<p>Has anyone else gotten Innovation Academy? How do you feel about the Spring/Summer schedule?
I'm interested but hate to wait 7 months to begin at UF. </p>
<p>I haven’t heard the best things about innovation academy. I can’t say that the program is valuable or an educational benefit, but I don’t think students enjoy it very much. I have heard the same thing, that students don’t want to wait so long to start school at UF and also that you are very limited in what you can major in while in the program. </p>
<p>It’s not a bad program but what makes it bad is that it’s spring summer only. The minor is interesting IF you’re interested in starting your own business. but then again do you really need a minor to start your own business? There are more flaws though. The spring summer Calndar sucks. The summers are fast paced and on top of that there are limited classes you can take in the summer. Some classes are only one month, others for the whole summer. If you’re on the preprofessional track, DO NOT DO INNOVATION! There is no benefit and not taking classes in the fall sucks.</p>
<p>It’s very different from it’s first year. The program has made a HUGE jump since it’s start. The first year, as with anything new, was naturally rocky due to the kinks that had to be ironed out. For the most part, everything has been smoothed out, not many significant kinks. Go to a Discover IA session, you will learn more. Things have definitely changed for the better from my understanding. Also, for summer term, it’s not bad at all. There are students who actually prefer summer than fall/spring. I guess it depends on your major. I’ve seen both STEM, business, and etc. majors like summer a lot. Of course, there are those that aren’t too fond of it. But the reality is, for those who aren’t too “fond” of it, they haven’t figured out how to manage their time differently. IMO, the pace isn’t really “faster,” it’s just different. It feels faster because there are less days, but the amount of time you sit in class is the same as Fall/Spring. You have to tweak your time management skills. I guess it’s good practice in college now, given that in life things won’t be so nice and structured as a Fall/Spring calendar when it comes to time management. Anywho, go to a Discover IA session that’s my suggestion</p>
<p>One of my best friends is in IA, so I’ve met quite a few IA sophomores, and all but 1 said that they got in “accidentally.” They clicked the box on the application for more info, then somehow got randomly accepted into the program with no way out, but they all accepted their fate because it didn’t matter as long as they got to go to UF. I may not be an IA student, and I know that some of the IA students will disagree with me, but after spending countless hours around many IA students, from what I’ve heard and seen, I honestly believe that the IA holds more disadvantages than advantages. Here’s my list:</p>
<p>Pros
-very tight nit community in Beaty East, where all on-campus IA students live, very social dorm
-very early registration (before some seniors and honors students even.)
-Beaty is one of the best dorms on campus (not too far from campus, cleaner than the older dorms, and just as nice of a commons as them, plus a POD store in the same building)</p>
<p>Cons
-inflexible long-term schedule (eg: if a student withdraws from a course in a long sequence, like chem or calc, they can make up for lost time in the summer. IA students generally can’t do this in the fall.)
-limited choice of majors and minors (the only engineering major that currently exists is industrial/systems)
-can only live in Beaty East if you want to live on campus
-students graduate 1 semester later than traditional students (not always a big deal, but for pre-health, it will not help during grad school enrollment if the last semester of college overlaps with the first semester of grad school)
-can’t live on campus in the fall (which a traditional students can do in the summer)
-can only take online classes in the fall (no such problem for traditional students in the summer)
-innovation minor seems useless (UF offers an entrepreneurship minor, the requirements of which overlaps with innovation to some extent. In my opinion, on a resume, a minor in entrepreneurship shows a desire to one day start a business., where as a minor in innovation just seems strange. As such, I encourage students do to the entrepreneurship minor instead of innovation. Innovation is just really a buzz word.)
-a lot of drama in Beaty East (but I guess that’s to expect in an social dorm)</p>
<p>This is just my honest opinion. My goal is not to bash the IA; this list comes from 5 months of continual interaction with IA students. If you all want to know what IA is really like, talk to some of students (both freshman & sophomore) yourselves if/when you get a chance.</p>