Student Profile
Ali
- Class: Sophomore
- Major: Government
- Gender: F
- High School:
- Transfer Student: N
Big Picture
Our school is too large sometimes in that resources can be tight. I have difficulty getting in to see an advisor a lot of the time because there are just so many students. Traffic can be a nightmare. Classes are pretty full. But having a large student body has its perks, too. It is a lot of fun at football games to see the Swamp filled with orange and blue. The Gator nation is pretty big, and I love it! There's a lot more spirit here than you might find at other colleges. When I tell people I go to UF, some of them say "wow--you must be smart!" Others say "oh...a state school..." It pretty much depends on who is responding. In Florida, UF is considered an excellent school. It's just not an Ivy. I spend a lot of time on campus in the library, which is stellar. There's a starbucks there and a lot of nice, quiet places to sit and study. I also spend a lot of time in the Plaza of the Americas, which is just a lot of grass and trees and people relaxing and eating lunch and whatnot. It's nice, especially since Florida weather rocks. COLLEGE TOWN all the way. I think it depends what part of the UF administration being discussed. I think my study abroad advisor is horrible and a total you know what. I think my academic advisors are really dumb and unhelpful. But I thought my honors advisors were pretty cool, and I think the administration for my particular major does a decent job. Big recent controversies... oh, there are plenty. There was that tasering business back in the fall. Andrew Meyer is ridiculous. More recently though, there have been a lot of budget and transparency issues I think. As a rather huge state school with a legally capped tuition, UF has a lot of financial difficulties. People get upset when they see money going towards what appears to be a frivilous thing because meanwhile, majors and faculty are getting cut. Also, student government has some issues. It isn't exactly the most diverse group of people running the show, and the Greeks pretty much infiltrate the system. That has caused some problems with things like an opposition party's attempt to have UF do online voting for student government elections in an effort to mobilize the vote (rather than just having sororities and fraternities make up the entire voting population because they tell their members it's mandatory). TONS of school pride. Size, maybe. And I think Tim Tebow is a bit unusual...unusually freaking awesome. Winning those back-to-back national championships. The streets were wild with crazy happy college kids. It was so much fun! The parking is unbelievably awful here. I don't know a single driver who hasn't been ticketed or towed (or more likely both multiple times) in Gainesville. Like seriously? Make more parking spots, people!
Academic Life
This semester all of my professors know my name, but I'm taking unusually small classes. I take a lot of honors courses, which are kept at 25 students per class. But it isn't necessarily the norm to have your professors here know your name, no. My favorite class was this political science class on varying ideologies. The professor was AMAZING. Actually, I won a small scholarship writing about how he and that class changed my perception. Students surprisingly study a lot here--as can be noted by the extraordinary lack of breathing room and parking spots in and around the library (respectively) this time of year (it's finals week). Students are competitive in their own ways. There are a lot of people here so it isn't like everyone is racing to be a valedictorian or graduate first in their class of...um...ten thousand students. But it is competitive in that a lot of us strive to do well. I've taken a statistical analysis class that using poker to demonstrate concepts. It was a good class. Also, my forensic science class is out-of-this-world cool. Our professor is a pretty well-known forensic entomologist, and everything he says just blows my mind. My major...is kind of filled with a lot of pretentious ***s. Not gonna lie. No, I don't see a lot of my professors out of class, really. I think UF's academic requirements are pretty standard. My personal education here has been a lot about learning for its own sake. I am currently taking all electives...nothing for my majors or for the fulfillment of any requirements. But I think that might be somewhat looked down on here, yea. I had to declare a double-major to avoid being forced by an advisor to graduate before I was ready to end my education, if that says anything to anyone about the priorities here. To be fair, there are, like I said before, money issues.
Student Body
I don't think anyone would feel that out of place here, since there are just so many people. It is hard NOT to find somewhere to fit in I think. Most students wear flip-flops and just whatever to class. Different types of students interact, certainly. Most students here are from Florida, but the financial backgrounds vary. Students are somewhat politically aware...it's hard for me to answer this since, as a political science major, a lot of the people I know and see regularly are not, politically, your average student. There are an awful lot of libertarians here (unfortunately...I'm just not a fan).
The Best Things
Tim Tebow :)
The Worst Things
Parking
