University of Central Florida Top Questions

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.