I am currently debating between these two colleges for CS undergrad as they are both instate and I will get free tuition to both.
UCF will be all around cheaper because they give more merit based scholarships and I can commute. I’m also leaning towards UCF because of its strong programming team(I have been a big fan of competitive programming my entire high school career) and I prefer its location. It also helps that going to UCF will get me significantly more AP and dual enrollment credit towards my CS major and could allow me to easily graduate in 2 years with a math minor compared to 3 at UF without a minor.
The only thing UF really has going for it is its prestige and the higher ranked Computer Science program.
I really want to get a Masters or even a PHD at a top grad school like Stanford or MIT, but my dad is convinced that attending UCF over UF would make it completely impossible to attend these schools. If it would hurt my chances so greatly I will have to reconsider my decision, but from what I have read online undergrad research and GPA matters far more than the attended university in grad school admissions. Would attending UCF over UF affect my chances for grad school that much?