USF a good choice for veterans using their 100% GI BILL? (Tampa: rent, condo)

[michael1980]

hey folks, thanks for your time and advice. I'm Michael, a 31 y/o 6 year active duty Army medic from Connecticut, and I've been visualizing and anticipating a move to Florida since visiting Odessa/Clearwater back in March. My thought process being out of state would be to move and rent starting in Sep giving me time feeling out the lands looking on getting a super condo deal and come 2012 fall semester being a Floridian for 12 months I would be charged in state tuition with USF and therefore wont effect my educational benefits.

[BucFan]

Curious - what will you be studying?

I went to USF for two years before joining the Army (I was a medic as well). This was back a few decades (1980s)- I didn't like USF because the size of the school (USF is now the ninth largest university in the nation and the third largest in the state of Florida, with a total enrollment of 47,122 as of 2009). Many of my classes had hundreds of students with very little contact with the instructor/professor. I thought it was impersonal - didn't like it. So I opted for a smaller school up north (Idaho) where the teacher-student ratio was much more to my liking.

One good thing about going to school in a larger city is that your chances of finding temporary employment (if you work while going to school) if much better in the Tampa/St Pete area than a lot of smaller university towns.

Good luck with your decision....

Thanks for all you did for the Army.

[michael1980]

Gotta a year to decide the studies but I would love to get into baseball somehow
Thanks for your input and your service aswell. The size of the school doesn't worry me much, if anything that's a plus. Well Ill have a year to do my research and see if it's the place for me, I was just kinda going with my feelings on this one.

[Gatornation]

Don't see why it wouldn't be if your costs are covered. Do you have other options in FL?

[michael1980]

yes, and actually after senior member Bucfans thoughts, I am going to take my time and look around, I just really want to be in Florida and USF was a top school for vets but that may just be a numbers thing being HUGE. The bill covers the highest instate tuition for a public school which turns out to be 17.5K for the year in FL. So theres definitely options. What would some of the better places for higher education be in your beautiful state regardless of the field of study.

[Austin0280]

Good luck in your Florida search! I'm a native Floridian, but my husband is currently using the GI Bill out of state. We ended up choosing a university based on a school that offered a fairly unique graduate degree (also, in a place he could find a job), otherwise we'd have both headed straight back to Florida.

You probably already know that the other major public universities are University of Florida in Gainesville and Florida State University in Tallahassee. Both cities obviously feel VERY different from Tampa/St. Pete. Gainesville is mostly made up of UF students and faculty. UF is more difficult to get into as an undergraduate than FSU or USF (at least that was true a few years ago when I went to college) but each university has different areas of specialty.

There are plenty of smaller schools that are also public, you might do some research to see if any of those have a unique program that appeals to you.

Thanks for your service! Good luck in your search and move to Florida.

[BucFan]

USF has very good sports programs - including the big ones (football, basketball, baseball). There may be ample opportunities for internships for students studying business/management/marketing - all good programs at USF from what I hear. You probably have a good chance to find side jobs if you want to work while in school (you may not need to). Housing near USF is pretty much available north of campus and in Temple Terrace. Might be a good school if you're looking at sports management with chances at internships to get your foot in the door.

[Gatornation]

Originally Posted by BucFan

USF has very good sports programs - including the big ones (football, basketball, baseball). There may be ample opportunities for internships for students studying business/management/marketing - all good programs at USF from what I hear. You probably have a good chance to find side jobs if you want to work while in school (you may not need to). Housing near USF is pretty much available north of campus and in Temple Terrace. Might be a good school if you're looking at sports management with chances at internships to get your foot in the door.

Not really. Their athletic program is held in very low regard as they basically have no standards are always take the athlete who has grade and character issues. As BCS schools go they'd be in the bottom half.

UF and FSU are light years ahead of then in athletics. Tampa would provide pro options for him.

[Gatornation]

Originally Posted by michael1980

yes, and actually after senior member Bucfans thoughts, I am going to take my time and look around, I just really want to be in Florida and USF was a top school for vets but that may just be a numbers thing being HUGE. The bill covers the highest instate tuition for a public school which turns out to be 17.5K for the year in FL. So theres definitely options. What would some of the better places for higher education be in your beautiful state regardless of the field of study.

UF is a top 20 public but as someone said not easy to get into. FSU would be next. UCF and USF are about the same.

New College is up in the rankings with UF in some publications and if you are looking for a small college that could be an option. I don't know much about their majors.

[BucFan]

Wins, losses on the field of any of the sports isn't important for someone interested in getting a degree in sports management. It's irrelevant to studying in the field - and being in Tampa compared to Tallahassee or Gainsville would allow potential internship/employment with professional teams like the Rays, Bolts, Bucs, Storm -while those other universities don't seem to offer much except intercollegiate sports.