I’m still a Junior so I’m going to be browsing through several colleges over the next few months, but I’ve had a question that’s been bugging me for a while. I’ve always wanted to go move to a metropolitan area like Tampa/Orlando, but the schools there aren’t as “good” as UF. What exactly does UF’s ranking really mean compared to other Florida schools? I mean, what do they even use to rank?
Is it the professor quality? That seems pretty hard to judge. There are so many factors that need to be considered.
The amount of funding it receives? That doesn’t seem like a very good way to measure how good a university is, though I agree it does matter to an extent.
Does UF have more job opportunities? I’ve always thought that employers didn’t really care about which college you went to and cared more about experience, and if that’s the case, wouldn’t being in a larger city with more internship slots available be more beneficial?
Sometimes I hear people say “Oh, ____ has a really strong business/engineering/law/etc. program compared to _____”
Does this simply just mean that there are more internship/job connections associated with that university compared to the other one?
All 12 schools charge about the same for tuition. However, the better ranked ones have better students (which means the classes can be taught with more rigor), better faculty (higher paid, better credentials, more successful in research…), better facilities, better reputation (employers do know that the high ranked schools have better students and faculty), better support services (career resource centers, etc.), and on and on…
It’s a question of balancing “rankings”, with cost and fit. UF may be higher ranked than UCF, but UCF may offer far more in merit aid, and be a better “fit” for a student than UF.
Rankings (and everyone has their own system…) is just one factor to consider.
Some rankings take into account the percentage of tenured professors as a metric. You want a higher percentage of tenured professors because they will be around to give you letters of recommendation when you are looking for a job or at grad school, and they will have better connections in industry and academia to help you out. A LOR from an adjunct professor who jumps from campus to campus is not nearly as helpful.
The amount of research funding certainly matters if you are a science major. Undergraduate lab experience is an important criteria for deciding who gets into med school, graduate school or employment at a company doing scientific research. The more research money per student a university has, the more opportunities for undergraduate research.
Yes. My spouse worked at a Big 4 accounting company in Chicago, and they would only recruit at certain regional Big 10 schools. UIUC and Indiana were the major targets, with Wisconsin and Notre Dame as secondary targets. They would not recruit at DePaul, UIC or Loyola even though these schools had campuses right in downtown Chicago. Their consulting arm would primarily recruit at Northwestern and Chicago, and occasionally Notre Dame and UIUC.
UF is one of the best schools in the southeast, and recruiting for Gator grads is regional, not just in their hometowns like you might find at some of the other Florida public schools.
Once you get your first job, the name on the undergraduate degree becomes much less important. However, in terms of getting a better quality first job, going to the better quality school helps you get a better start.
Also, while it is easier to get internships in a larger city, many UF students get internships over the summer in their hometowns.