Florida Gulf Coast University (Cape Coral, Gainesville: real estate, credit, home)

[redsoxfan3]

I am currently attending Ohio State University. I am a freshman and 19 years old. I want to transfer to Florida Gulf Coast Univervsity. Obviously I will have to pay for out-of-state tuition, but I will be living with my aunt and uncle that live in the Cape if I happen to transfer there. I know costs will be about $20,000 since I won't have to pay for room & board. My parents are concerned with the cost and are not sure if it is really worth it. I am just trying to see if FGCU is a good college and would be worth to go to. I have always wanted to move to Florida since I was younger. I have stayed in Florida for two months one summer to see if I really wanted to move there and to get the point of view of the non-tourist perspective. Florida seems like a good place for me to move, even with the bad economy and the high unemployment rates. So, I guess my question is, is FGCU really worth attending and paying the out-of-state tuition rates?

[Kuota]

Check this site.

Florida Gulf Coast University (StudentsReview) - College Reviews Summary, Student Opinion, Tuition, Application, Sports

[redsoxfan3]

Thanks, that helped give me some students opinions. Has anyone at this site attended or know someone that has attended FGCU? If so, did you or the other person like it their?

Also, I know the job market in Fort Myers is bad. Is there still jobs that students can get pretty easily?

[RMD3819]

My daughter goes to college in Fort Myers (not FGCU). She is working part time-for now-but the student job market is horrible.

[tjstrain]

There are tons of restaurants and other mall stores within minutes of FGCU. Always seeing help wanted signs in the windows. maybe they just are building up a backlog of applications for when times get better.???? If your gonna be commuting from the Cape, I'd expect to plan on a "maybe" HOUR commute to and from during rush hour due to the snowbirds in season. I was only 5 miles away from my home yesterday (2:30 pm) and it took me 30 minutes due to traffic and snowbirds, no accident! I live close to FGCU
Come down for a few weeks and check out the area, school and job market.

[GatorDog]

It's a good school. My daughter graduated from there last May and is now in Law School at UF in Gainesville.

Job market for students suck down here right now.

[ricangirlz8]

im getting ready to attend fgcu and i love it there. i love the campus and the enviromnet.theyre still building so it will get bigger, but for now, its a good size. a gorgeous brand new campus and nice people.... youll just have to weigh your personal pros and cons.

[LS2009]

The college of business at fgcu is aacsb accredited so that would be worth the $. I am not sure about the other programs. The campus is new and very beautiful. However, the job market here is terrible so I would move to a larger city to start a career after graduation. Also, the commute from cape coral would be a headache.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by redsoxfan3

I am currently attending Ohio State University. I am a freshman and 19 years old. I want to transfer to Florida Gulf Coast Univervsity. Obviously I will have to pay for out-of-state tuition, but I will be living with my aunt and uncle that live in the Cape if I happen to transfer there. I know costs will be about $20,000 since I won't have to pay for room & board. My parents are concerned with the cost and are not sure if it is really worth it. I am just trying to see if FGCU is a good college and would be worth to go to. I have always wanted to move to Florida since I was younger. I have stayed in Florida for two months one summer to see if I really wanted to move there and to get the point of view of the non-tourist perspective. Florida seems like a good place for me to move, even with the bad economy and the high unemployment rates. So, I guess my question is, is FGCU really worth attending and paying the out-of-state tuition rates?

No. It is not worth paying out-of-state tuition. It is not prestigious so why pay all that money?

As an employer I would second-guess your motives and I would be correct because although you have "always wanted to live (in Florida)" not once did you mention the curriculum, a program, etc. In fact, you had to come onto City-Data to check if the school was "worth it", instead of doing academic research.

If I were your mother I wouldn't pay for you to go there. You want to attend for all the wrong reasons.

[loillon892]

Originally Posted by redsoxfan3

I am currently attending Ohio State University. I am a freshman and 19 years old. I want to transfer to Florida Gulf Coast Univervsity. Obviously I will have to pay for out-of-state tuition, but I will be living with my aunt and uncle that live in the Cape if I happen to transfer there. I know costs will be about $20,000 since I won't have to pay for room & board. My parents are concerned with the cost and are not sure if it is really worth it. I am just trying to see if FGCU is a good college and would be worth to go to. I have always wanted to move to Florida since I was younger. I have stayed in Florida for two months one summer to see if I really wanted to move there and to get the point of view of the non-tourist perspective. Florida seems like a good place for me to move, even with the bad economy and the high unemployment rates. So, I guess my question is, is FGCU really worth attending and paying the out-of-state tuition rates?

I don't know all of the factors in your particular situation. But FGCU is not a good university. Ohio State is one of the best public universities in the nation, more or less on par with schools like Illinois Urbana-Champaign, UF, Texas at Austin, and Penn State. FGCU is a very new school and they are not prestigious; they are poorly ranked and virtually unknown outside of Florida. Some of their programs have not even been accredited yet.

Now, of course, you could get a good education at just about any school, and my comments are certainly not meant to disparage FGCU students, many of whom are intelligent and very hard-working. But is it worth it to transfer from a far better university where you're paying in-state tuition, to one of Florida's lower-ranked universities where tuition for you will be much higher?

Additionally, the Fort Myers - Cape Coral area has been one of the national epicenters of the real estate meltdown. That area has one of the highest unemployment rates in Florida.

Just my thoughts. I can understand the desire to want to live in Florida - I live in South Florida but grew up in the Midwest - but I think your best bet would be to stay put, for now, and graduate from OSU.