Florida State University (FSU)

Research, service, scholarship, and extracurricular opportunities are abundant at the "large campus" of Florida State University in Tallahassee. It's rather easy to understand why students are drawn to Florida State. After all, the "campus is gorgeous," "the weather is always nice" and there are an abundance "of resources at your fingertips." What's more, "despite its large size...the community is welcoming and [undergrads] don't feel like an anonymous face in the student body." Incredibly, it's still "easy to feel at home." Much of that can be credited to faculty who "are very willing to help undergraduate students with classes, research, career prospects, and everything in between." Florida State professors also excel at bringing their "courses to life and mak[ing] them interesting enough that [students truly] want to learn." Many are also "experts in their field." And "they make it known that they want students to succeed." To that end, "in addition to making themselves available... for office hours, they [continually] offer to make time for students [beyond those hours]." Perhaps this grateful undergrad says it best, "Their advice has pushed me to be a better student and pushed me to find a great future."

Florida State manages to attract a student body that's a "unique mixture of south Floridians, crunchy granolas, Northern snowbirds, sorority girls, and good ole boys, with a nice international population mixed in there." Despite these diverse personalities, the university still seems to cultivate a "strong sense of community." Of course, it definitely helps that students are "very friendly and always willing to [strike] up conversation." Even better, "everyone you see seems genuinely happy" and everyone "is pushing for you." People here want to see their peers "succeed." As one impressed student shares, "Everyone is so kind. No one is afraid to ask for help, and if they do most would be more than willing to help you out." Undergrads also applaud FSU for doing "a great job in creating or allowing students to create spaces for all communities, particularly those that are historically marginalized/typically first gen students." And no matter what else, students here come together in their shared "love for FSU." As this satisfied student sums up, "I have never been on a campus with such school spirit, excitement, and motivation to improve."

Life at Florida State offers a great "mix of academics, socializing, [and] extracurricular [activities]." To begin with, athletics are fairly popular and you can frequently spot "basketball games and volleyball games" popping up around campus. And during the fall, weekends "are spent [at] football games and tailgates." Aside from sports, we've been informed that the "Student Life Cinema always has cool events going on" and "there are always free concerts at Club Down Under on campus" as well. FSU also has "many organizations that are focused on philanthropy." For example, "Dance Marathon is the largest student run organization on campus and we have one of the largest Dance Marathons in the entire country. We also have a large Relay for Life organization." Moreover, a number of undergrads enjoy FSU's reservation, an "off campus [spot] where students can go swimming, paddle boarding, relaxing, or even [try out a] ropes course." Of course, it's also important to mention that some students feel as though "Greek life dominates" the social scene, even though "less than 50% of the student population [participates]." Finally, undergrads greatly appreciate hometown Tallahassee. The city offers "endless" nightlife along with "many great clubs and places for social events as well as pretty landscapes and historical sites."