<p>I've been accepted into the IA program, and I have several questions. The first one would have to be if this program is optional. I chose the IA program when I was registering, and I'm still interested, but I thought I had the option to choose whether or not I wanted to be in the program. The next question I have is what the pros and cons of being an IA student are. The main reason I was interested in this program is because it seemed like it would be easier to find an internship or study abroad if I'm enrolled, but a regular UF student can find internships and study abroad as well, so what differentiates the IA students from them besides the smaller communities? Online classes are to be taken during the fall term, so I'm wondering what is the maximum/minimum amount of courses required to be taken and what type of courses are these (basic undergraduate courses)? Being in such a wonderful program usually have some disadvantages, such as a higher stress level, so I'm also wondering how current IA students are doing. My last question is whether or not living on campus is recommended.</p>
<p>I’m not in the IA, but I have a few friends who are, and this is what I can tell you from observing their experiences.</p>
<p>1) The IA program is NOT optional. You either attend UF as an IA student or choose a different school. My friend tried to opt out of it in favor of the regular Fall-Spring curriculum, but was denied, and stuck with IA because UF was the best school he was accepted to. </p>
<p>2) The main differences that I know between the IA and the regular program of studies at UF are: smaller community, can only take online courses in the fall that don’t have live exams, restricted to certain majors/minors, IA students have different required humanities classes than fall-spring students, ability to have a minor in Innovation, can only live in Beaty East dorm if living on campus. </p>
<p>3) During fall and spring terms, you must take at least 12 credits to be enrolled full-time. In Summer A or B, you must take at least 6 credits. Summer C requires 6 credits. If doing a combination of any of these summer terms, you must take a total of 12 combined credits over the summer to be enrolled as a full-time student. </p>
<p>4) Earlier I mentioned that you have required humanities courses to take. Use the link below to find the 8-semester plan for your intended major, and it will tell you which courses that you SHOULD take every semester at UF. Of course, this varies student-to-student, as some people take online courses in the fall, and some enter college with more credits than others, some requirements are finished sooner than others. Academic advisors can help you create a custom plan that is specific to you. </p>
<p>[Available</a> Majors - UF Innovation Academy](<a href=“http://innovationacademy.aa.ufl.edu/majors.aspx]Available”>http://innovationacademy.aa.ufl.edu/majors.aspx)</p>
<p>4) I have one friend from high school who is in the IA, and he loves it. Beaty East is a great dorm with good access to most buildings where students have class. There is a marketplace to buy food, and the commons is pretty nice. People on floors frequently socialize with each other and people on other floors. As a result, I find myself spending a lot of time there, and I love the social environment. I’m actually hoping to live their during Summer B (the top floors are not IA floors). However, I have heard of IA students who transfered out because they found the program ridiculous & restrictive, and I know another guy who opted out of the Innovation minor, and is know as the “anti-IA guy” in his building, and he only sticks with it because he is expect to graduate in after 2 years because of his many Dual Enrollment & AP credits.</p>
<p>I’m sorry was not able to offer any information on internships, studying abroad, etc. Hopefully, there is someone here who can do that for you. Although I like the IA environment, I find the curriculum & restrictions to be somewhat unreasonable, so I would not do it myself. Since you’re still deciding whether or not to do IA, you should ask yourself if you’re willing to restrict yourself (in the ways I’ve previously mentioned) for what the IA has to offer (which I don’t know much about). </p>
<p>Also, I’ve asked almost every IA student I’ve met about why they became an IA student. Most of them told me that they checked the box on their UF application saying that they were interested without actually knowing what it was. Only 2 said that it was intentional. Of those 2, 1 of them is OOS, and he told me that he likes how the IA is business and career oriented. </p>
<p>That’s about all I can tell you, at least for now. I hope I’ve helped at least a little. </p>
<p>PS: About the “small college experience”: that’s really only during the summer. In the spring, 50,000 students will be on campus, so if you branch out and make non-IA friends, you can see the university through their eyes. </p>
<p>And as a somewhat insignificant note, I find that the fall-spring students know their way around campus better. An IA friend once asked me to help him with some classwork, and we were discussing where to meet…he had no idea where the Hub, Turlington Hall/Plaza, Marston Library or any building on the west side of campus (except for the Southwest Rec Center) was. I think because many of them are business majors, they have classes on the northeast side of campus, so they don’t see much of it on a regular basis (at least not early on in their UF tenure).</p>
<p>Just to clarify, I think this is what you meant: While IA students would have to take 6 online credits in fall in order to be considered a fulltime student FOR FALL (and be able to get football tickets, etc.), they’re actually not required to take any credits in fall at all. Rather, it’s optional. Yes? At least, that’s what they said at the meeting we attended.</p>
<p>Wouldn’t IA students not knowing the campus as well maybe be a result of not having been there as long? After all, freshmen who started in fall have been at UF since August whereas those in IA have only been there since January.</p>
<p>Is it your impression that IA is a successful program that will continue at UF? An article I read online stated that 300-something IA students started in January, and I know UF wanted 500 (and presumably accepted enough that they should have gotten 500). As I outlined in another thread, my daughter has been trying to get a roommate for next year’s IA and only a handful of people seem to be registered on Roomsync, and the newsletter we got yesterday said that 160 people had signed up for IA housing, significantly less than the 300 housing slots available for IA. It sounds like housing for fall semester at UF fills up pretty quickly. My daughter is excited about the program, but I wonder if UF will continue it if they aren’t able to get 500 students per year to participate. </p>
<p>You can be in IA and not take the minor? Just curious. Again, my daughter is excited about the minor (and it sounds like a break from all the science classes in her major), but it sounds crazy that they’d let someone not take it if they’re in IA.</p>
<p>Your description of the dorm sounds very hopeful, and I’ll share with my daughter.</p>
<p>I was accepted to IA as well. I see it as a great opportunity actually, especially if your preferred major is there. I assume that many of the spots have not been filled yet because other students like myself are waiting to hear from other colleges. It’s pretty different having to start college in January so I assume many students are afraid, but I’m sure that rooms will fill up more in April especially because financial comes out then.</p>
<p>Do you think you’ll probably go there, Kennedy? My daughter put in her housing deposit, etc., for UF despite not being 100% sure she wanted to go there, because we heard that housing can be crazy at UF (We know people who didn’t get housing last year). She’s 95% sure she wants to go to UF at this point, though she has some moments of doubt when she is disappointed at not being able to start in the fall. Fortunately, we have a decent college close by, which many of her friends plan to attend, and it sounds like she can enroll there as a transient student. She was pretty happy with the majors offered. She had put a different major on her application for fall, but she had already decided that major probably wouldn’t work for her before she got accepted.</p>
<p>I am about 90% sure I will be attending UF. But I really need to see my financial aid first to be 100% sure… I’m an OOS. But I have not made the deposit yet, simply because I thought there were special dorms for IA students</p>
<p>Yeah, it sounds like you were okay not making the deposit. We just heard 300 dorm slots, 500 students and thought we should make the deposit. Also, being from Florida, we’ve heard about a lot of people who had to get off-campus housing as Freshmen at UF and also, people who got super-inconvenient dorms. But yeah, it sounds like the IA housing is not full at this point. Good luck with your aid. I would think since 90% of UF’s students are instate and 100% of those probably qualify for Bright Futures (Florida’s instate scholarship program), they would probably have more financial aid available for out-of-staters.</p>
<p>Thank you for the Information and goodluck with your daughter’s decision!</p>
<p>So, I have friends in IA myself and just interviewed some for a project. The ones that love it take advantage of everything it has to offer and use the IA aspect to give them an edge when applying for leadership positions on campus (and it actually helps). The ones that hate it are still bitter because they didnt know what they were applying for when they indicated interest when applying to UF (the first class wasn’t told much. Those that were aware of what they were applying for, researched and contacted uf first. The next class is told EVERYTHING, so really, there technically should be NO bitter students for the next class because they are told what they are applying for and what IA is in the app). The bitter ones skip their IA class, don’t pay attention to the opportunities brought to them, and are very closed off to IA. That being said, I think it’s ridiculous that they complain about the program when they give it no chance. They completely close off their minds to it because of bitterness to what happened in terms of miscommunication on their app last year. Yeah, it’s understandable to be upset AT FIRST because admissions didn’t put enough info for the first class, but seriously, fact of the matter is, those students still chose to attend uf and IA despite being “oddly surprised” by admissions (good thing for the next class, the “oddly surprise” won’t be a case, or at least it shouldn’t be given the next class was told just about everything from my understanding). It seems those bitter students were thinking they could transfer out regardless but just realized the university wasn’t lying when they said “if you attend IA, you can get out,” and so now they close themselves off to the program and are even transferring to another school (their loss, IMO). All of the bitter students don’t seem to have a good reason to hate other than the miscommunication which they should have looked past that now given that they committed after experiencing the miscommunication. Although I haven’t interviewed him, I heard about that anti-IA guy that rs0525 was talking about from the other students and my friends. Apparantly he skips his IA class, never takes it seriously, and neglects every opportunity IA has and he unwilling to look for value in the program. He’s just in it to get the piece of paper and leave…I thought college was supposed to be more than just getting a piece of paper…from experience and observation, the real world is more than just a piece of paper, that I know for sure. </p>
<p>All I will leave is that, of all my IA friends and those I interviewed, all of the happy ones are open to IA and take advantage of it. They understand there are kinks in the program but are willing to act as pioneers for it. A number of them have leadership positions in their FIRST SEMESTER on campus and have high ambitions. Now of all those upset/bitter, they close themselves off to the program and they have ZERO leadership positions and simply want a piece of paper. I hope you can see the correlation I’m trying to show. </p>
<p>I didn’t have IA on my app when I applied, but I would have indicated interested…a buddy of mine at advising said IA is structured to be another “type” of Honors and has opportunities like freshman internships and stuff. The only reason I can think of not to do IA is if your major isnt offered in it. </p>
<p>Anyways, this is my position on IA after reading about it, having friends in it, and after the interviewing (which revealed a lot). The university has a lot of attention on this IA, and for those in it, PLEASE reap the benefits. It is unsettling to see current IA students ignoring benefits and opportunities because of that bitterness they had before. It’s like throwing out a free cake because the bakery forgot to write something out in icing.</p>
<p>Also, being in the honors program, I also heard that IA students can be part of honors as well if they apply, so see if you guys that got into IA can apply for honors if it isn’t too late</p>