My dd got into both UF and UCF(Honors) for Engineering and is considering UF based on higher ranking.
She wants to pursue Mechanical Engineering and possibly Biomedical in the future.
Any advise would be appreciated 
My bad - wasn’t duplicate - this student is different.
Same thing goes - they have to be happy. Yes, UF is “ranked” higher and for many that’s important - but if living in Gainesville (with nothing around) doesn’t work, then it doesn’t work for the student. UCF is close to Orlando (technically in) but it’s huge - and it won’t have quite the school spirit, etc. of UF.
Both will give him a fine education.
Apologies on mixing up the kids.
PS - how much of this is - or isn’t - I have two kids going - and I’d like them to be together??
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Yes to UF all the way personally. It’s not only ranked much higher I think the overall vibe is much better. Totally disagree about the “nothing around”. Gainesville exists for it’s students. UCF started as a commuter school and is still very much one.
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@tsbna44 as a parent it would be great logistically and financially if they both went to the same school, but am open to them going separate ways.
Its hard having twins, but ultimately that will be their decision.
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I go for work. Not much there. Is a 4 rivers bbq tho. I’ve walked the campus. I’m sure it’ll be nice when done. Lots of construction…and top 5 banners !!
I don’t think UCF is a commuter campus. It has 50,000 students, many that live on campus.
I don’t find Gainesville exciting but if you have 30,000 students at least some of them are finding things to do. It’s not designed for !tsbna44 to find things to do while he’s there on business. I agree it is boring to ME, but my nephew liked it when he was a student.
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Yes, any major flagship is going to have “stuff” - and obviously it’s a sports mecca. I was pointing out outside things - Orlando you have a city, kids might even go to the parks (Disney, Universal).
I’m simply trying to say - they are two different campuses, two environments, and I don’t think one being ranked higher by a magazine should be the sole reason to go.
I agree UCF is not a commuter school - and it’s drawing more and more from all over…solid merit likely the reason.
My D is a Freshman Electrical Engineering major honors-at UCF this year and has no regrets. She prioritizes academics and is involved in 3 clubs, became an undergraduate TA second semester. The Honors Congress puts on a lot of activities. Knightro the Mascot seems to appear around campus and not just at sporting events and there seemed to be a lot of school spirit when we were on campus parents” weekend. My D keeps busy and constantly finding opportunities that support her future career goals like a mentoring program. As OOS the airport in Orlando was convenient compared to her other options. It was always her top choice since attending online summer STEM talks at UCf for hs students the summer before senior year.
@JimDadinmia and @jeneric have been great resources for information on UCF.
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I got to this thread by my friend Lotus1 tagging me, so I’m not sure what the question is, or who’s asking, LOL.
However, if I can be of any help, please message me since I won’t be visiting this thread often.
I went to UF, and my youngest daughter is currently a sophomore at UCF in Health Sciences. My next door neighbor’s son just graduated in December from UCF Engineering and is now in graduate school at Arizona State. They both LOVE UCF.
There are a couple of misstatements about UCF above. First of all, UCF does not have 50,000 students – they have a little more than 76,000, and they are from all over the world! I believe it is the largest public university in the US.
Size can be good and bad, but I am very impressed by the number, depth, and quality of UCF resources dedicated to student success. The resources are just plain incredible.
UCF has four campuses in Orlando, and here’s a link that describes each campus: Locations & Campuses | University of Central Florida The Engineering school is on Main Campus.
UCF was NOT founded as a commuter school. It is not, and never has been, a commuter school.
UCF was founded in a partnership between the State of Florida and NASA, and still has very close NASA ties.
When NASA launches from Kennedy Space Center, the launch is clearly visible from Main Campus, and if you look at a map of UCF, you’ll see many of the roads are named after NASA projects (Apollo, Gemini, Mercury, etc.)
That’s one reason for the strong engineering school, and the school is surrounded by numerous huge scientific research campuses of major global companies.
Siemens has a very large complex of buildings across the street to the West of Main Campus and the entire area South of Main Campus is a large research park. For science and engineering students, that translates into numerous internship opportunities. UF engineering students come to UCF’s research areas for internships.
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I would also like to comment on the differences between Gainesville and Orlando. There are significant pros and cons to both.
Gainesville is purely a college town. There is nothing else there, and no other reason for its existence. The good part of that is that the town is very much focused on UF. The downside is that it’s kind of remote and not really near anything. Transportation options are limited, which can be difficult for out of state students.
UCF is located in the NE corner of Orange County, which is where Orlando is. It’s a suburban campus, but close to many amenities. The Main Campus is probably 20 minutes from downtown.
The Orlando International Airport (code: MCO) is the busiest airport in Florida (which is the 3rd most populous state in the US). The only reason our Miami International is close to MCO in traffic is our huge international traffic. For domestic US travel, MCO is hard to beat.
Everybody talks about Disney, and it’s important. Disney World is about 45 minutes from UCF, expressway all the way. And UCF students get discounted Disney tickets.
That said, UCF students greatly prefer Universal/Adventure Island, which is about 30 minutes from campus, also expressway. Universal also has student discounts, and each year at the beginning of Spring Break, they have “Universal Knights” – which is free admission for anyone with a UCF ID.
Florida’s Atlantic beaches are also nearby. Cocoa Beach is only about an hour away, Daytona Beach is about 1 1/2 hours.
UCF has a full range of sports. They will join the Big 12 next year, I believe.
And not for nothing, they played in the Gasparilla Bowl last season.
Score: UCF Knights 29, Florida Gators 17 – and it was not nearly that close! (Full disclosure, that’s the first time we’ve EVER beaten the Gators.)
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This implies that NASA is 50% responsible (financially) for UCF. Is this accurate? Or, did you mean to say that the State of Florida created UCF to provide more STEM talent for the Space Coast (which is nearby)?
“Partnership” doesn’t mean 50-50. Most partnerships are not 50-50.
I don’t know whether NASA provides any funding for UCF. They do provide internships, both directly and through private companies with operations at KSC.
As far as I know, UCF is 100% funded by tuition, fees, the State of Florida, and donations of course. Last year, Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife made a big donation to UCF.
One other thing on UF. I don’t know the UF Engineering “ranking,” but they have been one of the top engineering schools in the US for as long as I can remember – and I went to UF MANY years ago.
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For engineering, US News (for what its worth) has UF at 41 and UCF at 73.
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Thanks everyone for all the input!!
She decided on UF!! Go Gators
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