Current UF students - your opinion please?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Florida
1

<p>My son is rising hs senior and we are making our 2nd visit to the Univ. of Florida this summer. Hopefully he will be a National Merit finalist. </p>

<p>Would current students, or parents of students, please comment about the Honors program, Hume, additional merit scholarship money that may be available, things we should know, good and points of U of F, Gainesville, suggestions, etc.</p>

<p>His stats are 228 PSAT, 2370 new SAT, 3.6 uw, 4.40 w GPA. </p>

<p>Thank you so much!</p>

<p>~gnusasaurus</p>

2

<p>I dont know much about the honors program itself, but Hume Hall is absolutely gorgeous, though a little removed as far as location. </p>

<p>Some other good points about UF:
If you havent visted yet, in which case you would already know, the campus is beautiful. I didnt want to go to school in-state because I wanted a beautiful, rolling, ivy-league looking, brick buildings, old architecture, style campus... I had no idea I could find that in FL until I visted Gainesville.</p>

<p>The size, The variety. I'm a very outgoing person and I LOVE meeting new people, if your son is the same way, he'll love it here. Also, UF's large size also means great variety in your classes and activities. At my recent UF Preview, I looked through 8 4" Binders describing every club the school had to offer. As far as registering for classes, a Professor at UF explained just how great the Universal Tracking system is. He used to teach at UCLA, which was so large, and crtical-tracking classes for majors were in such high demand that was practically impossible to graduate in 4 years. That worry is eliminated at UF, if a class you need for a major is full, they will, garunteed, open up another seat, or a whole new class. Also, there are so many other classes to choose from, My boyfriend and I are both Pre-Health, and we wanted a class that we'd love, to blow off steam from Chemistry and Calc 2, so he took Advanced SCUBA Diving (he was able to skip the first few classes, thanks to the helpful UF Staff, since he already had a liscence) and I am taking Beginning Fiction Writing, something I'm very excited about.</p>

<p>One draw back about registering, is that while you'll always get the classes you need for your major, and can always find something interesting to take, you don't always get classes offered at the greatest times. My CHM 2045 class is at 5:05pm.</p>

<p>Another tip for your son to know, is don't think that you will have each class just 2 days a week, like I did. Most classes I saw offered are actually 3x a week, and some, like any major Math or Science class, 4 and 5 days a week, respectively. For Science and Math, 3 days a week your class will be a "lecture" with 300 other people, then 1 day a week you'll be in a small group working with a TA, then, if its a science class, one day a week you'll be doing a lab. Try spreading out any science classes throughout the whole 5 days, dont double up on your TA and Lab, you'll burn yourself out.</p>

<p>Anways, Im sure that I could think of more to talk about, so if you have any questions, let me know.</p>

<p>-lacey</p>

3

<p>My son will be a freshman this fall. could you please discuss the prevalence (or lack thereof) of study groups. I believe he really needs to get involved with other kids in the studying process. Do most kids tend to study in groups for most of their subjects? If not, would you say that most successful kids do? Thank you.</p>

4

<p>Well, If your son is planning to go into any type of graduate school, I would definitely reccommend that he join a study group for those classes that graduate adcoms will weigh heavily. For example, any of your sciences, Organic Chem expecially, if he's pre-med. Study groups are great assurance because, if you can TEACH a particular subject to another person, than you've really retained all the information you could possibly need for a test. However, I dont know if attending study groups for all, or even "most" of your subjects is wise. For example, if your son is a stellar math student, a study group for Calculus would only take away time that would be better used for working, meeting new people, joining a club, cheering on the football team, etc etc.. and would just take away from the wonderful college experience.</p>

<p>Hope this helps!</p>

5

<p>Thank you, Laceycheer! It is GREAT to get the perspective of a current student!</p>

<p>Here are some more questions for current students or parents at the University of Florida:</p>

<ol>
<li> What are the bad points of attending Univ of Florida?</li>
<li> Do student/parents feel that the admissions office, financial aid office, etc. are easy to work with, or difficult?</li>
<li> My child is not outgoing and finds it difficult to make friends. Would you think a large university would be a bad choice?</li>
<li> Do out of state students have difficulty there?</li>
<li> Where were your college choices, other than the Univ of Florida?</li>
</ol>

<p>Invite responses from any current student or parent.</p>

<p>Best wishes,</p>

<p>~gnusasaurus</p>

6

<p>I am the parent of a fairly introverted rising freshman. He had no trouble developing a close-knit circle of friends....friends he will be sharing an off-campus apartment with this year. UF has such a wide variety of individuals, it is hard to imagine anyone not fitting in somewhere. My son has really enjoyed his UF experience...so much so he is enrolled for 13 credits over the summer and I can't get him home!</p>

7

<p>Your Welcome, gnusasaurus.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>What are the bad points of attending Univ of Florida?
The sheer magnitude of the school can be overwhelming at first, until you find your niche.
There is a lot of pressure to "Go Greek", if that's not your son's kind of thing. But if it is, it's an amazing way to meet new people.
It's very easy to get lost.
Honestly thats about all I can think of.</p></li>
<li><p>Do student/parents feel that the admissions office, financial aid office, etc. are easy to work with, or difficult?
Every staff member I have met with, be it merely for directions to a particular building, or advising for pre-med, have been friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. My only experience with the financial aid office was when I was transfering scholarship money through UF into my account. That went speedily, and the man I spoke to explained all the financial mumbo-jumbo very clearly. As far as the other officies, You'll be fine as long as you stay aware of what is going on at that time. If you need to speak to an advisor, and the Drop/Withdrawal deadline is two days away, make an appointment, or come prepared to wait 3 or more hours behind students anxious to get out of a class. Most of the time, however, the wait is fine.</p></li>
<li><p>My child is not outgoing and finds it difficult to make friends. Would you think a large university would be a bad choice?
If your son would be uncomfortable in a lecture hall with 300 students, then yes, UF might not be best. But if his trouble is just meeting people then I wouldn't be discouraged by UF's size. Making new friends is infinitely easier if you have things in common, your son could go to an open meeting to one of the 800 clubs the school offers, in a variety of interests. Living in Hume will give him alot of opportunities to meet students on his academic level as well, he'll have an R.A. that will organize get-togethers weekly with his dorm-mates. More people simply means more chances that he will connect with someone!</p></li>
<li><p>Do out of state students have difficulty there?
I do know that only about 5% of UF's students are out of state, so your son may feel a little out of it at first. However, every freshman's main goal is to meet new people, and being from out of state might be a great conversation starter! </p></li>
<li><p>Where were your college choices, other than the Univ of Florida? UF was the only school I applied to because I fell in love with it shortly before my senior year. However, for a long time I considered UNC-Chappel Hill as well as UVA. Both schools, resemble UF in that they have the perfect balance of great academics as well as being big sports colleges, ( I was a cheerleader in high school, so a big fball team was a must). Both also are large universities with lots of options for courses and activities. All three schools, UF, UVA, and UNC, also encourage their students to study abroad, something I've always been interested in, by offering a variety of programs and scholarship oportunities. In the end, I chose UF because I knew how much I would miss Florida, my home, and couldnt be happier with my decision!</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I know I may sound corny in all this, but I love my school, and would reccomend it to anyone.</p>

8

<p>Thanks so much for helping out newbies! I have a question about the scholarship money. My S will be a freshman there in the fall. He is going to the preview in August, right before school starts. The scholarship money is transfered into a Wachovia account, right? He will get one and sign up for the gator one card at the same time. We don't have Wachovia banks in Texas! Does the school just take the tuition money and dorm fees out of that account? Is there a time lag between when the money is deposited and when it is due for tuition? Most importantly, did they explain how all of it works at preview? I have had a hard time getting through to the right person to ask. One more thing, is it difficult to get a parking permit? I understand that he has to go to the transportation office to get one. OK, just one more: He is interested in going through fraternity rush, but thinks he wants to wait until the spring. Is this a problem? Do many guys rush in spring?</p>

9

<p>i'm very outgoing, but i go to an extremely small school. There are about 80 people in my class. I have some Q's :)
How many kids are in each class?
Does a professor actually teach? or a grad student?
Are the sororities fun?
*To Laceycheer or any one else who knows about this stuff:
Do you do cheerleading? B/c i saw your log-in-name-thingy.
I do gymnastics and i dont know if i'll get a scholarship for that.
Does cheerleading give scholarships?</p>

<p><strong>Thanx a million</strong></p>

10

<p>Thank you laceycheer for the info on study groups. relaxwolf.</p>

11

<p>AG54, I can answer your question about scholarship money and the Wachovia account. At Preview your son will be able to sign up for deferrals of tuition, housing, meals and book expenses (unfortunately, these are all separate accounts so you need to get separate deferrals for each. The tuition deferral may be automatic, I don't remember, but the others require you to sign up).</p>

<p>Once his deferral is on file, the university will wait until the scholarship money has come in (which is usually AFTER the due date for tuition and housing payments). Once it does, they will apply it to his debts. If any is left over, it can be mailed to the student by check or they can sweep it into his Wachovia account. You can open an account at Preview -- there is a Wachovia branch on campus in the Reitz Union building. </p>

<p>After he registers for classes he will be given a list of textbooks that are required for those classes. If you take that to the bookstore, you can request a deferral there, too, if there is enough scholarship money coming in to cover those fees. All of this will be explained at Preview and there are lots of people available there to answer all of your questions.</p>

<p>My son didn't buy a parking permit last year so all I know about that is what I read on the UF website. You have to purchase it at the TAPS office (Transportation and Parking Services) and it costs about $100 a year, I think. You can do that at Preview, too.</p>

<p>Sorry, I don't know anything about fraternities!</p>

12

<p>Patsmom, you are awesome! I really appreciate your response and will forward it on to another mom who has is also in the dark.</p>

13

<p>gnusasaurus, your son can get into Harvard, Yale, or Princeton with his stats. Your son is HYP material.</p>

14

<p>myopic, not to start anything, but some people don't want to go to HYP even if they are HYP "material". My S was accepted to higher ranked schools but chose Fla for a number of reasons, one being the scholarship offered, but others being the atmosphere of the school, the climate and location. My younger S who will be applying to schools soon and has excellent stats, has already said he has no interest in northeastern schools. To each his own, as they say.</p>

15

<p>Myopic,</p>

<p>Thank you for the vote of confidence! :)</p>

<p>Even if he could be admitted, financially I dont think it would work out. We have set aside 40k for his college and could probably double that amount if needed. But even with what for us would be a huge sacrifice, that amount is well short of what it would take to get him through 4 years of Ivy.</p>

<p>My wife and I plan to move to Tampa, where we (and the bank) already own a home, at the same time my son starts college. Although we have done a lot of financial planning for college and this move, our incomes are going to plummet dramatically.</p>

<p>Of course, we are still trying to determine what the best course of action will be for him, but we are hoping to get some scholarship help at a 2nd tier university....where he hopes to do engineering....and save as much of our resources as possible for an MBA.</p>

<p>As a father, I wouldnt mind having bragging rights if he were to attend an Ivy. :) Realistically, though, I am not sure his EC's show the leadership that admission to HYP seems to require. He has hundreds of hours of volunteering and tutoring, but nothing in the area of leadership.</p>

<p>We toured Princeton and he showed zero interest. I think he likes the idea of being a two or three hour driving distance from Mom and Dad. Close, but not too close. :)</p>

<p>Best wishes to you!</p>

16

<p>My S will be a freshmen at UF this Fall.Do u know anything about students loans? My S will have to take out an unsubsized loan which will be split between the fall and spring semesters. However we are waiting on two scholarship results that we won't know about until July and November. Can he just barrow half the money if needed? I don't want him in any more debt than necessary. Thanks</p>

17

<p>UFMom, sorry, I don't know about student loans. My S has only the Bright Futures Scholarship and the National Merit Scholarship. </p>

<p>If you ask your questions in the Financial Aid and Scholarship section of CC I'm sure you will get an answer quickly. Unsubsidized Stafford loans are probably handled the same at all schools.</p>

18

<p>Can u give me any info on the meal plans UF offers? What would be the best plan to go with. My S will be living in a dorm. Thanks</p>

19

<p>Last year as an incoming freshman, my son received an unsubsidized load he didn't even request....it just showed up in his ISIS account. We had to specifically reject it. I'm not sure what the message is here, but I do believe UF is pretty pro-active in getting the loans into your student's account.</p>

<p>Regarding meal plans....you can talk about the various options at Preview and sign up at that time. IIRC, we got a mailing prior to Preview that detailed the options.</p>

<p>Preview will cover everything you need to know...it's a well-run and organized program.</p>

20

<p>By looking at your sons stats i would think he would have no problem becoming a national merit finalist in which case UF would be a great choice. I am a rising frosh and was commited to going to Clemson before I found out what UF offered for NM Finalists. With a 228 psat or whatever he should definately be a semifinalist and after that all you have to do is pretty much fill out the paperwork to be a finalist.</p>