Athens, GA (U. of Georgia) or Gainesville, FL (U. of Florida)? (Atlanta: real estate, insurance)

[Ohio_Boy_Heading_South]

I am a single, 25 yr. old male, lived in Ohio my entire life. I am looking at going back to college to pursue an MBA. Two of my choices are Georgia and Florida. I have most relatives in Ohio but I do have a brother and sister both in Florida. I am looking to move south not only for college but for at least the next 5-10 years beyond and possibly the rest of my life. I am tired of Ohio's winters and lackluster economy. I have been on many vacations to the South over the years and really think I would like it because of warmer weather, job opportunities, quality of life, culture, etc.

My question is where should I go to college (Athens, GA or Gainesville, FL)? For purposes of this discussion I am not worried about the particular colleges themselves and their strengths, weaknesses, etc.! I have done extensive research on the Warrington and Terry Colleges of Business. (1) I am asking for your advice as it relates to life in these two college towns. (2) I am also asking about which state you would advise me to begin my post-MBA career (Georgia or Florida)?

I am looking to get involved in corporate finance after my MBA and would live in Atlanta, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, or Miami-Ft. Lauderdale after college. So, which college I attend would have an impact on where my first job most likely would be. I am your typical 25 year old single guy. I like college/professional sports, going to bars/clubs etc. on weekends, hanging out with friends. Nothing special, just like to have a good time with friends. I do not plan on marriage/family for at least 5-10 more years.

So to summarize:
(1) which is a better college town (Athens or Gainesville)?
(2) which is a better state to begin a career with an MBA (GA or FL)?
(3) considering the previous two questions together where would you suggest I go to school??

[ellie]

Having attended both universities, I think I can answer this one with confidence. Athens is definitely better if you are looking for a downtown-oriented arts and music community. Gainesville is not terrible, but the hip folks evidently pride themselves on being inaccessible to the student community. To quote one of my favorite professors who lives in Gainesville, "you'll probably never meet many of the interesting people who live here until long after you graduate."

The Athens community, on the other hand, seems to be much more accessible on the surface. The concentrated downtown area probably has alot to do with it. There are many, many great restaurants and places to hang out. Gainesville's downtown is a mile from campus and has only two coffee shops, one across the street from the other. That's pretty much it for entertainment on the street during the day. At night there are quite a few bars open, but this life does not connect to any kind of vibrant streetlife or the overall health of the downtown shopping district, which is virtually non-existent. There is a nice street vegetable market on Wednesday afternoons near the Hippodrome. The Hipp has great indie films, which is a point in Gainesville's favor.

I believe that both schools have excellent business schools. You'll have to check elsewhere for rankings, but I think I remember that UF has the higher of the two.

As for where would you rather live? You have the choice of relocating to Atlanta along with virtually everyone else in the eastern half of the US or you can take your chances on FL, which may be more financially diverse, but suffers from a number of well-documented problems. I'd base career location on personal preference and a lot of serious research. Can't you live anywhere with an MBA?

As for sports... you know the score on that one. Both Universities have great reputations in that department, but let's hope you don't base your academic decisions on sports alone.

[Go Blue 99]

Hey..I was in a similar situation to you about 2.5 years ago. I was living in my hometown of Boston- fantastic city, but the cost of housing was a big negative. I was applying to b-schools and wanted to try a new city, and I ended up going to school in Atlanta. I enjoyed my time and decided to take a job here after graduation (corporate finance as well).

In terms of career...Atlanta is way above any city in Florida. It's the capital of the southeast..you'll have plenty of opportunities to climb the ladder. I know people that used to work in Tampa and Orlando, but ended up moving to other cities (Chicago and Boston) for career reasons.

I think Atlanta is a better city for young adults too. I personally think Orlando is very boring (mediocre nightlife), and Miami is too shallow and expensive. Tampa is the only FL city I'd consider living in. But Atlanta has a much bigger young professional base.

In that sense, I would pick UGA (keep in mind I'm ignoring rankings, sports teams, campus, etc). But UF also places well in Atlanta as far as I can tell, but you probably want to check with the placement office for exact stats.

[florigidge]

i lived in gainesville florida from 1986 to 2003. i have my degree from the university of florida, class of 1978. so i've lived there in different "eras."

and while i've not attended UG, i've been to athens a few times as a visitor.

of the two, i think i am glad i chose gainesville as both a student and a resident. but any city is what you make of it. in gainesville, you can have a separation of town and gown if you want or you can become involved in city/county politics and run for office - other students have. or you can become involved with civic or cultural groups, of which there are plenty. it's up to you.

on campus, there is a world class performing arts center (i used to work there; programming is incredibly diverse and amazing and students get a discount on shows), adjoined by the harn art museum (fully equipped with its own donated monet) next the museum of natural history and the new butterfly rain forest. you can also attend student plays at the constans theater on campus or attend concerts at university auditorium (which was completed in the 1920s - it's gothically beautiful) or catch someone like tom petty in the odome (the sports facililty).

i used to live in a dorm that had its own swimming pool, but the odome has a world class swimming facility. there's also a rather good football team and basketball team...ahem....in case you've missed the news. baseball also is well-attended and there is a nice enclosed tennis facility.

there's lake alice with the alligators (don't feed them) and the gorgeous baughman, a "chapel-like" contemplative building with beautiful lake views.

you can easily walk from university and 13th street (the main entrance to campus) to university and main (gainesville downtown) where you'll find the hippodrome state theatre (which also shows films in addition to professional stage plays) and union station with restaurants/starbucks.

concerts are held in the square downtown; in winter a temporary ice rink is installed. there are festivals all year long - downtown arts festival, spring arts festival, fifth avenue festival, hoggtowne medieval faire. you can become involved in the gainesville community theater, which just opened a brand spanking new theater. there's also the acrosstown repertory theater.

there are many active and passive parks. san felasco state park is good for a casual hike, paynes prairie, ditto. can't miss the devil's millhopper, an ancient sinkhole turned into a state park. but there's also ring park for a walk, palm point on newnans lake to the east of the city, morningside nature park. boulware springs trail head for the rail trail that goes to hawthorne and back. there's the hogtown greenway to traverse. the kanapaha botanical gardens also host their own festival each year.

popular things to do are driving to cedar key for dinner or for a lazy saturday or sunday brunch. cedar key is on the gulf. it hosts a seafood festival and an art festival. you can also head to the atlantic and go surfing at crescent beach or drive up A1A to anastasia beach or south to flagler beach.

i've driven to disneyworld in the morning, spent the day and drove back in the late evening. it's exhausting, but that's the way i've always done it.

gainesville has an active night life if you're under the age of 30. i am not sure how much time you'll have in grad school for any of that, but it's there.

as for a job afterwards, with an mba, i am not sure you have to worry. you'll be recruited by companies all over the globe. the school has a terrific rep.

or you could move to orlando or st. pete - or atlanta. i think the world will be your oyster if you are an outstanding student.

the weather is florida weather - north central florida weather. no sea breeze. it can be hot with high humidity. but you can also see a change of season. shadows get long in autumn, leaves fall, it gets cold (cold snaps, and then it can warm up - then again, i've been there when it's been 17 degrees; also been there when it iced up; also been there when it snowed - twice; great thing is it's still florida not ohio with the tough winters...). in spring the dogwoods and azaleas bloom like crazy; april is a good month. summer it's hot and for the newby, it can be really hot.

but there's this invention called 'air conditioning'.....and gainesville's buildings use all too much of it. most buildings are cold. i'm someone who actually will go 'ahhhhh' when i step outside of one of those too cold buildings.

the thing is no one here can make up your mind for you. you can research both athens and gainesville online - go to the respective city and county web sites; their chamber of commerce sites; their visitors/tourism sites. check out their newspapers online.

and then visit the both campuses before you choose.

good luck.

[Prichard]

There has to be a joke here somewhere - Ohio student, can't decide whether to jump ship to the Gators or the Bulldogs.

Both UofF and UofG are very good state schools academically. Since three of the four cities you picked to live in are in Florida, I'd pick University of Florida. However, if you are leaning strongly toward living in Atlanta, I'd pick University of Georgia.

I believe that you will find more people living outside of Florida who attended UofF than those living outside of Georgia who attended UofG. UofF attracts people from the midwest and northeast who just want to go to college in Florida. Georgia graduates tend to stay in their state.

The Gator-Bulldog rivalry is a real one. You will find people in Georgia who will look negatively upon your attending UofF. Florida employers don't tend to take this rivalry to the extreem that Georgia employers do, but expect a few comments when interviewing.

I considered both UofG and UofF when trying to decide which college to attend - got accepted to both, but chose UofF because I thought there was a stronger chance that I'd be staying in Florida after graduation.

[kjjbuck]

I can't speak for UGA - but you can't beat UF in terms of history, reputation (especially it's grad schools), and climate. Yes, I'm a Gator and a little biased, and it's been some time since I went to school there, but as far as the downtown/nightlife scene - it's not that far from campus and there are plenty of bars, restaurants, etc across the road from Campus. The real draw is the vast amount of activity you can find on campus. The arts program is fantastic (and spills out into the community) and the sports program - obviously well funded - keeps you busy as a spectator (not that I anticipate you'll have tons of free time - the academics are more rigorous than the "state school" status would imply). As a student, you also have access to beautiful fitness facilities for you to use. With an MBA from UF, you'll be able to get a job in either a Georgia or Florida market, so I don't know that I'd let that enter into my decision as to where to go.

And, not that climate is a deciding factor, but all things being equal, North Florida is the best. You get the trees and the lakes and the rural feel, but the beach is only 45 mintues away. Plus, while the summers are HOT - fall comes more quickly than in the rest of the state and it's downright pleasant for a good portion of the year. Although, coming from Ohio, you'll probably feel like either Georgia or Florida is a huge treat!

Good luck making your decision.

Go Gators!

[ellie]

In this situation it's almost impossible to make a mistake in choosing schools. Both have all the great activites packages a giant university can offer as far as sports, fitness, and culture.

But I'm talking about the cities themselves. The City of Gainesville has been sending its planning professionals to Athens in order to study how to make a better urban area. I don't know where you can find the data, but as a liveable city, Athens wins hands down. The weather is 10 degrees on average colder in the winter, the summer's slightly less hot. Fall is usually extraordinary. You trade in beach access, nearest beach 4 hours away, for mountain access 1 hour away. You trade Orlando and Jacksonville as the nearest major cities for Atlanta.

What do I love about Gainesville area, since I'll be here for a few more months? Payne's Prairie and all of the springs. You can see exotic birds at the Prairie and see manatees in the springs. But you can go whitewater kayaking right outside of Athens.

See you can't lose. And they're only 5 1/2 hours apart. Atlanta is probably closer to Gainesville than Miami is.

Why don't you let the schools compete over you? Tell them both that you are interested in attending the other school and see who wants you the most. That's why I went to UF for grad school, they really wanted me and went out of their way to make it happen.

[Prichard]

In choosing between UGA and UofF, I can't stress hard enough that you must give some thought about where you will live and who you will be networking with after you get your Degree. Perhaps this isn't as important when getting an MBA, but it is quite important when getting an undergraduate degree. I have several very close successful friends that I made while at UofF that I do business with now. I also have many acquaintences from UF that know me and whom I know through out Florida, and we keep in touch.

If I were to move to Georgia, my degree from UofF would not be worth as much as if I had a degree from UGA. I'm a loyal Gator, and in the land of the Gator-haters, that just don't amount to much. If I was a Bulldog working in Florida, I'd have to put up with the sound of wimpering dogs in some places I've worked before. All of this may sound real stupid to you. But, people can be pretty stupid, and they look for reasons to either bond with you or pick on you.

My best advice to you, is that if you don't know whether you want to live in Florida or Georgia, but want to go to a state school in the South - go to LSU. They're sort of neutral.

[Ohio_Boy_Heading_South]

Thank you for the helpful responses. It is an extremely difficult decision for me as they are both excellent business schools. An MBA from either one will be a very valuable asset to me for the rest of my life. I realize that I could get a job just about anywhere. But, there is a big difference between being an alumnus of an in-state school versus being one of an out-of-state school when it comes to pursuing a career in two rival states such as Georgia and Florida. Their alumni networks overlap, but of course Georgia's will be stronger in Georgia and Florida's in the state of Florida. Economically, Georgia has a much higher proportion of Fortune 500 headquarters relative to its population than does Florida. It also has numerous regional headquarters and a growing entertainment industry in music and movies. It appears that rising costs and hurricanes in Florida could cause this divide between the two states to get even wider, at least over the next 10 years or so.

As a result, right now I am leaning towards attending UGA because of the long-term consequences. The overall feeling that I get on these forums is that there is quite a bit of "unrest" in Florida, much more so than Georgia. It appears that rapid population growth coupled with a large elderly population, heavy immigration from the Caribbean, and greater hurrican activity have put a great strain on many people in Florida. Real estate prices, property taxes, insurance premiums, and costs of goods and services appear to be rising quite substantially, more so than the increase in income.

It's impossible to predict things on a long-term basis, but it appears that Georgia would be a much better option than Florida, at least over the next 10-20 years. It appears that Georgia will have a much better cost of living relative to income, less overcrowding, less strain from elderly needs, and of course less stress from natural disasters. Georgia does have rapid immigration right now, but it is a different type of immigration, much less diverse, and not as concentrated in certain areas. Georgia's immigration is almost entirely Mexican, and isn't as concentrated in certain ethnic "ghettos", as appears to have happened in many areas of South Florida. I would guess that over the next 20 years, there will be more assimilation and less ethnic tension among Georgia's immigrants than among Florida's. In terms of population stress, Georgia has a much larger area of developable land than Florida but a much smaller population. This should mean that Georgia will not have as much overcrowding as Florida, at least for a few decades.

So, like I said, I am leaning towards UGA right now because of the long-term potential of a career in Georgia and quality of life versus Florida. I have not made a final decision yet but hope to in the next week or so.