University of Florida and University of Alabama

College Search & Selection
1

Hi,
While I haven’t heard back from some of my reach schools, it’s looking increasingly likely that I’ll end up at either University of Florida or University of Alabama. I’m an NMF, so both are full ride.
University of Alabama:

  • honors, visited for RRSP weekend, had an amazing time, love the program, waiting on final decision
  • about $4500 of stipend per year
    University of Florida:
  • got into honors and URSP, but haven’t visited and would rather not pay for flight unless necessary
    Me:
  • from northeast
  • major is chemistry or physics or something
  • research is critical as is getting into grad school
  • couldn’t care less about partying or football, so good honors community with others that aren’t huge partiers is important.
    Questions I have:
  • At both (but especially UF) how much are online classes used? How are they?
  • How do RRSP and URSP compare?
  • Should I care about the difference in ranking?
  • What’s the difference in Honors Program quality?
  • Anything else I should be asking about either of them.

If I decide that I like UF better, I’ll try to visit. However, I can’t make their admitted student days and I feel like a general tour won’t really help too much, so this is kind of it.

2

First of all, congrats on a couple of fantastic options. S20 is similarly narrowing down (you may have met at the RRSP weekend) between UA and a couple of other programs. I can’t give any advice on UF, but wanted to suggest some other considerations that might push you to one school or the other: how much AP credit will transfer? availability and quality of on-campus housing? difficulty to get to and from the university from your home?

Hopefully you get some informed answers to your questions, but you are in a really strong position to choose a fantastic program. Well done, you!

3

Google “University of ??? research budget 2020”. University of Florida is $928M (2020); University of Alabama is around $132M (2019).

4

@willibeeatingriceandbeans that is an irrelevant statistic. UF has way more doctoral students (4,603 vs 1,641). UF also has a Medical School. The RRSP program at UA is a research program so if the OP gets selected, they will have a 4 year program of research. The OP cares about their access to research not the total University output.

5

@quorumsenser28 You sound like you are in the same place my DS was a year ago, with a lot of the same questions. He chose UA, and has been very happy. He is a freshman NMF in the RRSP program (so you probably met him!)

The research opportunities available for undergrads at UA are amazing. @eeore123 got it right when they mentioned doctoral students–UA has more research than students it seems. It is classified as R1, and is actively growing its research, so I think opportunities will continue to be plenty. DS started in a lab in September of his freshman year, and not just any lab, but his number one choice from when he was looking at what kind of research is happening on campus. The lab director has already given him responsibilities beyond his freshman standing, and DS has done research into what other labs across the country studying the same topics are doing, and has already written a proposal (and been given approval for) new research. This research isn’t even through RRSP, so he will be doing even more in the future.

If you are selected for RRSP, there is tremendous support for building a great grad school application, and the students are regularly accepted to top programs in their field. This was very important to DS, as he wants a PhD and a career as a professor/researcher. He has has been very impressed with the RRSP students, and there are social opportunities related to RRSP as well.

As far as online classes, they exist at UA, but DS hasn’t taken any. They seem to be for lower-level core classes, especially in math and computing. Given your RRSP interview, I’m assuming you wouldn’t need these. DS came in with a lot of AP and dual enrollment credit, so was really able to start right in on the higher-level classes.

DS was really attracted to the flexibility of the UA scholarship, which includes 10 semesters of tuition–and the semesters can be used to pay for study abroad (a huge plus if you want to study abroad) or graduate classes at UA, even the law school. The scholarship will pay for hours above the regular 16-credit limit per semester, and the AP and transfer credit he brought in didn’t count against the scholarship at UA, (check the Benequisto at UF, I think it limits the number of credits, and I think it counts your AP credit against the limit). Both UA and UF have full rides for NMF, but that doesn’t mean the scholarships are equal–just something else to consider.

DS isn’t a partier and isn’t into football. He went to a couple games this year for the experience and feels no need to go to any more. He didn’t rush a fraternity. He says there are a lot of kids on campus that are there for the party, but there are plenty of serious students as well. He has found his place and is happy.

If you have more questions feel free to message me. Good luck with your decision!

6

@Mom2aphysicsgeek may chime in on the side of physics at Alabama.

7

Advice…visit both schools for a personal comparison…would you ask a date to the prom or decline
another who you never met?

UA is very supportive some might even say cotteling to their students. UF will demand more independence and focus. Whatever else UF is a stronger student body academically. .That is just a fact based on the class profile.
Both are great schools and you need to make the best decision for you…good luck

8

Thanks for all of the information! I really appreciate it.

9

What did you decide?

10

This review is in no way meant to compare specific programs to any at the University of Alabama but rather to provide some observations about the University of Florida from a unbiased prospective

I traveled in October to Gainesville, Florida for the first time. I was there with my daughter for other reasons, but we took an organized tour of UF while we were there. I really enjoyed the campus. It appeared that football, Greek life, partying, etc. were certainly there if desired, but it felt like they were definitely a smaller part of the overall experience.

The student-tour guides’ main focus was on the academic attributes of UF and how students prioritize academics first and “fun” second. They bragged a few times on UF’s national, academic ranking instead of the football team’s ranking. We spent more time touring libraries and academic buildings instead of the rec center and rock climbing wall. The campus overall seemed to exude a “serious student” vibe while also offering numerous extra-curricular activities to students with varying interests.

The campus was prettier than I thought it would be for such a large, state university. I was impressed with the fact that UF seemed to have “everything” on campus available no matter what one’s course of study: medicine, law, journalism, business, veterinary, dental, agriculture, etc. The facilities all seemed to be first class.

Gainesville appears to be a nice, college town with plenty of retail and restaurants to satisfy the typical, college students’ needs. There was also an impressive, little downtown square with nice restaurants that seemed like it might offer an alternative to the “campus scene”.

I flew non-stop to and from Gainesville on American Airlines from Dallas/Fort Worth. I noticed non-stop flights to and from Atlanta and Miami as well. The Gainesville airport was nice and easy to navigate.

If my daughter has the stats to get in I would definitely consider UF an option for her.

1 Like
11

@RealityCheck does UF require busses to get around campus or is it walkable?

12

We only walked on the tour and appeared to cover the vast majority of campus. I noticed buses, but they seemed to be taking students to and from off-campus locations. I noticed a lot of students with scooters coming onto campus. I can not remember if the Agriculture school or Vet school was a little further away from the main campus.