<p>My daughter is starting at UF in the Innovation Academy. She is considering taking the First-Year Florida class. I think this would be a good idea for a few reasons, mainly that she is a little shy, unlikely to rush or join a lot of clubs, so I think this would help her get involved. Also, if she doesn't take it, all her classes would be on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. While a 4-day weekend every week might seem like a dream to some people, she has been taking only Monday/Wednesday classes this semester at our local college, and it has actually been hard for her not to have any reason to get out of bed several days a week. I think it would be okay if she had a midweek day off, but 4 straight days off every week sounds like a lot. Finally, she really only wants to take 12 credits to start, and since the IA class is 2 credits, that means she'd need a 1-credit class to get up to 12 without going over. However, she has a learning disability, so she has been told by her counselor that she could get away with taking only 11.</p>
<p>So those are the up-sides of taking First Year Florida. What are the down-sides?</p>
<p>First, is it a lot of work that would take time away from her other "real" classes? Her other classes include one with significant writing, as well as the IA class, which includes projects. Her other two classes are lecture-type. Second, although she chose to take the class, she did express worry that it would be "a semester of orientation." We weren't too thrilled with going to a second orientation (Foundations) that pretty much duplicated Preview, so more would definitely be overkill.</p>
<p>Anything else we should consider? Is it fun? Does it help you get involved? I'd love to hear from people who have taken it, particularly if they were in IA.</p>