Anyone have any experience with Florida State University (FSU)?

[Anonymous]

My daughter is seriously considering this school after receiving the OOS tuition waiver. What are the pros and cons of this school? I know that there are no direct flights to Tallahassee from here - but other than that? Any thoughts?

[Anonymous]

No personal experience but I know two kids there who both love. Both from this area. One girl and one boy.

[Anonymous]

I’m curious as well, specifically about student culture. You certainly see FSU rank near the top of many “Best Party” and “Top Greek” lists, so it sounds like a fun place! How might it be for a kid who is social but maybe not as interested in party culture?

I also have seen a lot of references to classes filling up quickly and having to pay extra fees for the online courses. Are a lot of classes online?

[Anonymous]

I have heard (although not directly from the schools) that a lot of the classes are online.

[Anonymous]

How do you receive an out of state tuition waiver? Congrats! My DD was accepted to UF OOS .

We did attend an information session in early 2023. We were also told that very large classes are recorded and online at UF but there was always an option to attend the morning class in person. This must be the way of state schools in Florida? At the time, we did not want to pay OOS tuition for online classes, and were concerned.

Ended up choosing another university.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you receive an out of state tuition waiver? Congrats! My DD was accepted to UF OOS .

We did attend an information session in early 2023. We were also told that very large classes are recorded and online at UF but there was always an option to attend the morning class in person. This must be the way of state schools in Florida? At the time, we did not want to pay OOS tuition for online classes, and were concerned.

Ended up choosing another university.

The OOS Tuition Waiver is given based on stats (I think the GPA has to be over a 4.0 with no Cs and the SAT has to be 1420 or higher). The Florida schools offer a limited number of Grandparent waivers (which we never explored b/c we don't have grandparents in Florida). We're also looking into Univ. of Florida (regular decisions are coming out next week on February 23rd). However, I have heard that Florida is not that great at giving merit or waivers. I don't know too much about online classes - but some of that might depend on the major. For example, at University of Central Florida - the major that seems to have the most online classes are the business ones. I have heard that Florida State tends to have a more collaborative environment v. UF that tends to be very competitive. Still, University of Florida is considered the premier school to go to in Florida - so many people will go based on ranking. To be honest, if my kid got in, I'm not sure what we will do (as much as I want to stay away from rankings and prestige - it's hard to ignore it when you're from here).

[Anonymous]

I'm trying to decide between Florida State (ranked 53) v. University of Central Florida (ranked 125). Florida State is offering more money, but University of Central Florida offers better opportunities for the program my kid is interested in. Other things are that the dorms at UCF are better than FSU - but you are more likely to get on-campus housing beyond freshman year than at UCF.

[Anonymous]

Is housing assigned based on when you submit your deposit? This bugs me when schools ask for deposits and contracts well before May 1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is housing assigned based on when you submit your deposit? This bugs me when schools ask for deposits and contracts well before May 1.

I think the housing application opens on Feb. 21st. I think everyone who submits an application between Feb. 21-25 are put in the first group that will receive a lottery number for picking dorms. I think if FSU is at all in consideration, you should submit a housing application during this period. A lot of schools will allow you to put down the housing deposit without paying an enrollment deposit (not 100% sure if this is the case for FSU).

[Anonymous]

Eh, U of Florida is better from what I've heard. But good parties if that is what the kiddo is looking for!

[Anonymous]

UF is super competitive environment. And not in a good way. Forget Greek, the clubs are cut throat. Seriously, just about every club or academic organization has cuts. And so many weed out classes and programs. Not nurturing. I suspect Florida State is much better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eh, U of Florida is better from what I've heard. But good parties if that is what the kiddo is looking for!

For us, money is a big factor - and UF is not known for giving out much!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UF is super competitive environment. And not in a good way. Forget Greek, the clubs are cut throat. Seriously, just about every club or academic organization has cuts. And so many weed out classes and programs. Not nurturing. I suspect Florida State is much better.

I have heard this many times. I didn't realize that the even the clubs were cut throat!

[Anonymous]

FSU is big enough that you can party of you want to, but won’t feel pressured if it’s not your thing.

I think the major will matter. They have some some solid programs in the humanities, but there are plenty of “fluff” programs. Intro and core curriculum classes will be huge, but probably pretty easy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UF is super competitive environment. And not in a good way. Forget Greek, the clubs are cut throat. Seriously, just about every club or academic organization has cuts. And so many weed out classes and programs. Not nurturing. I suspect Florida State is much better.

I have heard this many times. I didn't realize that the even the clubs were cut throat!

What on earth. UF grad. It's an amazing school. I grew up in Florida and my HS friends were fairly evenly distributed among the Florida state universities. The UCF grads all went on to tech or science based jobs. The UF grads are almost all very successful in a variety of fields. Not one FSU grad has held down a steady job. Obviously, this is anecdata. I would not send my own kids anywhere in FL but UF.