College students - Tampa over Gainesville and Tallahassee? (Miami, Orlando: spring break, unemployment rate)

[Tiger Beer]

This isn't me, but for someone else I know.

But, looking up enrollment, it looks like all the enrollment is about equal for the colleges.
Largest Colleges in Florida (FL) | College Stats.org
Gainesville 52,000 University of Florida
Tampa 45,000 University of South Florida
Tallahassee 44,000 Florida State

There is always a regular debate between Gainesville and Tallahassee. Much of it seems to come down to a general lack of jobs in Gainesville, and generally Tallahassee as well, but to a lesser extent. However, both towns are very well-known as big college towns. But seem to be too small post-college, generally.

I guess my inquiry is, is Tampa/USF really all that significantly different for the college experience? Wouldn't they also have all the same college experiences that a person going to Tallahassee or Gainesville receive? Plus, the added bonus of being in a large metro with more post-college jobs?

What's your take on that...and if not on the college experience angle, how about just from the city/town experience of living in Tallahassee vs Gainesville vs Tampa for a college student? I'd also assume there is just more to do for a college student while in college, plus setting themselves up for post-college jobs.

As I've never lived in any of these three cities/towns in question, maybe there are intangible qualities I just don't know about them however.

[TXRyan23]

City Universities will always have a high enrollment because of the population. UCF in Orlando has an enrollment of over 49,000.

FSU/UF are flagship schools for the state and have tougher and more competitive requirements for admission than USF, UCF, ect, ect.

I've never attended a rural university (although you really can't call FSU a rural university as it sits right in the middle of Tallahassee) Personally, if I had the choice of going to school in Florida, it would be FSU and not just because I'm a Noles fan, I love Tallahassee and the fact that it's close to the best beaches in the world is an added bonus, not to mention how close it is to a pretty good Spring Break area.

Plus...

The Unemployment rate in Alachua County (Gainesville) is 6.3%
The Unemployment rate in Leon County (Tallahassee) is 5.8%
The Unemployment rate in Hillsborough County (Tampa) is 7.9%

After graduation, you can always move to Tampa, Orlando, or Miami, although most I've known personally have always headed off to Atlanta, Charlotte, or Washington.

[Gatornation]

Tallahassee and Gainesville are college towns. USF is more of a commuter school in a big city. There is a big difference in experience.

Companies recruit from the best universities. Most students that come to Gainesville never plan to stay there and work. Someone who goes to USF isn't going to have any advantage over a UF/FSU grad who has to move to Tampa for the job.

Go to the best school you can get into assuming costs are similar.

[wiltznucs]

Some good points made here. I'll only speak to USF as I did my grad studies there.

USF/UCF have high enrollments and this is largely due to their being in major metropolitan areas. Hence, they are labeled "commuter schools" as many if not most students do not live on campus. On the other side of this, USF and UCF have fairly low graduation rates. Some blame this on the schools themselves or their selection process(bringing in perceived lower quality applicants). Maybe this is true to some degree but what I see more at USF than any other college or University that I've been affiliated with is a huge number of full time students that also have full time jobs plus families. I've seen countless students start then "take a semester off" and never return. Life happens I suppose. I'm sure this too is a byproduct of being a major University in a metropolitan environment. I'd imagine UCF has a very similar composition. I can say with absolute confidence that the overall quality of education offered at USF is not measurably lower than the "flagships". Does each University have specific areas that they excel and differentiate themselves in? Sure...

There are some companies/people that honestly believe that being an FSU or UF alum is advantageous. I'd imagine there are instances when all things being equal a Gator is hired over a Nole due to alumni relationships. On the other hand I'm an idealist and believe that most people would hire based on who is the most qualified and not where they spent their college years. Quite honestly, I've run into absolute morons from every University in Florida and would point out that more than half the folks wearing those "flagship" t-shirts never attended the respective University.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by wiltznucs

Some good points made here. I'll only speak to USF as I did my grad studies there.

USF/UCF have high enrollments and this is largely due to their being in major metropolitan areas. Hence, they are labeled "commuter schools" as many if not most students do not live on campus. On the other side of this, USF and UCF have fairly low graduation rates. Some blame this on the schools themselves or their selection process(bringing in perceived lower quality applicants). Maybe this is true to some degree but what I see more at USF than any other college or University that I've been affiliated with is a huge number of full time students that also have full time jobs plus families. I've seen countless students start then "take a semester off" and never return. Life happens I suppose. I'm sure this too is a byproduct of being a major University in a metropolitan environment. I'd imagine UCF has a very similar composition. I can say with absolute confidence that the overall quality of education offered at USF is not measurably lower than the "flagships". Does each University have specific areas that they excel and differentiate themselves in? Sure...

There are some companies/people that honestly believe that being an FSU or UF alum is advantageous. I'd imagine there are instances when all things being equal a Gator is hired over a Nole due to alumni relationships. On the other hand I'm an idealist and believe that most people would hire based on who is the most qualified and not where they spent their college years. Quite honestly, I've run into absolute morons from every University in Florida and would point out that more than half the folks where those "flagship" t-shirts never attended the respective University.

Great post. ^^^

[lavender]

Agreed, I have kids in FSU, I know many in UF, USF, UCF and some of the other ones. For college town experience you can't beat FSU/UF but I'd never live there, unless I was maybe working for the Govt (Tallahassee) Wherever you go in Tally there are students because it's not just a small center, but it has 3 major learning centers, TCC (feeder for FSU), FAMU as well as FSU all in close proximity to one another. Where my kids live there are graduate and under grads from all 3 colleges - its a great atmosphere.

[tampagator89]

I assume this person is going to college for undergrad. If that is the case, it has less to do with the location of the university as it does the alumni support...and this has even less to do with anything than getting a good GPA and doing well in your classes. If you graduate from USF with a 3.8 GPA with internship experience and extracirriculars and are up against an FSU guy with a 3.4 GPA with less of that, you will be picked over the less qualified individual. So I really think these universities are all a wash academically provided the student does really well. If you really are worried about it still, I think UF has the most widespread alumni base, followed closely by FSU. I see as many or more of those grads in Tampa as I do USF grads, and a lot of UF/FSU people have jobs here.

That being said, USF is a good school and will be easier to get into, and you'll get just as good an education there IMO as you'll get at any of the other state universities. But social experience for an undergrad is important too, and keep in mind that USF is located in a suburb, and the west half of the school sits next to a seedy area. Therefore, the social experience at USF isn't as desirable as UF or FSU. It's kind of a "sleepy" school. I went to UF, and on weekends, downtown Gainesville has more people in one spot than I've ever seen anywhere in Tampa. It's obviously a very college-friendly social atmosphere, whereas the area around USF isn't as inviting.