<p>How are luxury dorms, are they worth it? and does bright futures or the scholarships that come with it cover housing as far as luxury dorms go?</p>
<p>ok, can you define luxury rooms? lakeside maybe? if is lakeside then you will pay a little bit more, the good thing is that you will be only with 3 people and 2 bathrooms.</p>
<p>Bright futures does not cover housing, from what I remember. If you really want “luxury”, I strongly recommend living off campus because you will pay much less for much better accommodations.</p>
<p>Yea there’s nothing officially called luxury; Hume is the nicest dorm, and it’s still a dorm. I definitely love living off campus, but on campus is obvs much better for meeting people, if you’re not a social person you’ll need to do that.</p>
<p>Off campus definitely gets you much better quarters for the same or less money, and most bus routes are pretty good.</p>
<p>Bright Futures scholarships (BFS) are for Florida residents only, and are equivalent to 75% or 100% of tuition only (depending on your qualifications), but the money CAN be used for other expenses if tuition is already covered. For instance, my (senior) son had a 100% BFS as well as a Florida pre-paid tuition plan (which covered 100% of tuition as well); the BFS money was applied to other expenses such as room and board his first year, with any excess refunded to him. For those who have pre-paid plans which cover more than tuition, the refund is bigger. When my son moved off-campus, the refund check got larger as well.</p>
<p>I’m not aware of any “luxury” dorms. Hume is an Honors dorm. Some dorms historically had no AC, so this would be a luxury item IMO!</p>
<p>Luxury as far as Ivy House, Windsor Hall, and Lakeside. Should you live in those places freshman year?</p>
<p>Oh god you might as well pick out of a hat. UF has some of the worst dorms of a school its calibur I have ever seen. They are livable but at the same time the only good thing about them is that you can meet people and the living on campus convenience. Freshmen are going to live there because they dont know any better anyway. UF knows these things so they are not going to invest money to make “Luxury” dorms. </p>
<p>Anyway, like other people here said, living off campus is the only way to get “luxury”. The only factors that change while living on campus is whether or not you live apt style, the bathroom situation, etc. Nonetheless the only way to figure this out is by going to Gainesville and seeing for yourself. There is NO way to determine which living situation is best for you from just what people say / brochures / websites.</p>
<p>Oh I know how notorious the dorms are. I am a Gainesvillian. I just haven’t seen the “luxury” ones.</p>
<p>The luxury dorms in which you are referring to, are not owned or operated by UF. They are owned by Trimark a separate entity. Therefore, Bright Futures/Prepaid will not cover those expenses. As far as they go, they have a good location but UF dorms are the way to go. That is unless, you want privacy and space, in that case an apartment would be best.</p>
<p>The Bright Futures is no longer 75% or 100% and fees. It’s now a flat rate. $95 per credit hour replaces the 75% and $126 per credit hour replaces the 100%.</p>
<p>The previous posts states that bright futures is only for tuition and not for the dorm expense. But what about the money from FAFSA? Can this money be used for the rental of the dorms?</p>
<p>Money from FAFSA can be used for pizza… It just comes to you and you use it responsibly.</p>
<p>Technically there are laws about what you can and cannot use your Federal money on. Obviously so long as you arn’t using the government’s money to go to Fiji, they don’t care too much. At the start of every semester, UF figures out how much you owe them, how much you have from all scholarships and aid, and either bills you the difference or refunds you the surplus. The rule is that you’re suppose to use government money on educational expenses, having a roof over my head qualifies, because I can’t do reactor analysis on the street.</p>