Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are there so many in Floridians so obsessed with University of Florida to the point that they won't even consider other schools (like FSU or UCF) if they don't get into UF. On various boards about UF, a lot of people look at UF like an all or nothing. In Virginia, if someone doesn't get into William & Mary or UVA, they will definitely consider other schools like Tech or JMU. On College Confidential, there was a whole conversation about how OOS students were taking away spots from Florida residents. I don't think people in VA feel that way about Virginia schools.

I think those posters just speak louder and are completely fixated on ranking. There are definitely a lot of kids that choose other Florida schools over UF; it just depends on what they’re looking for and their priorities.
My dd was desperate to love UF based on the hype and friends going there, so we visited twice. But none of us could find anything we really liked about it and she ended up not even applying (4.0 UW, IB diploma, 1590 SAT, amazing ecs). It had lots of busy traffic, scooters everywhere, rundown looking buildings (though they are doing tons of new construction and building). Even the food court in student Union felt claustrophobic. It would have been fine if she applied and went, but I was happier that she didn’t force herself to love it. She’s at another state school that she loved from her first visit. It just depends on what matters to kids/parents most.

Did she choose another school in Florida? Yeah - I'm not exactly sure what the deal is with UF. All the things that you points are out are true: dorms are not nice, food is bad, and many scooters. Also, it tends to have a very competitive environment. Ironically, the school does not seem to be plagued with the housing issues of other public Florida schools.

UF almost has a cult following. People want to go there so badly that they are willing to do the community school pathway or the online pathway. I just don't get it. Do Floridian's see the school like the Harvard of Florida or something? Even in the UF school decision reaction videos, you'll see family members in the background (and the kid/applicant) all wearing UF gear - which is odd, since at that point, the kid would not have known whether or not he/she got in.

Anonymous wrote:Why are there so many in Floridians so obsessed with University of Florida to the point that they won't even consider other schools (like FSU or UCF) if they don't get into UF. On various boards about UF, a lot of people look at UF like an all or nothing. In Virginia, if someone doesn't get into William & Mary or UVA, they will definitely consider other schools like Tech or JMU. On College Confidential, there was a whole conversation about how OOS students were taking away spots from Florida residents. I don't think people in VA feel that way about Virginia schools.

I think those posters just speak louder and are completely fixated on ranking. There are definitely a lot of kids that choose other Florida schools over UF; it just depends on what they’re looking for and their priorities.
My dd was desperate to love UF based on the hype and friends going there, so we visited twice. But none of us could find anything we really liked about it and she ended up not even applying (4.0 UW, IB diploma, 1590 SAT, amazing ecs). It had lots of busy traffic, scooters everywhere, rundown looking buildings (though they are doing tons of new construction and building). Even the food court in student Union felt claustrophobic. It would have been fine if she applied and went, but I was happier that she didn’t force herself to love it. She’s at another state school that she loved from her first visit. It just depends on what matters to kids/parents most.

Why are there so many in Floridians so obsessed with University of Florida to the point that they won't even consider other schools (like FSU or UCF) if they don't get into UF. On various boards about UF, a lot of people look at UF like an all or nothing. In Virginia, if someone doesn't get into William & Mary or UVA, they will definitely consider other schools like Tech or JMU. On College Confidential, there was a whole conversation about how OOS students were taking away spots from Florida residents. I don't think people in VA feel that way about Virginia schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone actually had their kid attend UF? If so, what was your experience like?

Yep, DS, loves it. Engineering major. Junior, has summer job in Orlando making $55 per hour. Very active in student government and recreational sports. Professors are very helpful and engaged. Always available for office hours-UF takes office hours very seriously. Downsides to UF-dorms are terrible, super competitive vibe and very hard with sink or swim weed classes way more than other schools, hard to travel to Gainesville, classes can be hard to get in for desired time or professor, lots of kids into sports (downside if your kid isn’t), parking is atrocious. But again, my kid absolutely loves it.

Considering the schedule my senior will be leaving behind in HS (6-8 classes / day, unrelenting pressure to maintain a perfect GPA, pressure to stick the landing with a perfect SAT score, varsity sports and navigating the ups and downs of the D1 recruitment process, competing for playing time on a travel team that plays nationally, specialized coaching related to his sport(s), strength and conditioning training, 3-4 school clubs, volunteering with 2-3 organizations, interning during the school year in research labs at our local university, holding a part-time job, etc.), it’s frankly unfathomable how college would be capable of presenting a more “super competitive” environment. Respectfully, it’s my experience that undergraduate life is a relative breeze after HS for most achievement oriented students.

This. My son has been the starting goalie at his high school for all 4 years and played club and maintained nearly perfect grades and ran his own business. I can’t imagine how it could get worse.

Probably not for your kid but I didn’t necessarily mean rigorous in the definition of cut throat. At Florida, most of the clubs have cuts (not sports). If you want to be in the Investment club well you better have your portfolios done the first month of school. My kid wanted to be tour guide and like 500 kids applied for 40 spots. I am sure your kid can handle but I still describe as seriously cut throat as compared to my other kids at Wake Forest and Penn State. And I am not denoting it as good or bad. Just different than many other undergrad experiences.

One of the Gator alums on here. Ah, PP, now I understand. Yes, there are opportunities like Cicerones, etc, that are very competitive, but I don't know how to else to explain it - most UF students are used to high achievement and also to understanding that life is generally not handed to you. I'd tell your kid, hey that's life, and there are other opportunities. I got into a competitive club at UF, and it was great and I made lifelong friends. But also - my favorite memories are from small seminars, quirky lecture topics offered at brown bag lunches from the small department that ran my minor studies program, the beautiful campus libraries, quiet afternoons of solitude at the Baughman Center, working out at the gym, etc. The UF grads I have worked with handle social skills with grace and ease (and sometimes just enough southern charm), and smarter people than I could claim to be have found that these are the skills that really reward you in life.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone actually had their kid attend UF? If so, what was your experience like?

Yep, DS, loves it. Engineering major. Junior, has summer job in Orlando making $55 per hour. Very active in student government and recreational sports. Professors are very helpful and engaged. Always available for office hours-UF takes office hours very seriously. Downsides to UF-dorms are terrible, super competitive vibe and very hard with sink or swim weed classes way more than other schools, hard to travel to Gainesville, classes can be hard to get in for desired time or professor, lots of kids into sports (downside if your kid isn’t), parking is atrocious. But again, my kid absolutely loves it.

Considering the schedule my senior will be leaving behind in HS (6-8 classes / day, unrelenting pressure to maintain a perfect GPA, pressure to stick the landing with a perfect SAT score, varsity sports and navigating the ups and downs of the D1 recruitment process, competing for playing time on a travel team that plays nationally, specialized coaching related to his sport(s), strength and conditioning training, 3-4 school clubs, volunteering with 2-3 organizations, interning during the school year in research labs at our local university, holding a part-time job, etc.), it’s frankly unfathomable how college would be capable of presenting a more “super competitive” environment. Respectfully, it’s my experience that undergraduate life is a relative breeze after HS for most achievement oriented students.

This. My son has been the starting goalie at his high school for all 4 years and played club and maintained nearly perfect grades and ran his own business. I can’t imagine how it could get worse.

Probably not for your kid but I didn’t necessarily mean rigorous in the definition of cut throat. At Florida, most of the clubs have cuts (not sports). If you want to be in the Investment club well you better have your portfolios done the first month of school. My kid wanted to be tour guide and like 500 kids applied for 40 spots. I am sure your kid can handle but I still describe as seriously cut throat as compared to my other kids at Wake Forest and Penn State. And I am not denoting it as good or bad. Just different than many other undergrad experiences.

Sounds fun!

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious as to how popular University of Florida is from the DC area.

The tuition is attractive but nope, not interested.

Anonymous wrote:It has become very popular. For one thing, they don't allow hate speech and harassment and you don't walk from building to building hearing people chanting and screaming.

+1. This is a huge plus for us.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone actually had their kid attend UF? If so, what was your experience like?

Yep, DS, loves it. Engineering major. Junior, has summer job in Orlando making $55 per hour. Very active in student government and recreational sports. Professors are very helpful and engaged. Always available for office hours-UF takes office hours very seriously. Downsides to UF-dorms are terrible, super competitive vibe and very hard with sink or swim weed classes way more than other schools, hard to travel to Gainesville, classes can be hard to get in for desired time or professor, lots of kids into sports (downside if your kid isn’t), parking is atrocious. But again, my kid absolutely loves it.

Considering the schedule my senior will be leaving behind in HS (6-8 classes / day, unrelenting pressure to maintain a perfect GPA, pressure to stick the landing with a perfect SAT score, varsity sports and navigating the ups and downs of the D1 recruitment process, competing for playing time on a travel team that plays nationally, specialized coaching related to his sport(s), strength and conditioning training, 3-4 school clubs, volunteering with 2-3 organizations, interning during the school year in research labs at our local university, holding a part-time job, etc.), it’s frankly unfathomable how college would be capable of presenting a more “super competitive” environment. Respectfully, it’s my experience that undergraduate life is a relative breeze after HS for most achievement oriented students.

This. My son has been the starting goalie at his high school for all 4 years and played club and maintained nearly perfect grades and ran his own business. I can’t imagine how it could get worse.

Probably not for your kid but I didn’t necessarily mean rigorous in the definition of cut throat. At Florida, most of the clubs have cuts (not sports). If you want to be in the Investment club well you better have your portfolios done the first month of school. My kid wanted to be tour guide and like 500 kids applied for 40 spots. I am sure your kid can handle but I still describe as seriously cut throat as compared to my other kids at Wake Forest and Penn State. And I am not denoting it as good or bad. Just different than many other undergrad experiences.

oh yes for sure! my kid already has his eye on 2 investment clubs at the school he’s committed to and is aware of how competitive that is. However I don’t think that’s unique especially at a big school.

Anonymous wrote:

I don't hear anyone at my kids school talking about UF.

+1. UMiami is very popular, but not UF or FSU.

DS accepted to UF and Miami. If we had to choose, it would be UF because it's a higher ranked school for far less money.

That being said, he'll probably go somewhere else.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone actually had their kid attend UF? If so, what was your experience like?

Yep, DS, loves it. Engineering major. Junior, has summer job in Orlando making $55 per hour. Very active in student government and recreational sports. Professors are very helpful and engaged. Always available for office hours-UF takes office hours very seriously. Downsides to UF-dorms are terrible, super competitive vibe and very hard with sink or swim weed classes way more than other schools, hard to travel to Gainesville, classes can be hard to get in for desired time or professor, lots of kids into sports (downside if your kid isn’t), parking is atrocious. But again, my kid absolutely loves it.

Considering the schedule my senior will be leaving behind in HS (6-8 classes / day, unrelenting pressure to maintain a perfect GPA, pressure to stick the landing with a perfect SAT score, varsity sports and navigating the ups and downs of the D1 recruitment process, competing for playing time on a travel team that plays nationally, specialized coaching related to his sport(s), strength and conditioning training, 3-4 school clubs, volunteering with 2-3 organizations, interning during the school year in research labs at our local university, holding a part-time job, etc.), it’s frankly unfathomable how college would be capable of presenting a more “super competitive” environment. Respectfully, it’s my experience that undergraduate life is a relative breeze after HS for most achievement oriented students.

This. My son has been the starting goalie at his high school for all 4 years and played club and maintained nearly perfect grades and ran his own business. I can’t imagine how it could get worse.

Probably not for your kid but I didn’t necessarily mean rigorous in the definition of cut throat. At Florida, most of the clubs have cuts (not sports). If you want to be in the Investment club well you better have your portfolios done the first month of school. My kid wanted to be tour guide and like 500 kids applied for 40 spots. I am sure your kid can handle but I still describe as seriously cut throat as compared to my other kids at Wake Forest and Penn State. And I am not denoting it as good or bad. Just different than many other undergrad experiences.

Anonymous wrote:We have friends whose DC attends and loves it. Does social science and public policy - is a go getter worldly independent kid.

They currently live abroad but purposely got FL residency at some point and pay FL state tax there so they could apply in state for U Florida (knowing costs were so low for instate.) They never lived in FL before they left to live abroad.

Meanwhile their second ended up in school in TX.

We’ll see about the third.

Very big residency strategy in military and FS circles

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if the reputation of UF being cutthroat is legit?

Very cut throat. Kid there now. He still loves it but very cut throat!

Is it just certain majors? I heard it was true for pre- med, but not sure about others.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone actually had their kid attend UF? If so, what was your experience like?

Yep, DS, loves it. Engineering major. Junior, has summer job in Orlando making $55 per hour. Very active in student government and recreational sports. Professors are very helpful and engaged. Always available for office hours-UF takes office hours very seriously. Downsides to UF-dorms are terrible, super competitive vibe and very hard with sink or swim weed classes way more than other schools, hard to travel to Gainesville, classes can be hard to get in for desired time or professor, lots of kids into sports (downside if your kid isn’t), parking is atrocious. But again, my kid absolutely loves it.

Considering the schedule my senior will be leaving behind in HS (6-8 classes / day, unrelenting pressure to maintain a perfect GPA, pressure to stick the landing with a perfect SAT score, varsity sports and navigating the ups and downs of the D1 recruitment process, competing for playing time on a travel team that plays nationally, specialized coaching related to his sport(s), strength and conditioning training, 3-4 school clubs, volunteering with 2-3 organizations, interning during the school year in research labs at our local university, holding a part-time job, etc.), it’s frankly unfathomable how college would be capable of presenting a more “super competitive” environment. Respectfully, it’s my experience that undergraduate life is a relative breeze after HS for most achievement oriented students.

This. My son has been the starting goalie at his high school for all 4 years and played club and maintained nearly perfect grades and ran his own business. I can’t imagine how it could get worse.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone actually had their kid attend UF? If so, what was your experience like?

Yep, DS, loves it. Engineering major. Junior, has summer job in Orlando making $55 per hour. Very active in student government and recreational sports. Professors are very helpful and engaged. Always available for office hours-UF takes office hours very seriously. Downsides to UF-dorms are terrible, super competitive vibe and very hard with sink or swim weed classes way more than other schools, hard to travel to Gainesville, classes can be hard to get in for desired time or professor, lots of kids into sports (downside if your kid isn’t), parking is atrocious. But again, my kid absolutely loves it.

Considering the schedule my senior will be leaving behind in HS (6-8 classes / day, unrelenting pressure to maintain a perfect GPA, pressure to stick the landing with a perfect SAT score, varsity sports and navigating the ups and downs of the D1 recruitment process, competing for playing time on a travel team that plays nationally, specialized coaching related to his sport(s), strength and conditioning training, 3-4 school clubs, volunteering with 2-3 organizations, interning during the school year in research labs at our local university, holding a part-time job, etc.), it’s frankly unfathomable how college would be capable of presenting a more “super competitive” environment. Respectfully, it’s my experience that undergraduate life is a relative breeze after HS for most achievement oriented students.

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if the reputation of UF being cutthroat is legit?

Very cut throat. Kid there now. He still loves it but very cut throat!