University of Florida
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Sociology – On the Pre-law track
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: Biracial: White & Hispanic Heterosexual Female
Summary
I’m in a sorority, and I’m also in a pre-law fraternity. I did Mock Trial last year.
Background
Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Biracial: White & Hispanic
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
High School Experience: Charter school in South Florida with a graduating class of about 400 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Sociology – On the Pre-law track
Minor: None
Extracurricular Activities: I’m in a sorority, and I’m also in a pre-law fraternity. I did Mock Trial last year.
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for Sociology?
A lot of the classes are writing heavy with quizzes and midterms here and there. I don’t have as many exams as other people, and when I do have exams, a lot of them are written out as essays. I only had to take one lab for my major, so I’m doing Geology. I have a lot of freedom with what classes I can take, especially because I came in with a lot of prerequisite courses done. I jumped right into the Sociology courses and electives. There aren’t a lot of requirements you have to meet to get your Sociology major.
Is there anything you feel the Sociology department does especially well or poorly?
They do a pretty good job of trying to give you the opportunity for outside involvement. The department head will send everybody on the list different internship opportunities in other cities, and things we could go do in Gainesville.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I think it’s a very competitive school because of the kind of people that go to UF. The people who go to this school are very smart and competitive, which carries over into college. Sometimes it’s kind of intimidating because you don’t feel like you’re doing enough. Outside of class in extracurricular activities, people are trying to outdo each other and do the most they can. It’s independent competitiveness where everyone wants to do the best for themselves.
How accessible have your professors been?
They’ve been pretty accessible. They have office hours, and before or after class you could go up and talk to them. They’re pretty approachable.
Do you feel that people are open to multiple schools of thought in the classroom?
I think so. A lot of the time on a college campus people tend to have more liberal points of view, especially in the classes I’ve been taking for my major. When people do have different opinions, everyone is open to it and understanding. A lot of the classes I take are very opinion heavy, so our professors say at the beginning of the semester to respect other people’s opinions. This creates this atmosphere of being understanding and open.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
Being pre-law, you have a lot of freedom to pick something interesting to you. I didn’t want to do Political Science, and Sociology is just the study of society and people, and I think that’s very interesting. The classes you take for that would help you understand how people work. Being a lawyer is a very people heavy job, so it’s important to understand why people are the way they are.
Reasons to Attend
1) It’s highly ranked on the top 10 public universities list. It’s very impressive and a degree coming from a school like that is going to be pretty helpful for me, especially trying to get into a good law school.
2) The teachers and the classes are really interesting. There’s a lot of variety, even though it’s a STEM and Engineering heavy school. The liberal arts program isn’t the biggest, but it’s still pretty good.
3) I like how even though it’s a big school, having the opportunity to join clubs can make your community feel very small if you wanted it to.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) There are schools that have better liberal arts programs if that’s a track a student wants to take.
2) The location. At the end of the day, that’s pretty important in your experience. If you want a bigger city, this wouldn’t be a good school to attend.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: Off-campus dorm with two roommates.
Sophomore: Off-campus apartment with three roommates.
What was your favorite living situation?
The apartment for sure. Last year I was sharing a room and a bathroom with two other girls, and it was a big pain. I wasn’t used to sharing all of my space. This year I have my own room, and it’s a lot more comfortable to have privacy and be able to get away.
How was transitioning from South Florida to Gainesville, Florida?
Gainesville is really different than my hometown. Last year was kind of rough because there’s not a lot to do around the area. Back home I could drive 30-minutes and go up to Miami or Fort Lauderdale, but there’s not a lot to do around this area. As time went on I got more used to it. It’s a good college town and a good place to be for school. You’re forced to concentrate because you don’t have a lot of distractions. There’s a lot of cool nature stuff.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I feel like nobody really talks about it, but it’s kind of a sketchy area. Gainesville has a pretty high poverty rate and a lot of homeless people. There’s not much being done about it from what you can see. I usually walk around in a group of friends, but I’ve never had any problems. [Gainesville has a population of about 129,000 with a poverty rate of about 35%.]
Social Opportunities
What kind of nightlife or weekend activities do you like to participate in?
I like going out. Downtown Gainesville has a lot of good bars and restaurants, which is surprising to me. There are also springs around here, and different outdoorsy things to do like hiking at Paynes Prairie. There’s a lot of yoga and spiritual things in the area.
What nights of the week do you regularly do things?
Usually Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Compared to what I’ve heard from other schools, happy hour isn’t a huge thing here. People don’t make it a point to go out that early.
What’s an alternative to going to a party or a club that you like for a night out?
I like to make weekend trips just to get away. Some of my really good friends go to school at UCF and FSU, and they’re not that far. Just going out to dinner in downtown is nice too.
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife?
UF is a pretty Greek life heavy campus. By being involved in Greek life, you recognize a lot of other people involved when going out. You start to recognize people, and it’s nice because it creates a smaller community and you start making friends. [15% of UF students are in a Greek organization.]
How happy are you with the weekend activities or nightlife at your school? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I’m pretty happy with them. There’s stuff to do almost every weekend. If you do have to stay in and study, sometimes you don’t feel like you’re missing out because it starts getting repetitive at a certain point. If I could change anything, I wish you could get a bigger city vibe. If you go out to downtown Orlando, it’s very different than going out to downtown Gainesville.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
I met a lot of them through my sorority, and one of them was my random roommate last year, but we became really good friends.
How would you describe the overall social scene?
Everybody on campus is pretty friendly, and even though it’s a big school, you don’t really feel isolated. When you start to make friends and join organizations, you see those people around which makes it feel like a smaller school. I didn’t know how the bus worked my freshman year, but when I got on random strangers would talk to me and help me find my way around campus.
To what extent do you feel people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I haven’t noticed a giant amount of diversity in regards to both of those things here. I know they try to be inclusive and I’ve seen club advertisements for different for people of different races and sexual orientations. They have fraternities and sororities for minority groups on campus. [About 53% of students are White, 6% are Black, 18% are Latino, and 7.5% are Asian.]
How would you describe the student body?
Everybody is very smart, driven, and motivated. Everything you need to get into this school carries over, and those are the traits people have. It’s a school where a lot of people have plans and kind of know what they’re doing. A lot of my friends have ambitions and are getting ahead to get internships and stuff. People here will go out and have fun, but at the end of the day, everyone is on top of their stuff.
How would you describe the Hispanic community on campus? How strong is it?
There are different clubs for specific groups, such as the Venezuelan Clubs. They’re pretty prominent. Sometimes clubs do Salsa Night, and that’s when I’ve seen the most Hispanic students on campus at one time. I’m not super involved in other clubs that help bring Hispanic people together, but I’ve seen it around campus.
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
They don’t mix a whole lot, but in clubs and classes everybody talks to each other. It’s not segregated or anything. A lot of times going out and stuff, you find your group of friends through Greek life and then it’s hard to meet other good friends outside of it. Classes are over in one semester and most of the time you don’t really keep in touch with the people you meet.
How do you like the size of Florida in terms of undergraduate enrollment? [The University of Florida has about 36,400 undergraduate students.]
I really like it. I came from a smaller high school where everyone kind of knew each other. I thought I’d missed it, but it was nice to come here and start over, having to be on my own and make friends by myself. At the same time, once I joined a sorority and different clubs, I found my own little community here and then it also became smaller at the same time. I got the best of both worlds here.
Careers
Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
I haven’t talked to any yet, but I’ve talked to alumni that have gone to law school.
What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
I haven’t used them as much as I should have, but they’re always posting stuff around campus. If I used the recourses they offered, it would be pretty helpful. They even have an office where you can borrow business clothes for interviews.
Financial Aid
Have you used financial aid? If so, accommodating was the office to your needs?
I get the Bright Futures Scholarship, so that’s helped pay for a lot of stuff. Every semester I get some money back, which helps for rent. Whenever I’ve had to talk to the bursar’s office, they are usually pretty nice and help you understand where your money is going.