I was just recently accepted to both UCF and UF. I was accepted into UCF first and I fell in love with the school and the idea of going there. On Friday, I was accepted to UF and my parents are really pushing me to go to UF. I am from LA and the thought of going to Gainesville is not really appealing. If anyone has any advice, I would really appreciate it (:
Listen to your parents on this one and go to UF. Definitely the better school and experience.
Orrrr you can choose where you want to go. Don’t go to UF just because your parents are pushing you to. If you care about which school is the best ranked and has a better reputation more than other factors, then UF would be the choice. However both are great schools. I had the same predicament about which school to go to, but I’m picking UCF Honors because I love the city and campus more. In the end, it’s your choice.
Have you visited either school? Out of the two, I choose UCF because Orlando has way more opportunities than Gainesville, but both are fine schools. UCF may be cheaper for you, however.
You may have already made your decision, but academically, UF is much more prominent than UCF. Who needs Mickey anyway???
Are parents paying the full cost? Typically, UCF gives MUCH better merit aid than UF. If you will be paying back loans to go to UF, think long and hard.
I will agree that UF is more prominent - IF you are staying in the state and not interviewing with a Seminole. Outside of Florida, no one cares. Are you going into a STEM field? UCF has an excellent reputation in science and engineering.
UCF does have a solid engineering department, but UF is much stronger.
Also, outside of the state, UF (and often FSU) are viewed as the “state flagship” while UCF is a “directional”. For example, someone in Michigan may view FSU as being like “MSU” and UCF as being like CMU (Central Michigan University). However, MSU is ranked higher than FSU and UCF is ranked higher than CMU.
With all that being said, $ still matters and plenty of students turn down UF for UCF, based on the merit award.
Good Luck!
While UF is the stronger school academically in many majors, your question seems to be more towards the social side. Of the two, UF is much more ‘conservative’ and more typically ‘southern’.
I wouldn’t say UF it that much more conservative or southern than UCF. The demographics at each school is very similar as most of the students all went to the same high schools. Now, compare UF or UCF to any of the UC’s and then both look fairly conservative… 
I started out as a freshman at UF and ended up transferring to UCF for my sophomore year. I had the same dilemma in high school, and ended up going to UF because the appeal of going to a larger school that everyone said was more prominent. After a year I was tired of living in such a small town, and for me it was significantly further away from home. The culture at UF was not for me - much of the activities on campus revolve around greek life and it does have the atmosphere of a large southern school. I am not a partier, and wanted to be in a town with more to do besides going to bars. I am completely happy with my decision to transfer - UCF is a wonderful school. I loved the feel of the school when I toured, and now as a student and even more happy with the academics and campus life. UF is not across the board the better school for academically-focused students. There are many benefits of going to UCF - I feel that the school is very well connected with large and prominent companies, and UCF does a good job of helping their students find internships and prepare them for great careers. Orlando/Oviedo is a really nice area to live in in my opinion, and I like the campus culture much better at UCF.
I obviously cannot speak for everyone, this is just my experience. I think UF is better for some people and UCF is better for others. I’m not sure if you have made a decision by now, but I hope that other people may run across this and find my experience helpful to them.