Any advice on University of Central Florida (Orlando) for a transfer student from California?
Big school. New facilities. Underrated place to go to college. Up and coming sports program.
Underrated??? Wow! That is not the feeling I got from everyone’s comments although I am sure you could be right. Just like some of our UC systems schools in California are overrated (Berkeley, Irvine, UCLA), at least in my opinion.
I meant the city of Orlando as a place to go to college. It was listed recently as the best or one of the best places to be a student. It was a surprise to me.
Have lived in central FL for 26 years. UCF has made major strides in that time. Primary traditional schools used to be UF / FSU. The other large state Us (UCF, USF) were very much commuter based. Fast forward and UCF is considered a “hot” school around here. Supposedly has an excellent Honors College (not a program like UF but a real Honors College with major advantages). Although a huge school, campus is laid out quite well. They had a lot of land and organized it well vs. a sprawl. Engineering is good with lots of opportunities at the space coast (about an hour away). Their fine arts program is becoming pretty competitive if that’s of interest. Sports teams have done well in recent years which adds a lot of excitement.
Very common for the locals to choose between the four schools now (of course with UF being the flagship, but the others are nipping at its toes)
Orlando is a decent size city, but the campus isn’t really that close to downtown. Probably a 20 minute drive. Very little public transportation in FL so I emphasize drive.
The people we know who’ve attended seem to really like UCF. Just very big so be prepared to deal with all the things that come with that.
UCF started as an engineering school to train engineers for Martin Marietta, and the Cape. It grew to ten campuses in the last 30 years, but main one is a very pretty campus just east of Florida, yes you need a car there, but Uber works OK for freshman.
Orlando is a fantastic youthful city. I visit every year for 30 years, and many positive changes. Its hip to live near Lake Underhill, the gay area, but UCF/Ovieto is pretty nice, more strip malls but still the entire city and the Atlantic coast overall are super fun for young and old. Its not theme parks either, I have never been to Disney but keep very busy in Orlando with restaurants, going out, visiting museums in Winter Park, boating, water skiing, sailing, beach day, nature walks. Also nature is so accessible in Florida, just like Colorado but much nicer 3 season weather. Orlando is always less hot than Washington DC believe it or not, somehow more breezy… Ok, thats a stretch but my opinion.
Also the 30 minutes to the beaches is fantastic. There are many different beaches and national seashores very accessible to UCF students. See Playlinda north of Cape Canaveral. Its a national seashore just north of where
they Space shuttles used to launch. There is a nude beach there, just to dispel the idea that Florida is “conservative”.
Yes there are Florida crackers, but there are also many southeast Asians, African Americans, and transplants from Europe. The Gulf Coast is also accessible to Orlando students, a bit further.
Two factors “hurt” UCF’s rankings. Lets use US News rankings as an example:
Faculty Resources make up 20% of US New’s undergraduate college rankings. UCF struggles here because of the large class sizes and high student to faculty ratio. Being in the honor’s college would help counter this issue, as you can attend much smaller “honor” classes.
Expert Opinion makes up another 20% of the US News rankings, and this is where UCF is “underrated”. Few academics (presidents, provost and deans of admissions) or HS counselors, outside of the state of Florida, know much about UCF.
I also noticed a shift at UCF away from the engineering sciences and towards the hospitality industry and healthcare industries in Florida, as the school morphs to meet the needs of a growing state.
Also, UCF is always cheaper in state than UF right now. UF does not offer the jumbo merit in state that UCF can afford to offer strong students to attract some, and UF’s rank is much higher as its a much OLDER school with a healthy out of state undergraduate population, the top research medical school, good business school, and top ranked Florida engineering program.
UCF was originally called Florida Technological University when it opened in 1963 as a commuter school for Orlando.
Age really influences US News rank. UCF is much more of a full research university now.
Odd fact–
UCF is tied with YALE and UIUC for PhDs in atomic and molecular physics at 12th in the nation-
https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/atomic-science-rankings
See Wash Post article on UCF, summarized here.
High diversity at UCF as well, its everyone’s college.
https://www.ucf.edu/news/the-washington-post-ucfs-philosophy-storming-higher-ed/
Be prepared to live off campus and bring your car. Parking passes are cheap, but finding a spot is awful. The campus has a wonderful layout- easy to navigate and learn. It rains a lot in the afternoon, so good rain gear and shoes that dry easily. Beware of online classes- it’s a very expensive way to teach yourself the class. You can search classes and schedules online to see how classes are offered.
UCF offers discount tickets to all the amusement parks!
My dd is a senior and has never had a true online class. My ds just graduated and had more than several online classes. Not his preferred format, but it afforded him opportunities for fellowships and internships he would not have been able to fit in…win/win fir him!! Some classes are offered as “lecture capture” where you can attend or not but class is recorded to view online.
Class size and online capability depend on the actual class…level, subject matter, honors vs standard. Many students like this feature because it makes it much easier to get into the class and time schedule.
There are shuttles if you live off campus, but a car is best. If you have to drive to campus, you may have to get there earlier than you want, but that’s adulting and it’s a beautiful place to hang out and easy to find a place to kick back, play or study.