Got the acceptance phone call today. In at both UF and FSU now. I'm going with FSU because Gainesville is the worst and FSU has a better bar passage and placement ranking, that being said you really can't go wrong with either both are great places
The numbers are negligible when you consider that FSU and UF are separated by 2 percentage points and that more UF grads sit for the exam than do FSU grads: "FSU topped those who took Part A and Part B of the general bar exam; 146 of the 164 FSU grads passed...Next was The University of Florida, where 178 of 205 graduates passed, or 86.8 percent."
As for placement rankings, I assume you're talking about percentage employed at graduation...because UF's degree travels much further than FSU's (check the NALP data).
I'm still waiting on a decision from UF. I got into FSU back in January, and I went to their first ASD.
I really liked the school. It was impressive, they definitely are making strides to keep rising in the rankings.
That said... I hate being like this but if I choose to stay in Florida and get into UF, I'll probably choose UF. I feel so shallow to say that, because 1) I'm not even counting on getting in at this point because UF is just being scary this cycle, and 2) FSU has shown me love since the beginning.
But in a state like Florida, I just don't know if I'd want to go to a school that's always going to be seen as number 2. They were talking a lot at FSU about "watch the rankings in April..." I think they do expect that they might pass UF this year. I won't even bother wasting my time speculating on that... I do think FSU deserves to cross over into T1, and the way UF has been right now I don't know if they don't deserve to be given a bit of a wake up call. FSU has definitely been treating admitted students better than UF. But I think that UF feels (and probably is right) that their name has cachet in Florida and most Floridians will bend over backwards to go there.
The Tallahassee location doesn't mean so much to me either... I'm not really huge on either Tallahassee or Gainesville. But the location in the capital doesn't necessarily mean that much to me, because I'm not set on going into a government job, and it's not like UF suffers much for being in Gainesville. It's like in Georgia, I don't think a lot of UGA students suffer from not being in Atlanta... the school is ranked how much higher than Georgia State? And Atlanta is so much larger than Tallahassee, and actually has industry.
I may very well wind up at FSU, because it's really my best option at the moment, if I want to remain in Florida or the southeast in general. As I said, I hate that I'd likely pick UF over FSU only because it's nice when you know you're wanted, and I feel like I'd be an afterthought at UF while I was one of FSU's top choices... but I just feel the opportunities within Florida coming from UF are better. I also just have always had a greater affinity for UF.
As for the rankings... there's been a lot of talk on it... but even if FSU passes UF in the rankings, will it be long lived? I also don't like being somewhere where there's a definite atmosphere of having to constantly target the rival school because it's almost like they need to prove something. There's also just an undeniably high amount of pride among UF students that borders on a bit cocky and smug, but one thing they definitely don't lack is confidence in their choice. I feel like a lot of people choose FSU because they didn't get into UF. That's normal and happens all the time in the hierarchy of things, but still.
I'm also kind of concerned that FSU's slipping undergraduate reputation will work against the law school in the sense that it'll dim its shine. I mean, it really doesn't matter in the field, I guess, but it does work for/against popular conception of a school.
Ultimately, though, I really did like FSU, I was really impressed with how they went out of their way at ASD and the campus is definitely nicer than UF's (UF's library wins out over FSU's though) It's really awesome that they got the court building across the street, and it's a very nice setting. I can see myself being happy there if that's what it comes to.
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