i did my phd at UF. let’s just say gainesville was a bit of a shock. great college town but like an island in the middle of northern florida’ which is very very rural and kind of more like south georgia. i can answer any questions about living in gainesville tho. also it’s far from the beaches
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I think it doesn’t matter except if you have a specialty in mind. Like MIS might be Az and Indiana. Supply Chain - ASU, UTK, Mich State.
When you get a job in NYC or Denver, no one cares if you go to Florida, Nebraska, Colorado State, UMASS, or Montana. They are all the same.
You are getting sucked into the US News ranking game. And you haven’t even opened the WSJ, Forbes, or Niche.
Find the right school. What matters - cost, geography, city type, area. Hope it’s not US News Rankings.
In your case Michigan and Texas are likely a reach, depending on overall rigor, Florida prob a high match. FSU…low out of state acceptance and getting harder…a match but will likely get OOS waiver.
Wisconsin a likely and AZ a safety, lowest ranked, and depending on the GPA maybe the smartest pick. If you have a 4.0, tuition is 3k. A 3.9, $8k.
Find the right fit. This list of schools - hot, cold, urban, not…can flow but not really.
Where is Rutgers btw.
Find the right school…not a ranking.
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I have a son at the Honors College at UF right now. He is loving it, but just to let you know, it has its chilly time periods. You won’t shovel snow there, but it isn’t shorts weather every day. Also, check some threads from previous years on this site. Getting in to UF from OOS, even for students with 4.0 UW GPAs and 1500+ SATs is far from a slam-dunk.
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I’m not sure how they have moved up so much in the past few years. There must be one or (more likely) a combination of the USNews ranking variables that they have honed in on to improve their ranking.
Or, USNews tweaked their formula and UF is benefitting from that.
Or both.
UGA is similar – not the greatest academic rep, but they are also storming up that ranking.
UF is tough to get into these days. .
Great college town. Great academics. Lots to do. Friendly student body. Great alumni network. A ton of clubs and ways to get involved.
It’s a place where the city grew up around the campus and so it’s student centric in many respects. It’s a pretty big town but with a small town feel. Best of both worlds for many.
Weather–it’ll never get as cold as the places you mention! It did snow once and they cancelled classes. It’ll get in the 40’s (time to stay in bed in my opinion) for short periods and then can get really hot (90’s) in the summer–and yeah, Sept. is usually the worst.
As is everywhere these days a lot of classes are on-line mostly to accommodate a growing student body.
FSU campus is very pretty but doesn’t have the same large footprint that the gator campus has. Not as high in ranking but growing. But all the students I’ve known also loved their experience there and have been successful in their fields.
And if you want to head somewhere that is living “normal” then Florida is a plus…
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USNWR has included a metric for number of alligators that cross the road. 
So, on my visits to FL, both the east and west coasts of FL, I’ve encountered a lot of flying bugs and seen houses with nets covering their porches. Is that normal? Is it limited to a specific time of year?
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What?! All I can think of is love bugs–though never seen a covered porch. They sort of hang in the air, splatter on your windshielld, too easily squished and yes, fortunately have a very short life span for a oouple weeks in the spring. Quite a boon to the car wash industry!
It may not be representative of the entire state of course, nor the rest of the year, but the time I remember most was when I/we traveled between Ft. Lauderdale and South of the Naples area along Highway 75. I’m guessing it was around Xmas. We said never again. 
My son is a freshman at UF pursuing engineering and he likes it. All his classes have been in person but I’ve seen parents complaining that many business classes are online and were even before the pandemic. My son loves the sport culture, the diverse student population, and the quality of the engineering faculty.
I am critical of UF’s COVID protocol and the overall idea that politics is too involved in the university. Vaccinations and masks aren’t required and if you test positive you are removed from campus and on your own. There have also been allegations of scientific data being covered up and professors not allowed to speak up in opposition to state policies. I’m not trying to debate politics, just pointing out some things to look into if you aren’t familiar with Florida issues.
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National perception has Michigan, Texas and Wisconsin as head and shoulders above the others. The only others on par or higher are Cal, UCLA and UNC in terms of public flagships.
so this is where my confusion is. because Florida (on US News and World Report) is not just ranked up there with Michigan and Texas- it is actually substantially above them, right up there with UNC. so is the reality that its ranking is not deserved, or that national perception has not yet caught on to how good it is?
If the only reason that you say UF is not in the same league as those others is because it’s not a major research institution yet, that wouldn’t really bother me, because research does not necessarily correlate with quality of teaching or of student life.
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Wow! Lots of inaccurate detail on life in Florida. Oh well, I will let the 400K per year people migrating into the state from over tax burdened northern states that they are making a mistake, while I jump on my 41’ Sea Vee and head to the Bahamas for a little fishing and R & R, then when i get back it’s off to Crested Butte for a little white stuff.
Meanwhile, why not split the baby and go to UNC-Chapel Hill. Great school, great business program that is in the midst of expanding into 2024 and located in one of top ten MSA’s in the US.
Just a thought!
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Years ago UF was #5 public university for research. It keeps growing in that regard.
Yes, it’s a great school with a lot of jealous people from the north who haven’t gotten over it.
But as others point out–that’s not the business school. Which is also great by the way.
What UF offers your daughter is a wide variety of majors at a very high level no matter what she ultimately decides to major in. A great environment to grow as a student.
But it is a state school–so OOS students are not first priority. (although OOS prices can still be far below instate of others)
I still think - back to the OPs original question and choosing schools based on ranking - presumably the USNWR and not the others that have a different pecking order - that short of IB or consulting, any of these schools - or any other flagship one attends - would have little difference in one’s outcomes.
Some companies will have UF on their target list. Others will have Nebraska.
The rankings are more for the died in the wool college fans on sites like on the CC.
There’s is no doubt that Florida is a great school - with difficult admissions. So is each school they listed and so are so so many more.
Let’s be honest - no one will say Florida is above William & Mary…but in US News it is.
No one will say it’s = to UNC. But in US News it is.
I think - for the average kid who is hoping to graduate and get a job with a company in their entry level program…or as an accountant, etc. - the rank of your state flagship will hep you negligibly.
Now - the kid at Florida may have a better career than the kid at Nebraska - because the overall profile is higher and they’ll excel more in their career and get chosen at higher proportions for promotions.
Or they’ll get into ‘better’ grad schools for the same reason they got into ‘better’ undergrad schools.
But the OP is hypothesizing that their life will be markedly different by going to a higher ranked school - and i think there’s so much more like fit, finances and everything else that should far matter more than a ranking.
I’m not debating Florida is good or not - it’s obviously a strong school - as are many other schools on and not on the list.
In the end, it’s the student, not the school, that will make their success - anyway, that’s my belief.
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LOL. Pretty sure OP asked about weather too. I’ll put Florida against Nebraska any day for the winner.
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Yes but they are questioning if going to UF would be wrong over Michigan given the higher ranking of Michigan.
I’m simply saying go to the right school.
If it’s FIU. Bama. Lsu. Ole Miss. UGA. wherever to stay in warmer weather. I could have said Auburn or College of Charleston instead of Nebraska…
Not to fixate on rank. That’s all.
But yes, FL has Nebraska beat on weather !! U r correct.
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Just ask me when I will be visiting Austin, my hometown, and you will know exactly which days it will be cold here. 
I always bring the cold with me from Maine. I’m here right now and it’s cold.
Don’t pick based on rankings and never mention Michigan and Ohio State in the same sentence 
.
Go to the school that is the best fit and culture for your daughter. She will get a job. Kids from all the schools you mentioned at the same company all get paid the same as first year’s. So forget about rankings.
As an aside you don’t need Ross B School to go into Business at Michigan. Many do something like Economics and have similar or the same opportunists so yes to those companies Michigan’s reputation is important but… All the schools you mentioned would have companies that they would want kids from those colleges…
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I don’t know about the nets in Florida, but up in Wisc many porches are screened to keep out the state bird… the mosquito.
I just moved to central Florida. All of the houses have their back porches or pool areas covered by screens. They’re called birdcages. There are many more bugs than just mosquitos and lovebugs.
If your high school student is interested in UF or FSU, they should have a look at University of Central Florida as well. The average standardized test score is above FSU. It’s growing by leaps and bounds. It’s in a more urban area than the other two. One thing to keep in mind about public schools in Florida is that test scores are required.
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