Undergrad: FSU, UF or UCF

[BUSTA]

I'm a transferring student from Valencia and have applied to all 3 schools as a Micro Major. I've been going back a forth between the 3 schools. I am a big Seminole Football Fan, so i am swaying towards FSU. I loved the campus but did not enjoy the surrounding area. Would i be happy at FSU coming from a big city like Orlando? Also, i've seen the large amounts of students a both UF and UCF and i am kind of afraid of too large of a class size. How is the pre-health advising program at FSU? I've heard bad things about the pre-health advising and support at UF. And i've visited multiple time with the advisors over at UCF and had a very good experience with them, although i hear that the actual opportunities for EC and Research aren't as good there as compared to UF.

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[OtoHNS]

I don't really know a tremendous amount about FL schools, but all 3 of these options should give you plenty of opportunity to excel. I would probably choose either UF or FSU because they have medical schools where you would have research and networking opportunities (unless you have some other compelling reason to attend UCF).

Ultimately, the school only provides the opportunities, it's up to you to make good grades and build a competitive resume for your application.

 

[aarsdam]

Each of those schools has a very different feel. If you're looking for the best academics and research then it's a no-brainer for UF. If you want to get the most enjoyment out of your undergrad experience, then I would suggest FSU. I had tons of friends from High School who went to FSU and UF, and everyone seemed to love both places. I actually regret deciding to not go to one of these schools for undergrad (I went to BC).

Football is equally crazy at both places, but since you're an FSU fan they get the edge there.

I would personally take UCF off your list unless you really want to stay in Orlando. It's not up to par academically with the other two yet, and the people I know who went there weren't too crazy about it.

I wouldn't worry about the transition from Orlando to Tallahassee or Gainesville. When at a big university like those two, you don't venture far beyond the campus, except to go to bars. I'm from Miami, and no one I know had any complaints.

Hope this helps.

 

[BUSTA]

thanks. yea i leaning toward FSU, because the campus seems a little more personal than at UF. And i've heard some bad things about the advising at UF. Also the advising seems very good at UCF, that's why i am keeping it as an option. I am trying to pick the best university for transfer since i am currently at Valencia CC. I got the feeling that UF was a little tough on transfers. any opinion on this? where would i have an easier transition as a transfer student?

 

[BBender716]

thanks. yea i leaning toward FSU, because the campus seems a little more personal than at UF. And i've heard some bad things about the advising at UF. Also the advising seems very good at UCF, that's why i am keeping it as an option. I am trying to pick the best university for transfer since i am currently at Valencia CC. I got the feeling that UF was a little tough on transfers. any opinion on this? where would i have an easier transition as a transfer student?

FWIW, never choose based on advising. I'll save you the suspense-- it sucks everywhere. SDN is where it's at. I never believed it until I experienced it first hand.

SDN advising >>>>>> 90% of undergrad advisors.

 

[YaBoyAR]

I went to Florida State for my freshmen year, and without a doubt, it was the worst decision i've ever made. I disliked the school/town/atmosphere very much. My statistics teacher walked in on the first day (my smallest class, about 300 students) and told us at the end of her speech that "unless we scheduled office hours, we would probably never see her again, as my 4 TA's will be conducting lecture"

as i mentioned, that was my smallest class... bio had 1500 students and was taught in a theatre )

however, my best friend graduated from there recently, and loved it.

but obviously if you're looking academically Florida would be the best bet, though I know many UCF students/graduates who swear by their school.

best of luck to you

 

[nlax30]

I went to Florida State for my freshmen year, and without a doubt, it was the worst decision i've ever made. I disliked the school/town/atmosphere very much. My statistics teacher walked in on the first day (my smallest class, about 300 students) and told us at the end of her speech that "unless we scheduled office hours, we would probably never see her again, as my 4 TA's will be conducting lecture"

as i mentioned, that was my smallest class... bio had 1500 students and was taught in a theatre )

That's the bio course for "non-majors", the one pretty much everyone outside of a bio/science major has to take. It's always like that.

At any of these large state schools these initial pre-req type courses that most people have to take are all going to be on the large side, just the nature of going to a large school.

 

[nlax30]

I don't really know a tremendous amount about FL schools, but all 3 of these options should give you plenty of opportunity to excel. I would probably choose either UF or FSU because they have medical schools where you would have research and networking opportunities (unless you have some other compelling reason to attend UCF).

Keep in mind UCF now has a med school. There's a good bit of momentum behind it in the Orlando area so even though it's new I don't think an undergrad should discount it as an option.

Ultimately, the school only provides the opportunities, it's up to you to make good grades and build a competitive resume for your application.

Totally agree. Ultimately you need to go where you'll be comfortable, excel academically, and just plain be happy.

 

[MossPoh]

I went to Florida State for my freshmen year, and without a doubt, it was the worst decision i've ever made. I disliked the school/town/atmosphere very much. My statistics teacher walked in on the first day (my smallest class, about 300 students) and told us at the end of her speech that "unless we scheduled office hours, we would probably never see her again, as my 4 TA's will be conducting lecture"

as i mentioned, that was my smallest class... bio had 1500 students and was taught in a theatre )

however, my best friend graduated from there recently, and loved it.

but obviously if you're looking academically Florida would be the best bet, though I know many UCF students/graduates who swear by their school.

best of luck to you

I took nearly all of my premed classes at FSU and never had a class of 1500. If you're in the general education type classes, they will be large at nearly every major university because they are general requirements. Everyone needs them. I took plenty of classes that were only 10-30 people as well, which honestly made no real difference in my education. For all the emphasis on student/teacher ratios in k-12, it really doesn't mean much in college where their job is to present the information in an easy to understand format and not so much to teach you and hold your hand for ever thing.

In addition, I never had problems with access to any of the professors at FSU. I took human biochem, which was a large class while interviewing at med schools. I missed quizzes and the prof personally set aside time for me to take the quizzes, as well as review mistakes I made. This happened with another class I was taking at the same time, which was microbiology and had about 60 people in it (it was still a pretty low level class).

You have to pick the school that fits your personality. There are sketch areas around FSU, but there are also very nice areas. Premed advising is worthless at nearly ever school I've been to or talked to people from. Going to FSU will not hamper your chances at getting into a medical school. I have friends from here that got into Louisville, Georgetown, UF, Miami, USF, FSU, UC-Davis, Colorado, Penn State, etc. Hell, they've had 3 rhodes scholars from here, all pretty recently.

What people don't realize is that YOU really make your undergrad education. So, you just have to pick a place you enjoy and where you'll be proud to hang that degree on your wall and go from there.

 

[nlax30]

To the OP:

Just wanted to throw in my 2cents as I went to FSU for undergrad, and am very familiar with the Orlando area.

Honestly you can't really go wrong with any of those schools. I think Florida has a pretty good public university system and the price can't be beat. Too say one is academically "better" than another is just too general. Each is a very large research university and as an individual you can certainly get involved at various projects at each.

I actually fell in love with Tallahassee. During undergrad it seemed like people either loved or hated the town. I was used to Orlando but was ready for a change of scenery and really enjoyed the smaller town feel and not having to fight traffic every single place I went. I mean, unless you're talking about Disney or other large attractions, what's in Orlando that you couldn't get in a smaller town? It IS a college town so there's always going to be a decent bar/club scene.

If you don't like Tallahassee then I don't think you'd like Gainesville either. In my opinion it's another college but without some of the charm of Tallahassee.

I was pretty involved in the pre-med "club" at FSU and knew the advising staff well. I never had a problem with them, the head guy is very nice and approachable. But I agree with the above who said that you shouldn't put too much weight in the advising capabilities of a school. Even though they were great there, there was nothing they told me that I didn't know or couldn't find out by my own research.

I'm definitely partial to FSU. Had a great time there, enjoyed the city, absolutely love football weekends there! And I think the campus is gorgeous.

UF: Small town, will be similar to the traditional college town feel you'll get with FSU. Most people tend to equate UF with good academics, though I don't know much about there programs. I had a few friends go there and they liked it. Some of the departments seem to have a lot of online courses students can just stay home watch lectures via TV (this was a few years ago), doesn't really appeal to me but it may to some.

UCF: Big school in big suburban/urban setting. May not get that traditional college "feel" if that's important to you. Good number of commuter type students. Again, I don't know a lot of their academic programs or reputation, though they just started their med school so I'm sure beefing up biomed/basic research is a high priority. And there's Orlando. I was there for so long I kind of grew a little tired of the city.

 

[BUSTA]

Uh UCF has a medical school now too and within the next couple of years they will have a lot of research.

that being said best ugrad in the state for premeds is UF or UMiami. UF being teh cheaper option.

Yea, i wouldn't mind staying at UCF, cause i have a bunch of study buddies that are there now, plus the campus is amazing. but I wanna have the best undergrad opportunity riight now. I will definitely apply to UCF COM in the future. It doesn't seem like they have much research opportunities right now. I talked to the Dr. Lopez at the premed advising and he sent me out to ORMC to ask for research opportunities there. I would rather have things close by. I also dont' like the fact that the UCF COM is like 30 min away from the campus.
My time in Gainesville seemed a little overwhelming... I think i'll go back a spend more time getting to know everything. FSU gave me a more personal and inviting feeling. Plus the campus is small and very easy to get around.
I have a also applied to UMiami, but i am transferring in the Spring term and i hear that there are no scholarships offered for students starting in the Spring... they also don't send out admissions letters until Nov! so i'll just have to wait and see... :-/

 

[godsdoc2b]

I graduated from FSU undergrad. I don't know if they have a strong undergraduate Microbiology program. Most premeds chose either Biological Sciences or Exercise Science. There are not too many Microbiology courses offered besides 1 4000 level one and sometimes they offer virology and that would just be a concentration and not a major in Microbiology unless things have changed.

They do have a new Biological Sciences building and probably a good chance at research there or at the college of medicine in one of the research labs. It is not hard to do research at FSU which is one of the perks. I wish they had more solid courses to offer premedical students. They do have the microbiology, histology, immunology, genetics, neuroscience and etc....but perhaps an anatomy class or more. Most students opt for Exercise Science majors because they take the same premed prereqs but get more biochemistry in Metab 1 and 2 and other courses.

FSU is not as safe as it used to be but it is probably not as bad as Orlando and I don't know how the crime is in Gainesville. People seem to try to take advantage of college students (i.e.robbery)....ugh! '

Go back and tour them all again if you have time...and check their majors and courses offered. Try to see if you can contact a few students in the major that you want from each school and see how they think the classes are and etc.

 

[BUSTA]

I graduated from FSU undergrad. I don't know if they have a strong undergraduate Microbiology program. Most premeds chose either Biological Sciences or Exercise Science. There are not too many Microbiology courses offered besides 1 4000 level one and sometimes they offer virology and that would just be a concentration and not a major in Microbiology unless things have changed.

They do have a new Biological Sciences building and probably a good chance at research there or at the college of medicine in one of the research labs. It is not hard to do research at FSU which is one of the perks. I wish they had more solid courses to offer premedical students. They do have the microbiology, histology, immunology, genetics, neuroscience and etc....but perhaps an anatomy class or more. Most students opt for Exercise Science majors because they take the same premed prereqs but get more biochemistry in Metab 1 and 2 and other courses.

FSU is not as safe as it used to be but it is probably not as bad as Orlando and I don't know how the crime is in Gainesville. People seem to try to take advantage of college students (i.e.robbery)....ugh! '

Go back and tour them all again if you have time...and check their majors and courses offered. Try to see if you can contact a few students in the major that you want from each school and see how they think the classes are and etc.

Well yea micro is a focus within the Biological sciences, so applied for the Bio Sci Major. Yea I was acutally looking into Exercise Science too. but they don't make it easy to find the prereqs for the major on their website... :-/
you're the first to say that FSU is not safe... ? is it really that bad? Yea the area around UCF is pretty bad... but on campus its fine. And when i toured UF they praised the fact that they were ranked #2 in the country for safest campuses.

 

[indya]

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[Hurricane95]

UF > FSU > UCF

although other factors other posters have discussed above may play into your decision, so you have to weigh everything.

 

[indya]

Well its uncompetitive to get in 7 year but its competitive to stay in 7 year cuz you need a 30 MCAT to stay in the program and not everyone makes it. You also need to maintain your GPA.

Do you have any more knowledge about it? It seems pretty interesting, but I am out of state, so I don't know anyone who has done it, and therefore, I know little about it.

 

[BUSTA]

If you get into the honors program at USF, you are eligible for the BS/MD program. I think a 30 MCAT and a 3.7 GPA are required to go on to the MD portion. It is really uncompetitive as anyone can attempt to complete the program.

unfortunately its not an option for transfer students like me...