Home Away From Home (Nothing But The Best Memories!)

Introduction
Study hard. I graduated in 1994 so the requirements were not as stringent as they are now. I transferred to UF my Jr. year. I doubt I would have been accepted at that point if I hadn't already been accepted out of high school. The classes are no tougher than most universities, but with 42,000 students and a major social scene 7 days a week, it's very easy to get carried away in the partying and social life and neglect your grades. If you have no discipline, UF isn't for you.

Campus Life and Social Life
The social life at UF is incredible. I was in a fraternity so a big part of my social life was fraternity related. I also played a varsity sport so that took a lot of my time as well. There's always something going on 7 days a week. Even Sunday evening was movie night (as an example of UF's size, if you didn't buy your movie tickets by noon, you weren't going to the movies Sunday night!). Whether it be a house party, a fraternity social, bars, clubs, there was always a party going on for all ages. I'd say that's the best and worst part about the social life. I look back and can acknowledge I had a drinking career when I was in school. Football season is out of control when you go to a college like UF that consistently has one of the top programs in the country. It's absolutely incredible and is the major reason that all of us get together for a few games throughout the season since we graduated. That tradition will continue forever. Advertisement
Academics
Academics are pretty tough at UF - depending on your degree, of course. Your large classes like Statistics could have over 1,000 people in them. You go to class in a huge auditorium with big screens in the front and the teacher has a microphone on his shirt. Crazy!! But then you would have 'Discussion' classes once a week with only like 12 people to go over the course work and ask questions. Those would be taught by a TA. For the most part, very helpful. Every now and then, you would get a TA that is absolutely clueless. Didn't make life any easier. I graduated from the Business Administration program and had a Mass Communications minor. I don't think my workload was anything overwhelming, but there was definetely a lot of work at times. Tests for all classes usually came all in the same week to week-and-a-half, so you have to really keep up with your work and study for tests way in advance to prevent the need to cram. Never works!!

Student Body
The students at UF come from all over, but I remember a majority were from Florida. Can't beat in-state tuition! The campus is very diverse - something you would expect with 42,000 kids. I wouldn't say there is anything "typical" about the student body at UF.

In Closing...
UF is one of those places that will stay inside you for the rest of your life. I, like all my friends, am very passionate about Gainesville (UF's town), where we lived for the 4-5 years of our college experience. My closest friends are a result of my experiences in Gainesville. I'm confident you will find that it's hard to leave when you're done and you'll find yourself more than excited to get back up there for games or whatever when you return. It's more than a college, it's a tradition. I bleed orange and blue!