grad schools....orlando vs. south florida?? (Miami, Tampa: apartment, high crime, credit)

[kimlw]

hey everyone-
i apologize if this post doesn't quite belong here/is kind of lengthy, but i haven't found a better or more helpful forum thus far (i've been lurking for a while and have already gotten some great insight

i'm a 23 year-old single woman currently living in boston and working in travel marketing. while i love boston (i went to college here and it certainly has a ton to offer), a move to florida has been in my head and heart for the past few years - i'm ready for a change of pace and a consistently warm climate, as i've lived in the northeast all of my life and i'm done with 6 months of winter!

i recently decided that attending grad school in florida would be the perfect opportunity to move down, as i've been wanting to get my master's in the next few years anyways, and (i assume) it would be much easier to find a job once i'm already down here. i would be getting my degree in communications or mass comm, and have narrowed down my choices to UCF, FAU, Lynn and possibly USF (pretty clueless about Tampa, though).

while i was initially drawn to south florida because of its proximity to the ocean and the fact that i'm fairly familiar with the area since i have family down there, UCF actually looks like it has a better reputation and a better program than my other choices.

i had never considered orlando, mainly because of all of the "scary crime" posts, but the more i look into it, the more it looks like there's a pretty big concentration of students/young professionals, great entertainment options (live music/shows/etc. are pretty important to me) and more activities that fit my interests...maybe even more than south florida.

basically, i'm trying to gauge how potential employers might view a master's degree from UCF as opposed to one from FAU or Lynn, AND whether i might do well living in orlando/if it's as bad as some make it sound. i feel like i don't really have the insight that you floridians probably have about this stuff

any help/advice is GREATLY appreciated. thanks so much!!

[pianogal]

I can't compare UCF to the other schools you mentioned, however, I can tell you that the 'scary crime' posts are greatly exaggerated. I've lived in Winter Park and now South East Orlando for 26 years and never had an issue with crime. I know almost no one who has. Of course, I don't frequent areas that are known for crime at night and I pick and choose my friends well. That makes a huge difference!

[Brasstec]

A graduate degree from UCF would hold far greater weight than FAU or Lynn....you've nothing to worry about there.

Your outlook of Orlando should not be colored by the "scary crimes" posts. The majority of crime in this area is concentrated in a couple of areas - places I'm sure you wouldn't be interested in living. I grew up here - and, in fact, went to school in some of those high crime areas - never had issues with crime. Granted, some of these areas are much worse than when I was school age, but just be careful about where you choose to live - and with whom you associate. Ya know, common sense stuff.

BTW, I have my masters from USF (Tampa) - good school; my son has his bachelors and is about to complete his masters from UCF. When he graduated UCF with an undergrad degree he was immediately entertained by 6 employers. Yes, it's a good school.

[kimlw]

thank you both so much - the more i dig into this forum, the more i see that a lot of folks seem to exaggerate the issue, and i'm definitely not going to let that deter me from at least applying! Brasstec- that's great to hear. it's very helpful to get actual facts rather than just making assumptions!

[EndersDrift]

Originally Posted by kimlw

hey everyone-
i apologize if this post doesn't quite belong here/is kind of lengthy, but i haven't found a better or more helpful forum thus far (i've been lurking for a while and have already gotten some great insight

i'm a 23 year-old single woman currently living in boston and working in travel marketing. while i love boston (i went to college here and it certainly has a ton to offer), a move to florida has been in my head and heart for the past few years - i'm ready for a change of pace and a consistently warm climate, as i've lived in the northeast all of my life and i'm done with 6 months of winter!

i recently decided that attending grad school in florida would be the perfect opportunity to move down, as i've been wanting to get my master's in the next few years anyways, and (i assume) it would be much easier to find a job once i'm already down here. i would be getting my degree in communications or mass comm, and have narrowed down my choices to UCF, FAU, Lynn and possibly USF (pretty clueless about Tampa, though).

while i was initially drawn to south florida because of its proximity to the ocean and the fact that i'm fairly familiar with the area since i have family down there, UCF actually looks like it has a better reputation and a better program than my other choices.

i had never considered orlando, mainly because of all of the "scary crime" posts, but the more i look into it, the more it looks like there's a pretty big concentration of students/young professionals, great entertainment options (live music/shows/etc. are pretty important to me) and more activities that fit my interests...maybe even more than south florida.

basically, i'm trying to gauge how potential employers might view a master's degree from UCF as opposed to one from FAU or Lynn, AND whether i might do well living in orlando/if it's as bad as some make it sound. i feel like i don't really have the insight that you floridians probably have about this stuff

any help/advice is GREATLY appreciated. thanks so much!!

Florida International University. Its the best there is. No joke. Its far younger than UF, FSU, FAU, or UCF and has already climbed many of the ranks. I personally have friends that graduated from there and went on to Harvard, MIT, and Columbia grad programs. The FIU Law program since opening has been top in Florida. The business school is great, especially for international. The campus is by far the nicest between UCF, FAU, USF, and FIU. UF is nicer if you like old style buildings as if you're up north. But most of the buildings at FIU were designed by famous architects. The architecture school itself was designed by Bernard Tschumi one of the top architects in the world right now.

[Crane's Rooster]

I would advise that you stick to a public school. Even though you are in Boston now, I've heard that within a year of moving here you can claim residency status and receive in-state tuition which should save you a huge chunk of money. That narrows your choices to UCF and FAU. Based on school rep I would go with UCF. As a side note, I did not attend either school but generally speaking UCF has a fairly good rep throughout the stated.

[Pete C]

I would not recommend Boca Raton (FAU, Lynn) for a college student. I grew up there until I left for college at UF. I would not have wanted to go to college in that city. It has zero college vibe and from what I have heard even now not much in terms of a thriving on-campus scene. Orlando is far, far better for your social life. There are many more areas around here that cater to 20-somethings as you have the UCF campus, Winter Park, and downtown areas which all have nightlife and cool hangouts. Not as many as maybe you are accustomed to seeing in Boston, don't get me wrong, but by Florida standards there is more here like that than anything you will find in South Florida or Tampa with the exception of Miami, which is very expensive.

[EndersDrift]

A lot don't even know FIU exists. I'm not sure if you didn't know it existed and thus overlooked it or eliminated it some other way. If it is the first than again I'd advise you to look at FIU.

Florida International University is in Miami and not at all expensive. If you live on campus its been ranked #2 for value in housing. I lived there for 4 years and then got an apartment with friends off year after graduating before I went overseas. We had a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 story apartment. It cost us each 450 a month. It wasn't anything close to the night life but it was biking distance to FIU (my 2 roommates were in grad school).

[kimlw]

Wow, so many responses, thank you all so much for the feedback! It really helps.

Enders- I will definitely look into FIU. I had kind of glossed over it previously, but it looks like they have a good communications program there too and it seems to have a pretty good reputation. The only thing I was wondering about was that international students seem to comprise the majority of the student body- not a bad thing at all, I'm just wondering if it might affect my chances of getting in (definitely not international...just a white girl from Boston, haha). It seems like a great school though!

Crane's- I had the very same thought yesterday when I realized that I've pretty much narrowed it down to all state schools. I think that would definitely be my best bet as well (I might even be able to go part-time for a year, get residency and finish up once I'm paying much much less, haha That would be wonderful since most of the programs at private colleges up here are more expensive or about the same as out-of-state tuition at FL universities, and UMass Boston really doesn't offer anything close to what I'm looking for. I, too, am leaning towards UCF the more I learn and hear about it.

Pete C - Thanks for the insight on Boca. Though I didn't visit any of the schools last time I was down there, I kind of got that vibe driving around town on the weekend...it's a gorgeous area, but not sure if it would keep me entertained as a young 20-something. The more I read about Orlando/UCF, the more amazed I am that I discounted it originally. The neighborhoods/entertainment options/younger population seem to be much more in line with what I'm looking for...and may be an easier transition from Boston life Thanks so much!

[EndersDrift]

Originally Posted by kimlw

Wow, so many responses, thank you all so much for the feedback! It really helps.

Enders- I will definitely look into FIU. I had kind of glossed over it previously, but it looks like they have a good communications program there too and it seems to have a pretty good reputation. The only thing I was wondering about was that international students seem to comprise the majority of the student body- not a bad thing at all, I'm just wondering if it might affect my chances of getting in (definitely not international...just a white girl from Boston, haha). It seems like a great school though!

FIU won't discredit you based on your skin color. If anything they'll welcome you as a minority. Though you won't get minority scholarships. I have a good friend that did communications, specifically journalism. He was editor of the FIU paper and then went on to be a staff writer for the Sun Sentinel out of Ft. Lauderdale. He avoided being fired during multiple lay-offs only to quit on his own accord to pursue the dream of writing in Manhattan. He's now working freelance and as a U.S. Census taker (on his defense its only been about 6 weeks since he went up there). He was good friends with lots of people in the Communications and Journalism area and seems most of them are working good jobs now.