So if you had a kid who is a very good student (like over 1500 SAT, all A’s and A-'s in all honors classes, with 3 AP’s Junior year and will have 3 more when she is a Senior, highly ranked NJ public high school, decent but not spectacular EC’s, no hook but probably good letters of rec), how would you feel about University of Florida for her? U of Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas are sort of similar schools that are more popular targets for kids from our area. UF is ranked just below Michigan and well ahead of those others. But does its reputation and prestige, as well as quality of life and other factors, really deserve that high ranking? Our kid really doesn’t like the cold weather. Is it selling her short to potentially choose UF over Michigan or Wisconsin or similar universities?
Along those lines, would using University of Arizona or Florida State University as safeties, rather than places like Univ of Maryland, Pitt, or Ohio State, be advisable for this excellent student who wants warm weather?
I know that college is what you make of it and what you do there is way more important than where you go, but I will throw the question(s) out there and see what people think anyway.
@billythegoldfish is she NatMerit?
You do have to like where you are living for 4 years. But Madison and Ann Arbor are great college towns. Does she really know what living in the south is really like? September can be brutal.
I don’t know if it is capped by law but only 12.4% of the freshman class in the latest CDS was from out of state; regardless of what the rankings say it’s probably a reach for any OOS student. I don’t think it is a big reputational step down from Michigan and depending on major it is probably considered more prestigious than any of the others you’ve listed here. Florida State has made a big leap in selectivity and reputation as well.
thank you. this is exactly the kind of info I was looking for.
I agree with others that Madison and Ann Arbor seem like great college towns. Are Gainesville (UF) and Tallahassee (FSU) not in the same league as far as the surrounding area is concerned?
Any thoughts on University of Arizona and Tucson? Not in the same league?
(also, she is not a merit scholar. she only took the PSAT as a sophomore and did not take it as a Junior as she did not expect to score this high. And NJ is the hardest state to be a merit scholar in…)
These are all great schools as to overall ranking and reputation. Wife and I are a UF grads and my daughter just finished up last spring in Civil Engineering. Doing very well in her new career.
The Big question is what does she want to study and how would her interests outside of the classroom fit in with each of these schools? And Eeyore123 is right about September, they did not name the stadium the Swamp just because of their mascot. Lol 
daughter is very much undecided. Leans toward business, math over history and lit, but no real direction yet.
she’s not afraid of the hot Septembers…
appreciate these comments, folks! keep ‘em comin’!
You have to really understand the criteria to get into the B-Schools. As an OOS, it can be much harder to get direct entry than an overall admission rate. If she doesn’t like the cold, she will likely want to live in the south post graduation. Except for Michigan, most of the recruiting will be regional from the B-Schools.
The acceptance rate for OOS applicants at Michigan is below 20%, maybe around 17-18%, but we have no figures yet from Michigan yet re: 2021-2022. But acceptance into the Ross Business School is even far more difficult. If unsure of major, then I’d recommend applying to Michigan LSA, which has about 45-50 majors/programs in the Top 10 nationally. She can always attempt a transfer into Ross or apply for a Ross Business minor.
Ann Arbor is always being voted one of the best college towns in the US and the weather isn’t as bad as people want to think, but it does snow there obviously. For example, the high today in Ann Arbor will be 39. The high today where I live in the SF Bay Area is 55. 
We are in Texas and our daughter is leaning to wanting an out of state experience… Funny enough, if she doesn’t go to Texas A&M, she will likely land at Arizona, or FSU or University of Florida. That’s what caused me to take notice of your post.
Your daughter is a Junior? If University of Arizona maintains their scholarships for out of state next year, and if she truly has at least an A- in all core subjects, she will get $35k a year, making tuition almost free. (4.0 as computed by Arizona for scholarships includes A-, basically anything 90 and above in a class).
Furthermore, we visited last month with our senior and the Honors Village is incredible. Brand new facilities and everyone was super friendly. The overall campus vibe is down to earth and the area feels like a college town. Here is some info on the honors college: https://frankehonors.arizona.edu/
If you want warm weather, then cities such as Madison, Columbus, Pittsburgh and Ann Arbor shouldn’t be a “target.” My CA kid has adjusted, but not every kid can or would want to.
My S21 is at FSU and loves it. We’re OOS from PA. With the tuition waiver and Honors program it was a no brainer. Penn State with palm trees was the quote when we visited. S20 is at Georgia Tech. I left PA many years ago for grad school at South Carolina. Lots of growth and opportunities plus fantastic weather. There’s no reason not to consider schools south of NJ.
After surviving PA winters a hot September was nothing compared to grey and cold winters. She’ll adapt.
Business schools are typically more selective and have a lower admission rate than the general college population (minus CS and engineering). UF, FSU, UGA, UNC, Georgia Tech, and South Carolina all have highly regarded business schools. Short of Michigan I don’t see any schools on your list that are any better than the southern schools…and Michigan is a tough admit from OOS. It would be a reach.
exactly the point of the post. my daughter wants warm weather, but doesn’t want to make a foolish decision based only on this if the warm weather schools are not comparable. she would sacrifice the warm weather for quality of education (and life) if necessary. So the question is whether UF’s high ranking means it is really the best of both worlds (academics plus weather), with FSU as a solid backup.
Visit both UF and FSU. Different vibes. She might prefer FSU. If you look at rankings UF is #5 in public schools. FSU is #19. Both are excellent. FSU has its own circus bigtop on campus. Where can you get that? Something to be said for quality of life.
BTW…UGA, USC and GT are also excellent schools with better weather than NJ. Lots of good choices.
Your D isn’t going to be “sacrificing” anything in regards to her education with schools like UF, FSU, Texas, etc. Yes, Michigan is ranked higher, but the other schools are top notch too.
The one story I’ve told over the years is about my D18’s freshman year, late January, a “polar vortex” hit the region. The temp got down to -11 +/- degrees. My D attended a sold out basketball game, Michigan vs. Ohio State. College life goes on in the winter.
I attended a few football games at Michigan and I’ve frozen my butt off. But I’m from CA and wear shorts all year. 
In terms of US and global academic reputation, Florida is below UMich, UW and Texas – probably because the other three spend a ton on research, have professors who win awards and publish a lot, etc. While UF’s academic rep has improved, they have not caught the other three, so they have found other ways to climb the USNews ranking.
All four are fine schools, regardless, so $$$ and fit should be relied upon to make a decision.
We are from Wisconsin. My daughter was accepted at Madison and Michigan but ended up at a school in Texas. She adores the weather. September is HOT but for pretty much the rest of the school year she spends a LOT of time outside. She is home for the holidays and just commented the other day that she thinks she’d be really depressed going to school where it’s really cold. But, I know from my own experiences on a cold Big 10 campus that you do adjust.
AC will be ubiquitous in FL and TX. In my mind, the worst is a hot spell in the humid Midwest with no AC. I live in Austin. Austin isn’t as humid as FL but will have some cold spells you don’t generally get in FL.
I see plenty of UMich, UW and Texas grads in my field, but almost never anyone from Florida. The southern schools generally don’t show their professors a lot of love, and it is not known as a research powerhouse. How did Florida move up so far in the rankings?