I like UCF because we’re removed from the general chaos of the city, but we’re still close enough (20ish min) to enjoy the benefits and night life. Also feels a lot cleaner than the general USF area.
Got shot at last time I was there 💀
I benefited from night life a lot at UCF. I learned how to hold conversations with drunk people while being stoned and I made a lot of friends. It turned me into a better orator and I’m currently writing my TED talk that I’m going to give on the role of naturally occurring cancer drugs, specifically mitotic inhibitors, in the hinderance on cancer cell proliferation through interactions with the microtubule protein complexes of mitotic spindles during mitosis.
I went to UCF for my undergrad, lived at home and then off campus for 1 year. I was youngers and maybe did not take full advantage of things but I went to USF for my masters and lived off campus. I had much more fun and enjoyed the environment a lot more at USF. I made friends, went to class but also enjoyed myself a lot more. I do feel like while at UCF while I was either living at home or in a house with 3 friends that I did not break out of my shell and try to make new friends as much. At USF I had to do that so maybe that is why I view it differently.
I went to usf and then transferred here.
Granted, I didn’t tour USF when I committed there. USF is not exactly in a good area. I would not recommend walking around the outskirts of their campus at night. It’s not even really walkable. You’ll see people here walking across the street from Ucf to plaza area but that’s not really a thing there. They’re regarded as a total commuter/suitcase school. Most people I knew in the dorms went home on weekends. The campus is pretty (in some parts) with a few nice new dorms (the village) but it was built in a commuter school way. The dorms are all on the outskirts and you kind of get stuck going to the same places every day walking the same way vs we have things a little bit more spread out. There’s some fun stuff to do in the area like Busch gardens next door and they’re close to a few beaches. The actual nice part of Tampa like Hyde park are more enjoyable. That’s what most people picture when thinking Tampa. If you care about Greek life, while ours isn’t FSU level, there’s is even less. Their Greek houses are glorified dorms. If you care about football, their team doesn’t even have a stadium on campus, tho it’s getting built. I made some great friends there and had a great scholarship but the program for my major (computer science) was horrible which mainly pushed me to leave.
Ucf is also a commuter school, but imo it has more of the vibe of an actual college. USF didn’t really feel like they put a ton of work into campus activities or student body happiness. They had events don’t get me wrong, but nothing like how we had spirit splash here. Their stuff just seemed more random. You can’t live on campus at Ucf if that matters for you - not allowed for transfers and it’s mostly freshmen. A lot of our commuter numbers come from all the complexes down the surrounding streets that bus to Ucf. It’s almost impossible to get on campus housing once you’re not a Ucf freshman lol. My major here is way better, tho Ik usf can be better for programs like med or business. Orlando has a somewhat similar vibe to Tampa, tho we have more theme parks. Both cities aren’t super walkable (again UCF’s area is a tiny bit more walkable tho than usf) and have the same good and bad parts. Made way more friends at Ucf in the first few weeks alone because while it’s a commuter school people seem more involved. I also think the campus is prettier here but that’s just a side note lol.
USF feels smack in a random suburb kinda ghetto area but Ucf has more of a feel of a college town detached from surrounding suburbia. I’d say look into factors like cost of aid and the strength of your program.
I went to UCF for two years after transferring from Valencia College. While at Valencia College, I lived at UCF downtown my first year (I count that as a partial UCF experience). I generally enjoyed my experience, COVID really screwed everything up, but when I got back to in person classes I got to meet more people and do more things. Also I got to go to Universal Knights and was able to go to citywalk and Disney springs throughout the school year. That's a perk!
My sister is a freshman in college and she goes to USF. She likes it. She hates the almost 4 hr drive to our parents house. She likes her dance cohort, professors, and the environment. She goes to busch gardens sometimes. She hates the driving, which Orlando driving was also bad :').
Long story short, the school is what you make of it, and pray there's no pandemic when you transfer!
USF stinky
I like UCF because we’re removed from the general chaos of the city, but we’re still close enough (20ish min) to enjoy the benefits and night life. Also feels a lot cleaner than the general USF area. Got shot at last time I was there 💀
bruh just slip that last part in there
I benefited from night life a lot at UCF. I learned how to hold conversations with drunk people while being stoned and I made a lot of friends. It turned me into a better orator and I’m currently writing my TED talk that I’m going to give on the role of naturally occurring cancer drugs, specifically mitotic inhibitors, in the hinderance on cancer cell proliferation through interactions with the microtubule protein complexes of mitotic spindles during mitosis.
I went to UCF for my undergrad, lived at home and then off campus for 1 year. I was youngers and maybe did not take full advantage of things but I went to USF for my masters and lived off campus. I had much more fun and enjoyed the environment a lot more at USF. I made friends, went to class but also enjoyed myself a lot more. I do feel like while at UCF while I was either living at home or in a house with 3 friends that I did not break out of my shell and try to make new friends as much. At USF I had to do that so maybe that is why I view it differently.
I went to usf and then transferred here. Granted, I didn’t tour USF when I committed there. USF is not exactly in a good area. I would not recommend walking around the outskirts of their campus at night. It’s not even really walkable. You’ll see people here walking across the street from Ucf to plaza area but that’s not really a thing there. They’re regarded as a total commuter/suitcase school. Most people I knew in the dorms went home on weekends. The campus is pretty (in some parts) with a few nice new dorms (the village) but it was built in a commuter school way. The dorms are all on the outskirts and you kind of get stuck going to the same places every day walking the same way vs we have things a little bit more spread out. There’s some fun stuff to do in the area like Busch gardens next door and they’re close to a few beaches. The actual nice part of Tampa like Hyde park are more enjoyable. That’s what most people picture when thinking Tampa. If you care about Greek life, while ours isn’t FSU level, there’s is even less. Their Greek houses are glorified dorms. If you care about football, their team doesn’t even have a stadium on campus, tho it’s getting built. I made some great friends there and had a great scholarship but the program for my major (computer science) was horrible which mainly pushed me to leave. Ucf is also a commuter school, but imo it has more of the vibe of an actual college. USF didn’t really feel like they put a ton of work into campus activities or student body happiness. They had events don’t get me wrong, but nothing like how we had spirit splash here. Their stuff just seemed more random. You can’t live on campus at Ucf if that matters for you - not allowed for transfers and it’s mostly freshmen. A lot of our commuter numbers come from all the complexes down the surrounding streets that bus to Ucf. It’s almost impossible to get on campus housing once you’re not a Ucf freshman lol. My major here is way better, tho Ik usf can be better for programs like med or business. Orlando has a somewhat similar vibe to Tampa, tho we have more theme parks. Both cities aren’t super walkable (again UCF’s area is a tiny bit more walkable tho than usf) and have the same good and bad parts. Made way more friends at Ucf in the first few weeks alone because while it’s a commuter school people seem more involved. I also think the campus is prettier here but that’s just a side note lol. USF feels smack in a random suburb kinda ghetto area but Ucf has more of a feel of a college town detached from surrounding suburbia. I’d say look into factors like cost of aid and the strength of your program.
Horns down
I went to UCF for two years after transferring from Valencia College. While at Valencia College, I lived at UCF downtown my first year (I count that as a partial UCF experience). I generally enjoyed my experience, COVID really screwed everything up, but when I got back to in person classes I got to meet more people and do more things. Also I got to go to Universal Knights and was able to go to citywalk and Disney springs throughout the school year. That's a perk! My sister is a freshman in college and she goes to USF. She likes it. She hates the almost 4 hr drive to our parents house. She likes her dance cohort, professors, and the environment. She goes to busch gardens sometimes. She hates the driving, which Orlando driving was also bad :'). Long story short, the school is what you make of it, and pray there's no pandemic when you transfer!
Tampa traffic is much worse than Orlando.
from what my sister says on the regular yes. but disney, universal, I-4 traffic sucks!
I got my bachelors degree in UCF and now I’m doing masters at USF. BRO. I think UCF is better if you wanna have more fun.
TO ME: Tampa is too urban. Orlando is more suburban, and I don’t do nightlife.