Posted by a don on 6/3/2009, 5:31 pm, in reply to "Re: and......"
Having served as a high school teacher, counselor, and university administrator, I was able to step back and observe USF with a degree of objectivity. While USF does not compete with Stanford or UC Berkeley in attracting an incoming class packed with extremely high achievers, it is very respected for having overall high admittance standards and it does attract a good percentage of very high achievers. Its main drawback is its high tuition. A number of students start there and their families find that the costs are just too prohibitive. My own children were offered scholarships at USF, but chose Cal Poly SLO and UC campuses for their affordability. What USF does offer is a personalized education with small classes and classes taught by the actual professor and not some English limited asst. prof. or a TA as in many state universities. Overall, USF has much to offer and it's 65% graduation rate, given its influx of foreign students, isn't that bad. As posters have stated, many of us have had roommates who've achieved at small rural high schools, only to go into shock at the rigor of a solid university education.