I have been accepted into both of these schools into their agricultural colleges to major in biology in a pre-vet program. I can’t decide which university to attend. Can anyone give me pros and cons of each in your own opinion? Which is considered “better” academically? Any info on the two would be helpful.
thanks
If you want to know rankings you just have to look at the US News 2015 rankings:
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities
Otherwise, go to the two schools websites and investigate their programs. You really should visit both and talk to people in each of the colleges before deciding. No one else can do that for you.
UF is better academically, but I think FSU has an edge for agriculture/pre-vet. Overall, they’re comparable academically, both are large public universities with excellent sports (although FSU is currently embroiled into a sexual assault scandal involving the police giving a pass at criminal football players…). In short, go with your gut feeling: spend an overnight and decide which one “feels right”.
Did you get into the Honors College at either one?
@MYOS1634 I think you’re confusing FSU with UF. UF has a huge “College of Agricultural and Life Sciences” (CALS/IFAS) while FSU does not have a College of Agricultural Sciences. UF also houses the state Vet school.
Of course, you can major in Biology at both schools (and be “pre-vet”) and FSU has a fine Biology program (Biology at both schools fall under the college of liberal arts and sciences and not CALS).
Academically (using US News rankings), UF is currently ranked 14th (tied with Penn State and the University of Washington) for public universities and it’s goal is to break into the top 10 (tough, since UF will have to move past great schools like UW-Madison and UIUC).
FSU is currently ranked 43rd (tied with North Carolina State University and behind the University of Alabama) and has a goal of breaking into the top 25. Several FSU’s programs are as good as or better than UF’s, but Biology isn’t one of them. One advantage FSU’s program may have over UF’s, is that it’s likely not as competitive. UF is full of high stat pre-med (and pre-vet) students, and that’s a lot of competition.
Good Luck!
Yup, I meant CALS, and thought it was at FSU (going from memory), thanks for correcting my mistake.
So, OP would be better off at UF then if s/he got into CALS.
But didn’t OP state that s/he got into FSU’s agricultural college?
On stats, both universities are very similar and are the state’s two flagships - there’s a clear gap between FSU and the other public universities like UCF or USF. In another thread, I said it’s like UF/FSU = Penn State/Pitt escept FSU also has a mammoth D1 football program. UCF or USF are closer to directionals, although they, too, have a few strong programs of their own.
I’d say choosing one or the other may depend on family loyalty or on “gut feeling”, but picking CALS would be a plus factor for UF in my opinion.
UF has been steadily climbing, especially wrt test scores and selectivity/admit rate; it’s got a slight edge for weighted GPA and top 25% scores, with the spread 25-75 smaller (so that the average FSU student would be in the bottom quarter at UF, but the top FSU students wouldn’t be too far behind the top UF students); overall both are very good public universities, each with specialty programs that shine, but very large intro classes and some overcrowding/scheduling issues.
Honors programs are especially helpful for premeds since GPA is of utmost importance and Honors students tend to have higher grades in their Honors classes than in regular courses. OP hasn’t answered yet on that point.
Generally speaking, there are two contradictory trends at play here: for a student’s growth and opportunities, attending the best university they got into and can afford is important, but for a premed (prevet) major, attending the university where they’re in the top 25% is more important.
@MYOS1634 - There is a bigger difference on stats between UF and FSU than between FSU and UCF/USF. For example:
Average SAT score:
UF: 1890
FSU: 1795
UCF: 1740
USF: 1730
Acceptance Rate:
UF: 46.5%
FSU: 58.6%
UCF: 48.9%
USF: 45.2%
@MYOS1634 Soon…we’ll turn you into an honorary member of the Gator Nation…and you’ll be doing the Gator Chump with the rest of us! 
http://www.multicultural.ufl.edu/images/made/images/remote/http_www.ufsa.ufl.edu/uploads/mcda/CMC/Gator_Chomp_200_171.png
This is the info I have for Fall 2014:
Acceptance rate: UF 45%, FSU 44%, UCF 48%
25-75% WGPA range: UF 4.2-4.5, FSU 3.8-4.4, UCF 3.7-4.3 (here, FSU and UCF are the closest, indicating stronger course rigor for UF admitted students than for either FSU and UCF.)
ACT range: UF 28-32, FSU 27-30, UCF 25-29 (the “average” FSU and UF students are similar, in the same score range, but the top UF students go higher and are more numerous while the threshold is similar. However, about one half of UCF’s student body would be in the bottom quarter at FSU, and bottom third at UF - that’s not insignificant. Top UCF students are slightly below top FSU students but not significantly so.)
Honors profile: UF 4.0+& ACT 33, FSU 4.3-4.6&ACT 33, UCF 4.2 and ACT 30 (there are more top students at UF, but they’re equal to the honors students at FSU. The biggest difference is at the Honors level, since the “top” UCF students would only be “top25%” at FSU, not “top 5-10%”).
Outside of the acceptance rate (44% rather than 48%), USF is remarkably similar to UCF: 3.7-4.3 25-75 range (identical), ACT range 25-29 (identical), the only difference is that the threshold for Honors admissions is much lower (3.8/29).
For admitted Freshman:
% in top 10% of HS graduating class:
UF: 75%
FSU: 41.8%
UCF: 31%
The FSU stats are off, ACT of 33 seems high…
For students who received an invitation:
4.4 weighted GPA; 31 ACT composite, and 2070 SAT total
For students that apply (applicants) to the honor’s college:
4.2 weighted GPA; 30 ACT composite; 1970 SAT
The overall average would be between a 4.4 and 4.2 GPA and a 2070 to 1970 SAT (and a 31 to 30 ACT).
http://honors.fsu.edu/University-Honors-Program2/ADMISSION-TO-THE-FSU-HONORS-PROGRAM
I don’t know UF"s average.
UCF invites the top 10% of admitted students, but it’s BMS (Burnett Medical Scholars) program in the honor’s college is more selective that UF"s honor program. But then, since completing the program gets you auto admitted into UCF’s medical school, you would think it needs to be.
http://honors.ucf.edu/admissions/burnettmedicalscholarsoverview
Both UF and FSU lose some % of top students to UCF and USF. Reasons include location (Orlando and Tampa), much better merit scholarships, and programs like UCF’s BMS.
Everybody else can fight about numbers. UF is a NO BRAINER for an Agriculture degree. Academically, historically or any other reason. It is UF. But I digress.
Do yourself a favor and take a tour of both campuses. Look at what’s available and allocations given to your chosen major.
^that would make sense, but I’m going by the official chart. (That’s what I always use).
One noticeable thing is that UCF has become more and more selective over the past 5 years, and UF has managed to increase the size of its high-caliber students.
And yes the scholarships are indeed enticing for USF especially (I don’t like UCF too much, too many students.)
MYO–
I honestly do appreciate that you do the stat work It’s important. Everybody has to start somewhere and you give great starting points for major decisions.
But it just doesn’t tell the real story in the long run.
Sorry, I was responding#8 when I did ^ –
I agree that UF is what makes the most sense here, because of CALS. No contest.
UF has historically been the premier agriculture school in Florida. I doubt this will change in our lifetimes. If that’s your passion, then definitely go gator.
By the way, acceptance rates mean little without context. It’s unfortunate that so many otherwise intelligent people judge schools based on this number.
A school can more selective, AND have a higher acceptance rate, than a school that is less selective. It all depends on pool of applicants. Schools that are located in big metro areas (like UCF, USF & FIU) have lower acceptance rates partly because almost every high school grad from those areas applies by default, including large number of marginal students who will be rejected.
FSU and UF are both somewhat isolated, geographically, so more of the applicants tend to be relatively competitive. FSU is slightly more selective than UCF and USF, and UF is more selective than FSU, going by the freshman statistics.