<p>The U.S. News and World Report states that University of Tampa (UT) has a 73.5% freshmen retention rate. There are approximately 500 students in the School of Business. My DS turned down Providence College, Bentley, Bryant, College of Charleston and High Point. This school has been a great fit for him. He has been challenged
academically, has made great friends and has taken advantage of the all the activities the school and the city of Tampa has to offer.</p>
<p>Thank you… that is very helpful. My son is deciding between Ithaca and UT…I know…polar extremes. He wants Tampa for the lifestyle and programs…not sure if he is interested in Business or Marine Biology, but loved the Ithaca campus and feel when we went there. Interesting…similar number of students, but Ithaca seems to be a much bigger campus.</p>
<p>WOW!! Polar extremes exactly. I am guessing you’re from Boston. I think the flight from Logan to Tampa is about 3 1/2 hours…the drive to Ithaca…Hmmm? 
Of course I am biased since we’ve had such a good experience with UT. Good luck with your decisions.</p>
<p>I visited UT a few weeks ago and I loved it! Their Honors Program sounds good and so does their Forensic dept.</p>
<p>Bostonmom3 - - what’s the difference b/w “lifestyle” and “feel?” I hear what you’re saying about Ithaca having a larger campus than Tampa, but what other diferences in campus life, lifestyle or feel did your S observe or experience?</p>
<p>Hi - We would love to hear your travel tips from the Northeast to UT. It’s a different experience sending d #2 so far and we’d like to fly down and “get her stuff” in FL - since we are familiar with the area and have a car once down there. Has anyone ever gotten those linen packages?
Thanks for your advice!</p>
<p>I have heard that the linen packages are decent but my D did not like the color choices. (typical :)) We just bought our supplies at Marshalls, TJ Maxx etc. We did “rent” the micro-fridge instead of buying one down there. It worked out fine and next year my son is living with roomates who already have them.</p>
<p>I see that your post in from April, but I thought I would respond just in case you are still making a decision. I have a daughter that is a freshman marine bio major at UT and a niece that is a junior at Ithaca. They are indeed VERY different. If you are still making a decision and want an additional perspective let me know:)</p>
<p>My daughter has been accepted to Tampa, JMU and College of Charleston…We live in the northeast so any of those schools will involve traveling. Tampa is the only school that will be a direct flight for us though…we are visiting this weekend. I hear very mixed things about Tampa. Any input on any of the 3 schools would be appreciated!
Thanks!</p>
<p>I was recently accepted into the University of Tampa. I’m from CT and desperately trying to escape the NE winters. The pictures of the campus look great, and I’m planning on visiting the school in a few weeks. Can anyone please tell me what the chances of getting good housing are? I sent in my deposit and housing request and I cannot imagine living in McKay Hall or Smiley Hall from what I have heard from other students. Can anyone please tell me what campus/residence life is like? How long it takes to get from one side of the campus to the other? Activities, clubs, beach accessibility. Clearwater beach is gorgeous and I plan on getting out there as much as possible. Do I need a car? How much spending money should I have in my account? I should have about $3,000 from working all summer and want to know if this is enough for expenses outside tuition, residence and school costs.</p>
<p>My d is from ME–got good $ to UT–wanted to go to Miami, like her sisiter, but did not get $. I am worried about the low retention rate, compared to UM and her other acceptances–any ideas on that?</p>
<p>Safety concerns at the University of Tampa have not helped the retention rate:</p>
<p>[Another</a> robbery rekindles safety concerns at University of Tampa - St. Petersburg Times](<a href=“http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/another-robbery-rekindles-safety-concerns-at-university-of-tampa/1076628]Another”>http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/another-robbery-rekindles-safety-concerns-at-university-of-tampa/1076628)</p>
<p>I’m sure there are many factors, but I think the retention rate is more reflective of UT being somewhat less selective in admissions than anything else.</p>
<p>Hi,
My d is a freshman at UT, we’re from NJ and her friends are either from NE or NJ,NY. Happy to answer any questions for you .</p>
<p>My D was accepted into UT and is seriously considering it, but I also have been worried about the retention rate as well as the “reputation” that it enjoys academically. We will be visiting the campus for a second time this Sunday to attend an Honors Program reception and the open house. I can tell you that we really loved the school when we first visited it in D’s junior year. The dorms are just beautiful and the food was great It really looks like a school that is investing a lot in itself and trying to better its reputation. I did not get the impression that it was a “suitcase” school, as some earlier threads suggest.</p>
<p>I’m a current UT student finishing my freshman year, and planning on staying all 4 years before going to grad school (maybe law school).
If anybody got any questions feel free to post them here or send me a PM and I’ll gladly try answer them as promptly and clearly as possible. For now I’ll answer some of the more recent questions in this thread.</p>
<p>About the retention rate: 3 reasons.
- I think the person who mentioned that UT was rather lenient with admissions was correct. What I noticed first semester was that a lot of my peers partied a bit too much and really didn’t care enough to get the grades. A bunch of students and friends got kicked out because they either simply failed all their classes or violated school rules multiple times (drinking/doing drugs on campus). If you plan on attending UT just know that you’re going to have to deal with choosing between work and play quite often, I’m very independent so don’t really have much trouble choosing work before play, but if you can’t do that, then maybe you shouldn’t consider this school. I’m not saying that everyone gets drunk all the time, but drinking is definitely prevalent on campus although it’s called ‘‘a dry campus’’. For example, today is wednesday, but a lot of people are going to go out to party because it’s St. patrick’s day. I wouldn’t worry too much about this though, as long as you care about your grades somewhat you won’t be kicked out of UT, the coursework is not exactly what I’d call all that challenging (at least freshman year).</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Homesickness - A LOT of the students here come from out of state, in fact there’s a lot of international students too. A lot of the guys not from Florida really miss being far away from home and decide that they can’t live without their parents or close friends or whatever. Personally I think this is a pretty stupid reason since I wouldn’t go far away if I knew I might get homesick… but whatever makes people happy I guess. Again, if you’re independent, I really wouldn’t worry about this. (Everybody including me gets homesick once in a while, but getting homesick enough to transfer out of school and go back to your state is a bit extreme imo.)</p></li>
<li><p>Transfer - A lot of students either a) can no longer pay full tuition and transfer to a cheaper school, b) transfer out to a better school because they have been accepted, c) transfer out to another school that is not that much more prestigious or whatnot because they can’t handle points 1 & 2 (they get homesick or they hate being around people who party all the time).</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I personally really like the school, if you pick the right friends, set your priorities straight and are independent/don’t fall to peer pressure easily you should do perfectly fine and perhaps even excel in this school (I think I’m gonna get my first 4.0 this semester in my lifetime LOL!).The campus is great, downtown area is fun and it’s Florida. Oh and one really stupid thing I noticed is that a lot of students transfer out and then want to come back… I mean what kind of student does that (make up your mind???)? Yes, sometimes I do feel a bit smart compared to many of my peers.</p>
<p>About the academic reputation: It’s 1st tier in the South, although I’m not really sure that means anything or not… I’m pretty sure that it’s business and nursing programs are pretty well recognized. I am also sure that UT can get you into any top grad school provided you get the GPA and relevant test score grade (GRE, MCAT, LSAT etc). The Tampa Bay area offers several internships that are up for grabs during junior and senior years (it’s harder to get them earlier, but still possible if you put in an extra effort). I’m not sure what job prospects are straight out of UT though… mainly because I’m planning on going to grad/law school anyways and really am not interested in getting a job straight out of undergrad.</p>
<p>To NewEnglandBorn: 3000$ should be more than enough money unless you want to go on several shopping excursions and top vacations during spring break/thanksgiving. I know people in this school who spend less than 1000$ a year and others who own Benzes and spend upwards of 15,000. I think this goes to show the great diversity that the school offers, you’ll get to interact with so many different people… so be open-minded lol. Cars are not a necessity, it’s a 3$ cab ride to get anywhere from UT to anywhere in downtown tampa. A lot of the time you can hitch a ride with a friend if you need to go further for whatever reason.</p>
<p>Feel free to ask anymore questions, I’ll gladly reply.</p>
<p>Xptboy – great post, thanks for the insight.</p>
<p>Xptboy—Excellent Post!!! It sounds like my son could have written it! He is a second semester sophomore and would agree with everything you’ve written…in fact, you sound just like him except for the law school part. There are many students who love UT and plan on staying for all 4 years.</p>
<p>I’ve read some of the older posts and i’m getting mixed feelings on whether you need a car at the University of Tampa. My daughter is going into her freshman year. Will there be enough on campus for her to do so that she doesn’t need a car. What about working? Would she be able to get an off campus job without a car? Does the public transit system go out to the International Mall, etc… if she tried to get a retail job?
My gut tells me to let her get through the freshman year without a car, but then i don’t want her stranded.</p>
<p>Any advice?</p>
<p>Since UT allows freshmen to have cars (with plenty of parking), many freshman do have them. I am sure your daughter will not feel stranded without a car and will often get rides from friends. I do not know much about the transit system and if she wants to work at the International Mall I think she will need a car. Your idea is good about letting her start the year without a car and see how she manages.</p>