Why UM when accepted at UF

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Florida
1

<p>Please help me & our son in making a case either for U Miami or U Florida.</p>

<ul>
<li>In state student</li>
<li>Got in UF and also in UM Business School without any Scholarship.</li>
<li>Have 100% Fl Bright Futures</li>
<li>Have Fl Prepaid covering 4 yrs of Fl state school Tuition & 1 yr Dorm.</li>
<li>Keen Sports enthusiast, do not any loyalties to Hurricanes or Gators at this Point.</li>
<li>Middle to High class family financially. Have 529 saved up for a Private 4yrs College.</li>
<li>Want to eventually do Law, but not sure yet</li>
</ul>

<p>So some facts & some gathered assumptions are-</p>

<ul>
<li>University of Miami</li>
</ul>

<p>$ 50k a year x 4 = $ 200k
Smaller classes & some personal attention
Geographically diverse & multilingual student body
He will have to take loans for Law school as by then all saved up money will be spent.
He is not sure but the hearsay is "Some are rich & stuck up kids & "Nothing but Designer Clothes ".
I am not sure about this also, but it seems like the peers will be a tad less academically prepared than UF as some of my school friends got into Miami but not into UF.
A good percentage of the pre professional students go to Professional Schools.
I know this year's higher US News ranking than UF.
Hurricane Games at times are not sold out, school spirit ?</p>

<p>--- University of Florida - </p>

<p>Already paid up 4yrs tuition & 1 yr Dorm & I understand all left over Fl Bright Futures money will be deposited in student's bank.
Keep the saved up money for Law School & come out a debt free attorney.
Like many large state schools - Large classes, some are taking online classes, teach yourself with the help of Teaching Assistants while in lower classes.
The peers are 90% from Fl, mostly 4.0 GPA, economically diverse and down to earth.
Every Gator game is sold out.
Till last year had the leading US news rank in Florida schools.</p>

<p>We will appreciate any & all opinions</p>

2

<p>Erm… I did not know and still do not think “extra” Bright Futures money goes into the student’s bank account. I believe bright futures only pays for TUITION, not any other personal expenses. Bright Futures goes straight to the college, you never even see the money.</p>

3

<p>Sounds like UF is the way to go. UM is not worth 50k a year if you can go to UF (as good, if not better) than Miami.</p>

<p>Save tour money for Law School. Be a Gator.</p>

4

<p>Some comments on UM:</p>

<p>I’ve heard the same things about the student body that you have, but can’t validate them either. I’ve also heard that, while Miami is a great place to visit, it’s overrated as a place to live. UM will have smaller classes, because they are private and more expensive. It’s school spirit is alright, and sort of reflects it’s performance in many major sports in the recent past (good, but not spectacular). [Don’t get me wrong, UM has been REALLY good before, I know.]</p>

<p>Some comments on UF:</p>

<p>Many (a majority of) students from UF are as you described them; however, it does have it’s share of stuck-up people. As you described though, the student body is a pretty wide diversification of people from all over Florida, most of them pretty down to earth. The school spirit is INSANE, and the sports programs are the same, the best you will see in Florida. The classes are much larger than UM, but it’s a larger, public school, which is to be expected. </p>

<p>Some things to consider:</p>

<p>It would be AWESOME for your son to come out a debt-free lawyer - my parents and I don’t have much saved up personally, only the 100% Bright Futures and a small local scholarship or two. I’m worried about how to pay for the rest of my education, and the thought of getting all the way through grad school without financial worries is amazing!</p>

<p>As you’ve probably already identified, the academics aren’t what sets the schools apart from one another; they’re both good schools, and both will give your son a great education. The quality of peers is important, but you’ll most likely find the same types of students in the same ratios in each school (both the good and the bad). What matters in terms of his peers is the people your son chooses to surround himself with, and be influenced by.</p>

<p>Miami is a huge metropolitan area, and as you said, is diverse and multilingual. This can either work out great, or be a confusing culture shock for a while. There is, however, much opportunity to be had in Miami. It is a college built inside a city, rather than a city built around a college, and that has many effects on campus life, such as transportation and housing when not in a dorm. Many things become a more “city” experience. </p>

<p>Gainesville is, without a doubt, a college town. This is good in that the town focuses, in a large part (though not holistically) on the college life, making many things easier. This can also be viewed as a negative, however, as you might find it doesn’t have all the benefits a larger city has. Also, will be quite empty of student during the holidays (which can also be viewed as either a positive or negative).</p>

<p>I definitely recommend visiting both cities (and campuses!) before a final decision.</p>

<p>Lastly, make sure your son goes where he wants, which is not necessarily what might be the ABSOLUTE best for the future. College isn’t only about the education, it’s about the experience and personal growth. And with these two schools, you’ll get a great education either way. There’s always that gut feeling, both before and after you weigh the pros and cons of each school: Follow that! It’s another deciding factor.</p>

<p>*Disclaimer: I’ve recently been accepted to and plan to attend UF, so this may be biased. Also, it’s kind of long; Sorry! :)</p>

<p>P.S. I don’t know what you mean by “all left over Fl Bright Futures money will be deposited in student’s bank,” but I’m fairly certain this is inaccurate. Bright Futures, as far as I know, is applied to tuition and doled out per semester hour; you don’t get to keep what you don’t use, you have to give it back (or you just never get it). I would recommend using as much Bright Futures as you can, and use that nest egg for everything else, instead of the other way around. That way, extra money!</p>

5

<p>@ AlvinUF:</p>

<p>Thats not true at all. If there is money left over after everything is paid for, you get money in the bank. This usually isn’t something people have to worry about, but people with prepaid, for instance, usually do get some money back (especially if they live off campus).</p>

<p>@ OP:</p>

<p>I’m glad that you recognize UF to be the academically superior school; it is true that the ‘average’ student at UF is of a slightly higher caliber than at UM. But thats only marginally so–UF is very large, and you can meet a lot of really smart people and sort of only hang out with those people, but you’re also able to get very involved with people on the ‘lower’ end of the spectrum, however you define it, and not challenge yourself. Really what that means is that if you want to get involved with more ambitious people, its probably easier at UF.</p>

<p>In terms of the education you get, again, marginal is the key work. The difference in your understanding of the material is probably negligible. There is reasonably strong evidence to show that students who attend public flagship universities tend to earn more than those who attend other public schools, which is sort of unfair but shown in the evidence. Thats a plus for UF. (I’d link the source, but its not worth my time to find; a paper written by a UF graduate shows this with data from an ‘anonymous’ state university system).</p>

<p>So if the differences academically aren’t very great, what are the differences?</p>

<p>1) UF is much cheaper, as you know. Its not worth any amount of money to attend UM’s business school over UF’s business schools (particularly in finance), unless you plan on spending your entire career in Miami. Theres just no justification thats ever crossed my mind.</p>

<p>2) UM has smaller classes. If your student took AP gen eds, this isn’t really an issue. Almost all of my hard classes are in classrooms with 50 people or less (2 of my classes are under 30). online classes are very well organized and streamlined to ensure student success, and tutoring and TA’s are available all hours of the day. the only classes with large in class populations are typically lectures that break out into smaller classes with TA’s who review the material once a week. it really is not an issue; i’ve NEVER heard someone complain about a class size being too big. big classes and small classes are 98% lecture and questions are encouraged.</p>

<p>3) school spirit. i’ve seen the miami stadium. its embarrassing how empty is is during home games. this year was pretty embarrassing for the gator nation though too; 3/4 of the stadium went from packed to empty things started going south in the miss state and south carolina games. but i’d still rather by a gators fan over a miami fan. the games are always sold out, and the entire town is flooded with gator spirit. NOTHING happens on game day except gator football. if you’re concerned about it being sold out, student tickets almost never go over $30. Definitely worth it.</p>

<p>other comparisons could be made, and i’m obviously very bias, but i don’t understand why some people prefer UM to UF. its a very similar package, but in a more rural area and with a bigger football team. the differences really are negligible–its about pride, comfort, and money. i think UF offers a better option in 2 of the 3, with comfort being something that differs from person to person.</p>

6

<p>Thanks AlvinUF, jcold9, KGator and aforautumn for your very informative posts, I really appreciate it.
Yes, that was news to me when I read the Posts from this same site about the BF money coming back. I believe first the Fl Prepaid money is charged for tuition & the Dorms including food. Then when the BF money comes in, the remaining misc fees are paid & the remaining are transferred on line to your Bank account.</p>

<p>Thanks again for your well thought out & well written posts. Yes going back to these schools for a day or so may help him some, in deciding which way to go. The 3rd option FSU Honors is still lurking in the back of his mind.</p>

<p>Best Wishes</p>

7

<p>disneydoc take it from another dad, send your son to Gainesville. You cannot begin to compare the quality of life and the atmosphere at UF over UM. I live in Miami and travel by UM all the time. it happens to be right next to US1 the busiest non exway corridor in South Florida. Most of the students at UM live at home. While only 7500 at UF live on campus all 50,000 live within 5 miles of campus. Making Gainesville a real college town.</p>

<p>FYI my son was offered a $96,000 scholarship from UM. He could live at home and we would only pay $13,000 per year. I told him that it was his decision. It took him about 20 minutes to decide for UF. Now Ga Tech wants him and they are going to have to come up with some big time scholarship money. He likes Ga Tech. But he also realizes that the atmosphere and college LIFE at UF is going to be 1000 times better than at either Ga Tech or UM.</p>

<p>You have to let you son make up his own mind. At least that is the way I look at it. But if you can pursuade him in any direction? UF is the way to go. No doubt about it.</p>

8

<p>Thanks Gator4ever,</p>

<p>He is looking towards UF right now, let us see how long that lasts. Thanks for your input.</p>

<p>Regards</p>

9

<p>He Chose UF & paid the Housing Deposit. Let us hope things work out for him in Gainesville.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone for your valuable input.</p>

<p>Regards</p>

10

<p>I posted this same question in the UMiami blog, but I’m looking for a UF response as well. I was just accepted to both schools, and received a $20k scholarship to attend Miami and their Business School. Obviously, Miami is still more expensive then UF. Why should I go to UF over Miami, especially when it comes down in comparing the two business schools? I’m considering both avidly.</p>

<p>What do you guys think?</p>

11

<p>Miami’s business school is not better than the business college at the university of Florida.</p>

<p>The if it is determined that money is not a significant issue, then a decision should be determined by personal preference. If money is a major factor, then go the UF.</p>

<p>Miami offers no significant academic advantages over UF. UF, if better, is only marginally so. I can say that if you like football, UF is a much better school to go to overall when you’re comparing these two schools.</p>