<p>For those of you who are reaching the end of your first semester at UF:</p>
<p>What have you thought about the experience as a whole?</p>
<p>Any good surprises?</p>
<p>Any bad surprises?</p>
<p>Any advice for gator hopefuls?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance</p>
<p>UF so far has been a good experience. The only aspect that I can see both as a negative and positive is the fact that a lot of my high school friends and I came up to UF and thus, we have stuck together as a group and not branched out much. </p>
<p>Good suprises- The classes were somewhat challenging but not overwhelming. </p>
<p>Bad surprises- umm...try to enter the Football ticket lottery (dont know how that works). Youll be VERY happy you got tickets and its a fun thing to do on saturdays. </p>
<p>Advice for gator hopefuls-
Unless you ABSOLUTELY plan on eating at the Dining halls everyday, dont get the meal plan. I thought I woud eat there all the time but I ended up changing to declining balance for next semester.
Also, I really wanted to room in a more private dorm (ended up getting a permanent triple) but based on the experiences of many of my friends a standard double turns out to be a great experience (and its cheaper!). Oh! and the whole communal bathroom thing is really NOT that bad. I know I really didnt want to have that bathroom situation, however I dont really mind at all now. </p>
<p>nothing else comes to mind right now, if you have any more questions just message me. </p>
<p>good luck to everyone!</p>
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more private dorm (ended up getting a permanent triple) but based on the experiences of many of my friends a standard double turns out to be a great experience (and its cheaper!).
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<p>Just a correction, permanent triples are cheaper than doubles. Suites for three are more expensive than doubles. So a triple in broward is not the same a triple in murphree.</p>
<p>I agree with the above poster about the meal plan....DO NOT GET ONE!!
The plans are all expensive and the food is terrible. Your best option is to just buy groceries from the supermarket which is quite inexpensive so long as you just buy what is on sale, and believe me, there is always A LOT of good food on sale at the stores. Then, if you would like you can get food at restaraunts whenever you'd like and you won't feel like you are wasting money because you don't have a meal plan.</p>
<p>Alternatively, if you choose to join a fraternity or sorority, which I HIGHLY reccomend, you receive lunch and dinner as part of your dues so you definintely don't want a meal plan because then you would be paying twice for food.</p>
<p>Moving on to academics....</p>
<p>School is really easy, I ended up with a 3.89 but could have easily had a 4.0 if I didn't pledge at a fraternity for the semester.</p>
<p>sobe and g8rbait: what are you majoring in?</p>
<p>First semester at UF was nothing less than excellent. The sense of pride of being a Gator is beyond what I had imagined, and I had high expectations. Walking around campus, you see most people wearing Gator clothes and it really ignites a strong sense of unity. You WILL come to love Gator football, it doesn't matter what you had thought of the football or the Gators. Game days are a blast! Virtually every patch of grass on campus is occupied with Gator alumni tailgating, throwing the football, barbecuing, having a great time. University Ave. is packed with fans. Once again, this fosters a strong sense of unity as well. Seeing this also leads to me accept that once a Gator, always a Gator. The guy I sat next to in the Tennessee game told me his family has had those seats since 1946! These next two years with Tim Tebow is going to be spectacular that's for sure.
Academically speaking, you will notice that it's a top caliber school for a reason. Most classes will be tough. People here study like crazy, which I find is pretty motivational. My only complaint is that since it is a large university, you might have T.A's for a few classes, which I've come to find is hit-or-miss in regards to teaching quality. Some seem so into their own endeavors as to not give so much consideration to teaching. However, this is under very few circumstances as T.A.'s are rated after every semester in order to keep only the good ones. In most cases, you will have the professor teaching the course and if so, you will find that your professor is very highly regarded in their respective field. The professors I've had and have heard about from my friends are GREAT. From my friend's experience and my own, the quality of professors is A+, especially as you get deeper into your major.
First year I would highly recommend living in a dorm, particularly in one of the bigger-sized ones. You WILL meet tons of people this way it doesn't matter how anti-social you are. It's not an option not to meet people if you live in a big dorm. Most of my friends living on campus regret not getting on-campus housing.
Yes, the dorms are old. Yes, the bathrooms are old. You won't care after a couple of weeks living there, trust me. It seems much worse than it actually is. You will probably want to live off-campus after your first year (I sure do), but don't pass up the experience. You'll meet a bunch of cool people.
Meal Plan: don't get one unless you plan on definitely eating at least twice a day in the dining halls. I bought the 150 block and I had 40 meals left over. My roommate and other friend had 50, one girl i know had like 130 haha. I think it's absurd that they don't let meals that you've paid for roll over to the next semester. Definitely go for a nice declining balance deposit. This is my way of getting back at them.
Campus is beautiful, there is a nice Old Florida feel with the abundant greenery and red-brick buildings. Great to relax and people-watch on Plaza of the Americas. Library West just finished getting remodeled last year and it's a great state-of-the-art facility. Great studying there. It gets packed during finals though, but it's pretty big so you can definitely find a quiet place to study. There's also another huge library that's always completely silent. Campus is always impressively clean, although I wish they would do something about the innumerable abandoned bikes.
I like Gainesville immediately outside of campus. Virtually every person walking and driving around is a young student. The streets are all nice and clean. There's always a place to go on any given night, but be careful not to let that affect your grades! Some parts of downtown are run-down and with bums, but there are also some really nice parts of downtown where the restaurants and courthouse is at.
If you're from Florida, being able to go home on any given weekend by car is extremely convenient. I definitely like being able to take mini-vacations back home once in a while.
One thing you'll notice is that the value of going to UF is HUGE. Some of my friends have gone up to the Northeast and are paying upwards of $40,000 for a comparable/less comparable education. All to come out with a Bachelor's Degree. Some have transferred to schools back at home (Miami). I've noticed a highly qualified student body as a result of many smart people realizing this. My high school was more expensive than UF.
The student body is pretty diverse. Be careful when looking at minority percentages because you have to understand that one percentage point represents a large amount of students since the school is so large.
If you're considering UF, I highly recommend visiting especially if you can catch it during a school-day to get a nice feel for it.
For me, UF's awesome.
Feel free to post any other questions</p>
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you might have T.A's for a few classes, which I've come to find is hit-or-miss in regards to teaching quality. Some seem so into their own endeavors as to not give so much consideration to teaching. However, this is under very few circumstances as T.A.'s are rated after every semester in order to keep only the good ones.
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<p>I guess it depends on your major and what classes you take. After 3.5 years, only 3 of my classes were taught by grad students. I didn't mind because they were overly qualified to teach the subject.</p>
<p>Advice: Don't get used to be the smartest person in your classes. It may have been that way in high school, but you may be in the bottom percent of the classes here. That hit me pretty hard. I was failing exams with a 20% on them and my friend next to me, who went to a different high school, scored 105%.</p>
<p>There will be people smarter than you. In fact, most people may be smarter than you. It's something you have to get over.</p>
<p>Any of you in the Honors program? I'm curious about impressions of it and Hume. My D's a jr. and will be applying to UF in '08.</p>
<p>zebes</p>
<p>Advantages of being in Honors:
-Smaller class sizes
-Early registration
-Honors listserv that tells you about anything that's going on, such as events, job opportunities, clubs, etc.
-Hume (you don't have to live there, but if you want to you can, it's nicer and cleaner than most dorms, and you share a bathroom with 3 other people, as opposed to the whole floor)</p>
<p>So if your daughter can get in, go for it. Nothing bad's gonna happen from it.</p>
<p>Im majoring in Microbiology and Cell Science
I'm on the Predental track.</p>
<p>What have you thought about the experience as a whole?</p>
<p>I LOVE UF! Well...I always have since literally everyone in my family (since they moved here from Cuba) has gone to UF for undergrad and is obsessed with the Gators. But actually going to school here has finally allowed me to understand why they're so obsessed and now I am, too! lol. Overall, the transition was much easier than people made it out to be and college is definitely much more fun than high school. Being away from home, being able to take only the classes that you are interested in, being surrounded by people your own age all the time, the abundance of extracurriculars available, and the amazing friends I've made since coming here made this a GREAT semester! =)</p>
<p>Any good surprises?</p>
<p>How easy it has been to meet people/make friends, the great diversity of the student body, being able to get a 4.0 while still having fun, going out, sleeping, getting involved, etc.</p>
<p>Any bad surprises?</p>
<p>I don't like Gainesville as a city, but that didn't really come as a surprise...Oh, and not being able to get season football tickets and having to deal with evil scalpers! that sucked... =/</p>
<p>Any advice for gator hopefuls?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>GET INVOLVED!!! Try to become involved in organizations/ clubs that you're interested in. For example, I became pretty involved in Model UN (and a singing group and a pre-law group, but to a lesser extent) this semester and met a lot of my best friends through it. It's easy to bond quickly with people who share the same interests, especially when you travel together. (I went to conferences in Tallahassee and Altanta this semester and am going to one in New Orleans next semester...and it just so happens to coincide with Mardi Gras=). And a lot of people in the club are poli sci majors like myself, which came in useful when I was deciding which classes I should take next semester. </p></li>
<li><p>Partying and/or clubbing is good...Partying and/or clubbing the nights proceeding a big exam is not so good. It sounds like common sense, but quite a few of my friends completely blew their GPAs by not saying "No." to certain parties that they just couldn't miss.</p></li>
<li><p>Don't drink hunch punch. You have no idea what it's comprised of.</p></li>
<li><p>Live on campus! It makes it much easier to meet people.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Another good surprise:</p>
<p>Gainesville is not as cold as people from south and central florida told me it would be...at least not now. lol.</p>
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Gainesville is not as cold ...
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<p>Temperature-wise?</p>
<p>lol. yes.
(10 characters)</p>
<p>Usually one or two cold fronts in dec. Its usually consistently colder in Jan., but that only range from 50-60 degrees during the day. Lowest I have been here for was 28, but it usually never gets that cold in gainesville.</p>
<p>I'm thinking about going to UF next year as a grad student. How are the people there? I'm hoping that they're a good combination of intelligence (not just academically, but in terms of having an intelligent conversation about current events and what not) and personality.</p>
<p>Are the chicks easy to talk to or they b1tchy?</p>
<p>all 26000 girls at UF are the same</p>
<p>Ladistar,</p>
<p>No matter where you go to Graduate School it basically all consists of final projects (you have to be able to demonstrate mastery of the material). You will be busy as heck, and you won't really get to enjoy the nightlife like the Undergrads.</p>
<p>Having said that you will have some time available to hang out in G-Ville. If you hang out with the North & Central Florida and Tampa crowd you will most likely hang out on the strip (ie: The Swamp, Grog, etc..)</p>
<p>If you hang out with the South Florida crowd you will most likely hang out downtown (ie: Waterbar, Marketstreet, and Bank).</p>
<p>Thanks Sobick for that great info.</p>
<p>And Mayne, were there any negative implications behind that? What exactly did you mean by that?</p>