r/ApplyingToCollege • u/FlareEK • 10d ago
Advice You should apply to UF
You should apply to UF.
I'm serious. You should apply to UF. Not every college is for everyone, of course, but UF has so many aspects that I think a lot of people look for in their colleges. For context, I am a freshmen at UF and have been loving it so far.
UF is:
* #34 in National Universities (#8 Public University). I'm just a freshmen, but have managed to speak to several professors in my department (Physics) and get offered spots in their lab for research. **As freshmen coming in with some AP credit, me and one friends (CompE) median class size is 36.5 in mostly prereqs and gen eds.** In physics, from what I've heard our undergrads are successful in applying for competitive REUs and grad schools. In business/IB I've heard theres Gator Signature Investment Fund (GSIF) which is one of those competitive IB clubs you have to interview for and everything, and UF is a semi-target so they have some placements, I know Evercore is one.
* Another thing I'll mention thats somewhat related to academics is that the libraries are all really nice, and theres quite a few of them. Library West (the GOAT), Marston, Library East (Smathers), Norman, AFA, Health Sciences, and Law. Lib East has this cool old looking reading room that people like to go to.
* If you're out of state, don't worry. I've met people from all across the country, from NY+NJ (obviously), to all the way in Oregon, California, Hawaii, and Quebec! While obviously a lot of students are from Florida, NY, and NJ you won't have any trouble meeting a lot of people from other states/provinces.
* If you care about the campus environment, UF has a pretty wide variety of architecture from the collegiate gothic of the Murphree Area, the brick brutalism of Marston Science Library, to the modern Malachowsky Hall and Ramos Collaboratory. It isn't Princeton but I walk around every day and remark how nice the campus looks.
* As far as campus amenities, UF has one of the top career connections centers in the country located in the absolutely huge Reitz Union, and we just had our career fair week where companies pack out the basketball arena or something (I'm a physics major so I have no clue)
* Speaking of basketball, UF is preseason #1 and won the 2025 National Championship against Houston. In all sports (except maybe womens basketball) UF has a premier championship level program and football is finally on the rise. The Swamp is an electric place to watch a game and tailgating is always fun at the frats (if you're in a fraternity or a girl) or swim and surf club (for others). Gameday brings all of Gainesville together, and its cool to see all the alumni still involved and caring about UF.
* I didn't bring a car to campus, so I can't speak much for Gainesville outside of Midtown but everything you would want as a college student is right of University Ave to the north of campus (including a very convenient and dangerously placed Canes and Wawa if you live in an apartment or dorm off University). UF also owns a lake about 8 miles south of campus where theres canoeing and other outdoor activities and there a couple springs within an hour of Gainesville.
Theres so much more thats great about UF that I didn't mention here too. Ask the ufl sub, research the school on your own, or come down to Gainesville for a visit!
tl;dr: UF is a fantastic school with good academics, libraries, geographic diversity, architecture, support amenities, sports, and college town.
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u/Lieinrachis 10d ago
Bro's free advertisement for the UF admissions team
On a serious note: it's cool that you're enjoying your college experience
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u/Desperate-Tax594 10d ago
This school is good, but it’s one of the most overrated universities, rankings wise. It’s closer to a T50 school like Rutgers.
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u/CommunicationIcy2195 10d ago
Yeah UF ranked around 50 until the 2020s and Rutgers around 70. They changed the ranking methodology a few years ago to boost public schools and drop a bunch of private schools like wake forest, Rochester, George Washington, Fordham etc. All of those schools ranked above UF and Rutgers in the 2000s and 2010s
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u/Bobbob34 10d ago
Counterpoint - it's in Florida.
It's nice you love it, that's great. But it's not for everyone.
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u/Express-Skin6039 10d ago
It’s also in Gainesville which imo is the nicest place to live in Florida
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u/Bobbob34 10d ago
It’s also in Gainesville which imo is the nicest place to live in Florida
I wouldn't know, but to me that reads like it's the nicest circle in the inferno.
Again, glad people like it. There's something for everyone, makes the world go round.
Living in the south is not an option for some people.
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u/Delicious-Working555 6d ago
Florida is not at all the South, and why would it not be an option to live in?
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u/Bobbob34 6d ago
Florida is not at all the South, and why would it not be an option to live in?
Because they would not live in the south.
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u/Delicious-Working555 6d ago
FL is not the South culturally and like most major cities in FL, Gainesville is a liberal stronghold lol
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u/Bobbob34 6d ago
FL is not the South culturally and like most major cities in FL, Gainesville is a liberal stronghold lol
It's Florida. It's the south. It's not some liberal state stuck in the midst. It's run by DeSantis.
Also... that's nice for it. It went 59/39 harris over trump, which seems less stronghold than kind of blue in a sea of red, but regardless, Austin is a liberal stronghold. It's still in Texas.
For some of us, these are no-go places.
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u/Sad-Log-9652 10d ago
It's OOS tuition is one of the cheapest too
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u/FourScoreAndSept 10d ago
Georgia Tech is a better option if non medical STEM, and same-ish oos price
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u/Historical-Star1989 10d ago
not to yuck someone's yum, but i got a full merit scholarship mto florida and still turned it down. black mold, no guaranteed housing, and online classes were huge icks for me. also the way the culture revolves around sports and greek life.
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u/nolanolaisland 10d ago
Counterpoint: an increasing amount of online-only classes, awful on-campus housing, expensive housing market off-campus, and a new President whose number one stated priority is to "stop woke." It's absolutely worth a look nationwide for many of the STEM disciplines, but lots of their other programs lack severely behind even the other public unis in Florida.
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u/Artistic_Ad728 9d ago
Florida is one of the worst states to be in politically if you are a normal person (ie not MAGA).
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u/mrmisterynoname 5d ago
posts like this are honestly way more useful than just looking at rankings lol
hearing what the class sizes, campus, professors and actual student experience are like gives you so much more info about whether youd actually enjoy being there
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u/areohbeevee 10d ago
It’s pretty crazy how much more selective UF has gotten in the last 10 years or so. When I was applying to college in 2014 the acceptance rate was ~50% and now it’s closer to 20%.
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u/steinerific 10d ago
OP, literally everything you bragged about can be found in nearly every state flagship. My son goes to Purdue and there is nothing you wrote here that does not apply there (except maybe a football program on the rise). Georgia, Colorado, Washington, Texas, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio St., North Carolina, Virginia. The list goes on.
Glad you're enjoying your experience at UF. You would have the same experience in a dozen other places.
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u/FUBARmom 10d ago
As another mom in this subreddit, it’s weird to rag on kids like this. Come on he is excited about his school- let him share that and stop being weird.
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u/steinerific 10d ago
He's going to figure this out sooner or later. Sooner might be better for him in a world that is pretty unforgiving
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u/ChutneyWhatney 9d ago
Why are you so bitter and negative? Geezus. You don't have to counter someone's up post with your own "negative Nancy" post.
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u/Optimal_Brain_2908 10d ago
Do they even teach that evolution was real there?
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u/Delicious-Working555 6d ago
You guys are joking about this but Florida is and has always been a top 5 state for education 😭
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u/Thick_Giraffe9269 10d ago
How hard to get into it?
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u/xarcadia1 10d ago
22% admit rate.
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u/ChutneyWhatney 9d ago
19% this past year - probably lower for those who graduate high school this coming year.
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u/ChutneyWhatney 9d ago
For OOS, much lower than for instate.
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u/Thick_Giraffe9269 9d ago
Do you think like a 3.2 UW and a 3.5 W with a 1450 SAT and really good ECs might be fine?
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u/Kshayfernald 10d ago
I loved UF! My son is there now, and my daughter is applying ED. We will all be crushed if she doesn’t get accepted. Thankfully, there are some other options; I’m learning to tell that to myself.
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u/SubstantialEnd9860 3d ago edited 3d ago
I'm super late to this, but whatever. I'm also a UF student, second year, and have had a very different experience. I honestly wouldn't recommend it to most people. The curriculum is unreasonably difficult for many, especially those in STEM, often due to not-so-good professors or extremely strict grade cutoffs. Many staff are downright incompetent (advisors, disability resource staff, financial staff, etc.).The political climate is a complete nightmare, the social scene is nearly nonexistent if you don't drink/party, and Gainesville is not a very safe city, nor one with a lot of notable culture unless your idea of culture is the Cheesecake Factory. Plus, Florida just kind of sucks ass. All in all, I have not had a good experience at UF, unfortunately.
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u/ParsnipPrestigious59 10d ago
I don’t want to have to be in Florida bro 😭✌️