University of Florida Top Questions

Academics at UF vary greatly depending on your program. As a student in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, I must say that it is sad how our college is in so much debt and it is the students and teachers who are suffering the most. Other than that, I would say I have taken some classes that were wonderfully challenging and incredibly informative, but I have also wasted a lot of time in classes which were being taught at a high school level--powerpoint, open book quizzes, online tests, etc.

Although the entry-level courses are usually fairly crowded, due to the large number of students on campus, the sophomore-level and higher courses are usually much smaller and more manageable. The courses encourage student participation for the most part,and urge students to expand their minds. Although classes are demanding, I believe it pushes the students to excel.

Since I've only completed two semesters at UFL most of the classes that I've taken are in big lecture halls with up 650 other students. In classes that big it's impossible for a professor to know your name. However, in the small classes I've taken, such as the two english courses and the First Year Florida class Professors did know me by name. My favorite class so far has been ENC1102 because my professor required creativity in his students. He geared the class more towards writing for a major, which I feel is important, compared to writing in general. I was required to write a research paper, dealing with my major, of my choice. My least favorite class was First Year Florida, I didn't find the information given in class helpful and it was alot of work outside of class for one credit hour. Class participation is common especially in smaller classes, but some participation can be seen in the other larger classes as well. It's actually surprising to see that students commonly do have intellectual conversations outside of class. I've found that students are personally ambitious and want to succeed but not neccessarily competitive as in wanting to be better than someone else. I'm a political science and I've taken two classes offered by the department so far and I really enjoyed them both. The CLAS has reasonable requirements for Poltical Science majors. However, I would prefer to not have to take so many science courses because when you add the two bilogical and two physical sciences plus a lab you end up with 13 science credits that just feel like a waste of time. The classes I've taken so far seem to be geared more towards actually learning and not focused on getting a job, although some of the things learned could be transfered into the workforce.

Professors at UF are very personable. They welcome students to come ask them questions, especially during the teachers office hours. Class participation is common in small classes, lecture classes usually do not have an attendance policy. UF students are intellectual and competitive. They participate in acedemic conversations and competitions in addition to their classes.

I've been satisfied with my classes at UF. As you go deeper into you major, classes tend to get better - class sizes get smaller, professors get more enthusiastic, and the coursework more closely matches what you're interested in. So much of the academic environment depends on your major - as a Computer Engineering student, classes are very project based. I spend a lot of time with group members in the computer lab, slaving away before the next big due date. But if you enjoy the subject matter, you'll enjoy the work.

i've had one or two small classes which are pretty awesome the teachers actually care about their classes. in the big lecture classes you generally just get screwed over by the teachers. sometimes we talk about stuff from classes.

yeah some of my profs know my name but not all of them. large gen ed class really annoying. there's always tons of people at the teachers not long enough office hours. the teachers are way less involved in their class and don't seem very in touch with the actual progress of their student i.e. doing something different if everyone is failing. people generally come to class alot unless you have a really awful teacher. some of the teachers and especially the TA's have accents that make them really hard to understand, i mean okay a little bit of an accent is fine but still when you can no longer understand what they say, like at all! that's not right. students study quite a bit it seems alot more than teachers give credit for sometimes. yeah i have intellectual converstations with my friends. its pretty cool if you get different majors in conversations about something

Students are competitive, but not to the extreme. There are way too many kids here to be the best. Kids do study a lot, however, they do have some down time to just hang out with their friends. I do go to my professor's office hours if I feel the need to. I do like to participate in class. I love having big class sizes!

The academics are great for the most part. I usually take all psychology, sociology, and gender studies classes. My teachers are really good about getting to know students' names. There are a lot of in-class discussions, and kids always volunteer information. From what I've seen, the kids take studying seriously. A joke floats around that you know you're at UF when you walk by kids in a conversation and overhear them talking about their lectures, their tests, and their fields instead of boys/girls, partying, etc. I would say that UF is geared toward teaching you how to get a job, but also learn about the world. It's not just one or the other.

I know all of my professors by name, and have talked with them frequently as I am a graduate student. Communication is key and having that open line between student and faculty is important the higher up you go in education. As a graduate student, I have learned that everyone is competitive, since there is limited room for error and limited spots for advancement. I study daily and continuously am working towards bettering my grades. Many of my friends in other majors do the same, and we frequently discuss what we are learning in our different classes.