University of Miami vs. University of Florida

Miami wins the headline-rate contest, admitting about 17.6% of applicants against 24.2% at UF in the most recent cycle. Residency flips the math, though: only about 20% of UF's first-year class comes from out of state, so non-Florida applicants fight over a far smaller slice, while 63% of Miami's class arrives from out of state. The admitted profiles nearly overlap, with UF posting a middle-50% SAT of 1330–1470 and a 3.92 average GPA next to Miami's 1350–1450 SAT and 3.75 GPA.

They split on this. UF runs no test-optional policy, so every applicant submits the SAT or ACT; enrolled students scored a middle 50% of 1330–1470 on the SAT and 29–33 on the ACT. Miami stayed test-optional for its most recent class, where submitters posted a middle 50% of 1350–1450 SAT and 30–33 ACT, but it brings back the SAT-or-ACT requirement starting with Fall 2027 applicants.

On sticker price, UF undercuts Miami badly, especially for residents: tuition and required fees come to about $6,381 for Floridians and $28,658 out of state, against a flat $65,430 at private Miami. Aid reshuffles the picture in uneven ways. Miami meets 100% of demonstrated need with an average package near $64,221 reaching about 37% of first-years, while UF meets 99% of need on a smaller average package near $14,201 that reaches about 65% of first-years. A Florida resident pays almost nothing comparable at UF, and a high-need out-of-state student sees Miami's larger need-based aid recover much of the spread.

Business tops the list at both schools, yet it carries more weight at Miami, claiming about 26% of bachelor's degrees there against roughly 14% at UF. UF spreads its strength wider: business leads, but engineering (about 12%) and the biological and life sciences (about 11%) run close behind across a broad research university. Miami funnels students into business and the health professions on a tighter campus that posts an 11-to-1 student-faculty ratio, where UF sits around 16-to-1.

UF dwarfs Miami in size, enrolling about 36,573 undergraduates against Miami's 13,241, more than two and a half times as many. Both keep most students close to campus, with roughly 75% living on campus at UF and 88% at Miami. UF also holds onto and graduates students at a higher clip, logging a 98% first-year retention rate and a 91% six-year graduation rate where Miami posts 93% and 84%.

Miami alone offers binding Early Decision, splitting it into an ED I and an ED II round and pairing it with a nonbinding Early Action option. UF skips Early Decision entirely and runs only nonbinding, non-restrictive Early Action, so applying early there never locks you into enrolling. A student set on Miami as a first choice can use those ED rounds, a route UF doesn't provide.