Anyone have inside info on U of So.Florida--esp the St. Pete campus?

[K-FL]

Dd#2 has finally voiced any interest in continuing to the U (she's dual-enrolled @ the cc & should finish her AA along w/hs graduation.) She's interested in sailing & their team is at the St. Pete campus. They have the degree she'd probably major in there, but I'm curious to know if St. Pete is mainly a commuter campus, does it have any of the activities or all they all at the main-Tampa campus? Any input would be much appreciated as we're very early in this search.

[TravelingChris]

When we lived on the Fl east coast, there were quite a lot of kids in our community who went to Univ. of So. Florida and they lived on campus as it was a 2.5 to 3 hour drive. Now, I don't know if they were the only ones living on campus, but I think you can find out those statistics online.

[K-FL]

We just got back from touring both USF-Tampa & St. Pete so here's the scoop:

 

Tampa is the main campus. Approx 5500 students live on-campus & it is where all the action is.

 

St. Pete is a commuter school. It is a separately accredited school, but you can take classes at both campuses w/o any problem. There is 1 dorm (total) & that houses 340 students. The only dining on campus is a Chik-Fil-A that's not open Sat or Sun. Yea, that's a commuter school! The dorm rooms are like apts in that they have full kitchens, but there's not much action on campus. They kept touting how close all the downtown St. Pete stuff is. The main claim to fame is their small class sizes. We were there Monday and the Grand Prix was having it's last day so I don't know if it was like a "regular" class day, but campus was pretty dead.

 

Dd#2 will be applying to the Tampa campus. She just liked the whole atmosphere. However, if she's on the sailing team, she's going to have to get to the St. Pete campus since it's the waterfront one.

[TravelingChris]

Oh, I am sorry, I didn't even know there was a St. Pete campus. Since we didn't live in the area, we kind of thought as those two cities together. I think the one that all the kids I know went to had to be the larger campus because of their descriptions.

[K-FL]

We didn't know about the St. Pete campus either. The sailing team is the only reason we found it.

 

We talked to a friend that was on the team & graduated from the Tampa campus & he said it's really about a 45min-1hr drive between the 2 campuses since you have to take I-275 through downtown. Also, they have to car-pool--no school van or such to practice that's everyday at 3:30.

 

This same friend is now the sailing coach at Eckerd College in St. Pete & is encouraging her to apply there. The tuition is $30k+/yr (GULP), but he said not to count them out until you see the finaid package.

[Corraleno]

This same friend is now the sailing coach at Eckerd College in St. Pete & is encouraging her to apply there. The tuition is $30k+/yr (GULP), but he said not to count them out until you see the finaid package.

I went to Eckerd on a full-ride scholarship; their merit aid can be very generous. They have a great sailing program, as well as a first-rate Marine Science Laboratory. What is your DD planning to major in? It's also one of the schools in the Colleges That Change Lives book.

http://www.amazon.com/Colleges-That-Change-Lives-Schools/dp/0143037366/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270401508&sr=8-1

 

In many ways, I think Eckerd did "change my life" ~ although I didn't realize just how different it was until I went to UCLA for grad school, and realized that most undergrads barely speak to their profs, whereas I had been on a first-name basis with mine and regularly attended BBQs at their houses! Most students had never had a chance to study abroad in small groups (I spent a semester in London and a summer in Greece). Most students were stuck in classes of 150-200 for most of their freshman year (at Eckerd, a "large" intro class had about 50 kids; many of my classes had less than 20). I think Eckerd prepared me very well for grad school because so many of my classes were small seminars, with a lot of higher-level discussion and socratic questioning, as well as one-on-one time with professors. After my first year of grad school, I wrote a letter to my Philosophy prof at Eckerd and thanked him for "teaching me how to think" ~ a skill many of my fellow grad students seemed to lack. :tongue_smilie:

 

I was there a million years ago, and I'm sure it's changed a ton since I was there (it's much larger, for one thing), but I'd be happy to answer any questions.

 

Jackie