Review of our UT visit

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Tampa
1

<p>Since there isn't much info out there on UT, I thought I would put this out there. We visited UT today and I just don't know what to think. The reviews online are so mixed and my review will be much the same. </p>

<p>UT did nothing to "sell" itself to us. We've been to USF, UCF, and FSU. Those schools go out of their way to show you and tell you all about their "things:" rock climbing walls, intramural sports, fantastic gym, football games, food options, activities for freshman, clubs, etc. While it might be grossly exaggerated, they really do point out anything and everything that makes their school "special." </p>

<p>UT pointed out very little. They don't take you inside the fitness center on the tour. They showed us the pool, but noted that it closed at 4pm every day. They barely touched on the food options. When students/parents on the tour asked questions about things like the honor's program, study abroad, or internships, we were told to contact other people to get those questions answered. Nothing was mentioned about clubs or activities. The dorm tour was awkward since it was occupied and we felt like we were intruding. </p>

<p>I'm used to colleges trying to sell themselves. I don't always agree with that concept, but UT did absolutely nothing to make themselves stand out. That disappointed us.</p>

<p>The pluses: We loved the campus. My D liked the small feel, but the big city literally outside the door. She was able to sit in on a few classes (prearranged) and she really enjoyed them, and the professors and students she encountered were nice. </p>

<p>The small class sizes are a plus. For anyone familiar with our public universities in FL, they are grossly overcrowded. UT has given her a scholarship that brings the cost down to a very reasonable amount without having to deal with the huge class sizes. </p>

<p>Not sure where she will end up. UT is still on the table, but it didn't wow her like she had hoped.</p>

2

<p>Thanks for the review! I was just accepted and am waiting to visit, I want to see if they do the same. Could it be that it was just the tourguide though? I know when my family visited UM, my mother hated the school just because she hated the tourguide.</p>

3

<p>Part of it was the tour guy. While my daughter was sitting in on a couple classes, I wandered around campus and occasionally would be sitting someplace when a tour group would come by. The three tour guides I encountered did seem better. However, even the admissions rep, who was very friendly and outgoing, didn’t do anything to sell the school.</p>

<p>I don’t have a clue if they have a health facility on campus if a student gets sick. It wasn’t mentioned. </p>

<p>Aside from what I read online, I don’t know what they have in terms of public transportation to and from the downtown area. I’ve read they will pick kids up at night, but they didn’t talk about it so I don’t know if that is still an option. </p>

<p>The only thing that was mentioned about freshman activities was the week prior to the start of school, the freshman move in, start their Gateway/Pathway class, and go to Busch Gardens on the last day. They didn’t mention any other freshman specific geared activities. That is the number one drawback of UT for my daughter. The other schools seem to cater activities to the freshman to help them fit in. UT may do the same thing, but if they do, they could have mentioned it! </p>

<p>Our next door neighbor just broke her leg at her college an hour away from UT. She did it while doing some of their goofy freshman activities. While I’d really prefer that my daughter doesn’t break her leg or anything else, the neighbor said it was still the most fun she has ever had! LOL While my daughter is pretty academic, she wants that freshman experience (minus the broken bones) and she isn’t sure UT offers that. </p>

<p>The size of the classes are what is drawing my daughter to UT, but I wish they had impressed her in other ways. </p>

<p>Please post after you tour the school. I’d love to hear what you thought.</p>

4

<p>My husband, daughter and I toured UT in September and felt like the school and Tampa were gorgeous but were worried about the availability of campus activities and the over-crowded housing situation. When I asked about weekend activities, they spoke mostly about off campus things like the beach, Channelside and Ybor City (I have no idea how students would get to the beach without a car). Like you, we all also LOVED the small classes and the city (with all of its cultural and employment opportunities–Straz Center is a HUGE draw for my daughter) within such an easy walking distance. There is a trolley system in downtown Tampa that is within an easy walking distance of the school and can take students to Channelside and Ybor City. If students were in a group, the walk from Whiting Station back to UT wouldn’t be bad at midnightish, I don’t think (if any current students would like to chime in on this, I’d love to hear about it!). </p>

<p>It is unfortunate that the school doesn’t seem to have someone on this board answering questions or even posing questions to generate interest. Perhaps since they are bursting at the seams, they don’t feel like they have to “sell” the school. So, we feel very much the same as you. There are a lot of things we like about UT but there are quite a few things that make us go hmmmm…</p>

5

<p>WisdomSeeker, if your daughter and my daughter end up at UT, we will have to get them season tickets for the Straz Center so they will have someone to go to the shows with. My daughter would be thrilled and that was a big selling point for her, as well.</p>

<p>My daughter used to work with someone who went to UT a few years ago. She messaged her today and the girl said she LOVED IT! That sounded great to us until further conversations revealed that, as much as she loved it, she transferred to USF after a year. In fairness, finances were the reason for transferring. She loved her time at UT, but once at USF, she discovered that they did offer so much more than UT in terms of school spirit and clubs. </p>

<p>We sent in the deposit to UT today because it is fully refundable. We figured since it is still on the table, it is better to secure a spot now so she doesn’t end up in the HoJo’s. She isn’t certain she wants to go there, and we will keep looking, but at least she’ll have a spot reserved.</p>

6

<p>My daughter found these pictures showing some of the activities that have taken place recently at UT. [Photos</a> - Student Productions](<a href=“http://www.utstudentproductions.com/photos.html]Photos”>http://www.utstudentproductions.com/photos.html)</p>

7

<p>Great feedback and a wise plan! My daughter’s just a junior, so we have another year 'til decision time. I will look forward to seeing both of your future posts regarding your UT experiences.</p>

8

<p>I agree with you, last year I visited UT on spring break to visit the campus, I was about to graduate from CC and wanted to enter UT as a junior, first of all, the transfer counselor was not helpful at all. Numerous e-mails are still unanswered from last year, she was very vague about how classes transfer and so on, the few e-mails I got back from her were literally 5 to 7 words only! While other schools that I was interested in replied back within hours with very informative e-mails and were very knowledgeable about the credit transferability thing.</p>

<p>So, I was out of state, I decided to attend the UT transfer session while I was on spring break to get more information out of them, boy I was wrong, the session was very vague and general all they talked about was stuff posted online. I was expecting one to one sessions with admission counselors but nothing of that sort. Like you said, I felt they didn’t try to sell themselves, during the session I noticed many people came from out of state, who probably have payed a lot to visit so I would expected it to be much better. Other than out, the campus is very beautiful in a nice location.</p>