<p>I have been accepted to both these schools, but I'm having a hard time deciding between them. My two majors are economics and geography. I know UT Austin is renowned for its economics program more so than Florida, but which university has a better geography department?<br>
My other preferences are a safe campus, warm weather year round, and a university that is good for internships. So which university would you help me pick based on these preferences and my choices of major?</p>
<p>The schools are comparable. UT might have a little better reputation. Florida is getting better. Austin as a state capitol and a bigger city, probably has better internships. If you want a more city feel go to UT. Better weather go to Fl. You did well getting in to both. Good Luck with your decision.</p>
<p>yea texas gets cold and stays cold for a couple months, so the weather here isnt all that great. It really depends on where you plan on working, but then again if you goin to grad school then its not going to matter. I suggest you look at cost and figure out which school you will be better at in the long run.</p>
<p>The strength of the geography program doesn’t really matter, because a lot of geography majors either don’t get jobs that have anything to do with geography or go to grad school, and neither program is going to look particularly elite to academia or employers, so the better one is pretty much just going to be the one at the school you like more.</p>
<p>However, for economics it is a different story and the economics program at UT is definitely better than that of Florida. The job opportunities will be greater at UT for an economics major for sure.</p>
<p>Quite frankly, I don’t know how Florida is “tied” with UT for overall ranking because I’ve yet to see a single individual program of Florida’s even be ranked similarly to one at UT.</p>
<p>By the way, if you are considering Florida, are you an in-state student? If so, I know there are some awesome scholarships that practically make college free if you’re a decent student in high school, and if you’re just going to do liberal arts, it wouldn’t be worth paying out-of-state tuition for UT where the elite programs are almost all in the technical and vocational majors.</p>
<p>i think that if you are goin to work in florida you will get the job coming out of florida as opposed to coming out of texas.</p>
<p>I’m from New Hampshire, so out of state for both the universities.</p>
<p>well both schools have good Football teams, has either school offered you a scholarship?</p>
<p>UT is stronger overall, but not enough so to warrant too much extra money.</p>
<p>Have you visited? I could never live in Florida (too flat and too hot), but your mileage may vary.</p>
<p>No, I haven’t visited either.</p>
<p>well in that case whichever you visit first will probably be the one you go 2, i suggest you go to both over spring break. either way both schools are great</p>
<p>These schools are so even, it should come down to feel.</p>
<p>Both schools are ranked 15th best public university by US News. They are similar because they are large party schools with great sports.</p>
<p>Main difference: Austin is a better city than Gainesville.
[Gainesville</a>, Florida - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gainesville,_Florida]Gainesville”>Gainesville, Florida - Wikipedia)
[Austin</a>, Texas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin,_Texas]Austin”>Austin, Texas - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>would u rather be a longhorn or a gator</p>
<p>The Econ program at UT is excellent.</p>
<p>My oldest son graduated from UF last year with an economics degree, my middle son is a junior at UT, and my youngest will be at UT in the fall.</p>
<p>Honestly, both schools are awesome and you will have a great college experience at either one. </p>
<p>From a “feel” standpoint, Gainesville reminds me of Austin 20 years ago. It is a really cool college town with a vibrant historic downtown area full of cool clubs, coffee houses and restaurants. Gainesville is surrounded by beautiful park land complete with hiking, boating (but watch out for gators), and campgrounds, then about a 2 hour drive either east or west will take you to some of the most beautiful beaches you’ve ever seen. The entire town caters to the college, much like Austin used to. Imagine a town with 100000 people, 50000 of which are between the age of 19 and 23 and all leave during the summer. Every shop, every restaurant, everything caters to the students and faculty. My oldest son called it “The Bubble”. He absolutely LOVED it! Obviously, college sports was huge - in his 4 years there, UF won 2 football championships and 2 basketball championships - if you go on youtube you can see the victory celebrations on University Ave. It was amazing! You will find every type of person imagineable, but ALL of them are proud to be Florida Gators and part of the Gator Nation. </p>
<p>As for employment, he used the career center wisely (I cannot stress the importance of that enough no matter where you end up!) and got a job in banking in Jacksonville - hired by Gator alums. The Gator Nation is strong and they like to hire their own, kind of like Aggies 
</p>
<p>Downside for me is that he is now a Floridian, bought a house 3 blocks from the beach, and he’s never coming back to Texas. Upside is that I have a great place to visit on vacations :)</p>
<p>As for UT: What can you say about being a student in Austin?!! It is awesome! Great college atmosphere, but set in the coolest city in Texas. The music scene is unmatched, the restaurants are varied and plentiful, and you’ll find anything to fit your tastes. The student body, like UF is diverse beyond belief, so you’ll find “your people”. The surroundings are incredible - Town Lake, Zilker Park, Enchanted Rock, etc. etc. Austin is AMAZING! The sports teams are A+ and excel in all disciplines. Academics are A+. Career placement is A+, but just as in Florida, it’s going to be strongest in Texas. </p>
<p>A downside to Austin is that it has gotten so huge. It’s no longer the “college town” that it used to be, and unfortunately, the city planners have not done a good job keeping up with the growth (I think they are hoping if they ignore all the new residents, they’ll go away), so the traffic is TERRIBLE! But, as long as you stay near campus and downtown, it’s not so much of an issue - stay off I-35, it is packed 24 hours a day!!</p>
<p>So my advice to you is think hard about where you want to eventually reside. It’s not like your degree will be worthless outside of Texas or Florida, but it will be worth more, in terms of alumni recruiting within the state.</p>
<p>Good luck - you will be happy either place.</p>
<p>way to go, ag54.</p>
<p>i don’t think anyone can give a better perspective.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone SO MUCH for all your advice, especially ag54…</p>
<p>Whenever I visit my folks in Austin, I’m AMAZED at the traffic! And we used to pull right up in the parking lot to see the Zilker Park Christmas Tree. Now you have to wait in a LONG line of cars and you don’t park anywhere near it. That’s one reason I like Maine - “traffic jam” means waiting through one cycle of street lights! Well, except for coastal Route One during the summer, but that’s just all the tourists who don’t know enough to stay off that road.</p>
<p>nee92, let us know what you pick!!!</p>
<p>I’m always amazed at people who think Austin traffic is bad. I grew up in CA, where it’s normal to be stuck on the Bay Bridge for 2 hours or delayed on I-5 in LA even at 10 pm. It’s true they have not kept up with expanding the roads like they have in Dallas, Houston or San Antonio, and other major metropolitan areas around the country, and I avoid I-35 like the plague, but this is nothing compared to back home.</p>