<p>I am a Florida high school senior who due to financial reasons must stay in-state for my undergraduate education. I am planning on going to graduate school in the future and I don't want to be covered in debt before then.</p>
<p>I am a dual-enrollment student who will be graduating with an Associates degree, but I'm still unsure of what I plan to major in so I don't want to transfer into college as a junior</p>
<p>my stats:
3.76 uw gpa/ 5.29 wgpa</p>
<p>4.0 college gpa</p>
<p>28 act composite</p>
<h1>5 in my class</h1>
<p>lots of ECs and volunteer work with leadership ability clearly demonstrated</p>
<p>I have Florida pre-paid tuition only and 100% bright futures</p>
<p>WHICH FLORIDA PUBLIC INSTITUTION SHOULD I CHOOSE FOR MY UNDERGRAD EDUCATION?</p>
<p>my choices:</p>
<p>UCF (have already been accepted)</p>
<p>UF (not really a big fan of uf...)</p>
<p>FSU (same as above)</p>
<p>USF </p>
<p>UWF (can get a full ride to this one and can get into the honors program as well, but it's a tier 2 school...)</p>
<p>NEW COLLEGE (I really adore new college's eccentricity and learning for learning's sake philosophy)</p>
<p>UNF (I'm a Jacksonville native, but unf doesn't seem much better than a community college to me...)</p>
<p>My sister attends UCF and took a few Anthropology classes and almost changed her major from event management to anthropology (big change, I know lol). She said the professors really went in-depth and were interesting to listen to. </p>
<p>I’m not sure about New College’s anthropology department, you should do some research, but if you want more 1-on-1 attention you should seriously consider it (there are tens of thousands of students at UCF so class sizes are always quite large).</p>
<p>Have you considered going to an OOS private school? They give way more financial aid than publics, especially the ones that meet full need (google Project on Student Debt and pick the third link down “Financial Aid Pledges”). You could pocket your pre-paid money to pay for whatever the school won’t cover. Of course that’s assuming you’re family income is under 60,000. I’m in a very similar situation as you and that’s what I’m doing (except I don’t have pre-paid).</p>
<p>OP, if you can get into New College, pack your things and go! It’s the best public school for undergrad in Florida. And, it helps that the campus is gorgeous.</p>
<p>My daughter minored in Anthropology at UF. She loved the anthropology department at UF. Go visit each school and see if you can sit in on a basic Anthropology class. Get a feel for the differences between the schools.</p>
<p>Just out of curiosity, what is it about UF that is so off-putting? Size? Big-time sports?<br>
I can understand if you are just not feeling it, but I’ve heard the anthoropology program is excellent and more importantly, if you change your mind about your major in the next few years (fairly likely for most undergraduates) you have lots of other good options.</p>
<p>I know from personal experience that if you ever want to leave the state of Florida, you will benefit from having a degree from a school with some national recognition and right now, that’s pretty much limited to UF and FSU (with UCF just starting to emerge).</p>
<p>I think you owe it to yourself to at least visit and give it a chance, if you haven’t done so yet.</p>
<p>I would go to the college you “adore” instead of focusing on a major you’re “thinking” about. New College will have great all around educational opportunities. It is probably the best public small liberal-arts school in the country and a bargain for Florida residents.</p>
<p>^ I think William and Mary alumns may take issue with that. New College is pretty counter-culture and offers a very nontraditional educational experience…certainly not the right choice for a large cross-section of students. It could be exactly the right choice. Or it could be a horrendous choice depending on the student. The OP really needs to think about this carefully before committing to a NC education to make sure it is a good fit.</p>
<p>Rogracer, W&M is one of the best public schools in the country. But it is medium sized (5-6K undergrads) and does not advertise itself as a public LAC like New College or UNC-Ashville.</p>
<p>I “despise” Boca Raton because of its pretentious atmosphere…I’ve run into a lot of snobby people everytime I’ve ventured down there…I’m sure that there are a ton of nice down-to-earth folk there as well and I know that it’s fallacious thinking to stereotype a city like that, but I’ve just had bad experiences there</p>
<p>@joblue,</p>
<p>and as for UF, I just think it’s a tad overrated…I don’t find being taught by TAs appealing & I don’t want to be just another one in the crowd and struggle to get the classes that I need (and plus, I don’t really like Gainesville all that much…too far from the water)</p>