Honors college or well-known university?

[rfaje]

I'm currently a sophomore enrolled in the honors college at Florida International University. It's probably not very well-known outside of Florida, but it is a decent university. However, I've been accepted to Florida State University as a transfer student this upcoming year.

My question is, would it be better to stay at FIU, a less reputable school, in the honors college, or transfer to FSU?

I very much prefer the living situation and social aspect of Florida State, but am not sure it would look better on an application after graduating. I hope to go to medical school after graduating, so these kinds of things matter to some extent. FSU also does not accept applications to the honors college after freshman year, so that isn't an option, but you can graduate with honors in your specific field. (I'm not entirely sure what that means or how impressive it really is)

As I'm sure there's no clear cut answer to the question of which is "better," I'd like to focus on which school would have the most resources for a pre-medical student (research, volunteering, clinical experience opportunities, pre-medical organizations, etc.).

Any advice would really help me out a lot.

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[La Presse]

Ucf?

 

[rfaje]

Ucf?

Why UCF?

 

[BigBlueBear]

Undergrad doesn't really matter.

 

[IncognitoGuy]

Do well, no matter where you go and institution becomes a nonissue.

And on the subject of resources, you'll have to research or find students there - we're not going to be able to answer that for you.

 

[La Presse]

Why UCF?

I really don't see the difference actually. Go where you will be more familiar with. in this case, i base prestige on familiarity--terrible, i know!--so that means UCF>FIU>USF...

Meh. I have actually heard a lot of greats things about fiu, personally.

 

[FSU2013]

FSU

As you said, FIU isn't really known out of state. FSU isn't very prestigous, but (probably because of it's football program) is at least a well-known university, not a "now where is your school?" FSU's med school is a little older (albeit only about 10 years). And the honors program only really helps because you get to take smaller classes (which could be a negative - i.e. people will know if you skip class) and you get to register early. Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude and Summa Cum Laude at FSU are only based on GPA, not being in the honors program. You can also graduate "with honors in the major" without being in the honors program as long as you successfully defend an honors thesis and jump through all the right hoops. FSU is a great school. I was always treated well as an UG. Feel free to PM if you have any questions that you don't want posted publicly.

Edit: probably the most important factors that I neglected to mention are (the order can be debated): 1) where you accumulate the least debt 2) where you will be happiest 3) where you will be most successful and 4) which school has the better program for the major you're interested in. But still FSU (obviously I'm biased). Go 'Noles!

 

[moneytree]

I really don't see the difference actually. Go where you will be more familiar with. in this case, i base prestige on familiarity--terrible, i know!--so that means UCF>FIU>USF...

Meh. I have actually heard a lot of greats things about fiu, personally.

Weird ranking because 1) OP is specifically asking about FSU and you don't list it and 2) how can you talk about Florida without mentioning UF? Hello Gators?

OT: There should be a International Florida University. IFU.

 

[La Presse]

Weird ranking because 1) OP is specifically asking about FSU and you don't list it and 2) how can you talk about Florida without mentioning UF? Hello Gators?

OT: There should be a International Florida University. IFU.

oops...when I listed usf, it was meant to say fsu...

under a bit of stress..

I have toured UCF and FIU. I do not know anything about Alligators...

 

[FSU2013]

oops...when I listed usf, it was meant to say fsu...

under a bit of stress..

I have toured UCF and FIU. I do not know anything about Alligators...

UCF > FIU > FSU......nope.

 

[La Presse]

UCF > FIU > FSU......nope.

I am so glad you edited that first part of your post; you know I was gonna get on that. My ranking came from my own personal experience, but considering things like funding, longevity, graduate programs, etc.--my POV is erroneous. I am usually looking at things like social dyanamics.

 

[rfaje]

FSU

As you said, FIU isn't really known out of state. FSU isn't very prestigous, but (probably because of it's football program) is at least a well-known university, not a "now where is your school?" FSU's med school is a little older (albeit only about 10 years). And the honors program only really helps because you get to take smaller classes (which could be a negative - i.e. people will know if you skip class) and you get to register early. Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude and Summa Cum Laude at FSU are only based on GPA, not being in the honors program. You can also graduate "with honors in the major" without being in the honors program as long as you successfully defend an honors thesis and jump through all the right hoops. FSU is a great school. I was always treated well as an UG. Feel free to PM if you have any questions that you don't want posted publicly.

Edit: probably the most important factors that I neglected to mention are (the order can be debated): 1) where you accumulate the least debt 2) where you will be happiest 3) where you will be most successful and 4) which school has the better program for the major you're interested in. But still FSU (obviously I'm biased). Go 'Noles!

Thanks! I do have a few more questions though.

Obviously being pre-med means that I need a university that is going to have opportunity for me to have some good med school app worthy ECs. How would you say FSU is in providing these kinds of things? I've visited before and have lots of friends there so I'm sure I'll be happy, I just don't to go and not be able to find some of the ECs I have available in Miami.

 

[Bangersandmash]

Thanks! I do have a few more questions though.

Obviously being pre-med means that I need a university that is going to have opportunity for me to have some good med school app worthy ECs. How would you say FSU is in providing these kinds of things? I've visited before and have lots of friends there so I'm sure I'll be happy, I just don't to go and not be able to find some of the ECs I have available in Miami.

If you have good ECs available as an FIU honors student, why bother transferring at all then? What do you think you'll really get out of FSU besides name recognition? If you're not happy at FIU and you think FSU is a better fit, that is a different story.

Besides, you could try a few other Florida schools that would be even better than FSU. UF or USF would trump FSU in terms of pre-medical reputation and research opportunities in my opinion. Plus, Tallahassee sucks even more than Gainesville (no offense to the FSU students posting in this thread 😉).

 

[FSU2013]

If you have good ECs available as an FIU honors student, why bother transferring at all then? What do you think you'll really get out of FSU besides name recognition? If you're not happy at FIU and you think FSU is a better fit, that is a different story.

Besides, you could try a few other Florida schools that would be even better than FSU. UF or USF would trump FSU in terms of pre-medical reputation and research opportunities in my opinion. Plus, Tallahassee sucks even more than Gainesville (no offense to the FSU students posting in this thread 😉).

The first half of what he said is correct.

UF is a "more prestigious" school than FSU, USF is not. Since there is no "pre-med program" at FSU, you're going based on the merit of your major - and mine was stellar. As far as gville vs tally - obviously this is personal opinion, but I definitely think you're wrong there too. If you take UF out or gville, you're left with nothing. If you take FSU out of tally, you still have the legislature and some industry. It took me about a year an a half to get to know tally, once I knew the fun places to go and the nice places to live I would love to live there long term. My wife and I have even talked about coming back after residency of there is a job open.

 

[RomanTaylor]

Weird ranking because 1) OP is specifically asking about FSU and you don't list it and 2) how can you talk about Florida without mentioning UF? Hello Gators?

OT: There should be a International Florida University. IFU.

Go Gators.

 

[RomanTaylor]

The first half of what he said is correct.

UF is a "more prestigious" school than FSU, USF is not. Since there is no "pre-med program" at FSU, you're going based on the merit of your major - and mine was stellar. As far as gville vs tally - obviously this is personal opinion, but I definitely think you're wrong there too. If you take UF out or gville, you're left with nothing. If you take FSU out of tally, you still have the legislature and some industry. It took me about a year an a half to get to know tally, once I knew the fun places to go and the nice places to live I would love to live there long term. My wife and I have even talked about coming back after residency of there is a job open.

 

[rfaje]

The first half of what he said is correct.

UF is a "more prestigious" school than FSU, USF is not. Since there is no "pre-med program" at FSU, you're going based on the merit of your major - and mine was stellar. As far as gville vs tally - obviously this is personal opinion, but I definitely think you're wrong there too. If you take UF out or gville, you're left with nothing. If you take FSU out of tally, you still have the legislature and some industry. It took me about a year an a half to get to know tally, once I knew the fun places to go and the nice places to live I would love to live there long term. My wife and I have even talked about coming back after residency of there is a job open.

And what was your major? What at FSU helped you get into medical school? Lol sorry for all the questions, but I appreciate all the help.

 

[rfaje]

If you have good ECs available as an FIU honors student, why bother transferring at all then? What do you think you'll really get out of FSU besides name recognition? If you're not happy at FIU and you think FSU is a better fit, that is a different story.

Besides, you could try a few other Florida schools that would be even better than FSU. UF or USF would trump FSU in terms of pre-medical reputation and research opportunities in my opinion. Plus, Tallahassee sucks even more than Gainesville (no offense to the FSU students posting in this thread 😉).

What makes you say that USF would be better? Also, I would be happier in Tallahassee than in Miami. That's the biggest reason for looking into transfer.

 

[Barley426]

The first half of what he said is correct.

UF is a "more prestigious" school than FSU, USF is not. Since there is no "pre-med program" at FSU, you're going based on the merit of your major - and mine was stellar.

Well I know USF was thrown into this on accident originally, I'd like to address what he meant by UF and USF trumping FSU, he specifically said pre-medical reputation.

For USF, the reason he said this is because they have a huge pre-medical population, and even a major tailored specifically for pre-meds (biomedical sciences). Additionally USF has a pretty well respected medical school especially compared to FSU, which is considered lower tier (albeit arguably because of their focus on primary care focused students being preferred over only high stats). Overall, FSU is more well known across the nation, but he was specifically mentioning pre-med program not overall prestige. That being said, the overall impact of a good pre-med school vs one that isn't as well known, is arguably nil.


To OP, personally I would go with "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" meaning if you have a good housing situation, good GPA, good EC connections (like honors college), etc I would stay at FIU. No need to hassle yourself, stress out over moving and starting over, especially since even if you were fortunate enough to have smooth transition and maintain current performance, the overall positive impact would be negligible.

Edit-OP I see you posted while I was typing, what makes you sure Tallahassee will be a good fit for you? If you already have established connections or have lived there in the past, then I think it would be less risky as I stated earlier.

 

[FSU2013]

And what was your major? What at FSU helped you get into medical school? Lol sorry for all the questions, but I appreciate all the help.

Physics. We have the national magnetic field lab - I was able to perform research there on a biomed project with the med school during undergrad. They have some fascinating research going on in the department.

 

[Praefectus]

FSU. At least you'll have a decent football program for a couple of years. Jimbo Fisher is doing really well as head coach and I could see them making a BCS bowl this year. Also, there's nothing in this world like gamedays at a football school.

 

[Bangersandmash]

What makes you say that USF would be better? Also, I would be happier in Tallahassee than in Miami. That's the biggest reason for looking into transfer.

For one thing, you might be able to apply to the Honors College at USF. I'm not sure what the rules are for transfer students, but if you don't join your freshman year, as long as you have over a 3.5 GPA, you can join the Honors College anytime.

But I'm simply going off of what I know USF offers in terms of medical school preparation. USF spends WAY more money on research as a whole than FSU. I think we're second in the state behind UF (maybe UM beats us too). We also have a much more established medical school and a new surgery center built 15 minutes away that is the talk of the graduate medical community (that doesn't really affect your undergrad too much though). Our medical school favors USF undergrads and if you're interested in learning about research/volunteer/shadowing opportunities, I can direct you on all of those accounts.

I honestly don't know the intricate details of what FSU offers - I don't go there. I'm sure volunteering, shadowing and research exist there. I'm just not as sure the options are extensive as those in Tampa (huge metropolitan area, best hospital in Florida, new hospital and clinic right on campus, 100 million plus dollars more in research funding etc).

It really comes down to where you'll be happy in my opinion. If you're already a thriving, motivated student you'll be the same anywhere. If you like Tally, or physics and magnet research, go there to FSU (I know why you hate Miami).

The first half of what he said is correct.

UF is a "more prestigious" school than FSU, USF is not. Since there is no "pre-med program" at FSU, you're going based on the merit of your major - and mine was stellar. As far as gville vs tally - obviously this is personal opinion, but I definitely think you're wrong there too. If you take UF out or gville, you're left with nothing. If you take FSU out of tally, you still have the legislature and some industry. It took me about a year an a half to get to know tally, once I knew the fun places to go and the nice places to live I would love to live there long term. My wife and I have even talked about coming back after residency of there is a job open.

Well thank you for directly taking a dump on my undergraduate institution, but if you read my post carefully I didn't exactly say USF was better than FSU. I think my response to the OP covers why I think USF is a better option for pre-medical students that aren't doing physics research.

I think its different strokes for different folks on living situations in Florida. Some people I know absolutely love Jacksonville and I have no idea why. Same goes for Gainesville and Tallahassee. If you take FSU out of Tally, you have a bunch of old white farts screwing over constituents and a capital city that USED to be Florida's main hub. If you take UF out of gainesville, you at least have a decent music scene left.

But I think we can all agree that if you take USF out of Tampa, you have a major metropolitan area still worth visiting

 

[Bangersandmash]

Well I know USF was thrown into this on accident originally, I'd like to address what he meant by UF and USF trumping FSU, he specifically said pre-medical reputation.

For USF, the reason he said this is because they have a huge pre-medical population, and even a major tailored specifically for pre-meds (biomedical sciences). Additionally USF has a pretty well respected medical school especially compared to FSU, which is considered lower tier (albeit arguably because of their focus on primary care focused students being preferred over only high stats). Overall, FSU is more well known across the nation, but he was specifically mentioning pre-med program not overall prestige. That being said, the overall impact of a good pre-med school vs one that isn't as well known, is arguably nil.


To OP, personally I would go with "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" meaning if you have a good housing situation, good GPA, good EC connections (like honors college), etc I would stay at FIU. No need to hassle yourself, stress out over moving and starting over, especially since even if you were fortunate enough to have smooth transition and maintain current performance, the overall positive impact would be negligible.

Edit-OP I see you posted while I was typing, what makes you sure Tallahassee will be a good fit for you? If you already have established connections or have lived there in the past, then I think it would be less risky as I stated earlier.

Thanks for clarifying my own thoughts

FSU. At least you'll have a decent football program for a couple of years. Jimbo Fisher is doing really well as head coach and I could see them making a BCS bowl this year. Also, there's nothing in this world like gamedays at a football school.

Dear god, if your school decision comes down to having fun six Saturdays a week, I feel sorry for you.

 

[Praefectus]

Dear god, if your school decision comes down to having fun six Saturdays a week, I feel sorry for you.

Six Saturdays a week?!? Sign me up! 🙄

 

[Bangersandmash]

Six Saturdays a week?!? Sign me up! 🙄

Good catch . But FSU football isn't THAT good.

Correction: Six Saturdays a year (unless you road trip, then make it 12).

 

[FSU2013]

Well thank you for directly taking a dump on my undergraduate institution, but if you read my post carefully I didn't exactly say USF was better than FSU. I think my response to the OP covers why I think USF is a better option for pre-medical students that aren't doing physics research.

I think its different strokes for different folks on living situations in Florida. Some people I know absolutely love Jacksonville and I have no idea why. Same goes for Gainesville and Tallahassee. If you take FSU out of Tally, you have a bunch of old white farts screwing over constituents and a capital city that USED to be Florida's main hub. If you take UF out of gainesville, you at least have a decent music scene left.

But I think we can all agree that if you take USF out of Tampa, you have a major metropolitan area still worth visiting

Ummmmm.....what? Don't know how saying FSU is more prestigious than USF is directly taking a dump on your UG......anyways.....

Also, I'm from Jax and have family there - I love it. You have the river and the ocean and a ton to do. Everyone always says that there's nothing to do in jax. I think they are still living in the 90s.

As far as a music scene, Tally gets a lot of decent bands; not as many as gville, but still a good deal. We also have a top music school so there are a lot of music events put on by FSU (depending on what type of music you like).

 

[Bangersandmash]

Ummmmm.....what? Don't know how saying FSU is more prestigious than USF is directly taking a dump on your UG......anyways.....

Also, I'm from Jax and have family there - I love it. You have the river and the ocean and a ton to do. Everyone always says that there's nothing to do in jax. I think they are still living in the 90s.

As far as a music scene, Tally gets a lot of decent bands; not as many as gville, but still a good deal. We also have a top music school so there are a lot of music events put on by FSU (depending on what type of music you like).

Well let's not split hairs about our interpretations of prestige.

You can preach how great north Florida is all you want, you'll never convince me. South Florida (where I'm from) seems to be world's away from the rest of the state, minus Orlando and Tampa.