University of Florida Top Questions

The academics are pretty hard-core. The core classes, the sciences and math classes, are tough. But on the flip side, there is so much help out there. Every class has review sessions, from fellow students, TAs, teaching help through UF itself or an off campus company that specializes in helping you pass your test. Not to mention that every professor has office hours or is available to make an appointment to see you. There's no excuse not to find help if you need it. Students in a class can also email other students in the class, so I can send a mass email saying "I need help with problem #2 on the homework" or "Study session Thursday at 5" and get help from fellow classmates. The courses are so diverse, I've taken Vegetable Gardening, Oceanography, Astronomy, Wildlife, Soils, American History and many other electives just to see what I might like. And many of the electives are a blast, because it's something you are interested in.

I would say classes are rigorous but if you study and most importantly go to class you should be fine.

The academics are rather challenging and competitive. You are competing against many other well rounded, intelligent, hard working individuals. Thus, time manageability is a crucial skill that you either posses prior to attending UF or cultivate afterwards.

Everyone is a nerd at the University of Florida. People are constantly studying between classes and at the library. Students use the library so frequently that this spring the main library will be open 24 hours. Class sizes are large though, with 250 plus in most of my classes so participation is a minimum. I make a point to know the names of my professors, however most students are not as concerned, they simply go to class and take the tests without even knowing the gender of the professor. Since the school is elite it is competitive but more in involvement than in academics.

University of Florida is definitely an academic-focused school. Everyone is driven to make something of themselves.Being such a large university, in your general education classes in your first few semesters, classes are pretty crowded. Classes like chemistry or calculus, that are required for many majors, have hundreds of students. However, most large classes have a one-hour discussion course once a week which is only 20 students from the larger group. Professors know your name if you make it known to them. In larger classes, and even in smaller classes, participation is key. The professors will not work to get to know you like in high school. You must participate in discussions in class or go to office hours for extra help to introduce yourself. As far as academic requirements go, I feel that some of the general education credit requirements, like the required 6 credits of "Diversity", are a bit unnecessary. Many of these classes are not very appealing to a wider audience and waste space in the semester, blocking time when you could be getting ahead on your major requirements or just taking a fun, interesting class. The new A- grading system is the worst!!! The addition of the minuses on the gpa scale makes it harder to get a 4.0 and UF classes are hard enough to begin with. Being an academic university, there are many, many pre-med students. This means that classes required by all of them, like general chemistry, turn in to "weed-out" classes that make the class harder so only the best and brightest survive and discouraging those that can't keep up to drop pre-med. Most classes have 2-3 midterm exams, plus a final. In many classes, these are your only grades. In others, you have additional papers, homework assignments, or online homework or quizzes to boost grades. Time spent on academics correlates with the time in the semester. Early in the semester, before midterm exams begin, is generally relaxed and easy. As the semester progresses, so does the workload. By the time finals roll around, you're basically living thanks to coffee gods.

University of Florida is definitely an academic-focused school. Everyone is driven to make something of themselves.Being such a large university, in your general education classes in your first few semesters, classes are pretty crowded. Classes like chemistry or calculus, that are required for many majors, have hundreds of students. However, most large classes have a one-hour discussion course once a week which is only 20 students from the larger group. Professors know your name if you make it known to them. In larger classes, and even in smaller classes, participation is key. The professors will not work to get to know you like in high school. You must participate in discussions in class or go to office hours for extra help to introduce yourself. As far as academic requirements go, I feel that some of the general education credit requirements, like the required 6 credits of "Diversity", are a bit unnecessary. Many of these classes are not very appealing to a wider audience and waste space in the semester, blocking time when you could be getting ahead on your major requirements or just taking a fun, interesting class. The new A- grading system is the worst!!! The addition of the minuses on the gpa scale makes it harder to get a 4.0 and UF classes are hard enough to begin with. Being an academic university, there are many, many pre-med students. This means that classes required by all of them, like general chemistry, turn in to "weed-out" classes that make the class harder so only the best and brightest survive and discouraging those that can't keep up to drop pre-med. Most classes have 2-3 midterm exams, plus a final. In many classes, these are your only grades. In others, you have additional papers, homework assignments, or online homework or quizzes to boost grades. Time spent on academics correlates with the time in the semester. Early in the semester, before midterm exams begin, is generally relaxed and easy. As the semester progresses, so does the workload. By the time finals roll around, you're basically living thanks to coffee gods.

University of Florida is definitely an academic-focused school. Everyone is driven to make something of themselves.Being such a large university, in your general education classes in your first few semesters, classes are pretty crowded. Classes like chemistry or calculus, that are required for many majors, have hundreds of students. However, most large classes have a one-hour discussion course once a week which is only 20 students from the larger group. Professors know your name if you make it known to them. In larger classes, and even in smaller classes, participation is key. The professors will not work to get to know you like in high school. You must participate in discussions in class or go to office hours for extra help to introduce yourself. As far as academic requirements go, I feel that some of the general education credit requirements, like the required 6 credits of "Diversity", are a bit unnecessary. Many of these classes are not very appealing to a wider audience and waste space in the semester, blocking time when you could be getting ahead on your major requirements or just taking a fun, interesting class. The new A- grading system is the worst!!! The addition of the minuses on the gpa scale makes it harder to get a 4.0 and UF classes are hard enough to begin with. Being an academic university, there are many, many pre-med students. This means that classes required by all of them, like general chemistry, turn in to "weed-out" classes that make the class harder so only the best and brightest survive and discouraging those that can't keep up to drop pre-med.

The undergraduate classes here at the University of Florida tend to have hundreds of students in them, thus making it difficult to build a relationship with professors from just attending lecture. If you make an effort to go to their office hours though, professors tend to take notice and be much more helpful. My favorite classes are those that have to do with my field of study, speech, language and hearing classes, probably because that is what I enjoy learning about. I know other students who prefer their math courses though because that's what they're interested in. The amount of time students spend studying really depends on how well they want to perform in a particular class and the difficulty of the course they are taking. Some courses are much easier than others to get better grades in. I would say that the students here are highly competitive. Many majors require that you apply to the program at the end of your sophomore year. Pre-Med, Pre-Pharm, Pre-Dentistry and the nursing program only take a limited amount of applicants.

Many professors know my name. You do sometimes have to make an effort to make your presence known though. For example, I'm in a class with probably 300 students, but because I have gone to my teacher's office hours, she remembers me and my name. On the other hand, I took a GenEd English class which totaled 7 people. When you get into specialized classes, the size of the depreciates quickly, with the maximum students being around 30. I've found that the professors here take a great interest in your overall well being, and I have formed great relationships with many of them. I absolutely loved my Spanish teacher, Sra Braylan, and ended up studying abroad in her native country, Argentina, taking classes with her and other professors at the University of Belgrano. It was an incredible experience I wish I could do again!

The academics I'd say are the main reason most people are here--for a top quality education. Because this is a large place, alot of the classes are large or even web-based. However, you can definitely get to know your professors by utilizing office hours, reviews, etc. The courses are challenging, but mostly do-able. Once you declare a major and become more involved in your individual college, the experience becomes even more rewarding.