University of Florida Top Questions

Is the stereotype of students at your school accurate?

steven

Not completely. Uf students come from the USA even california as UF beat even berkeley on SAT scores 2 years ago. grads live worldwide as i do in spain in NATIVEingles center in murcia spain.The UF network in europe is aggresive as we help eurogators get started here.

Reese

The party school stereotype is and isn't accurate. On the one hand, there is a large amount of partying in particular on football gamedays. Alcohol and clubs play a significant part in much of the social scene. That being said, party school seems to imply that there isn't a serious side to UF. UF absolutely has strong programs with good reputations with grad schools and employers (something a party school couldn't easily say). The students' reputation for being stuck up around the state relates to UF's standing vs. the rest of the state. The fact is, UF has harder admissions standards than the rest of the state, that obviously leads to possibly being stuck up and possibly being perceived as stuck up.

Parker

no, while there are some people within the groups that are, it does not apply to the entire group

Bri

sometimes

Alex

yes, they are

Laura

Yes and no.

Tate

All stereotypes are accurate to a degree, but there are always exceptions. This holds true for Uf and their students. I do believe that most students at UF are very intelligent, and Gainesville is a "party" city. However, there are definitely exceptions.

Angie

Like I explained in the question above, yes, they are fairly accurate.

Rich

Not totally. Yes gators are rowdy on gamedays but they are very responsible with their drinking habits

Stefanie

yes

Whitney

yes

Angel

No.

Brittany

Every stereotype has some small kernal of truth behind it. Besides, we really are just better, right? ;)

Alex

The shorts part is not, but the drinking part is.

Jerry

Although students like to party, it's not a big time party school. Most students are big sports fans and getting tickets to football and basketball games is a privilage. The greek system doesn't run SG but they are a majority part in it.

Chelsea

These stereotypes are all false. There are many students that do not care at all about sports, and all students take their acedemics seriously. There are very warm and caring individuals that go to this school, and

Chris

All of those can be true to some extent, but you can easily find a niche here that defies every one of those stereotypes and be happy.

nikki

yeah it seems so

Monique

Um about the hicks--no very few people actually are anything close to that sterotypes. The rich sterotype kinda varies in certain areas you get more than others. The drunk-party school sterotype seems pretty acurate though i haven't really been to alot of campuses to compare.

Alex

Nope!

Andy

for the most part

Amy

Some stereotypes may be accurate; however, the majority are not.

Jenn

There's certainly plenty of drinking and football, but there's a lot more to the school. Not everyone is there to party, and there's plenty other than partying that goes on.

alexis

i think i agree with most of them. I do disagree that our students are mostly stuck up, though i have run into a few during my tenure here. I certainly feel that even though the greek system only represents like 20{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the population they seem over represented in sga and many honor societies (blue key, etc)

stephen

No, seeing as one will find parties everywhere in the nation, at any campus. There just happens to be a (sadly) high population of (predominantly greek) students who identify with the party title, therefore we have received this wrap.

Charlie

The idea that everyone is Greek is not true. There are tons of other ways to get invovled and most students are not Greek, though the Greek community does basically run and own student government and is what one might call "powerful." Yes, Gainesville is a party town, but you don't have to take part or you can take part at your leisure. The University Police Department has recently seriously cracked down on underage drinking which makes partying or drinking at clubs much riskier for undeagers. UF is definitely all about the sports. Again, just like with other stereotypes which are semi-true, you don't have to go to football or basketball games, to softball, swimming or gymnastics. But if you want to check out all the sports teams that absolutely dominate the SEC and rock the country you totally can. Athletes are given special privileges: they register for classes first, for one. But most people at UF, even if they're not that into sports to begin with, come to love Gators sports. It's a part of being a member of the UF community and it unites all students as well as the student body with the vast complex of Gator alumni who come back game after game with their families. Don't expect a nice relaxing day out on campus on any Saturday football games day. The campus is literally swarmed (in a good way) with alumni and students. It's a sea of orange and blue and a grand old time.

Monica

Yes

Kim

every school is going to have its parties, so i think that is generic. UF does put a major emphasis on its research which is good but i think they should pay more attention in the big science lecture hall classes to make sure students understand material

Dylan

The actual Greek life here is a lot less than you would imagine, numbers wise at least. There are a ton of opportunities to be in non-social sororities and fraternities. Those groups are catered to your interests, your major, or your talents and they are a great way to meet people like you. The 'entitled' issue is hard to touch on because I think all of the students at UF know that we are at the best college in the state, that we have great accolades on campus (awesome sports, well-established professors, and an endless list of opportunities). I don't think we are cockier or have more pride than any other college but I do think that Florida students know they are getting the best opportunity that university life has to offer in Florida. As for drinking - a lot of people do it. That is undeniable. But not everyone does and there are ways to have fun without alcohol. It's all part of whichever niche you want to be in. But we do, absolutely, stay OBSESSED with our sports teams!

Skylar

No, not really. The admin. doesn't are about their students and most of the students start studying a day before exams and only care about the grades instead of actually learning anything.

Allison

Yes and no. UF is very party oriented, but I'd say more than half the students are more school oriented than party oriented.

Ashley

I would not say that our heads are inflated, but we definitely have high expectations for our sports and I feel that our sports are far superior to the other schools' sports teams in Florida.

Jessica

Absolutely

Ryan

Yes, I think the main 2 scenes in Gainesville are those of the hippies and those of the Greeks.

Jonathan

We tend to be a little forthcoming when it comes to how awesome our sports teams are but in regards to partying I would say academics first.

John

No, not really. I feel like people aren't that hard headed. Yes, we love football and are proud being gators, but I couldn't see myself or many of the people I know as people who would demonstrate arrogance to college students outside of UFL.

Andy

for the most part

Liz

The stereotypes are accurate to some extent. Greek life is very prevalant on campus, and there are definitely a lot of parties. However, academia is definitely stressed here as well.

Liz

Stereotypes exist for a reason. I think at the surface, people mold in to stereotypes because it's a guaranteed, easy way to fit in with your peer group, whoever that might be. But once you dig deeper, people surprise you--after all, we're all human; we all have the same emotions, worries, and fears.

Alex

I would agree with these stereotypes. The Gators dominate only because they're amazing and we have three national titles to prove it. The girls are beautiful and the boys are intelligent.

Elizabeth

Yea, I'd pretty much say so.

Laura

Not at all. There is a wide range of activities and clubs. While the Greeks do control some aspects of the campus, life is totally normal without being a Greek. There also people from every walk of life and one does not feel pressure to fit in as most accept you for who and what you are. It is a very liberal campus, yet it is balanced by conservatives, keeping things balanced. The stereotype of Florida students being huge sports fans is mostly true. Campus comes alive with excitement and spirit on game days. Football is the main sport of worship, but others are appreciated too.

Erica

Not at all, I'm sure there are cocky and mean people at UF but there are obnoxious people everywhere, it definately isn't the mojority of our campus. For the most part I've met some of the most amazing people here and would not have changed my choice to be here for anything. Of course we have fun! This is a college town if we didn't take time off to have a great time we'd all go insane.

Katie

to a certain degree

Kate

Kind of. I like it.

Devin

Not accurate at all.

Shannon

No, they are not accurate. Yes, we are really into sports, but we just love our team and have a lot of team pride and spirit.

Rory

NO

Ali

For some people, maybe. Certainly not across the board.

Vick

Though I love the Gators there are many who couldn't care less. Many students resent the fact that sports get a lot of attention because they want the academics to be focused on. As for the party school, well, yeah, we party, but I don't think we're a huge party school, not as much as other people think.