USF vs UCF vs FSU Engineering program

<p>I am an international transfer student inside the US and I am looking at applying at one of the state schools in Florida. My list has Florida State U and U of Central Florida and U of South Florida. I am majoring in Electrical Engineering so which of these schools have a better engineering program. Any info will help me. I am really looking at the qulaity and diversity of the education.
Any thoughts on Florida A&M too?
Thank You</p>

<p>Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the order should be UCF > FSU > USF. UCF is known for their engineering and FSU is pretty good all around, so I’m not sure which is really better.</p>

<p>Gordon is correct.</p>

<p>My 2 cants</p>

<p>Actually, USF>, UCF, >>>>>> FSU</p>

<p>USF, the ~10th largest school in the country is much better grounded as a serious research tier 1 University (UCF is not and won’t be in the future) and is solid in engineering. </p>

<p>FSU is a great school, but it lacks in engineering. FSU’s engineering is shared with Florida A and M University, which is one of the worst schools in the country based on student body quality, graduation rates, and a host of issues with corrupt administration in the recent past. FSU’s collaboration with FAMU really diminishes the quality of the engineering department. I’d say that FSU is as good as or better than any of the US NEWS top 35-100 Universities is almost everything EXCEPT engineering. In fact, I believe that this affiliation severely tarnishes FSU’s reputation and is an (one) underlying reason for FSU’s precipitous ranking drop as of the past decade.</p>

<p>Really?</p>

<p>I remember reading somewhere UCF was originally Florida Tech and I thought they’ve always excelled with Computer Science & Engineering. I’ll admit I’m not too familiar with USF’s engineering programs, but I was under the impression their strongest subjects are Education & Health / Sciences.</p>

<p>To an extent I agree with Tom, that the joint e-school hurts FSU and the deal with FAMU needs to be severed. However, for per US News overall graduate e-programs in 2008, plus some aspects are seperate at the graduate level so FSU’s strength is showing.</p>

<p>See: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/florida-state-university/481653-fsu-college-engineering-ranked-us-news.html?highlight=engineering+ucf+fsu+news[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/florida-state-university/481653-fsu-college-engineering-ranked-us-news.html?highlight=engineering+ucf+fsu+news&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Overall undergraduate program - FSU >>>>> UCF > USF</p>

<p>I know UCF has the highest ranked engineering program out of the three, but keep in mind they are only 86th overall. I think 2 years ago FSU was in the Top-100 (so honestly not that big of a difference in quality).</p>

<p>In general UCF trumps the others for engineering. However, the OP asked about EE. If his interest is specifically in power, then USF might be the best choice.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Someone must’ve attended USF…</p>

<p>Okay here is my situation. I am a recent graduate of Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and I am looking to get a second bachelor’s degree in Engineering. My reasons for this are because the lack of jobs that are out there that I can get with my degree. I was originally studying to become a pilot but due to flight costs and some other unforseen setbacks I had to discontinue that and settle on a degree that would just get me through college. I want to go back to flying possibly through the military (Navy USMC) however it is very competitive right now to get in. I have recently come in to some money and have decided that going back to school for degree in engineering might open up some doors for me both in the military and the civilian job market. I also want to get in to engineering because after talking with others and doing some research on my own I feel that engineering is something that I would enjoy.</p>

<p>I am looking into either mechanical or aerospace engineering. The two schools that I have decided on are UCF and USF. I originally decided on UCF because I wanted to major in aerospace engineering and I heard that their program was highly ranked in that field. However I am currently living near Tampa and for convinience USF seems to be the better choice. However as most of you probably know USF does not offer aerospace only mechanical. If I go to UCF I’ll have to get boarding off campus and that may mean getting a loan which is something I wish to avoid at all costs, but on the flip side I don’t want to sacrifice the quality of my education.</p>

<p>After reading some of the posts on here it seems to me that mechanical might be the better route to go given that it can be applied to different industries where as aerospace is more specialized and employment in that field seems to be more uncertain given the current state of the aerospace industry. I also talked with an engineer and he said that my dedcision to go to USF for mechanical would be the better choice since the degree was more versatile and it allowed me to stay home as opposed to living off campus and have to pay board.</p>

<p>Bottom line I’m not sure which school would be the better choice when taking into consideration both the quality of education and the cost. I hope I made everything clear sorry if there is any confusion.</p>

<p>I am an international transfer student inside the US and I am looking at applying at one of the state schools in Florida. My list has Florida State U and U of Central Florida and U of South Florida. I am majoring in Electrical Engineering so which of these schools have a better engineering program. Any info will help me. I am really looking at the qulaity and diversity of the education.
Any thoughts on Florida A&M too?
</p>

<p>NO to Florida A&M</p>

<p>Since you’re an int’l student, will you have to pay non-resident fees? If that’s affordable along with books and living expenses, then visit the UCF, USF and FSU and decide.</p>

<p>cgoetz, too bad you can’t got to ERAU for Aerospace Engineering, I hear they are actually #1 for that… At the undergraduate level I wonder how big of difference it might really be between Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering. If I were you, I’d compare and contrast the individual classes between each program…</p>

<p>I actually already did their actually aren’t much differences except that aerospace has classes that focus more on aircraft flight. I could make up for this with mechanical through my technical electives.</p>

<p>Guess you were a little off tomslawsky. UCF is now a tier 1 research unuversity.</p>

<p>[UCF</a> named among top tier of research universities - Orlando Sentinel](<a href=“http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-01-19/news/os-ucf-top-research-university-01201120110119_1_ucf-researchers-ucf-team-kevin-belfield]UCF”>http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-01-19/news/os-ucf-top-research-university-01201120110119_1_ucf-researchers-ucf-team-kevin-belfield)</p>

<p>The joint FAMU-FSU College of Engineering is about 80% FSU faculty and students. While personally I think the program should be split, with FAMU doing the HBCU thing and FSU continuing to push for national engineering competitiveness.</p>

<p>I’d not worry. Especially when the student-faculty ratio is involved in the analysis.</p>

<p>Current Student-Faculty Ratio:
FSU: 22 to 1
USF: 27 to 1
UCF: 30 to 1</p>

<p>Plus, FSU’s president is pushing to hire more faculty and give 9% raises to existing faculty.</p>

<p>FSU President Barron says this about access to FSU:

See: [Barron:</a> Higher Tuition Won’t Affect Access for Financially Needy Students](<a href=“http://www.wctv.tv/news/headlines/102881684.html?ref=684]Barron:”>http://www.wctv.tv/news/headlines/102881684.html?ref=684)</p>