University of Tampa (fit in, apartment, condos)

[forrestgump]

Craigm1841, UT might be a really fine school, but the problem with small/medium sized private schools like UT is a reputational problem in that not many people outside that area would know of that school and hence career opportunities outside the area is constrained.

For example, I am from Massachusetts, and the only Florida schools that I ever heard about were UF, USF, FSU, and UM. Till moving to the Tampa area, I never knew there was a school by the name of UT.

On a different, but related, note, an interesting anecdote is that for several universities across the US, the performance of their football or basketball teams influence their overall reputations and job prospects for their graduates. I guess the sports team performances bring in additional money which helps in terms of maintaining expensive labs, etc. Also, there is the "familiarity" or "top of mind" aspect when people see a winning sports team.

So I am not sure if the recent rise in USF's overall reputation and rankings are related to the performance of their sports teams.

[jnichols2]

Sorry, but I believe you are getting some very incomplete information in response to your question on Safety. I live in So. Tampa, and spend a lot of time in the areas surrounding UT. I would never go so far as to say that UT is surrounded by "VERY safe" areas. Yes, it does butt up against the north end of hyde park (which honestly isn't that great until you get near azeele or so) and the western edge of downtown, but east and north is sketchy to say the lest. If you walk 4 blocks north of campus (past the freeway underpass) you will find yourself in one of the most crime ridden neighborhoods in the US.

Overall, I wouldn't say that students at UT are in any sort of danger in terms of location, but I also wouldn't classify it as an ultra-safe campus... which is the impression I get from many of these posts. Come on people. I can think of about 150 colleges campuses, off the top of my head that are 20x safer than UT.

[craigm1841]

Originally Posted by jnichols2

Sorry, but I believe you are getting some very incomplete information in response to your question on Safety. I live in So. Tampa, and spend a lot of time in the areas surrounding UT. I would never go so far as to say that UT is surrounded by "VERY safe" areas. Yes, it does butt up against the north end of hyde park (which honestly isn't that great until you get near azeele or so) and the western edge of downtown, but east and north is sketchy to say the lest. If you walk 4 blocks north of campus (past the freeway underpass) you will find yourself in one of the most crime ridden neighborhoods in the US.

Overall, I wouldn't say that students at UT are in any sort of danger in terms of location, but I also wouldn't classify it as an ultra-safe campus... which is the impression I get from many of these posts. Come on people. I can think of about 150 colleges campuses, off the top of my head that are 20x safer than UT.

But he asked if UT was in a safe area, not whether or not there are safer schools in the country.

I hardly consider any neighborhood in Tampa among the most dangerous in the US. Yes- there are some bad hoods, but you can't even begin to compare them to hoods in LA (south central, watts, Compton, long beach), east st louis, denver (four points), Camden, new Orleans, phoenix, Baltimore, Newark, Atlanta, Miami and more.

Tampa is no Boise or Jackson hole, but it sure as hell doesn't have any neighborhoods amongst the worst.

[nickbosy]

I agree with Craig. The safety question on UT is honestly quite simple to answer.

1.) Generally speaking (coming from someone who has attended 3 different Universities in a variety of area's) the University of Tampa is in a safe area, the campus is beautiful, and so long as your daughter does not venture near Cypress in the evening, she should be just fine, some areas around the campus are a bit 'rough around the edges' or up and coming, but believe me when I say this, Tampa is a very safe city for the most part and in no way compares to areas in the north east that I'm sure you being from the North are familiar with. The school is near a very desirable neighborhood in Tampa (South Tampa) and as I said, coming from someone who lives near UT and has gone to many Universities, safety should not weigh too heavily on your mind when choosing where to send your daughter; she will be fine.

2.) I agree that USF is better ranked nationally as well as in Florida than UT, and I will GLADLY discuss that more with you if you would like more information on that particular University to compare with UT or any other Florida schools (with no bias), however, guys, this was NOT the OP's question, I understand you guys are just trying to be helpful and make a wiser financial/employment decision, but if they want to and are okay with spending the money, its their business. Congratulations to your daughter and I think she will enjoy UT and make many friends, there are A LOT of northern transplants at the school.

[crazynip]

It's a safe area.

[ferret111]

Tampa Street at Amelia? Gritty, to some degree, but I've never felt threatened around there at all, even on foot. I'd feel more threatened at the corner of, say, Central and Lake.

[forrestgump]

Here's a perspective of someone who doesn't have a dog in the fight (I went to college in Massachusetts). From a national perspective, UF is of course in a league of its own, but USF and FSU are perceived to be in the same league.

The Florida legislature (or some governing body) recently came up with a "tier" system where they clubbed UF, USF, and FSU together into something called "Research Universities." Also, going through the websites, it seems that among all FL universities, USF received the second highest total amount of grants (private, federal, state) right after UF and more than what FSU received.

Now, it's possible that the Medical School at USF (which is very well ranked) might have skewed the grants figures, but I don't know.

Here's IMO, what most Fortune 500 companies (I work for one) would rank in terms of state schools in Florida.

1. UF
2. USF and FSU
3. UCF and FAU.
4. UNF, UWF, etc.

[Gatornation]

Originally Posted by forrestgump

Here's a perspective of someone who doesn't have a dog in the fight (I went to college in Massachusetts). From a national perspective, UF is of course in a league of its own, but USF and FSU are perceived to be in the same league.

The Florida legislature (or some governing body) recently came up with a "tier" system where they clubbed UF, USF, and FSU together into something called "Research Universities." Also, going through the websites, it seems that among all FL universities, USF received the second highest total amount of grants (private, federal, state) right after UF and more than what FSU received.

Now, it's possible that the Medical School at USF (which is very well ranked) might have skewed the grants figures, but I don't know.

Here's IMO, what most Fortune 500 companies (I work for one) would rank in terms of state schools in Florida.

1. UF
2. USF and FSU
3. UCF and FAU.
4. UNF, UWF, etc.

The gap between USF and FSU has been closing for a while. UF/UM should probably be at one unless you were only looking at public schools.

[forrestgump]

Yeah, that's correct, I only listed the state schools. If we bring private schools into the mix, then UM would rank very high.

Originally Posted by Gatornation

The gap between USF and FSU has been closing for a while. UF/UM should probably be at one unless you were only looking at public schools.

[Keeper]

Please stay on topic which is about UT.