I’m a freshman right now at FIU who is thinking of transferring to UCF for fall 2017. I got in, but I am having second thoughts. A part of me knows that I will love living in Orlando but the other part of me doesn’t want to lose everything I have at FIU (friends, living alone and job).I always loved UCF, but I chose not to go there because almost everyone from my town goes to that school. I chose FIU because I’d be going with my brother and because no one from my town went. Now, I am not sure if I chose FIU for the right reason or not. Part of me chose the school because my brother was there and I’d have someone to show me the ways, but now that he graduated, I spend most of my time on campus doing nothing. I don’t feel the college experience here, especially since it is a commuter school. Here is why I have second thoughts.
Currently, I live in a studio on campus that isn’t exactly cheap, (especially in Miami). Before, I hated living by myself, but now I love it. If I go to UCF, I’ll have to live with at least one other person on an off campus housing even though I have grown to love living alone. Part of me, also likes the idea of having a roommate, since I’ll be able to meet people and housing will be cheaper, (parents like that). I sort of like living on campus because you are close to everything, but if I live off campus at UCF, I won’t be able to wake up and go to class so easily, I’ll have to catch a shuttle or a bus to get to campus, (the apartment I’m looking at isn’t that far though.) UCF doesn’t offer housing for transfer students.
Another problem I have is that I do not have a car at FIU and public transportation is a disaster in Miami, especially since it takes forever to get to your destination on bus. I know that at UCF, there are UCF shuttles that transport students to different places and to my possible apartment. I also, heard that Lynx buses are way better than Miami buses. Orlando also has that new train that I heard about that takes you to various places. I like Orlando because it gets colder there than in Miami and because it is closer to home than Miami is. I realized that I wish I could see my parents more often, but Miami is a longer drive and traffic is crazy here so they do not go to Miami as often as they go to Orlando. I also have family in Orlando. If I go to Orlando, I could see my parents more often and I could afford to take Amtrack home as well. I am torn because I like my school, but I do not like the culture of Miami, the city in general, and how inaccessible it is. I also do not like how people feel so entitled and arrogant here in Miami. If you were me, would you transfer?
Yes, I’d think about a transfer. We were very impressed on our visit to UCF in early December. The campus seems fresh and beautiful, lots of activity, and plenty of resources. You will not be bored! I got the same impression you have about the shuttles, that the transportation system is good. The campus itself is very walkable, and felt busy but not overly crowded. (I was worried about that because it’s a huge school.) The area it’s located in seems quite nice.
I liked their discussion about career services and academic services, they seemed really ready and able to help students with anything they needed.
Hopefully your finances would work out to make it possible for you.
I would highly recommend reconsidering transferring to UCF.
I am a Valencia student, and am transferring to FIU in 2018 for a BA in International Business. I searched and toured many schools in Florida the last year and FIU and USF were the two that stood out as the most professional and realistically priced.
I considered and toured UCF, but they are not adequate for Business or many other degrees. Be very careful, they offer tons of Tech/Professional Certificates but are very limited on actual degrees. The tour grossly emphasized the campus and new construction, but swayed away from questions about actual academics and told me to relay my questions to their advisors, I was very disappointed.
The City of Orlando has awful public transportation, the Lynx bus runs very limited schedule, you will find yourself waiting very at very long stops. A standard commute to work for me when my car was down was 2 to 3 hours, which is a 25 min drive… and I had to get co workers to drive me home because the bus stops running around 10:30pm. The bus stops in many areas are very dangerous too, lots of addicts and robberies. You simply just need a car here if you need those 3 plus hours of commuting to study.
I made the huge mistake of buying property here in 2006 and took such a big hit in the market on it, so my ability to leave this area is very constricted.
@2sunny, Good luck to your son. Just be careful moving here, the crime seems to be getting worse every day… Since my last post in Feb., I have had my car broken into 4 times in different parts of the city, and someone pulled a gun on me speeding by on a motorcycle on the JYPKW. He almost slammed into a tour bus in the process… Karma almost got him.