Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: U of Michigan, U of Florida and U of Virginia are the All Around Best schools. These three schools are all top 30 ranked schools based on US News and World Report that have strong Division IA sports teams, reasonable tuition (especially for in-state) and students/alumni that actually love attending the school.

Relating to the "top 10" thread, those schools only admit a small number of students (and those are typically legacy, minority, or sports hooks) and cost $75,000 plus per year.

Among the Publics, UC Berkeley, UCLA and U Mich are in a category of their own. All around great schools, many top programs - STEM and non-STEM. I'd add UVA to this category if your focus is exclusively on non-STEM. On par with most top Private schools. All other publics are a step below and you'd choose to attend one of them if the specific program you are interested in ranked high relative to the cost of attendance. For example, UC SD, U Wash, Austin, Georgia Tech, UIUC, Purdue, UMD are all great STEM schools, better than UVA in STEM and waaaay better than Florida. Actually not sure why Florida is ranked 30..

Funny, you take what you like from the the US News and World Report rankings as fact and completely dismiss the rest. UVA and Florida are ranked higher for a reason. If you don't know the reason, you shouldn't be saying other schools are waaaay better. They are not better schools. I am guessing you are basing your comment on 25 years ago.

Also, I know students that started as pre-Veterinarian, pre-Electrical Engineering, pre-Computer Science and pre-Medicine, that are now Psychology, Journalism and Elementary Education Majors. All are good majors. Students change majors. That is why I told my child to look at the overall school and not simply the major.

I don't think your response contradicts what I posted and your bolded sentence above is the point I'm making. The three schools I pointed out are great across the board. If start Engineering at Michigan (for example) and don't like it you can join several top 10 programs at their Arts/Science school (or the other way around). Can't say the same thing for UVA (their engineering is sorely lacking). With Florida, they have one top 10 program (Agriculture Engineering). What does the kid do if they don't like that program? The other options aren't that great.

Like I said, if you are definitely NOT interested in STEM, UVA is a top school. The others, not so much. If you notice, the OOS cost of the top 3 (+UVA) they are at the same level as top Privates and folks are willing to pay that for a reason. If Florida or even UNC costs 70K there will not any OOS takers.

Do more research on the schools before you dismiss Florida and all its majors. Why do you think University of Florida is ranked number 30 Nationally Overall and 6th Best Public? Further, every year it keeps RISING up higher in the ranks? Hint: Demographics. Families moving from NY, NJ and other states to South Florida. Top school for students coming from Latin America too. There are lots of great schools, not sure why you need to bash another university.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:University of Florida is on the rise and they are now a top Public university. The students love it and they are attracting top students across the US. I know at least 7 kids headed there in the fall. Three are National Merit students and the other 4 are strong academically too.

It gives free tuition for National Merit students.

But, how exactly is Univ of Florida much better than Univ of Washington (ranked 58 by US News)?

It's interesting that the reputation of the US colleges are largely controlled by a magazine that has been bankrupt for a long time. If for some reason US News drops a college by a few spots, then people scream that the college is in decline. Colleges kowtows to the magazine in order not to be punished.

Free tuition, room and board for NMF (non-residents Included) under the Benaquisto scholarship. That is true of all Florida public universities.

I think they are removing the out-of-state benefits for NMF. One of the reason my DC decided against going there. There was a risk that the program will be defunded.

Anonymous wrote:U of Florida? We checked it in Naviance and the SAT/ACT scores of accepted students from our school are dismally low. This may be a good college for weak students but not an academic environment one would aspire for their child. YIKES!

Certainly not in the same category as U of Mich.

Warning, take Naviance with a grain of salt. I am a parent of a Senior. Naviance for our school showed not one student at our W school got accepted at Harvard the last 5 years. That is one data point that was informative from Naviance. However, the rest of Naviance doesn't tell the whole story. For example, this year two students from our high school were accepted at one hard to get into Top 10 school, Naviance doesn't have an asterisk to show they are both legacy kids. In addition, Naviance doesn't have an asterisk to show the 2 students that were accepted at another Top 10 school, one a sports and one an URM hook. Further, Naviance combines at least 5 years of scores and not all kids report their information. Basically, what I am saying it that Naviance doesn't tell the whole story.

Regarding your snarky "weak student" and YIKES comment, the original poster stated all around good schools, Michigan, Florida and Virginia are not Harvard, Princeton and Yale, but they are still great schools. These schools will have National Merit Scholars and Football/Sports fans, academics and partiers. There is a niche for all students.

I hope you and your DC don't end up disappointed, I know lots of students waited listed with strong scores at Michigan this year that didn't get accepted.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: U of Michigan, U of Florida and U of Virginia are the All Around Best schools. These three schools are all top 30 ranked schools based on US News and World Report that have strong Division IA sports teams, reasonable tuition (especially for in-state) and students/alumni that actually love attending the school.

Relating to the "top 10" thread, those schools only admit a small number of students (and those are typically legacy, minority, or sports hooks) and cost $75,000 plus per year.

Among the Publics, UC Berkeley, UCLA and U Mich are in a category of their own. All around great schools, many top programs - STEM and non-STEM. I'd add UVA to this category if your focus is exclusively on non-STEM. On par with most top Private schools. All other publics are a step below and you'd choose to attend one of them if the specific program you are interested in ranked high relative to the cost of attendance. For example, UC SD, U Wash, Austin, Georgia Tech, UIUC, Purdue, UMD are all great STEM schools, better than UVA in STEM and waaaay better than Florida. Actually not sure why Florida is ranked 30..

Are they really? If you survey UCLA and Berkeley undergraduate alumni in particular, would they think they had a great experience compared to other schools? I don't think they will (look at Niche, alumni giving rates). If you look at earnings and compare to other schools after adjusting for cost of living where graduates settle and what they major in, do they do better than other public schools? Again, I don't think so.

If you survey the alumni or ANY school, the majority of them will say they had a great experience. I have 2 friends, one works for the post office and the other is the CEO of a mid-size company. Both are extremely happy with their families/lives despite their disparities. Still doesn't negate the fact that the CEO dude's quality of life and life experiences are miles ahead of the other's.

I come across this POV all the time.. earnings adjusted for COL are the same across the country. That may be, at a point in time. However, over 30 years of employment, you also save and invest, buy homes that appreciate, have opportunities that don't even exist at other places, etc. Every friend of mine who chose to go the SF bay area is wealthier than I am. More than a handful of them own homes that are worth more than my 8-figure net worth. Where you begin your career (even if the COLA-adjusted starting salary is the same elsewhere) matters in the long run.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: U of Michigan, U of Florida and U of Virginia are the All Around Best schools. These three schools are all top 30 ranked schools based on US News and World Report that have strong Division IA sports teams, reasonable tuition (especially for in-state) and students/alumni that actually love attending the school.

Relating to the "top 10" thread, those schools only admit a small number of students (and those are typically legacy, minority, or sports hooks) and cost $75,000 plus per year.

Among the Publics, UC Berkeley, UCLA and U Mich are in a category of their own. All around great schools, many top programs - STEM and non-STEM. I'd add UVA to this category if your focus is exclusively on non-STEM. On par with most top Private schools. All other publics are a step below and you'd choose to attend one of them if the specific program you are interested in ranked high relative to the cost of attendance. For example, UC SD, U Wash, Austin, Georgia Tech, UIUC, Purdue, UMD are all great STEM schools, better than UVA in STEM and waaaay better than Florida. Actually not sure why Florida is ranked 30..

Funny, you take what you like from the the US News and World Report rankings as fact and completely dismiss the rest. UVA and Florida are ranked higher for a reason. If you don't know the reason, you shouldn't be saying other schools are waaaay better. They are not better schools. I am guessing you are basing your comment on 25 years ago.

Also, I know students that started as pre-Veterinarian, pre-Electrical Engineering, pre-Computer Science and pre-Medicine, that are now Psychology, Journalism and Elementary Education Majors. All are good majors. Students change majors. That is why I told my child to look at the overall school and not simply the major.

I don't think your response contradicts what I posted and your bolded sentence above is the point I'm making. The three schools I pointed out are great across the board. If start Engineering at Michigan (for example) and don't like it you can join several top 10 programs at their Arts/Science school (or the other way around). Can't say the same thing for UVA (their engineering is sorely lacking). With Florida, they have one top 10 program (Agriculture Engineering). What does the kid do if they don't like that program? The other options aren't that great.

Like I said, if you are definitely NOT interested in STEM, UVA is a top school. The others, not so much. If you notice, the OOS cost of the top 3 (+UVA) they are at the same level as top Privates and folks are willing to pay that for a reason. If Florida or even UNC costs 70K there will not any OOS takers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:University of Florida is on the rise and they are now a top Public university. The students love it and they are attracting top students across the US. I know at least 7 kids headed there in the fall. Three are National Merit students and the other 4 are strong academically too.

It gives free tuition for National Merit students.

But, how exactly is Univ of Florida much better than Univ of Washington (ranked 58 by US News)?

It's interesting that the reputation of the US colleges are largely controlled by a magazine that has been bankrupt for a long time. If for some reason US News drops a college by a few spots, then people scream that the college is in decline. Colleges kowtows to the magazine in order not to be punished.

Free tuition, room and board for NMF (non-residents Included) under the Benaquisto scholarship. That is true of all Florida public universities.

What would make Florida better all around than UNC, Texas, Wisconsin, Washington, etc.?

U of Florida? We checked it in Naviance and the SAT/ACT scores of accepted students from our school are dismally low. This may be a good college for weak students but not an academic environment one would aspire for their child. YIKES!

Certainly not in the same category as U of Mich.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: U of Michigan, U of Florida and U of Virginia are the All Around Best schools. These three schools are all top 30 ranked schools based on US News and World Report that have strong Division IA sports teams, reasonable tuition (especially for in-state) and students/alumni that actually love attending the school.

Relating to the "top 10" thread, those schools only admit a small number of students (and those are typically legacy, minority, or sports hooks) and cost $75,000 plus per year.

Among the Publics, UC Berkeley, UCLA and U Mich are in a category of their own. All around great schools, many top programs - STEM and non-STEM. I'd add UVA to this category if your focus is exclusively on non-STEM. On par with most top Private schools. All other publics are a step below and you'd choose to attend one of them if the specific program you are interested in ranked high relative to the cost of attendance. For example, UC SD, U Wash, Austin, Georgia Tech, UIUC, Purdue, UMD are all great STEM schools, better than UVA in STEM and waaaay better than Florida. Actually not sure why Florida is ranked 30..

Are they really? If you survey UCLA and Berkeley undergraduate alumni in particular, would they think they had a great experience compared to other schools? I don't think they will (look at Niche, alumni giving rates). If you look at earnings and compare to other schools after adjusting for cost of living where graduates settle and what they major in, do they do better than other public schools? Again, I don't think so.

Anonymous wrote:I am a graduate of the University of Florida.

It's a huge school and honestly would not recommend compared to UMD and UVA for many reasons.

Is UF a party school? Sure as much as UMD and UVA are all three have the same elements, if you don't believe that you are an idiot.

Is UF academically the same as the other two? No, and surely not worth out-of-state tuition.

UF is the flagship school in the state of Florida. Right there should tell you it's 100% a no-go. While it is the hardest to get into in the state, like UVA and UMD, there are approx 50,000 students a good learning environment for most students, H no. Not to mention Bright Futures means less qualified students end up there more than UMD and UVA. Although full pay out-of-state students with poor GPA's get into UMD and UMD has a ton of not qualified phone in Medical students. Yes, that is a fact mom or dad knows someone's phone call and application pushed up. So no not a fan of UMD either.

UF is a large public University. If one lives in state I get the attraction, otherwise why bother.

What year did you graduate? Florida has improved and it’s on the rise. Today, the students coming from out of state have high GPAs and strong test scores. That said, there are lots of inflated high school grades everywhere. I agree in state UVA beats out of state Florida. We live in MD and my daughter doesn’t want to go to UMD so we are adding it to the list of schools to visit.

UF and UVA are $75K? Per year?

I am a graduate of the University of Florida.

It's a huge school and honestly would not recommend compared to UMD and UVA for many reasons.

Is UF a party school? Sure as much as UMD and UVA are all three have the same elements, if you don't believe that you are an idiot.

Is UF academically the same as the other two? No, and surely not worth out-of-state tuition.

UF is the flagship school in the state of Florida. Right there should tell you it's 100% a no-go. While it is the hardest to get into in the state, like UVA and UMD, there are approx 50,000 students a good learning environment for most students, H no. Not to mention Bright Futures means less qualified students end up there more than UMD and UVA. Although full pay out-of-state students with poor GPA's get into UMD and UMD has a ton of not qualified phone in Medical students. Yes, that is a fact mom or dad knows someone's phone call and application pushed up. So no not a fan of UMD either.

UF is a large public University. If one lives in state I get the attraction, otherwise why bother.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: U of Michigan, U of Florida and U of Virginia are the All Around Best schools. These three schools are all top 30 ranked schools based on US News and World Report that have strong Division IA sports teams, reasonable tuition (especially for in-state) and students/alumni that actually love attending the school.

Relating to the "top 10" thread, those schools only admit a small number of students (and those are typically legacy, minority, or sports hooks) and cost $75,000 plus per year.

Among the Publics, UC Berkeley, UCLA and U Mich are in a category of their own. All around great schools, many top programs - STEM and non-STEM. I'd add UVA to this category if your focus is exclusively on non-STEM. On par with most top Private schools. All other publics are a step below and you'd choose to attend one of them if the specific program you are interested in ranked high relative to the cost of attendance. For example, UC SD, U Wash, Austin, Georgia Tech, UIUC, Purdue, UMD are all great STEM schools, better than UVA in STEM and waaaay better than Florida. Actually not sure why Florida is ranked 30..

Funny, you take what you like from the the US News and World Report rankings as fact and completely dismiss the rest. UVA and Florida are ranked higher for a reason. If you don't know the reason, you shouldn't be saying other schools are waaaay better. They are not better schools. I am guessing you are basing your comment on 25 years ago.

Also, I know students that started as pre-Veterinarian, pre-Electrical Engineering, pre-Computer Science and pre-Medicine, that are now Psychology, Journalism and Elementary Education Majors. All are good majors. Students change majors. That is why I told my child to look at the overall school and not simply the major.

yes not yew

School tours are starting up again. My advice is to actually take a tour with your student at U of Michigan, U of Virginia and U of Florida and other schools they are interested in attending. Talk to students on campus. This way your child can determine what school is best for them. All schools have plus and minuses.

On paper, I thought UMD looked great. However, once our family visited the school, my daughter had no interest in living in College Park, MD for four years. With the actual visit, it became clear why UMD is ranked at 58 overall and other schools are ranked higher. Great price in-state, but no interest in living in College Park. And yew when you visit you will see that UMD does publicize their US News and World Repot rank for Computer Science, yet they leave off their overall rank of 58 on the street banners...

If the above poster named seven additional schools they thought were good schools that is fine. However, claiming that UVA and Florida were not as good in STEM or Overall is simply BS. I bet they never visited UVA or Florida. Only in DCUM would someone be so snarky and negative.

There are lots of great schools, visit with your student and determine what is the best fit for them.