSU would cost around $7,000.

I know that UF is said to have stronger biological sciences all around, however I am not sure how much of this is simply talk. UF also has Shands and the VA hospital right off campus. However, I really don’t like the campus, food, or Honors dorm (Hume) location on the school. The facilities are also very old and very run down. I know that aesthetics are not important, however the buildings are so old and musty that I’m worried about my allergies. UF is also acceping an additional 3,500 freshman to its online academy even though the school is already overcrowded.

FSU is known as more of a liberal arts school than a STEM school. I’m worried that I will not get the level of education that I would at a more highly ranked school. I am also concerned that FSU will not have the level of research that I would like to perform, which is a complaint that I have heard from current FSU students. However, I do have the Presidential Scholarship there which cuts costs down significantly, offers guaranteed research starting my freshman year, and a $12,000 stipend for research and study abroad. The cohort of Presidential Scholars also works together on a community service project; I think this smaller group could help make the massive campus feel less threatening. Honestly my worst fear is that I will ot be able to find a friend group at FSU. I don’t fit the nerd stereotype, but I’m fairly quiet and I’m certainly not a partier. This is not a all meant to sound condescending, bu I also want to make sure that I am in an environment that will challenge me. I want to be able to have deep, intellectual conversations with other students.

Not sure if this is useful, but here’s my stats:
GPA: 4.5
ACT: 35 Composite (non-super-scored)
1,000 hours of community service
Junior Class President, Senior Student Government Treasurer, President of Habitat for Humanity

I want to get a quality education so that I can get into med school, however I would also like to have enough free time to pursue communit service in the future. I am not sure whether I should go to FSU, rank very highly (hopefully, based on stats) or go to UF and get a better education and rank less highly.

I am also not sure that these are the “best fit” schools that I was accepted to. Here are the other schools and their approximate cost (per year):

UGA - $5,000
Georgia Institute of Technology - $10,000
University of Alabama - Free tuition
University of North Carolina (my dream school) - $35,000

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Of the schools above, I would eliminate UNC as being to costly and GT as being to difficult to maintain a high GPA for med school. I am not sure that Alabama has a strong pre-med program as UAB has the medical school in Alabama. Georgia also suffers from not having an on campus med school although they do have a partnership with GRU which might alleviate that concern.

That leaves UF and FSU. FSU has an advantage in that it will be easier to maintain a high GPA, largely because the student body is weaker than at UF. However, along those lines of thinking, you are better off going to USF or FAU which have similar honors programs and specialized research programs as FSU is offering you, but an even weaker student body.

Frankly, I would pick UF because the student body will be a notch above FSU’s. However, pick the one your prefer the best. Your success, or lack of, will be in your hands, not the school you go to.

3

UGA does a decent job of generating applicants for U.S. Med schools.

Number of applicants to U.S. Med schools(2014)

  1. UCLA = 919
  2. Michigan = 825
  3. UC-Berkeley =769
    4. UF =760
  4. UT-Austin = 733
    …
    UGA = 481
    UNC-CH = 394
    USF = 316
    UCF=286
    FSU = 265
    GT= 191
    UA = 150
    FAU=107

This is in line with what Zinhead described above.

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@Gator88NE Where are these numbers from? Just wondering where Duke is on this chart. A friend of my D’s had a chance to go to UF free plus another $8000 and she chose Duke instead for full pay and she wants to be a doctor.

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@Saismom It’s from the AAMC website.

Table 2: Undergraduate Institutions Supplying Applicants to U.S. Medical Schools by Applicant Race and Ethnicity, 2014

https://www.aamc.org/data/facts/applicantmatriculant/86042/table2.html

Duke had 387 Applicants.

You should also keep in mind the number of graduates each school generates For example, in 2014, UF awarded 8,515 Bachelor degrees, while Duke awarded 1,886. You can just as easily be a competitive applicant to med school if you earned your BS/BA at UF (or UCLA, UGA, UNC-CH) as Duke, but you would choose Duke for the (hopefully) better undergraduate experience (or a dozen other reasons). However, it would be hard for me to justify full pay vs. free :slight_smile:

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BTW: Visited UF in physics and Aero/mech engineering. Super trip! GT still number 1 but D is wavering!

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@Saismom It’s a tough choice! Better academics at GT, but UF is also pretty strong in Aero/mech, and it’s free. :slight_smile: We went through this last year with my daughter, May 1’st can’t come fast enough…but you can’t go wrong with either choice.

If she does choose UF, make sure she signs up for SWE’s ESwamp.Day (the Sunday before classes start).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH__tnEVTfw

The one area UF is clearly ahead of GT…it’s in the area of Social Life (and “Quality of Life”…).

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@Gator88NE she did it! We even submitted a deposit to GT but in the end, even with a nice in state tuition scholarship to GT, the money was just keeping us from making that commitment especially since a fifth year at GT was pretty much a given and she only had the GT scholarship for 8 semesters. The astate of Georgia just raide thier tuition for GT and UGA by another 9%- two years in a row! Ouch!. She chose UF and Honors and thinks she will do aero/mech or possibly aero/physics. She found a great mentor- a new aero/mech grad who was treasurer for SWE so SWE is a definite must. Any other pearls of wisdom you can pass our way would be much appreciated. Now to figure out housing, preview dates and the great debate of Calc 2 or Calc 3!

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I know I’m a little late to the game on this one, but for all future classes of students out there reading this post, I just want to set the record straight.

I’m a member of the first class of Presidential Scholars at FSU. It’s truly the greatest decision I’ve ever made with my life. FSU is a top-tier research university that boasts countless elite researchers, Nobel Prize winners, and Rhodes Scholars (since 2006, we’ve produced three Rhodes scholars winners and three finalists–were more than any other Florida school, including UF). As a Presidential Scholar, you are immediately accepted into the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) and are introduced to the world of research in the STEM fields, social sciences, liberal arts, you name it. My first year as an undergrad, I had a neurophysiological research position (appropriately, as I study neuroscience) and was working hands-on with research subjects.

A common misconception is that FSU is lax on the academic rigor; I can assure you this is untrue. We absolutely love our STEM departments, but we also emphasize the importance of a liberal arts education in order to produce truly well-rounded individuals who are knowledgable in more than one field. We have excellent rates of acceptance into medical schools, and any of the talk you hear about FSU being a less-respected school is utter rubbish. It’s true that you will find slackers and partiers here, but you will also find incredibly studious individuals doing such remarkable things that they will make you check your ego and want to step your game up.

I could go on forever about the number of resources and opportunities that FSU provides, but instead I’m going to leave you all with a parting thought: the only people who don’t feel satisfied by their education at FSU are only those who do not try hard enough.

10

If you are certain that you are going to grad school, you should focus on keeping undergrads costs low. Medical school admissions are very focused on GPA and test scores. Don’t assume that it will be easier to maintain a high GPA at a slightly less-selective school. The difficulty of a course has more to do with the individual professor than the actual university.

Don’t spend a fortune chasing prestige, or go somewhere where you’re not happy for the same reason. Go where you feel the most comfortable. Simply finishing your undergrad will be challenging wherever your go.

11

"However, I do have the Presidential Scholarship there which cuts costs down significantly, offers guaranteed research starting my freshman year, and a $12,000 stipend for research and study abroad. "

This is a big deal.