I got her point. A 3.85 at UF or UMich will not be viewed the same as a 3.85 at Harvard or Yale to med schools. But at the same time, a 3.85 at say Michigan State won’t be viewed the same as UF or UMich, either. It is a holistic process. In addition, the coursework at a top tier school is more rigorous and prepatory for the MCAT. My daughter feels extremely well prepared for the exam already. I think the stats prove this out; these students do better on MCATs. I’m just saying I disagree with the idea of going to an easier school to get better grades as a strategy to get into med school. Personal opinion.
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I think the conversation took a few turns along the way but centered around UF at the start. Anyway, go gators! 
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My son is a bit of a foodie and does not like the dining hall food at UF at all. But again, he’s picky in the sense that he likes very fresh unprocessed foods and is big on diversity of choice (loves Asian, Mexican, Indian, Middle Eastern, Cuban). He eats at the Chipotle across the street from campus often.
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oh oof yikes hahaha
I’m not picky, but I just need nutritious foods:) I’m the kind of person who could eat a box of kale, arugula, or spinach, in one sitting, raw.
I’m probably not even going to visit UF before I attend, but I’m jumping in straight away in 4 months.
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We have friends who go - and my wife and daughter toured. The dorms - definitely no bueno - and I think you can read that online in many places… Any of the institutional stuff isn’t great - but I visited for work and ate at a Poke Bowl with lots of healthy options (salad, noodles, rice) - with lots of students.
I imagine like any school - you can find what you need - but based on Niche grades and comments from kids I would think UF isn’t top drawer. But few schools likely are.
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Thanks. This helps me:)
65,000 includes incomplete and late apps. The real number I hear is about 10,000 less as far as how many decisions were released.
couple of items. the stats between U\F and FSU are not the same… yes the accepted stats are similar but its the same kids applying to both and FSU accepts many many more than UF does . the vast majority are waiting for UF to come out and they choose UF. if you look at the incoming freshmen enrolled stats its not close. so to say the gap has closed thats not true… the last ranking Florida went up and FSU went down in US News ranking for public U’s. as far as UF’s compared to Michigan, they are close… Michigan does have a more national footprint. but make no mistake, the kids in the northeast (NY,NJ, Philly) are begging to go to UF. FSU UF and Michigan are very very good schools regardless of the rankings… not sure you can go wrong with any other than the price…
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are you in state? also private or public school… not sure anything matters but thought i would ask… those statistics are amazing and I’m suer she has 20 other amazing options.
FSU moved up three spots to #55 and stayed at #19 among public universities. It’s tied with The U and ahead of Pitt, Maryland, UDub, Clemson…
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Out of state, public school, and yes she has other options, UF was supposed to be a good target, clearly it wasn’t. Thank you for your words.
I have a student in class of 2024 and there is definitely a Parent Facebook page (or two - only one is official) and one for students. It’s a lot but I recommend overall because it provides a lot of good information and a place to ask questions and request help. They also have experienced parents and UF staff monitoring responses and they chime in as needed.
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No one has stated that UF is yet at the same rank as UMich in perception or according Forbes or US News and World Report-- but it’s not like one is a Ferrari when the other is a Yugo. While UF isn’t yet at the same perception as UNC, UVA, Michigan, Berkeley it’s not THAT far behind in perception and will likely continue to increase as more and more OOS students apply, attend, and then graduate. Long story short: UF is also a fantastic value, for both in and out of state students, especially as compared to the OOS cost of Michigan.
UF might cost LESS for ALL FOUR YEARS than ONE year of UMich (for an in state UF student with Bright Futures)-- and once you add in the cost of med school and kids (or parents) can be saddled with $600K+ (even feasibly close to $800-900K) of debt.
Here’s the math: For an in state student, with full BF plus room/board, would pay $12K-ish/year, $18K-ish without BF. Even out of state, with no merit, UF is still $40K-ish with tuition, fees, room, and board vs $72K-ish for UMich out of state, so not quite 1/2 price.
Also, it’s absolutely possible to sing the praises of one school without bashing another. There’s no perfect place-- and there’s no one school that’s perfect for anyone else nor any school that guarantees success universally.
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My kid has talked about uf since 8th grade. She wasn’t interested in any of the ivvies though I made her apply to one. Getting into uf was like winning the jackpot. That’s how happy she was. Whether uf is ranked close to umich or uva or unc, she doesn’t care, for her, it’s the top school.
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My advice about food is to not buy a meal plan! You can try the food for a week or two and add a plan then but you can’t cancel the plan once you buy it. The food will be better right at the beginning but quality and availability decrease as the school year goes on. I really wanted to get a plan for my son but took everyone’s advice to wait and am glad we did.
My current freshman son is not a picky eater but he does not care for the dining hall food at all. He eats at a variety of places within walking distance of campus (WaWa, Just Salad, Chipotle, Bento, prepared meals from Publix, Tijuana Flats, etc) and is looking forward to moving to an apartment nearby next year where he can prepare more meals for himself.
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Our daughter graduated last year from UF (Civil Engineering). During orientation we ate at several of the dining halls and she decided right then and there it was not for her. She is a good cook that makes healthy meals. As a result we did not get her a meal plan and chose to let her ad lib it. She lived in an older but nicer Dorm (LLC) which had central kitchens on each floor and she had a fridge in her room. She ended up making meals in the Dorm and within several weeks had other students willing to buy the food if she would make dinner and even lunches on weekends. Where there is a will there is a way.
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@Melissa96 would you happen to have any more clarity on when merit notices might come out this year? Looks like it was Monday 3/8 last year. Thanks!
At this point we are expecting Merit and Financial aid packages to be out March 11th - if we are ready earlier then we’ll release them sooner.
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Thank you! Also, I want to mention how impressed we have been with the level of transparency and engagement from UF admissions. UF is definitely a step above others, and you are a big part of that.
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This is helpful, Thanks!