University of Central Florida Top Questions

I am majored in biology, then after I am hoping to attend the physical school doctorate school. I am intending to use all ways of help I can get to succeed including professors office hours.

The difficulty in academics depends on your major. Given the math department at UCF is not efficient (thank god im not a math major), one because all math classes below calculus meet for 50 minutes ONCE a week and then you have to go to the math mall (a room where you have to commit 3 hours a week doing math work). I believe the math mall is very inefficient because why not just use those three hours in a classroom setting taught by a professor. Since i am a Biomedical Science major i am always studying and preparing myself to class but i still have time to enjoy myself as long as you set up times to study, do your work, and have fun you will enjoy your experience in college. I still workout, go out on the weekends, and hangout with friends. You just have to work hard and put in the effort to pass your classes.

My professors so far have been great. Many of the professors are available for time after or before class. There is opportunity for help on campus if a student is in need of help.

Since I have not been in school since 1972 they are a bit more harder than I remember. The education process is also much different than I remember.

The academics here are pretty great. Some programs are much more highly revered than others. The engineering and scientific research programs are particularly active and have a very respectable staff. The foreign languages and liberal arts, not so much. Still, my favorite class is definitely categorized as such because of my professor, despite my being a member of the school of Arts & Humanities. The teacher was passionate about what she did, loved to involve students, and qualifiably improved my ability to perform the tasks she asked of us. I don't know that I *have* had a least favorite class, but if I had to choose one it has to be my first history class... ZZzzzZZzzzZzZz There are a multitude of students that are particularly studious. The library is full just about open to close, with familiar and new faces daily. I don't know that the school is more known for its studious population than its fun-loving one, though. Class participation is not exactly common, but that also allows that those students who *do* participate are highly regarded by their professors, giving them an edge when it comes to letters of recommendations and such. The class participation issue also likely reflects the competition amongst students. My particular department - English - is not very competitive because it is designed to create intellectual communities, so there is more cooperation than competition. Still, I've yet to have many intellectual conversations outside of class, though my experience has not been entirely devoid of them. Sadly, I have not taken many "unique" classes because of the nature of my major and minor not allowing for much leeway or diversity in subject matter. That is not to say that there are not interesting classes for each major, just that I have not taken them. Against my advisor's and parents' advice I was able to take a History of Hip Hop class, though, which was fairly interesting and rather unique. The professors are very much available outside of class, despite the ever-growing number of students. Again, competition is not exactly rampant, so it is possible to visit a professor with questions at just about any time during their office hours, and they are most often than not incredibly thankful for the company and very eager to help. After all, how mundane would a life of planned conversation and paper-grading be? The school's academic requirements are definitely fair and reasonable. The education is certainly geared towards jobs, so their requirements are basic, and establish a need for basic understanding.

At the underclassmen level, no the professors will not know your name unless you make it a point to get to know them. As you progress, your classes will get smaller and you'll get to know your teachers more personally. Getting involved in their research is a great way to get to know them.

The classes at UCF are very large at first. Until you get into your upper level courses you may have 50-100 other students in your class making it hard for the professor to get to know each and every student. I HIGHLY recommend going to their office hours! they like to see students take an interest and are always willing to give extra help if needed. As you get into the more specializes classes they get a significantly smaller and the professors will do more to take a one-on-one approach with the students who try their hardest. I personally am a Forensic Science major, and have had the same professors multiple times. In this instance it will make it easier to get recommendation letters if one decides to go on to further education.

Being a freshman I haven't had that much experience with too many classes yet. However, with what I have had so far classes here are GREAT! The teachers are nice, personable, and want to see you succeed. The most important thing to remember is that you are at a big school so classes are probably going to be on the large side and teachers will probably have multiple sections of the class. It is pretty easy to get in contact with other students in the class but I find it best to just go to the teacher's office hours. Majority of the faculty offices are located in either Colburn Hall or Howard Phillips' Hall. This makes it easy to see multiple teachers at once. Teachers are more than willing to help you and meet with you outside of class. Like I said earlier, they want to see you succeed. UCF's academic are also geared towards success. For a lot of the majors, some internship credit is required. UCF makes sure you know what you are doing before sending you off, something I think will help with my transition after graduation.

Academics Are Great (to be continued)

Having a large campus with many students is great, but it does come with some disadvantages. Class sizes for general education courses tend to be very large. As a result professors do not know who you are. Personally, I believe it is great to introduce yourself to a teacher if put in a large class. Even though you might not get personal attention from a teacher, there are many helpful tutoring sessions held at UCF. Currently, I'm a sophomore and my major is Cinema Studies. I find that once you complete all your general education requirements the class sizes get smaller as you progress into your major.

Academics in this school is competitive but that also depends on your field of interest/major. For example, students seeking medical professions might find school more challenging than students in a hospitality major.

Because of the often large class sizes it can be hard to get to know your teachers but this is less true once you get into upper division/major specific or graduate courses. Some teachers do still make an effort to get to know everyone anyway. The Burnett Honors College also offers smaller class sizes. Studying varies off the major. I changed my major 8 times in undergrad, finally graduating with a BS in Psychology and now am getting my MA in Sociology. I enjoyed almost every department to the extent I was involved (I am just indecisive) though they all have ups and downs. No education is geared towards getting a job; that is not the purpose of education, it is to learn but there is help available for those seeking one after graduation: all types of workshops, career fairs, and a special building with staff devoted to helping you with this. I feel the academic requirements are reasonable. My favorite classes have been those within the Honors College.

People might think that academically UCF isn't as hard as others schools because we haven't been around for as long but just like any college there are difficult class such as Biochem and easier classes. Students ca be competitive at times especially if you want to be admitted into harder program such as our Nursing program. I have a double major in Legal Studies and Psychology and I try to spend time with my professors because I like them to know me especially if I want them to write me a recommendation letter.

In my experience, the academics at UCF have so far been wonderful. Although you general education classes will be large, most of the professors are able to teach to the magnitude. However, the large class-size of lower-level classes does mean it is more of a one-way lecture rather than a student-participating discussion. Upper level classes are smaller, but still about 70 students to a class in many of them. All professors have office hours, but a really neat program is called SI, or supplemental instruction. SI is a study-session of sorts, for a class that has a typically high ratio of failures, so a class such as Biology or Statistics, offers SI. These study sessions are taught by a student that has previously taken the class and received an A, thus ensuring that this student is knowledgeable and competent within the subject. SI sessions typically run about 2-4 times per week for a class depending on how many different sections there are per class and also how many credit hours the class is worth. It is also pretty amusing how empty the SI sessions are in the beginning of the year, but how jam packed they are towards finals. I remember my Bio1 SI sessions at the end of the year, we were in a small auditorium for approximately 300 students and there were still people sitting on the floor. My suggestion?- Go to SI from the beginning of the class so that you're only reviewing, rather then re-LEARNING, come finals.

I would say it depends on your major for the academics. As an AD/PR major I am finally in smaller classes which puts me on a more personal level with my professors allowing them to get to know a little more about me and vice versa. However, if you were a business major, most of your classes are online so your teacher is not able to know you as well as a smaller major professor would. To answer if students study, well that is on a personal level. Of course I have not run into someone who hasnt studied for a test, but you never know there are those people out there. I think this school does a very good job mapping out everything for your major and minor. They have a great program that makes it easy to follow. The education level is geared toward learning things to help you succeed in the field. Without the educational background, we would be lost.

The academics at my school is very rigorous, generally you are suppose to spend anywhere from 3 to 5 hours of study time per lecture hour. Most professors are truly passionate about their fields, they see themselves as scholars and researchers first then teachers second. My favorite class has to be management of organizations because the professor speaks about how the theories we learn are and have been applied in the real world. The least favorite would have been calculus I, I don't even remember the professor's name but he assumed that everyone completely understood calculus I material even if you have never taken it before. I generally tend to study pretty often since I'm in higher level courses now. In higher level courses class participation is not only common but encouraged by the professors. Some students form study groups outside of lectures in order to better understand the topics discussed to ofcourse to cram for exams. Most students are competitive, especially when considering sports. The most unique class I have taken would have been intro to marketing in which I found a lot of interesting information regarding some very well known companies. I am a Finance major in the college of business at UCF. UCF's academic requirement are very good, they want students to graduate and be successful in order to brand the UCF logo out into the world. I am part of DECA and we work hand in hand with some faculty members. Education at UCF is all about getting students into their careers before they graduate and having them be successful in their careers. UCF even offers assistance with starting your own business.

I am a political science major on the pre-law track. While taking your general education courses at UCF the class sizes will be considerably large. Majority of the general education classes will be held in auditorium style classrooms. Even though I have had classes with over 300 students, I was still able to receive one-on-one time with my professors. As you get into your major specific courses, class sizes dramatically decrease. Many of these classes will have anywhere from 15 students to about 60 students depending on what the class is. In political science classes, there is plenty of class discussion. Professors will guide the discussion but will push you to answer extremely difficult theoretical questions and hypothetical situations. You will have to be able to speak and also defend your thoughts with facts. Many of these classes have midterms, finals and also papers. Depending on the professor your exams can be multiple choice, or essay based. Professors will know your name and who you are at UCF. The professors are also very approachable and make themselves available to their students at all times. UCF also has plenty of outside organizations that are geared to help students with their academics and future careers. For example, Phi Alpha Delta is a pre-law fraternity on campus where students are able to socialize, get valuable information from guest speakers about law school, receive discounts on LSAT courses and interact with current law school students. Not only is there Phi Alpha Delta, but there are also pre-med organizations, business organizations, and leadership organizations such as the LEAD Scholars Program. Students create study groups quite often to prepare for their exams and will often continue speaking about the lessons learned in class outside of the classrooms. Students are not competitive with one another over grades. Students will e-mail others the notes if they missed class without any sort of hassle. No matter how large or how small your class size is at UCF, you will never feel alone because the professors are always available to assist students and UCF students truly do help one another.

The common stereotype given to UCF students are that they jocks who spend too much time partying instead of being mature, dedicated students. The phrase that often poses UCF in a bad light is the motto You Can't Finish to indicate that students start their degree but cannot follow through with completing their major. This however is an incorrect assumption because students at UCF go on to be very successful and have wonderful careers.

Academics at UCF have a very developed system. Its not just attend the lecture, do the homework and take the test. There are so many student assistance programs for tutoring, and the amount of classmate-based study groups are even more. The library is open till midnight to host exam reviews and there is now a 24 hour study hall at UCF. There are also teaching assistants and office hours to accommodate questions and concerns. Most of my friendships have sprouted from these typical study groups and that's just another plus!

Classes tend to be larger (in the thousands) and online. Depending on the subject or major classes range from 20 students to 3,000. In some of my earlier classes, I got to know my professor very well, but in others, the professor had not a clue who any individual student was (which I didn't mind in some occasions). UCF is stereotyped as a college where students study the least, but personally, I know this to be false. I've seen engineering majors study for a test for 5 days and barely get a C. College is college. For smaller classes (which get more prevalent junior and senior year), attendance and participation is am must. For online classes, the importance of participation is dismal. Students at UCF, or any college, have many intellectual conversations, considering that these individuals decided to continue their education past the basics of grade school. Students are not competitive, unless they are engineering majors. While many students change their major atleast once in their first two years, I have continued my studies in Business Marketing since my freshman year. Business majors consist of many online classes and many very large classes until senior year. Despite having large classes, much is learned and retained in the business program at UCF. Evvery professor has office hours and students are encouraged to attend them. The professors are always very helpful. From what i've heard from friends at other Florida institutions,the academic requirements are easier at UCF, but that is quite subjective. UCF is definitely more geared to getting a job after graduation.