<p>It's about the end of my junior year. I have two schools in mind...UF and UM. I know that UM is in Coral Gables which is about 30minutes from Miami! So what about Gainesville...I've only been up there once and that was for a college visit about 3 years ago. All I've heard is that the college is the town. That doesn't sound very exciting knowing that everything is basically on campus. Change my mind. Tell me of all the things to do in Gainesville...both on and off campus "activities"!</p>
<p>It’s not our job to “chance your mind”.</p>
<p>UF is at the point where it is a flagship university that doesn’t need to pander itself to students. </p>
<p>If you want to go to a less prestigious college and pay more money go right ahead, the Gator Nation will be just fine.</p>
<p>gainesville is nice! college towns are nice. it’s gorgeous and there’s a good night life. if you’re into sports, there’s the sports culture. they’ve got a lot of good food and a good art scene.
WHY you would want to be in coral gables, or at UM is beyond me! for one thing, you are paying much more than a UF education. a public university is basically next to nothing if you have the BF scholarship. in addition, UM isn’t even that great of a school.</p>
<p>i’d suggest visiting it before taking other peoples word.</p>
<p>currently i attend fiu, many um kids come to fiu during summer to escape high cost of credits and to engulf themselves in the myth that you can get straight A’s at fiu with ease…they soon find out that they learn the same things and encounter comparable difficulty as UM and that their courses are not worth 1700 dollar credit hours relative to the price of credits in a instate public, since UF is a viable option as an instate public, its ideal.</p>
<p>unless your loaded or have amazing aid(nonloan) , i personally can not find any reason as to why to attend um over uf.</p>
<p>If you do not currently live in the miami/coral gables area, it may seem great you know…its not
gainesville > miami=craphole</p>
<p>the place where i work is on a street named coral way, its considered a bad neighborhood…almost all residents around the business are slightly above poverty level and many homeless prowl. 4 blocks down you hit miracle mile and ponce de leon (real coral gables, where streets and aves have no numbers…ferraris/bentleys, mortons restaurant, fancy stores)…you can’t escape the craphole of miami, its only 5 minutes away in heavy traffic. Coral gables is small.</p>
<p>you say all of UF’s ‘stuff’ is all on campus, what exactly does um have? lol</p>
<p>O and also
.if you do not speak spanish, expect to be visiting only large department stores where they require english… damn near 80% of all small stores only spanish is spoken…so expect to do a lot of transactions CAVEMAN style.</p>
<p>i speak only broken spanish, i fully understand the language, but you would be amazed at the customers that come into where I work, they think that spanish the native tongue…they hear me struggle to speak their language and think I am at fault…which leads to frustration on both parts.</p>
<p>just understand, if you attend um you will be living in a totally different world than any other part of the united states…as one reporter described it , “its a third world country down there”.</p>
<p>I was just in Gainesville last weekend for my son’s graduation, and I just have to chime in that it is an AWESOME college town. Besides the fact that it is a beautiful campus, with enormous trees hung with Spanish Moss, shading walkways and open spaces, the area surrounding the campus is lined with cool coffee bars, pizza places, sports bars, etc. Then, the historic downtown area has a busy and fun area teaming with clubs and night spots, excellent restaurants, shops and cafes. </p>
<p>My husband and I, both Texans, had the same thought, that Gainesville very much reminds us of what Austin looked like back in the 70’s, before it exploded population wise - a cool college town.</p>
<p>My son has loved his 4 years there, and will always be a proud member of the Gator Nation!! He’s already looking forward to football season when he can come back and tailgate as an alum!</p>
<p>Well, I graduated from UF and last month took a tour of UM for the first time. I don’t think there is ANY comparision. Gainesville is a much more inviting campus and community than the UM campus in Coral Gables. I don’t believe that Coral Gables is actually 30 minutes from Miami because once you are down in that area it is all very urban. You can’t tell where one area ends and the next begins. </p>
<p>I am not a fan of big city urban so you couldn’t pay me to go down there. The driving down there is INSANE. I am a very experienced driver and would hate to be on those roads. </p>
<p>So, it is all what you are looking for I guess. If you want that NYC feel than UM is your campus. If you want to be on a campus that FEELS like a college campus than it would be UF.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information. I did a bit of research of Gainesville myself and it looks similar to where I live now and thanks for the hints rsala004. I’m going to take what you said in mind. Oh…and funny you should mention “INSANE” roads WynGator because I was just talking to a good friend of mine who said that she’d never go to school in Miami because of the hectic road scene.</p>
<p>I’ll be visiting UM’s campus this summer but I think Gainesville is going to be my top choice now. With my 4-year florida pre-paid scholarship, florida bright futures scholarship and fasfa I should have more than enough to attend Gainesville for 4 years.</p>
<p>Oh yea…and Dabigdawg72, it’s not that serious. All I wanted to know is about Gainesville, not how the Gator Nation will be fine without me. The only reason I’m considering the two is because they’re the only two schools in the state that offer architect programs that I’d even consider applying to.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Kah-Toh²°¹°</p>
<p>Aren’t all the clubs in Miami 21 and over with some flexibility for girls. In Gainesville, its 18 and up.</p>
<p>According to my son, who was a manager at a club downtown, most of the bars will allow 18 and up with some exclusions. Of course, patrons cannot drink, but they can come in and dance!!</p>
<p>cool…I’m liking what I’m hearing. Sounds like Gainesville really tends to the youth. I won’t be hitting the club scene much though. What else is there besides clubs and night life or does all the good day life happen on campus. I guess I wouldn’t mind being on campus a lot as long as there are events that I can have fun at and meet new people.</p>
<p>man go to uf<br>
/end thread</p>
<h1>no one shall post beyond this line</h1>
<p>yo jsut to clear a couple things up, being from miami:</p>
<ol>
<li>coral gables is in miami, you mean that it’s about 30 minutes away from south beach or DT miami. coral gables is really nice and there are some real fun things to do in coconut grove/coral gables.</li>
<li>only spanish being spoken at 80% of stores is a huge exaggeration. yeah, in some little areas 100% of the stores will speak in spanish first and may not be able to speak in english. but you probably will barely visit these areas. south beach, coral gables, kendall, and other areas of miami, knowing english only will be no problem at all.</li>
<li>visit both. don’t take the word for others. don’t not go to UF because you heard GVille and same for miami, that’d be ridiculous. </li>
<li>i got into both, i’m from miami, and i’m going to UF. better to go away, less money, etc. much better choice, for me.</li>
</ol>
<p>shouldn’t even be discussed. it’s a given. this is not even based on sport. UF is overall better!</p>
<p>The University of Florida has more than eight hundred organizations and clubs for students to join. They range from cultural and athletic to subjects pertaining to philanthropy. </p>
<p>Some of the most popular organizations are: </p>
<p>[Florida</a> Blue Key - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Blue_Key]Florida”>Florida Blue Key - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>[Theatre</a> Strike Force - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_Strike_Force]Theatre”>Theatre Strike Force - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>[The</a> Pride of the Sunshine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pride_of_the_Sunshine]The”>The Pride of the Sunshine - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>[Florida</a> Competitive Cheerleading - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Competitive_Cheerleading]Florida”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Competitive_Cheerleading)</p>
<p>[University</a> of Florida Hillel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Florida_Hillel]University”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Florida_Hillel)</p>
<p>[Florida</a> Gators Dazzlers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Gators_dazzlers]Florida”>Florida Gators Dazzlers - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>[The</a> Independent Florida Alligator - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Independent_Florida_Alligator]The”>The Independent Florida Alligator - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>[ACCENT</a> Speakers Bureau - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACCENT_Speakers_Bureau]ACCENT”>ACCENT Speakers Bureau - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>[Gatorettes</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatorettes]Gatorettes”>The Pride of the Sunshine - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>I actually looked some of that stuff up and the TSF Improv group seems like some good entertainment. Thanks SSobick for giving me an idea of things to do on campus.</p>
<p>The TSF improv group is actually excellent. I had a friend perform in one of those shows this semester, and it was hilarious.</p>
<p>There’s a lot of stuff to do in Gainesville without having to go to bars or clubs. Granted, most of it is stuff to check out in the daytime, but there are some coffee shops and hookah bars to go to at night. On Fridays, the Reitz Union has something (Gator Nights, I think it’s called) where they usually provide free food and entertainment, usually a movie. The Reitz also shows advanced screenings of movies. And then, if you’re into nature (or even if you’re not), there are things to check out like Payne’s Prairie, the bat house, Lake Wauberg, and Ginnie Springs.</p>
<p>I was going to mention lots of hiking, biking and boating opportunities as well. Payne’s Prairie is beautiful and there are lots of hiking/biking trails in and around Gainesville.</p>
<p>You can sail on Lake Wauburg, and kayak and canoe either there or Lake Alice. Boats are owned by UF and can be checked out after passing swim tests.</p>
<p>payne’s prairie is amazing!
DUDE i’d drive to gainesville just to go there and see the gators.</p>