After visiting UF today...

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Florida
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<p>Today was my second time visiting UF to help me decide if it is where I want to go, and I'm 99% sure that it is. What I am wondering is two things: 1) is there any sort of student aid/tutoring for classes you are struggling in and how accessible is it and 2) if anyone is an aerospace engineering major, can you tell me how your experiences have been with professors, projects, and research opportunities specific to that field?</p>

<p>Also, dorm recommendations for Summer B and Fall. Thanks!</p>

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<p>Hey Ralph, </p>

<p>1- ) Yes, there are several tutoring options at UF. First, there is a channel on Residence Life T.V where you can find tutoring for Chemistry, and several math courses. Additionally, there is also a Broward Tutoring Center where you can receive tutoring with mathematics, and receive essay paper critiques. There’s also OAS(Office of Academic Support) tutoring services available, featuring many tutors. There’s also Tutoringzone. TutoringZone costs a little bit of money but everyone that goes there LOVES it. They give you note handouts I believe, and the tutors there are funny and explain the concepts in many ways which are geared towards college students. Don’t worry about tutoring, there are MANY resources available here at UF. If you’re every struggling, simply contacting the Dean Of Students Office may be the best place to start as they can direct you to many of the resources I mentioned and more! </p>

<p>I can’t help you with -2 as I’m not an engineer…</p>

<p>In terms of Housing however, there are many different types of residence halls at UF. There are traditional dorms, and apartment style. There are some that are in the dead center of where everything is located, and others which are a distance away such as Lakeside. </p>

<p>If you’re looking to major in Engineering, try to get into East Hall. It’s the Engineering community residence hall, and there will be engineering programs, and like minded individuals there too. It would be an ideal place to live to receive Engineering support, meet other newb engineers, and form study groups as you’ll likely all be taking the same courses.</p>

<p>If you’re looking for location, the Murphree area has the best location on campus in my opinion (maybe I’m slightly biased as I’m an RA here, hehe). It’s right next to West University (all the great places to eat just right across the street from campus), Library West (the largest and biggest library on campus), Recsports(the smaller of the two Gyms), Academic advising, the infirmary, the Hub, Turlington, and shall I continue? </p>

<p>Lakeside is a mile from campus. 2nd most expensive dorm. If you want something that feels like it’s “off campus”, then this is a decent choice I guess. I lived here last semester. I don’t recommend it. </p>

<p>Broward - The traditional freshman dorm. Lots of crazy people rushing fraternities and sororities. It can be very social. It can also be very annoying. You share a restroom with about 50 other guys usually. </p>

<p>Jennings - Mostly girls live there. Only four guy floors. Right next to UFPD. </p>

<p>Beaty Towers - Apartment style, but you share a room with someone. </p>

<p>Hume - Overpriced, ‘honors’ dorm. Great for Summer B.</p>

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<p>Dracos, I agree with everything you said. But I have a question:</p>

<p>Jennings has 7 floors floor 1 2 3 and 4 are all guys and floors 5 6 and7 are girls. How can Jennings be mostly girls when there are more guy floors?</p>

<p>Just asking. thanks</p>

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<p>Hey Dracos, thanks for the info. To live in Hume for summer B do you have to be in honors?</p>

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<p>Dracos, that was extremely helpful I really appreciate it! Is Hume expensive for Summer B as well? and where is East Hall located on campus? And which out of Murphree and East Hall would you say is “nicer”, cleaner, better evironment, etc.?</p>

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<p>2)
I can’t say a whole lot about the professors just because it’s pretty much how you would expect it to be – some good and some bad. Although I have to say the general consensus is that the physics I and II professors were pretty poor. One of the physics 2 professors was actually a good professor, but the rest were rather boring (in physics 1 and 2 there’s 2 lecturers for each class that rotate every 2 weeks or so). </p>

<p>For the engineering courses I’ve taken so far, I would probably say I’ve had more good than bad. A few of the classes have really boring lectures but if you can pay attention, the professors are usually ok (Numerical Methods w/ MATLAB really comes to mind here).</p>

<p>Research is rather hard to come by since engineering seems to emphasize internships more than research. I was able to get a research position in the field of Aerospace engineering, but it wasn’t easy. Definitely prepare to send a lot of emails and don’t be afraid of visiting different professors.</p>

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<p>Thanks Fla Marlins! Would you say it was more of the professors being boring or not teaching well? or both? Do you feel as though you find yourself having to teach yourself often?
Obviously this field is a tough one so my main concern is having methods to make sure I understand what is going on.</p>

<p>How are the internship and job prospects? UCF boasted a lot about that and I’ve wondered if UF has a competitive edge and/or companies that frequently hire UF aerospace engineers.</p>

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<p>Some of the professors I have are just boring. The only professors that I can think of were bad were the ones who taught straight from slides. They use slides less in the upper division classes since the problems are more involved, but it can get pretty boring later in the semester when you kind of get tired of the subject or the same routine everyday.</p>

<p>I usually find myself getting basic concepts from lecture and learning the details myself through the homeworks. </p>

<p>As for recruiting, there’s a career fair every semester that students can go to. There’s usually a ton of company recruiters for students to talk to in hopes of getting an interview. It’s pretty hard to land an interview since there’s so many other students there, but it’s probably UF’s best effort at helping students get a job.</p>

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<p>I lived in Hume during Summer B and it was seriously my best dorm experience. You don’t have to be in Honors which means that there are a lot less socially awkward people. It’s one of the newest dorms and since it’s the Honors dorms, they’re continually kept up and they have the best amenities. I was an engineering major up until two weeks ago, so my whole freshman year was taking engineering classes. You won’t take any classes for aerospace specifically until your sophomore year most likely, so you’ll be taking classes with students from all the divisions of engineering. The only problem I’ve ever had was with the Calc 1 for Engineers professor (Dr. Kozinski). A lot of people retook Calc 1 for an easy A and to refresh for Calc 2 (the most dropped class here at UF), but they ended up with a C and being very upset. If anything, just take normal Calc 1. If they tell you Calc 1 for Eng is mandatory, it’s NOT. The Aerospace major is combined with Mechanical because their classes differ by about 12-16 credits. This means that you can leave here with a dual-degree! There are SO many research opportunities for engineering majors because it’s basically UF’s biggest college. Otherwise, I’ve had absolutely no problems with the engineering program here. The only reason I changed majors was because I found I had no interest in it.</p>

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<p>Also, there is a two-day Career Fair every semester where one of the days is specifically designed for engineering majors. I don’t remember UCF ever saying they had that. Also, our engineering program just turned 100 years old last year. UCF’s program is brand new, so they don’t have anywhere near the amount of prestigious professors or connections that UF has.</p>

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<p>knvacca… Have you had any experience or heard anything about Nuclear Engineering or Chem Engineering?</p>

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<p>thanks knvacca! very informative! so what exactly is the difference between the calc 1 normal class and calc 1 for engineers?</p>

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<p>@ gator4ever - There’s only two male floors in Jennings. I know this because I know both of the male RA’s who work in Jennings. There will however be four male floors during the Fall. Most of Jennings is female, and will be in the Fall. </p>

<p>@Ralph, East Hall is pretty close to Hume and the Reitz Union. Hume is expensive during the summer, but only by $100 at most in comparison to the other dorms. It’s reasonable during the summer. Both Murphree and East are equally ‘nice’ in terms of conditions. Murphree rooms tend to be larger, and has a much better location overall.</p>

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<p>same question as zapadniyrus - how have people’s experiences been with ChemE?</p>