My son is considering Information Systems (IS) major at UF for bachelor’s degree.
Appreciate if you could provide any first hand information such as:
What is a typical semester plan - particularly 1st and 2nd sem?
How many classes are online vs in person?
Which are hardest critical tracking courses?
Is it common to complete degree in 3 years?
How hard is to get in BS/MS combined degree program?
What are preferred dorms for IS students?
@gotoUF
I don’t have experience with IS Major but have 2 sons in Warrington for Finance Major. So, I can speak to some of your questions:
Semester Plan - Here is a link to the model semester plan: Information Systems < University of Florida
The first two years contain the General Education requirements and the base classes required for all Business Majors (Management, Marketing, 2 Accountings, Finance, Econ, Calc, etc.) Many students have much of the General Ed requirements completed via AP in high school, so they start the Business classes in the first year.
Online v. In Person Classes - I cannot speak to the IS specific classes, but can tell you that those general business classes that I mention above are online. It has been that way long before COVID. Even back when I was at UF 25+ years ago, we watched those classes on video replays. The way it works is that the lectures are recorded in the first period of the day, and then are posted to the online learning platform. Students can try to register for that section that has the live lecture, but it is limited, of course. People in the online sections are allowed to attend that live lecture if space is available. I have heard that the first week may be full, but thereafter, anyone who wants to attend at 8am, or whatever time it is held, can attend with no issue. Most students don’t see the value in getting up early to watch a lecture in person that they can watch online later. There are benefits to being online. Lectures can be watched any time, as many times as wanted. They can be paused, rewound, etc.
I suspect that the upper level IS classes are in person, but don’t know for sure. In Finance, that is mostly the case as they are much smaller in size.
Hardest Critical Tracking - Most people say the 2 Accounting Classes and Business Finance. Business Finance is particularly difficult for those who may not be numbers people. But, I would think that someone interested in IS may not be in that category. UF definitely uses those classes to weed people out of the College of Business. Right or wrong, it is what it is.
Complete in 3 years - I don’t know how common it is, but could be easily done if entering with most of the General Ed requirements complete. Both of mine could graduate in 3 years but decided to go a little slower and enjoy 4 years at UF. They will take some extra classes that they are interested in learning about and take 12-14 hours per semester.
Combined Program - I don’t know about the IS program, but the Finance Combined degree program is very competitive. The placements into the workforce are very impressive, however. In Finance, they are really geared towards those who want to do Wall Street type work or consulting, so it is not for everyone.
Dorms - I don’t believe there is any dorm affiliation for IS or any other Business major. There are Living Learning Communities (Dorms) for Engineering, Honors Program, Out of Stater Gators, and some other themes. But nothing that specific for IS majors.
Hope this helps you or others who may read this…
Thank you very much for the information!