University of Florida Reviews

"The University of Florida is an outstanding school, and undoubtedly the best school in Florida. Don't run yourself into a load of debt thinking that you need to attend a school that costs $50,000 per year. The University of Florida has so many resources and great connections. The Gator Nation is everywhere."

"The University of Florida is a great school in a great location. You can be in the city or in a rural area and be near campus. Campus is well structured so easy to get around. Getting a degree there is very feasible."

"UF math grad school begins with two years of rigidly structured core coursework (algebra, analysis, and topology). Though independent research is not explicitly forbidden during these years, the large workload from mandatory courses consumes any time one could hope to devote to other academic activities. If you are not quite ready for research, feel comfortable in a heavily coursework-oriented environment, or simply wish to obtain a strong breadth of knowledge in core coursework before approaching original research, then I would highly recommend this program. Conversely, those who wish to hit the ground running on research from day one will be very frustrated for these first two years. Those who already have a more narrowly focused research area may wish to pursue a PhD somewhere else. The university in as a whole is very large, and thus very bureaucratic. This isn't much of a problem on a day to day basis, but one side effect is that teaching is heavily regulated and standardized. No graduate student here should expect to be an inspirational teacher. Teaching assistants are, with a few exceptions, essentially quiz proctors for weekly "discussion sections" (recitations) of large lower division courses, anywhere from college algebra to vector calculus. There is a bit more teaching freedom during the summer, and for students with seniority. The social scene in Gainesville is not bad, especially if you are still young enough to attend undergraduate parties (and of a mind to do so). Greek life is pretty big here, but the bar scene in midtown is also very fun. There is also an active downtown nightlife of post-university aged professionals. The town explodes every other Saturday during Gator football season, which is great for sports fans. One interesting feature of Gainesville social life is a vibrant punk scene, complete with an annual music festival on Halloween ("The Fest") which enjoys both attendance not just from every state, but from countries across the globe. The town itself is gorgeous. Nature lovers will find endless things to do, as Gainesville is located right in the middle of the Florida swampland. Look up pictures of Ichatucknee Springs for an idea of what the wildlife is like down here. Cost of living is very cheap, especially if you live further from campus. For those with families, there are quiet and beautiful suburban density neighborhoods on the northwest side of town, which enjoy a very good school system. There are lots of places to eat of every nationality. The one downside of Gainesville, academically, is that it is a small college town in the middle of the country, so there are very few local internship or consulting opportunities for students. Overall, UF is a great program for those who agree with a heavily coursework-oriented first two years, and who don't mind the teaching climate of a large state school. Either way, Gainesville is a charming place to live."

"The graduate program I am currently enrolled in is geared towards working professionals. Overall, I've had an experience with the UF staff & professors that is very respectful of the workload I currently maintain in my professional career. This allows me to maintain a realistic balance between work, school & home - continuing to perform at a high level at work, completing assignments and studying requirements within a realistic allotment of time, and managing to sustain strong relationships with my significant other, family and friends. Once I had the first semester completed and was able live within my newly restricted free time, the semesters have flown by and I've even been able to manage taking some relaxing vacations in between. The largest con I've experienced with this program is the lack of information available regarding financial aid assistance other than standard student loans. I feel that there should be more direction given to students enrolling into the program - realizing that the first semester settling into the new schedule is the hardest."

"It was an absolutely wonderful experience. The professors were wonderful all around, and the school had an abundance of clubs and organizations to choose from. There is so much to say, but it was overall just a wonderful experience"

"The degree was absolutely essential for the life I live now. I have a good job that pays very well, and I wouldn't have this without my degree. It was also useful for meeting successful, ambitious people like myself. People in high school were immature and not like me. I fit in better with college demographics."

"UF is a good school with strong academics. As an alumna though I feel the school does not prioritize students."

"It's a wonderful school. Nice campus, great student life, school spirit, reasonably priced, good town for college kids, respected academically. Geographically it's a nice location, surrounded by natural springs, 2 hours from the beach in either direction, 2 hours from Orlando and theme parks. Nice weather. I recommend everyone to get credits at community college first to save money. And it doesn't matter so much which school you go to as much as it matters to pick the right degree."

"I think the college experience was worth it just for the personal growth and being around other students. I'm not sure that the actual degree has helped with my career though"

"UF was a great school! Love the camaraderie and academics are top notch."

"Good school, but culturally more about de-formation than formation. As a young man, I had to really swim against the tide of immaturity and immorality."

"UF has a lot to offer! Everyone thinks of football and frat parties, but there are plenty of academic groups, intramural sports, and other activities going on all the time. Intro classes can be large, but as you get into the more specialized classes for your major, class size drops and you get a lot of individualized information and support."

"The University of Florida is holding my transcripts hostage. They claim I owe them money (which I don't) and they say that the debt was written off in 2009, but since I am desperately seeking employment they will "write it back on" and will not send my transcripts. I just lost out on a great job because of this - and I DO NOT OWE THEM ANY MONEY. Of course, without a job I have no money for legal fees and cannot fight them and expect to have my mortgage foreclosed upon and wind up on the streets. Knowing all this, do you REALLY want to attend UF?"

"The most valuable aspect of this program is the professors. All of them have many years of experience working in their field of expertise, and can provide many contacts currently in the field. The smaller class sizes also allow a more thorough face-to-face interaction with the professors. The only downside is the amount of undergraduate/graduate combined students. Most grades are derived from group projects. With that, the amount of undergraduate students taking the courses can hinder group work, depending on the student's work ethic and seriousness about the program."

"Being a gator is amazing if you feel like you can thrive at a large school!"

"UF is an amazing school to go to with so much to do and state of the art facilities, classrooms, and labs. Professors are wonderful and the campus is so beautiful."

"The pros include a fantastic knowledgeable, helpful faculty, a variety of specialty certificate programs for students interested in a particular area of law, and great hands-on experience through well coordinated and challenging legal clinical and externship experiences. The cons include a University that doesn't care about their students needs very much as evidenced through taking away extremely limited parking for the President's new mansion and often unclean bathrooms. The surrounding area of Gainesville is "meh" to live in, but there's not much the law school can do about that. Great school overall."

"Biggest pro is the network. Post graduation the career center is in frequent contact and is sending job postings directly to me based on my preferences and experience. There was a severe cut in number of parking spaces this year but public transportation is great and Gainesville is pretty bike friendly."

"This was a very good program. All the teachers had something valuable to teach. Many things I learned I could use in my everyday life at work."

"The Doctorate of Physical Therapy at University of Florida is one of top ranking programs in the U.S. I throughly believe we have some of the best professors in the field of physical therapy that will allow me to become a great future physical therapist. Some cons of the program are the usual gripes of the long schedules of classes for us first years and not knowing our future schedule of classes until a week or two until the start date. Other than those minor cons, this grad program is fantastic and will greatly prepare me for my future in healthcare as a physical therapist!"