Which is better New College of Florida or the FAU Wilkes Honors College?

Answer 1

It depends what you want. Both are small public liberal arts schools. New College has a bit more name recognition than the FAU HC - since it is its own school, New College often shows up in various university rankings. Since the HC is a college of FAU, you don't often see it distinguished from the rest of FAU in rankings and whatnot. If prestige matters, then New College is probably better. I don't think this point matters much, but there it is.

The big difference in terms of academics that I am aware of is that New College has a non-traditional grading system. I didn't go there, but I understand that professors provide "narrative evaluations," where they go over you strengths and weaknesses in your classes - you aren't given a letter grade. They are really big on independent work/research. I've heard that it has a pretty "liberal atmosphere," but I don't know anything beyond that. It's located in Sarasota, FL; while I have never been there, I have heard it isn't a particularly exciting place. It is fairly close Tampa/St. Petersburg, though, which I know first hand are quite interesting places.

The HC, on the other hand, has a traditional grading system. The HC also encourages independent research. As a requirement to graduate, you have to work on an original research project with one of the faculty and write a thesis on it. The location (Jupiter, FL) is also desirable. It's small, near a wonderful beach, and right next door to Roger Dean stadium (where the Marlins and Cardinals have spring training). It's close to downtown West Palm Beach, which has a good night life scene. It's also next to Scripps Florida and a Max Planck institute, which are great places to get an internship.

So, if you're looking for a very good non-traditional liberal arts education, New College is the way to go. If you're looking for a traditional liberal arts education (and are perhaps interested the opportunity to intern at Scripps/Max Planck), then the HC is a better choice. I am a graduate of the FAU HC, and I felt like I obtained a great education at very little cost. I'm currently working on a PhD in chemistry at an Ivy League school, so I can say personally that a liberal arts degree from the HC can help get you to where you want to be.