<p>im not sure if it came down to going to north florida or florida atlantic which i would choose if i didnt make it to ucf or fsu. north florida is a bit smaller with around 15k students and is cheaper than fau. fau is bigger with 27k students but is more expensive. can anyone who knows anything help me out or give advice?</p>
<p>You might want to visit first. I think that helps</p>
<p>FAU is getting a bit less like a commuter school. The addition of the new dorms in the last few years had increased those living on campus, and phase one of the on campus high-rise apartments going up in Innovation village will open Fall 2010 and eventually double the students on campus. There are 2500 students living on campus, and the new high rise will add 600 now (fall 2010) and 1800 more in phases. By next month there will be model rooms open. The football stadium infrastructure is in place and it should start to go up this month, with opening fall 2011 as well. The village will include stores and restaurants. The Division I football team (with a big win Thurs night) really adds to the environment. Enrollment is up, SAT scores and GPA’s are up, and for the past two admissions cycles, FAU has turned away competitive students, especially those who applied later in the year. It is not the safety school it used to be. The Boca area is more expensive, the cost of living is not cheap, and I think that must be what keeps the cost of housing on campus up. Room and board at FAU is not cheap. Parking is always tight. And with all the construction going on, there are currently less parking spaces as buildings are going up on prior parking lots. But the new president is engaging, outgoing, and has great plans for FAU. She is also very supportive of continuing the plans to double the on campus housing. The fact it has a medical school, and joint programs with the Scripts Institute in Jupiter is really helping. FAU to rise up. It’s nursing, education, and business schools are well respected. I think of FAU as being closer to FIU and USF. (Although USF Health is really tops when it comes to health professions).</p>
<p>UNF has a smaller feel. There are less students living on campus, with no big plans to change that soon. The campus is more compact. There are less graduate/professional offerings, which effects interaction with grad students. Maybe class sizes are smaller, but gen ed classes likely are not. I think of UNF in the same circle as FGCU and UWF. They are just not as complete an experience, and have less offerings. However, admission stats have been rising at UNF as well, and they are no longer the safety they used to be. So while you are deciding about where to apply, get your application in early.</p>
<p>FAU is likely to get significantly stronger academically because of additions to their science offerings. As sunnyflorida said, FAU is affiliated with TSRI’s satellite campus and are in the process of establishing their own standalone medical school (which was previously known as a branch of UMiami’s Miller SoM). It’s just a very ambitious school right now so it would be a nice time to hitch onto it, because it is probably going to become much more recognized nationally which would help if you eventually are an alum.</p>
<p>thank you so much guys! i think ill probably go with fau cause it seems you both are pushing towards that… even though i could save a lot of money at unf i think fau sounds like a better experience =p. IF ANYONE WANTS TO ADD TO THE FORUM PLEASE ADD YOUR OPINION.</p>
<p>UNF is a diamond in the rough… the opportunities within Jacksonville and the school are amazing. It has everything you can imagine and the academic program is MUCH stronger than FAU. Internships, greek, and what some consider to be the next huge market for athletics with its location and D1 status. </p>
<p>I’ll answer in questions you want about UNF. I saw you are considering FSU and UCF. I would recommend UNF over UCF as well. FSU and UNF are both great school although FSU is clearly more renowned. I would realy give consideration to UNF. The best way I can describe is it a private school with a public school tuition and funding. Theopprtunities there are endless. If you are interested in business, nursing, or engineering you should highly consider UNF.</p>
<p>question 1- how is it MUCH more academically stronger?
question 2- do you go to unf? talk about fun experiences youve had.
question 3- is the campus life dull and is everybody a commuter?</p>
<p>FAU Pros:
- ~28k students (mid-size school)
- 20 organizations of Greek life (~600 members, but no houses for a few years yet)
- bowl-winning football team (on-campus stadium opening October 2011)
- Residential student population will be 3600 in Fall 2011
- Medical school
- Brand new Rec Center with outdoor pool
- on-campus indie movie theater
- 3 minutes from the beach
- Club sports and intramurals are big here, for instance, we not only offer things like flag football but also activities like Intertube Polo, Paintball and a Sailing Team
- Boca Raton has very little crime, no weirdos walking onto campus from a nearby downtown
- Various traditions: Fall Bonfire, Freshmen Foam Party, Timucua Pageant, Bury the Burrow in Red, Shula Bowl, Safe Sex Bed Race, Pumpkin Drop, Greek Week </p>
<p>FAU Cons:
- Boca Raton can be expensive ($800-900 for a single bedroom, $400-600/person for 2-3 roommates)
- Boca Raton does not cater to college students per se, although it has theaters, bowling, bars, restaurants, etc like anywhere else
- Lack of strong public transportation (this is the county’s fault, not FAU). Although there is a bus system (Palm Tran), it only runs like every 30-45 minutes, limited locations and quits about 9 pm. So you’ll need a car here.
- Downtown is a joke. There are a couple cool places - The Lodge, Wishing Well, Boardriders, Hooligans - but for the most part the Boca City Council is too stiff with their regulations to make it anything worthwhile. Downtown Atlantic Avenue, in nearby Delray Beach, is where most students go for a good time.</p>
<p>Sorry it took be several months to reply, my lost my email account and had to create a new profile. I am actually a UNF Alumni from 2010</p>
<p>1) It really depends on which program. For business, it Coggin College of Buisness is unmatched by any other school. Its funding is unbeliveable and the opportunities it gives it students (area lecturers, programs, internships, even ettiquette and networking dinners,etc.) are unmatched. Jacksonville is a huge city with just about anything you can think of. As a whole, just last week UNF was ranked one of the top 50 schools in the southeast. Noone has ever given UNF much recognition, but it is growing fast and teh value of a degree is going way up.</p>
<p>2)Fun experiences really just happen haha. I was a founding father of a fraternity, and that was an experience in itself. Again Jax has everything you can think of! Athletic games are free, it has its own golf course which is $7 to play all day, Osprey Productions brings in top name acts for performances (Luda, Red Jumpsuit, and BOB) came this last year. We have a strong rivalry with JU, and the beach is 5 minutes down the road. UNF is fun and you’ll find what you’re looking for. Besides that, UNF has a brand new dorm, Osprey Fountains, that is known nationally for being one of the nicest dorms. Its got a game room, cafe, 2 pools, gym, movie rooms, and an entertainment room plus themed rooms on every flloor, not to mention private rooms.</p>
<p>3)UNF used to be a primarily commuter college, but that has changed. When I first started it was changing, and by the time I graduated I knew more out-of-towners than Jax kids. If you live on campus or do sports, clubsd, greek, anything where you meet new people it will never get dull. The only ones who call Jax and UNF dull are the commuter students because tehy go to calss and go home. JAcksonville arena and our stadium hosts tons of events year long, which are often free for UNF students</p>
<p>I guess I’ll try to give some cons:</p>
<p>The on-campus community could be better.
The off-campus housing right next to the school are limited, and it also is close to FSCJ which sometimes come on campus and use our crap!
However, theres a million places to live in Jax/Jax Beach.
Girls- They could be better haha, a lot of surfer chicks
Really not the best graduate school</p>
<p>If I had to do it all again I’d go to UNF. I got into law school and had a helk of time!</p>
<p>Well I’m gonna add to this. I lived in Boca my whole life (around 10 minutes from campus), Im currently going to school at UNF, but I’m transferring to UCF in the Spring. I feel I could sort out all of this bias. </p>
<p>Before I get into this I just want to remind you that everyone’s different and has different goals. So some of this you wont agree with. But that’s ok because its YOUR CHOICE not ours.</p>
<p>I originally got into UCF, FSU, UNF, FAU. No biggie, but I wanted to major in Theme Park management. Because UCF was the only one in the US to offer that, it was an obvious choice. But I did not like the large class sizes at UCF. </p>
<p>Living in Boca for 18 years allowed me to visit the FAU campus plenty of times. FAU is known for their easy access campus(but its a pain to find a parking spot) and their medical program is improving. But that’s really it. FAU_Guy can bombard you with all these numbers and stats but if you think your gonna live in Boca for 4 years, take it from someone who grew up there. There is really no social things to do off campus besides the obvious beach, movie, and restaurants that any Florida town would have. Definitely a town built for adults and priced for them too. Housing is expensive outside campus, unless your living at home and you better bring a car because the transportation provided by the county is awful and horribly unreliable. Overall its a school with no tradition or character(but its better than UNF). Its a school that kids go to if they want to stay at home or didnt get into their choice school. I have friends who go there and they enjoy it but around the south Florida community it is known for its “safety school” status. Enough said.</p>
<p>So I went to UNF for the smaller class sizes ONLY to take my GEN Eds. I figured would transfer to start my Hospitality degree. Well, that didnt last long. Im a freshmen who started in the summer and now in the fall I feel I do not enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I will have to agree with EVERYTHING burge has to say about it. The coggin college of business is extraordinarily excellent in the curriculum and Osprey Productions brings great events to the students(I am actually part of it). This year we brought ■■■■■, Jason Durelo, and Jay Sean. I feel we could bring this kind of entertainment to the students partly because the funds that were supposed to benefit our “football team”(we dont have one) are being allocated to other things such as entertainment. Classes are very small. I had 16 kids in one of my classes. </p>
<p>BUT, outside the campus IS IDENTICAL TO BOCA!! They have the same restaurants(I kid you not. EXACTLY the same restaurants) , same shopping, even the same distance from the campus. I feel like Im living in a boca away from home. The beach is the same to but theres a California beach feel with a surfing community that reaches UNF. There are not alot of class choices and if your going to school for math or engineering think again. The math classes are a joke and are not challenging at all. International Business(Flagship program), nursing, and education degrees should be the only reason you go to this school. You would just be wasting your time pursuing any other major. The professors are usually a TA or someone who really doesn’t have any connections to your field. So forget about internships, ESPECIALLY IN JAX. </p>
<p>I couldn’t take this school anymore so I applied to Spring 2012 at UCF and got my decision in 6 hours! haha I would probably have stayed at UNF if i wasn’t going to pursue that specific major. Its not a great school and very little school spirit, more of a commuter school. The only way you’ll be able to decide for yourself is to VISIT them! </p>
<p>This turned out to be longer than I thought but I wanted to clear up all this school fanboy stuff. good luck and study hard</p>