I spent one year at UNF and then transferred. I wouldn't recommend this school to anybody.
I'll start with professors: There's only like 1 good professor per department. There are too many professors who speak broken English and are difficult to understand. There would be several times I'd go to a professor's office (during their very limited office hours) to discuss grades, ask a question, talk about my major, etc. and would get "Get out of my office." vibes from them. Very few seemed approachable and friendy. Only one (maybe two) of my professors actually took the time and seemed to care. And less than half of my professors even learned my name, and some only learned it because I'd visit their office frequently or got lucky with a small class. They were either underqualified or very overqualified. I only had one professor (luckily in my major) who I thought was a great professor and whose class I always enjoyed. I really felt like a number there. Registering for Classes: The biggest problem! There's too many students and not enough professors. There was several times where I couldn't get the class I wanted/needed and just had to pick something (that I didn't need) just to be a full-time student and keep my financial aid. This would mean that I'd have to take additional and more expensive summer classes. It was truly a battle to get the classes you needed/wanted with the professor you wanted, and at a good time. When registering for spring, I had 40 original options for classes, and I could only get 3 of them and then had to take an unnecessary class to keep my scholarships.
Assistance: There is nobody to ask when you need help with something, have a question, need information, etc. There was penty of times where I had a question and didn't have anyone to contact and couldn't even find anyone to ask who to contact. Professors had very limited office hours (2-3 hours a week and at certrain times, so hopefully you aren't in class when their door is open), so it often made communication with them difficult. There was several times where I'd have to sit around campus for over an hour until I could go talk to them.
Buildings: Unlss the bathrooms are in one of the newer buildings (Social Sciences, Student Center, or the recently renovated Founders Hall), expect to have toilets that don't flush, toilet paper all over the place, and lights that don't work. In my spring semester there, the power went off twice, and it was close to two hours before they got it back on.
Parking: Parking is a mess. There are too few spots for the number of students and faculty. I usually left over an hour and a half before my class began to get parking. I talked to some people who told me they spent over 40 minutes trying to get a spot. The campus police don't hold back on issuing tickets either. On the first week of school, every spot would be taken and people would park nicely on the grass, and would still receive a ticket. What were they suppose to do when every spot was taken? Parking became a joke around campus, and professors would come into class and mention it somehow in their lecture. I later learned that even though they already had too few parking lots, they were taking some out and putting buildings there instead. Increasing school size and decreasing parking? That was their plan.
Crime: People were constantly setting fires to the library, elevators, cars, etc. There were several armed robberies/burglaries, etc. and shots being fired that would wake my friends up in the middle of the night. In the school newspaper, there was always at least two mentions of theft weekly. I believe there was even an attempted rape.
Social Life: If you don't go to Club Fest the first week of school, don't count on getting involved. I wasn't able to attend (due to being in class), and no club information was posted anywhere, so I couldn't get involved in anything. A lot of events go on in the middle of the day when students are suppose to be attending classes, so I was only able to go 2 events the entire year, both thankfully in the evening. Students who play sports came across and rude and arrogant, and I was in class once when a soccer player loudly bashed another student in the middle of lecture, and the professor just stood there. I made a few friends, but only one who I can see remaining close to any length of time.
Other: The geese around campus do their bathroom business on the sidewalks and nobody cleans it up, so students are left to step in it. Students on skateboards and bikes push the people walking on the sidewalks off. The gameroom was small, overcrowded, and very hot (probably due to all the bodies in a small place).
Living on Campus: Although I never lived on campus, my friends would complain about the housing maintenance people never coming to fix their toilet or something. They'd have to make several calls, and eventually go to the office to complain about it in person to get something done. They'd also complain that the food in the cafe was always pasta and had very few options.
Controversy: Two events happened in the spring semester that made the news. The African American Student Union protested about a white man becoming president of their organization on campus, even though the president of Student Government (a black man) appointed him (he did this to promote diversity). They were chanting around campus, holding signs, distrupting classes with their yelling, etc. Local News crews were there on campus for days covering it, and it became very annoying, very quickly. Then, a few weeks later, a provacative cover appeared on the Spinnaker (school newspaper) that made the news as well. Some people were offended, others not (I ride the fence), but again, having the news talk about your school in a negative manner isn't great.Needless to say, I'm transferring and couldn't be more excited. I can't wait to finally put UNF behind me and move forward. I wouldn't recommend this school, and I feel bad for the highschool kids who I see touring the school. They have no idea what they're getting into.
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