DD was accepted to UF for fall and FSU with a full oos waiver. She is our oldest so this was our first round of collegege apps. I understand that UF is the state flagship and the higher ranked of the two but is there that much of a differential between the 2 schools? Everyone we speak to tells her to not even consider FSU. Any thoughts from the resident experts on this would be appreciated.
Accidentally posted thread twice
What is she majoring in and what is the money differential in tuition?
Biology and if she receives no merit from UF the differential will be $20k per year
Even in Florida some love UF and some FSU (and for a reason i can’t understand, some love UCF). It just depends on if you like the ACC or SEC, if you look good in orange or maroonish red.
FL has two top schools of which UF is considered the premier flag ship school but FSU is a GREAT school.
For biology and the money differential I’d head to FSU in a heartbeat. It’s a great choice and she’d get a great education.
I believe that UCF offers lots of scholarship grants.
Although FSU has been improving in the rankings, UF is way ahead and has some big advantages over FSU, which will be hard to overcome any time soon. A big advantage is that UF has a much better engineering school. FSU shares its engineering with FAMU, an historically black college. Because FAMU’s students generally have much lower test scores, they drag down the FAMU and FSU College of Engineering, which is what the college is called. While FSU has tried to separate itself from FAMU, the college administrators and state legislators have been unwilling to stand up against the charges of racism that are hurled at any attempt by FSU to get its own engineering school. Another big advantage for UF is its attraction for pre-med students. Undergrads at UF have access to its highly rated medical college and hospitals. On the other hand, the ranking of FSU’s medical school is below the threshold that US News and World Report will even publish a ranking. Further, FSU has no hospital on the campus where undergrads can volunteer or shadow. It’s been my observation that a medical school often adds prestige to a university, but FSU has a long way to go before its medical school adds to the school’s luster. But long term, the biggest problem that FSU has is its proximity to FAMU, which is a problem UF’s location avoids. Any time FSU goes to the state legislature for an improvement to its campus, FAMU will be right there arguing that any improvement to FSU harms FAMU, and that a failure to match dollar for dollar improvements to FSU with improvements to FAMU is racist. It’s a no win situation for FSU.
Thank you @anihc
For a biology major? FSU is very comparable to UF. Engineering would be a much tough choice, but not biology.
Good Luck!
Given that she wants to study biology, does she also plan to pursue med school or vet school? If so, then she would likely be a much more competitive candidate if UF undergrad. UF just became a top 10 public university. (Disclosure: Husband and I both have doctorates from UF - MD and PhD.) Gainesville is also great college town.
Yes @123Mom123 she plans to pursue med school
- PS - I just saw Gator88NE’s post. I defer to him/her as they sound more up to date on specifics with biology program comparisons.
What about PaCE UF general business vs FSU general business?
UF has a much better reputation academically. But, it could vary by major.
Save your money for Med School
@123Mom123 The big difference between UF and FSU (in Biology) is simply the size of UF’s life sciences programs. Based on the NSF numbers, in 2016, UF spent $791 million on research, $562 million on the life sciences, while FSU spent $268 million on research and 38 million on the life sciences.
Without a doubt, UF does far more research in the life sciences. However, how does that impact the undergraduate program? UF has far more opportunities for undergraduate research. But undergraduate research is also available at FSU, just without the scope and breadth of UF’s opportunities.
All things being equal, UF is better. But is it $20K a year better? As a pre-med, I would choose to save the $20K a year (for medical school) and focus on getting into an undergraduate research program, interning, doing whatever it takes to improve my med school app.
I should say that my daughters best friend is graduating this year from FSU, and plans on applying to med school this summer. She has the required crazy high GPA, does undergraduate research, spent her freshman year on the swim team (too time consuming) and spent last summer interning at the Mayo clinic in Jacksonville. Good Luck R!!! Our family doctor (who retired a few years ago), was an FSU grad, and attended UF for medical school. So I am a bit biased. 
I think an undergraduate BS at FSU would be fine for medical school. Grad school, however, it’s an easy choice, UF all the way.
UF’s College of Business has a far better reputation. When you graduate, it will not matter that you spent the first year or two in PaCE.
Keep in mind that with the PaCE program, you’re limited to the BABA degree (Business Administration General Degree), and that is a bit different from the Business administration BS degree program at UF. It’s also hard to transfer into any other COB program, like finance or accounting.
OF course, PaCE also has some other disadvantages, that are being discuss in the PaCE thread.
@ny1517 This is a pretty easy decision… with the out of state waiver, FSU will save you $22K per year… That is a huge difference specially for Pre Med Graduating from UF or FSU will not make a difference where you end up attending Medical School. Its all about GPA and entrance exam. Are these the only schools you applied to? Do you have other options?
@mrminsky my d applied and got in to-
Ohio state- with merit
Penn State
Binghamton
Clemson- with merit
U of SC- with merit
UMD - waiting to see about merit
Indiana- with merit
She has reduced her list to OSU, UMD, UF & FSU. Being from the northeast we know the least about the Florida schools as many kids from our HS either go to a SUNY or stay up north. We are coming to Florida in March so that will def our things help in her decision process.
Those are four great choices and not one wrong option on the list. Congrats 
I just want to point out that it’s currently 25 F at OSU this morning, with a high of 33 F expected today, while it’s 66 F at UF, with an expected high of 77 F. :-bd
Gator SkyCam: