Lot of people from my high school are no longer interested in going to Florida because we keep hearing that school is increasingly offering online classes. If I am looking for a traditional in class experience, with no online classes, can I get that at Florida? I plan to study business. When I register for classes can I only register for classroom type classes or will it be the case that many of the classes are only offered with an online format? Thanks in advance
I’m a business major and was concerned about the same thing before I came to UF. I never learn well with online classes. However, the entry level classes in the business program such as Micro/Macroeconomics, Financial Accounting, Business Statistics, etc. are not actually “online.” It says 100% online, but you can go to the live lecture which is the same as any traditional classroom type class. The only difference is, if you wanted to go back and review the lecture another day or if you are sick and cannot come to class, then the lecture is recorded every time. Basically you won’t miss out on any content because all lectures are videos online. It’s actually extremely helpful. I always go to the live lectures, and it’s no different from any other traditional class I’ve had at UF. If I ever missed something the professor said in the live lecture, I go online into Canvas and pull up the video and then rewatch what I heard in person.
Do you have a chance to “know” your professor. My favorite teachers are the ones I know and can interact with.
In all of the business classes I’ve had so far, you definitely have the opportunity to ask questions at any time and you get a chance to see their personalities. After lecture, you can go up to the professor to get to know them better. Personally, I had an amazing experience in Microeconomics. The professor is great if you ever take that class. I can’t say you really get to “know” your professor like some students did with high school teachers because there are about 75-80 students in the same room as opposed to a laid-back small 23 student high school class. But that’s going to be with any large class. A lot of the science classes are in huge 400 student lecture halls. Usually about 75 can fit in a room in the entry level business classes. So I guess you can get to “know” your professor, but it’s a much different experience than being friends with a teacher in high school. That’s going to be the same for any uni tho lol. If that helps @goodjob
Thank you @FutureGator55 . Is it the case that all online classes always offer the option to go to the lecture as
well.? Do most people tend to attend the class or just watch on their computer? Are you overall happy with the business school? TIA
@davidkay Not every online course in the entire university has a live lecture option. But you can look up Heavener live lectures online to see all of the business classes offered. (Which is basically all of the critical tracking + core classes. Actual major classes might be traditional anyways) There’s probably at least 15 classes you’d need to take as a business student with live lectures. So far, it looks like everything I’ll need to take has a live lecture. I haven’t investigated my actual major classes though since I’m only a freshman. Most people watch on their computer since they can accept 750 students into a single section with the online format. But of course, you can’t fit that many in a room. Typically the live lecture room is filled. Usually it’s the top students or those who care more about their grades who attend live lectures. The key is to get there early to get a good seat. Overall, I’ve been very happy with it. It doesn’t feel any different than other classes since I do go to the live lectures every time.
@davidkay Also keep in mind that if you get into UF chances are you have a lot of AP courses done… most of the online classes are for gened requirements that you will waive out of with APS… Micro, Macro, Calc etc. My daughter is a junior and has had a handful of classes with live lectures but mostly she has REAL classes. She came in with the max on APs and only had one gened left to do along with some tracking for business. The science class she took for her gened - intor to wildlife had both traditional and online options. She took the traditional and was happy. The tracking classes like Financial Accounting and Managerial Accounting she attended a real class. She does like when she can go over recorded lectures before exams though so in some ways the live lectures are really great…you never have to miss a word or if you miss class you don’t have to rely on other people for notes. Also the business school doesn’t hold classes on Fridays which is great for internships etc.
My D went her first freshman semester without an online course. In her second semester she chose one hybrid and one 100% online. The flexibility is giving her options to join a few more clubs and not have any early morning classes. She said you can always find non online classes if you want.
My d is a freshman now. She had all traditional classes last semester. This semester, she has The Good Life as a hybrid class, all the rest are traditional. Like fbhsmom said, my d had AP credits for most of her gen ed requirements. I think those are the ones that have lots of online offerings.
Business in particular is notorious for online classes.
@Trisherella my daughter is a business major and has never had to have a class that she couldn’t go attend live lectures for and this is her 3rd year. If you want to go to class it is available. If you are lazy and want to watch online then you can be that way too. My daughter finds a combo works for her - she likes to watch the lectures again right before the exam to review and with traditional classes she’d never have that option. I think it is a good thing actually.
My son does the same. This semester he has one traditional class, one hybrid and two online.
What’s the deal with online classes? My son applied for business. Will he be able to go to a class with a professor or will I be way overpaying for an online education??
If he wants to go he can go. If he wants to watch it live he can do that too. It really is a good thing. Lots of times they are very difficult classes like financial accounting and you wish you could hear the lecture a 2nd time. Well you can because they are recorded!!! Take advantage of that. Attend the lecture live the first time if you want to so you can ask questions then watch it slowly to review before the exam. If you do better watching it somewhere quiet and live that works too. My daughter does some of each. Like if the class is 2x a week she generally goes once a week to interact with the professor so she can ask any questions etc. but the other day watch from home - that way if she has a class she wants that conflicts with the other class on the one day of the week she can still register for both 
It does sound like a good option to have @fbhsmom. I thought I heard somewhere though that they over book the classes so you may not be able to get a seat in a classroom. Is that true or just a rumor? Seems kinda crazy to show up to a class and not have a seat.
I suppose I could save these questions for next week. It may all be a moot point. He needs to get in first!! He was accepted by U Miami last night so I assume he has a good shot here, but you never know.
My son was admitted to Miami too last night and I too took it as a good sign! So good luck to both of them!! I am stressing lol. UF Has gotton to be so competitive! My daughter did say that for the first few weeks and just before exam time you do need to show up early to get a seat. But the rest of the time there are plenty. It isn’t always ideal but I can tell you that she is one who always signed up for the live option when their was were both options initially for any class business or otherwise… and has always been one to engage with teachers and she even really likes the classes this way. I think it is us, the parents, that have a harder time with it. For example - she signed up for her wildlife class her first semester *she needed one more science class and was told it was a great professor - all were online except her section. She said she wound up it didn’t make that big a difference since lots of time was spent watching movies in class anyway. She could have done that at home. But she did really like the professor because he was funny and engaging so she went to class. Plenty of seats. Or you could take an online section. Business is different. You get the schedule for when the class is being taped for each subject. You can sit in that time slot and take it or sign up for the online time slots for which there are tons and don’t fill up. The good thing is that your kid won’t ever have trouble getting their classes. So the issue some kids have at some schools with not graduating on time or not getting the classes they need the semester they need them etc doesn’t really happen in the business school because of the way they have the recordings going on. And then there’s Study Edge… which is another whole discussion lol
It’s possible that it might be tough to get a seat in certain classes, but usually only in the beginning of the semester, say the first couple of weeks. Then it thins out.
Do they have breakout sessions for the intro business classes, or just the lectures?
Go to https://registrar.ufl.edu/soc/
Pick Fall Schedule of Courses. You can then search on classes for the fall. Select undergraduate, campus, Fall 2019 (note all classes may not yet be listed for Fall 2019). That will give you an idea of what courses will be offered.It’s over 2,300 courses, so you may need to dig around.
One example:
Search for Economics classes.
ECO2013 - Principles of Macroeconomics is 80-99% online (or 100%). 80 to 99%, means the lectures are online, but the test, etc, are in class (100% means the test are also online).
On the other hand…
ECO3101 - Intermediate Microeconomics, the more advance class, is 100% traditional/classroom.
You can also google “UF XXXX” to see a class syllabus.
For example, “UF ACG2021 syllabus” which is the intro accounting class.
https://www.coursehero.com/file/32628883/ACG-2021-Fall-2018-Syllabus-1doc/
You’ll see that this is a 80-99% online class, but that they did offer a live section on Tue/Thur at 9:35 to 11:15 am (this is the class that’s recorded and made available to those that have the online sections).
Thanks for the info