University of Florida

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Political Science
Minor: Business
Student Self Identifies as: Caucasian Heterosexual Male

Summary

I’m in ROTC at UF which takes up most of my time. I’m also in a fraternity.

Background

Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

High School Experience: Public school in Boca Raton, Florida with a graduating class of about 470 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Political Science
Minor: Business

Extracurricular Activities: I’m in ROTC at UF which takes up most of my time. I’m also in a fraternity.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience? In what ways?
I hang out and talk to the people in those organizations the most. There’s a lot of camaraderie in both organizations but in different ways. Other people in ROTC are also in fraternities. With the fraternity specifically, there are more opportunities for getting things on your resume or preparing yourself for the real world. ROTC does not have those as many of those opportunities because it’s more a clear-cut route, but I do enjoy them both.

Academic Experience

Can you describe your weekly coursework for Political Science?
There aren’t many labs depending on what credits you come in with. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is what the Political Science major falls under. There are science requirements, so if you didn’t take the AP classes in high school you’ll have to take the courses at UF. The Political Science courses entail a lot of writing and reading. In a semester you’ll have a couple of essays, including an in-class timed essay, and a longer essay at home. It depends on the class. There is more reading in the Comparative Politics class, whereas last semester I took Introduction to Political Theory where there were more at home essays.
Is there anything you feel the Political Science department does especially well or poorly?
I get a lot of emails about internships and jobs, which is a good thing. They don’t usually pertain to me because I’m focused on preparing for my commission as an Army officer, but there is a good amount of extracurricular opportunities put forward by the Political Science department, whether it’s with congressmen or women, or other government jobs.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
There is a UF Honors College, so if you’re in it it’s more competitive. You take certain classes at a different level, but it’s generally a competitive school. In high school, I didn’t expect it to be as academic as it is, but it’s good how much everyone cares about their academics. Last semester when I was taking Introduction to Political Theory there was a formulaic based system that worked as a peer review and we did that in one discussion class. I’m taking a Public Administration class which falls under Political Science which is very collaborative. We use an online learning system where you respond to other people’s posts and talk online.
How accessible have your professors been?
The professors are really accessible. They present their office hours the first day of class when you go over the syllabus. They also check their emails regularly. In the 2000-level introductory Political Science classes, like the Comparative Politics class I’m taking now, there are more than 100 students in the lecture hall and we meet twice a week. There will be a third meeting for that class in the week which is a discussion class with about 25 students led by a teaching assistant, not a professor. You can dive deeper into specific material and you can ask more questions because it’s a smaller and more collaborative atmosphere.
Do you feel that people are open to multiple schools of thought in the classroom?
There is a lot of diversity in terms of schools of thought. It’s a public university, so there is a free speech area called Turlington Plaza and there’s nothing the school can do to restrict people from speaking. We had an infamous person speak named Richard Spencer there was a huge debate about it. The school had to let him speak at our university even though his views are very right-winged, and some would say, borderline racist. There were protests about that. In the classroom, there are lots of good debates I’ve witnessed and been part of in the discussion classes. There isn’t a hyper-liberal or one-sided view of thinking.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I was unsure last year. I applied for Physiology and Psychology initially, but then I started talking to the successful seniors in ROTC and what their majors were. It was pretty much all Political Science or Business Administration. They aren’t the hardest STEM majors but are more general education majors that prepare you for the Army. Political Science is about the government, history, and politics, which is a good general knowledgebase. It’s not as hard of a workload in my opinion so it gives me more time to focus on ROTC specific things like tactics and physical conditioning.

Reasons to Attend

1) It’s a great education. We’ve been ranked highly by U.S. News.
2) There are so many clubs and organizations.
3) People are genuinely pretty nice. There are not too many bad things about the nightlife.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) If you’re looking for a smaller liberal arts school or sports it may not be for you.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: Tolbert Hall with one roommate.
Sophomore: Off-campus apartment with three roommates. I have my own bedroom.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I personally feel pretty safe when I walk around campus. Some people say it can be a little sketchy if you’re walking alone at night, but they have blue lights everywhere. We get alerts if there’s a break-in or robbery, but the police usually say the suspect is not found. Even though that happens, I still feel pretty safe.

Social Opportunities

What kind of nightlife or weekend activities do you like to participate in?
During football season I went to every home football game. Tailgating is fun before, and some people won’t go to the game but I enjoy them. That’s seven weekends in the fall, and there’s a place called Midtown with a lot of bars and restaurants. About 1.5 miles east on University Avenue is what’s called downtown. There are bars and more dancing type clubs there, which vary between 18+ or 21+. There are lots of options and new places open up all the time.
What nights of the week do you regularly do things? Are there regular places you go or things you do on certain nights?
I only go out once a week on the weekends. With ROTC, I don’t like going out if we have physical training in the morning because I like to perform at my best so I don’t go out Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Other nights I’ll hang out with fraternity brothers or do homework.
What’s an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a night out?
You can go to the Hippodrome Theatre and watch shows. There’s an art museum on campus with a butterfly garden. There’s also Lake Wauburg, which is a twenty-minute drive and all UF students get in for free. They have a sailboat, you can go swimming in the lake or do water sports.
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife?
When you’re part of Greek life, your organization will have its events with the dues that members pay. A social will be a pairing between a fraternity and a sorority and we have bar tabs at bars. You go there and get drinks under the fraternities tab. There are date functions which could be off-campus, even hours away. There was a sorority that went to an Orlando Magic basketball game as a date function. Within the last two years, the national scene for fraternities has changed because there have been tragedies which affect the way the interfraternity council at UF governs each fraternity. We’re allotted the 7 home fraternity tailgates, but they’re getting stricter with rules. We have one house party that they allow us to have each semester. [15% of UF students are in a Greek organization.]
How happy are you with the weekend activities or nightlife at Florida? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I wouldn’t change anything about the weekend options. If there was a beach that would be nice, but you can’t make a beach out of anything.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
I had a good amount of high school and childhood friends that are here now. I met one of them when I was 10 years old and now we’re in the same fraternity at school. I also met good friends in ROTC here because we form a different sort of bond when you’re in ROTC or the military. Before I was in a fraternity during Summer B going into my freshman year, it was a fun time. You don’t take that many credits so you have more room to play with time in your schedule.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Florida?
It’s a big school but the social scene is catered to what you like. You’ll meet people in similar clubs and organizations that have similar interests. From those relationships, you can go out together, and different groups go to places, whether it’s midtown or downtown or specific bars. Some people will think it’s hard to find your group, but there are so many things to do. That’s why it’s important to do things other than just academics.
To what extent do you feel people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I feel like it’s normal mixing. Some fraternities and sororities are specifically Black organizations, but when everyone goes out people combine. [About 53% of students are White, 6% are Black, 18% are Latino, and 7.5% are Asian.]
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
Going back to the extracurricular activities, they mix pretty well. Some people are anti-Greek because they have a stereotype that is probably true in some cases, but I encourage anyone that has that view to go out there and be open-minded about meeting people. Even in classes, you’ll meet people in fraternities and sororities if you’re not in one. I know there are community service organizations that non-Greek life members are part of, and they bond in that way.
How do you like the size of Florida in terms of undergraduate enrollment? [University of Florida has about 36,400 undergraduate students.]
I was looking for a big state school with a strong athletic program. I like the size and it’s cool because you can always meet new people when you have new classes, yet while I’m walking around campus or at the gym you’ll run into someone you know. It’s a double-edged sword because it’s a huge school and you’re always meeting new people, but you have your groups and I like that.
How strong is the community around ROTC on campus?
We have all three branches at UF: Naval ROTC, Army ROTC, and Air Force ROTC. With other schools, there may not be any ROTC programs. We have about 100 cadets in just our battalion. And there is probably about 80 in Navy and a similar number in Air Force. Recently we got a new Army ROTC professor of military science. They change about every four years and he’s a lot more involved in inter-service. We’ve reached out to Navy and Air Force to do events together, whether it’s a flag football tournament or a military movie viewing. I like that sense of community between branches. I hang out of class with ROTC guys outside of class, physical training, and labs. It’s a strong community.

Careers

What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
I’ve been to the Career Connections Center and they’ve helped me with my resume. Sometimes people go into your lecture class and advertise about an internship or a volunteering program. There are also other workshops and career-building workshops, whether it’s how to prepare and succeed in an interview or how to build your resume. Certain dorm areas will have career workshops which can be helpful.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, accommodating was the office to your needs?
The office does their best. They get a lot of traffic especially during certain times of the year. I have the Bright Futures Scholarships, as well as my ROTC scholarship.