Given that the schools aren't too far apart academically, I think that feel at/for the university is going to be the key consideration for you. You absolutely, positively need to visit. Take the tour, and if you have any friends who could show you around a bit on campus, then I'd take advantage of that for sure.

 

I assume the $$ would be very similar? Undergraduate debt = not worth it. If there's any substantial difference here, I'm easily picking the school where I'd end up with fewer loans. Undergraduate degrees are just not valuable enough to pay significantly more money for, unless you were going to an Ivy or similar Top 10 - Top 20 university.

 

I made a similar decision between UF and UM 6 years ago. (holy crap I'm old!) I felt kinda swallowed up at UF as a shy 17-year old, but I felt right at home at UM. That was what made my decision, and I knew it right away. You'll get a gut feeling - all other things being equal (or even similar), go with that feeling.

 

 

LOL you say that undergraduate debt isn't worth it and encouraging to choose the cheaper school but in your personal experience you chose UM over UF! (I'm guessing you didn't have to worry about debt with scholarships and florida bright, etc. I just found it funny)

 

 

OP, I completely agree with mystikol, if you intend to go to graduate school, I would advise you to go to the cheaper school, all other factors being equal. I'm not sure how much weight you give school rankings but if it helps, FSU is ranked higher than UCF and UCF is ranked just a bit above USF. UM is number one in the state, UF is number two,

 

FSU tuition is stated as 19,773

UCF tuition is stated at 20,005

 

I know some advised you not to consider what you choose to study as a big factor in your decision but I think you really should. My sister was given a huge scholarship to USF (like an obscene amount of money) so she chose to attend despite being accepted into every school in the state but she had to transfer out of the school after her fist year because, after deciding what she wanted to study, they didn't offer it.

 

I hope you get into UF and choose to go there. It's amazing.

I was a Digital Media major.

 

 

What exactly do you do with that?

 

I'm a CS major at the moment, looking towards programming.

LOL you say that undergraduate debt isn't worth it and encouraging to choose the cheaper school but in your personal experience you chose UM over UF! (I'm guessing you didn't have to worry about debt with scholarships and florida bright, etc. I just found it funny)

 

 

OP, I completely agree with mystikol, if you intend to go to graduate school, I would advise you to go to the cheaper school, all other factors being equal. I'm not sure how much weight you give school rankings but if it helps, FSU is ranked higher than UCF and UCF is ranked just a bit above USF. UM is number one in the state, UF is number two,

 

FSU tuition is stated as 19,773

UCF tuition is stated at 20,005

 

I know some advised you not to consider what you choose to study as a big factor in your decision but I think you really should. My sister was given a huge scholarship to USF (like an obscene amount of money) so she chose to attend despite being accepted into every school in the state but she had to transfer out of the school after her fist year because, after deciding what she wanted to study, they didn't offer it.

 

I hope you get into UF and choose to go there. It's amazing.

 

 

Tuition's like 4,000, I dont know where you got those numbers...

 

FSU is ranked higher than UCF, but you're either giving FSU too high of a name or UCF and USF too low of a name. USF is just under UCF which is just under FSU, unless you're basing your answers off of some silly college ranking (a.k.a. who has the better sports team?). Take a look at the actual numbers, the acceptance percentage, the GPAs, SAT/ACT scores, etc.

I was a Digital Media major.

 

 

What exactly do you do with that?

 

I'm a CS major at the moment, looking towards programming.

 

A range of things. Web Design, graphic design, animation, game design, etc. I'm more for game design. In a week or so, I'll find out if I get accepted into UCF's Game Design Grad School in downtown Orlando

Tuition's like 4,000, I dont know where you got those numbers...

 

FSU is ranked higher than UCF, but you're either giving FSU too high of a name or UCF and USF too low of a name. USF is just under UCF which is just under FSU, unless you're basing your answers off of some silly college ranking (a.k.a. who has the better sports team?). Take a look at the actual numbers, the acceptance percentage, the GPAs, SAT/ACT scores, etc.

 

 

I think he meant total cost (tuition, room + board, expenses, etc.)

 

And UCF is not "just under" FSU in terms of rankings, it's ranked considerably lower. US News and World Report ,pretty much the standard for college rankings, rank FSU 104th, UCF 179th, and USF 183rd nationally.

I was a Digital Media major.

 

 

What exactly do you do with that?

 

I'm a CS major at the moment, looking towards programming.

 

A range of things. Web Design, graphic design, animation, game design, etc. I'm more for game design. In a week or so, I'll find out if I get accepted into UCF's Game Design Grad School in downtown Orlando

 

Capital! That's what I'm after, but the programming route. Wrong way?

Tuition's like 4,000, I dont know where you got those numbers...

 

FSU is ranked higher than UCF, but you're either giving FSU too high of a name or UCF and USF too low of a name. USF is just under UCF which is just under FSU, unless you're basing your answers off of some silly college ranking (a.k.a. who has the better sports team?). Take a look at the actual numbers, the acceptance percentage, the GPAs, SAT/ACT scores, etc.

 

 

I think he meant total cost (tuition, room + board, expenses, etc.)

 

And UCF is not "just under" FSU in terms of rankings, it's ranked considerably lower. US News and World Report ,pretty much the standard for college rankings, rank FSU 104th, UCF 179th, and USF 183rd nationally.

 

According to? 'College rankings' dont mean anything. Do you not know the whole business behind 'college rankings' and how they work? Take a look at who publishes these rankings, and then get back to me.

 

Schools work in tiers. UCF, FSU, and USF are all in the same tier. FSU is at the top of it's tier, UCF is in the middle, and USF is at the bottom.

 

Please, enlighten me on why FSU is 'ranked higher'? School merit is based off of the admissions dept., take a look at those numbers and tell me where they go.

I was a Digital Media major.

 

 

What exactly do you do with that?

 

I'm a CS major at the moment, looking towards programming.

 

A range of things. Web Design, graphic design, animation, game design, etc. I'm more for game design. In a week or so, I'll find out if I get accepted into UCF's Game Design Grad School in downtown Orlando

 

Capital! That's what I'm after, but the programming route. Wrong way?

 

Not at all. I'm going for production personally.

The perception (of employers and grad schools) is more important than the rankings. Within the state of Florida, I would think that a lot of employers know about the ascents of UCF and USF. Outside of Florida, I think FSU would carry significantly more weight. Employer X doesn't know any given's schools average SAT of accepted students for year 20XX. Employer X just goes off of its impressions of the schools generally, of its impressions of a specific major if related.

According to? 'College rankings' dont mean anything. Do you not know the whole business behind 'college rankings' and how they work? Take a look at who publishes these rankings, and then get back to me.

 

Schools work in tiers. UCF, FSU, and USF are all in the same tier. FSU is at the top of it's tier, UCF is in the middle, and USF is at the bottom.

 

Please, enlighten me on why FSU is 'ranked higher'? School merit is based off of the admissions dept., take a look at those numbers and tell me where they go.

 

 

Relax. Nobody said rankings are be-all end-all. But U.S. News and World Report is the standard for college rankings, and their system is very fair. According to Wikipedia: their rankings are based upon data which U.S. News collects from each educational institution either from an annual survey sent to each school or from the school's website.

• Peer assessment: a survey of the institution's reputation among presidents, provosts, and deans of admission of other institutions(15%)
  
• Guidance Counselor assessment: a survey of the institution's reputation among approximately 1800 high school guidance counselors.
  
• Retention: six-year graduation rate and first-year student retention rate(20%)
  
• Faculty resources: average class size, faculty salary, faculty degree level, student-faculty ratio, and proportion of full-time faculty(20%)
  
• Student selectivity: standardized test scores of admitted students, proportion of admitted students in upper percentiles of their high-school class, and proportion of applicants accepted(15%)
  
• Financial resources: per-student spending(10%)
  
• Graduation rate performance: difference between expected and actual graduation rate(7.5%)
  
• Alumni giving rate(5%)
  

 

Given that the schools aren't too far apart academically, I think that feel at/for the university is going to be the key consideration for you. You absolutely, positively need to visit. Take the tour, and if you have any friends who could show you around a bit on campus, then I'd take advantage of that for sure.

 

I assume the $ would be very similar? Undergraduate debt = not worth it. If there's any substantial difference here, I'm easily picking the school where I'd end up with fewer loans. Undergraduate degrees are just not valuable enough to pay significantly more money for, unless you were going to an Ivy or similar Top 10 - Top 20 university.

 

I made a similar decision between UF and UM 6 years ago. (holy crap I'm old!) I felt kinda swallowed up at UF as a shy 17-year old, but I felt right at home at UM. That was what made my decision, and I knew it right away. You'll get a gut feeling - all other things being equal (or even similar), go with that feeling.

 

 

LOL you say that undergraduate debt isn't worth it and encouraging to choose the cheaper school but in your personal experience you chose UM over UF! (I'm guessing you didn't have to worry about debt with scholarships and florida bright, etc. I just found it funny)

 

 

OP, I completely agree with mystikol, if you intend to go to graduate school, I would advise you to go to the cheaper school, all other factors being equal. I'm not sure how much weight you give school rankings but if it helps, FSU is ranked higher than UCF and UCF is ranked just a bit above USF. UM is number one in the state, UF is number two,

 

FSU tuition is stated as 19,773

UCF tuition is stated at 20,005

 

I know some advised you not to consider what you choose to study as a big factor in your decision but I think you really should. My sister was given a huge scholarship to USF (like an obscene amount of money) so she chose to attend despite being accepted into every school in the state but she had to transfer out of the school after her fist year because, after deciding what she wanted to study, they didn't offer it.

 

I hope you get into UF and choose to go there. It's amazing.

 

A few things: Isn't it possible that I made a decision I now regret? (There wasn't much an effective $$$ difference between the 2 schools for me, fortunately, but I'd feel the same way regardless)

 

If your figures are right, then that $$$ difference is negligible.

 

I bolded the key part of your last paragraph: she didn't know yet what she wanted to study, so she didn't make a "poor" decision, but just got unlucky. If Dim feels really strongly, then it can be a factor. But after watching so many people change their minds, I wouldn't give too much weight to the fact that a school offers a major I might want to pick, i.e.

Out of interest, how much are tuition fees for you guys in America? I don't have to pay a thing as the Scottish government covers our fees. Mine would be roughly £2,000 ($3,150) per year.

Currently a massive outrage down south in England as students have to pay their own fees and the government is planning to treble fees to around £9,000 ($14,200) per year. There has been riots in London recently by students who have smashed in shop windows, ambushed police vans and attacked Prince Charles' limousine.

Out of interest, how much are tuition fees for you guys in America? I don't have to pay a thing as the Scottish government covers our fees. Mine would be roughly £2,000 ($3,150) per year.

Currently a massive outrage down south in England as students have to pay their own fees and the government is planning to treble fees to around £9,000 ($14,200) per year. There has been riots in London recently by students who have smashed in shop windows, ambushed police vans and attacked Prince Charles' limousine.

 

 

Varries by state. And whether or not you are a resident in that state.

 

Private insistutions range from 20-40K per year (although most of them are 35K+).

 

State schools (public universities) are completely dependent on the state. Here in Florida, the average is $3700-$4200 for tuition alone minus books/fees etc. and the out of state charge in Florida is roughly $11,000 per year (I think?).

 

It differs everywhere. Go to New York and if you're a resident it costs about $6,000 for the public institutions. Florida has some of the cheapest in the nation.