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I am currently a florida high school senior and plan on attending either florida state univ.or univ.of central florida. I have friends that go to both, and they all rave of how much fun both are. I was just looking for any opinions on these schools in academics and the atmoshere in general. Any help would be appreciated.

By Constellation35 (Constellation35) on Friday, January 16, 2004 - 11:40 pm: Edit

FSU has a MUCH better reputation, and is a tier 2 school. UCF is included in the tier 4 U.S. News rankings, so I'm pretty sure it's a tier 4 school...

By Iflyjets (Iflyjets) on Saturday, January 17, 2004 - 12:19 am: Edit

It seems I am again in slight in disagreement with you, Constellation, at least wrt the term "much" in this case. USNWR does list FSU near the bottom of the tier 2 schools, while UCF is in the "also ran" category. But looking at the actual statistics for each school shows a much smaller gap than these rankings suggest. FSU has a middle 50% SAT of 1040-1240; for UCF, it's 1030-1230 (only a ten point diff.). FSU has an 84% freshman retention rate, UCF is lower at 79%. The acceptance rate for FSU is higher, at 70%, with UCF at 62%. In academic circles, FSU is stronger in some fields, such as physics and fashion design; UCF is known for a couple of it's engineering programs, as well as some of it's PhD programs (not much help to you as an undergrad, however). Using rankings, however, to distinguish between these two schools is not really purposeful or meaningful; at these ranking points, "prestige" is heavily dimished, so select the school based on your needs and criteria.

FSU has more of a college community feel, as UCF has a very high percentage of commuting students (and this factor, in itself, may account for some of the lower ranking by USNWR for UCF). I would decide which type of environment you like (on-campus activities/community or not; strong sports teams with big national coverage or not). But, most importantly, I would try to look up the academic departments for each school that relate to those areas you may decide to major in. FSU is a more established school with longer traditions and a more "typical" undergraduate student body. UCF is newer, very active with commerical research projects (lots of undergad research opportunities in many fields), but has much less of a community/undergrad environment.

Have you also considered USF? Good luck in your choice.

By Laceycheer (Laceycheer) on Saturday, January 17, 2004 - 11:31 am: Edit

I agree with Jets, it ALL depends on what you want to do. ie. if your interested in film, FSU is one of the BEST public schools in the nation for it. UCF- is good for business and engineering.... and as far as jets USF suggestion, alls I know is my doctor went there, and he raves about it. He knows I want to go to school to be a peditrician... and hes constantly pushing USF on me.
As far as location goes, Id rather live in Orlando than Tall. but thats just me.

By Iflyjets (Iflyjets) on Saturday, January 17, 2004 - 12:12 pm: Edit

Laceycheer, Orlando is pretty good with lots to do, especially when compared to Tall. Being more central in the state, it's also closer to Miami, really close to Daytona and east coast beaches. I'll keep the film major info for FSU in mind; I know a couple of FL residents who may have an interest in that field. Thanks.

By Disko_Bison (Disko_Bison) on Monday, March 22, 2004 - 02:43 am: Edit

I am currently a student at the UCF School of Film; but when I was a high school senior, I was not sure of which school I wanted to attend- FSU or UCF- I was accepted to both.

The reason I decided upon UCF, ultimately, was the kind of learning environment and philosophy created by UCF. UCF is more focused on Independent-style-filmmaking, although many of our faculty have and continue to work in the "Hollywood System." We call it entreprenurial filmmaking: learning all aspects of filmmaking, from sound to editing to writing to directing. No one is holding you back here- you are free to break the rules, however, the Faculty wants to be sure that before you break the rules, you know them. The school is chaired by Sterling VanWaganen, Co-founder of, and former Executive Director of the Sundance Film Institute.

FSU is great, and it is highly ranked, but, it really comes down to the kind of film education you want. If you would prefer to have a guaranteed job in Hollywood on "The Faster and the Furious 3" or whatever as a sound technician, go to FSU- you're guaranteed a job. If you want to write/direct/produce your own off-the-wall independent film with the obscure/underground contacts you made in school, go to UCF, you'll eventually find your niche.

As for me, I'm very happy where I am.

If you have any questions about the UCF film school, email me at disko_bison@yahoo.com