The University of Florida

I entered UF anticipating the type of education to be more usefully applied to the real world. It is college afterall, and should be a step up from the high school? Not the case here. I say this with care, knowing that the underclassmen experience isnt exactly focused or personalized to a students intended direction.

But the only difference from high school is the difficulty of that same work you did 3 years ago. I had the sense that my teachers didnt care for me to do well, on top of me already being bored with the content. It is hard, but get past your old "straight A" mentality, and accept it as a time where passing is enough to fulfill your purpose here.

The engineering community is very bold, and its your fault if you dont take advantage of its activities. There are lots of other opportunities from the other departments from what I've seen. Its my understanding that UF is on the top of the state of Florida's funding list, so your resources wont feel neglected. This should say enough about the quality the of equipment and facilities here.

I hesitate to give engineering kids at UCF credit for their education, when I compare it to UF's.(FSU doesnt really contend here). All my math and science classes have been nightmares, whereas old friends speak with ease of there UCF classes. If you're not the student type, go to UCF.

Besides the dulling impact of the academic scene, there is an entire world of interesting students on this campus. You'll find those who remind you of your slacker high school friends, and question why they are here. They'll seem to over exaggerate their weekend drinking brigades. Im not much of a partier, and found myself in the middle of the academic/social scene. You'll find those who are only at the school for getting grades; there is a perfect mix of these people, and of great racial diversity. So its soo true that you make the experience yourself.

The people are quite laid back, but somehow convert to spirit fiends on game days, in regaurd to UF's football legacy. I'd like to boast that we have the most school spirit, yet I get the impression everyone thinks this of themselves.

I must warn you that traffic around campus gets very intense, coming from someone who drove to campus each day. You will always need to plan spare time for riding the the bus if you have to. This is a famous school in the middle of a nothing town in my opinion, with many many people living in it. So the few things there are to do get flooded with eager weekend go-ers. I foresee my time at this school improving as i get into my specific classes, but those 1st two years tend to be a drag. Upperclassmen seem very active, interested, and fulfilled, and I plan to stay.