University of North Florida OR University of FLorida (Gainesville: dorm, job market)

[tangerinepuddle]

Which is better? I have heard rave reviews about the UofF in Gainesville, especially in the sciences, but not much about the Univ of N. Florida in Jax - any grads from either school on here? Thoughts?

[apvbguy]

Originally Posted by tangerinepuddle

Which is better? I have heard rave reviews about the UofF in Gainesville, especially in the sciences, but not much about the Univ of N. Florida in Jax - any grads from either school on here? Thoughts?

it all depends on what you plan to study, and what type of school you want.
UNF has a good medical ( not doctoral) program and a good government administration program while UF has a wider variety of studies. UF is a bit harder to get into than UNF and UF is a larger school that has many more students than UNF.

[Ryde41]

People like UNF for its small class size and personal attention. UNF doesn't have the football/sports atmosphere of Gainesville. If you have the grades and high SAT's I think more people would lean towards Gainesville. That being said, my son is majoring in Business at UNF.

[Ourdreamhouse]

Setting aside the question of which school actually offers the better education, do you put a value on national reputation? If so, there's no comparison: UF is regarded as one of the top public universities in the country, while UNF is almost unheard of. The SAT scores at UF are very high; i don't know what they are at UNF.

That said, when my son was deciding what college to attend, he turned down a full scholarship at UF to attend an urban university in the Northeast. I think he made the right decision.

[tangerinepuddle]

Reputation doesn't matter as much to me - what matters is the sort of education I'm going to get. I'm more concerned with a school's reputation once I move on to graduate studies - and considering UF is in Gainesville, (small) I'd probably have a hard time finding a decent job vs. finding one in Jax. I have to work while attending.

[vdecapio]

I am sure you could find a part time job in Gainesville. Everyone I know who goes to UF loves it there and never wants to leave. The problem is they have to leave because there are few high-paying jobs there.

I know you said rep isn't very important to you know, but it can do nothing but help you. Oftentimes, finding a job is not about what you know, but who you know and what school you went to. When job application reviewees see fellow alumni, it jumps out at them...builds an instant sense of trust/friendship. I am guessing there are more UF alumni than UNF alumni (depending on field). Also, your chances of finding a job nationally are much better with the UF name than the UNF name.

In summary, most of your value on the job market will come from the value of the school and its name.....at least for entry level positions.

[apvbguy]

not to hijack this but my son was just accepted at FSU, any insights on that school? he applied their after visiting UF at gainsville and wasn't bowled over by the place

[Ourdreamhouse]

Originally Posted by apvbguy

not to hijack this but my son was just accepted at FSU, any insights on that school? he applied their after visiting UF at gainsville and wasn't bowled over by the place

I can only offer advice that may be out of date (my younger son graduated from high school in 2001) or based on indirect information. (I visited UF once and have never been to FSU).

Both UF and FSU will suffer from the popular nationwide perception that all schools in Florida are football-dominated party schools, not serious academic institutions. UF is beginning to overcome that perception somewhat, but not yet FSU, IMO.

Much depends on what your son wants out of college, and where he might like to go afterwards. If he's ambitious for a career in high finance, the national mainstream media, marketing, or academia, many in the Northeast and Mid-west will discount a degree from FSU. It may not be fair or accurate, but the perception is there.

My personal belief is that the best colleges are small, liberal-arts schools, not huge universities. (Unfortunately, my sons didn't agree with me, and both went to large, urban universities -- where they were very happy. Good schools, but they wouldn't have been my choice.)

Recent studies show that approximately half of college learning comes from in-and out of-classroom interaction with other students, not from teachers. If the majority of a school's students doesn't take education and learning seriously, you son won't get nearly as much out of his college experience.

UF has an Honors Program which is run somewhat apart from the regular classes. If he's determined to go to a school in Florida, that or Rollins College might be his best bets.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Our son, who is a very happy freshman at FSU, has a couple of friends at UNF who are content there. He has another friend at Flagler (smaller, private college in St Augustine) who is leaving after this year (too many rich snobby kids, he says.) That kid is a math major who hopes to enter UF in the fall. Flagler was probably not a good fit for him.

One of FSU's strategies for dealing with its huge size is its Living/Learning Communities Kids with similar majors live together in the same dorm and study/learn together.

Our kid was interested in Rollins (private). It sounds like a great school. But we simply could not afford it, (his Bright Futures scholarship would not have helped all that much at all with Rollins).

[apvbguy]

Originally Posted by cil

Our son, who is a very happy freshman at FSU, has a couple of friends at UNF who are content there. He has another friend at Flagler (smaller, private college in St Augustine) who is leaving after this year (too many rich snobby kids, he says.) That kid is a math major who hopes to enter UF in the fall. Flagler was probably not a good fit for him.

One of FSU's strategies for dealing with its huge size is its Living/Learning Communities Kids with similar majors live together in the same dorm and study/learn together.

Our kid was interested in Rollins (private). It sounds like a great school. But we simply could not afford it, (his Bright Futures scholarship would not have helped all that much at all with Rollins).

FSU does seem like a typical large public school, it isn't his #1 choice, but they were the first school to accept him, we are now waiting for the other schools letters.

if he does choose to attend FSU, I think he'd do fine there. His biggest impediment is that almost 90% of the students are FLA residents and he's from NJ, so there may be a bit of an acclimation period he'll need to deal with, plus he'll have the usual issues all freshmen encounter.
We'll just have to wait and see how it plays out