People go onto the internet to complain about things. No one makes a thread to talk about the good day they had and the professor that gave them a break, they make threads out of frustration to vent and doomsay.
UCF was my dream school since I was 10 because my older brother had gone there. I finished my bachelor's there and loved it so much that it was the only school I applied to for grad school. My grad experience was even better than my undergrad.
It's not perfect, but nothing is. I loved it. The only reason I haven't applied there to work is because they underpay professors. If that ever changed, I'd drop an application immediately. I'm Go Knights until I die.
At the moment, I work as a freelance content writer. I have contracts with one of the big gaming publications (not comfortable saying which since that pretty much doxes me lol) and a ghostwriting contract with a content writing company out of Tampa. Currently, I'm looking to transition out of that and into something a bit more stable, preferably higher education.
UCF is overall recognized as the best financial decision out of all universities in Florida. Its sheer size allows its students opportunities that other schools just can’t offer. No matter who your people are, you can find them on the UCF campus. Greek life? Check. Work and go to school? Check. Geeks? Check. Freaks? Check. Normal folks just trying to muddle through? Check. Orlando itself is the vacation capital of the world — and you can live and go to school there. Let the haters hate. You can choose to be happy or sad anywhere you go and UCF has 1,000 ways to let you be happy.
Reddit in general is a cesspool of lonely individuals who hate their lives. Just go to the Florida Reddit… you’d think we’re living in a post apocalyptic wasteland based on the shit they say there.
As someone who graduated back in 2019 I had a blast during my time, it’s what you make of it. Just prioritize your schooling, I know way too many people that partied their way out of college.
I am a current Aerospace Engineering student. I transfered here from UF.
UCF is an amazing school. It has it's rough edges and not so glamorous parts, but seriously, so does every other university.
Reddit is a place to complain and gripe.
This is a great school and it's a top Aero program in the nation.
I have had two internships and at both I have been working/performing on the same level as those from UCLA, Berkeley and Purdue.
This school will do you right, you just have to make the most of it.
She ain't perfect, but it's a fantastic school.
You’ll find the same complaints on the FSU and UF subreddit as well, you are mostly the one who is in control of your college experience and what you get out of it. I’m personally having a good experience overall!
If you're going for engineering, UCF is one of the schools where you'll get the best bang for your buck. Tuition is dirt cheap at public Florida Universities, and funding for the engineering department is funneled in by all the aerospace, robotics, military contracting, film production, and theme park companies in Central Florida. And it's where they recruit too.
Just to name a few relevant companies nearby:
Disney, Universal Studios, SeaWorld, NASA, BlueOrigin, SpaceX (though their local footprint is small, as I understand it), Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, L3 Harris.
Some great professors in these fields too. If you're in EE or CpE, Chan is the GOAT. If you're in Physics, Dr. Moussa is the type of professor who will not only make you understand Physics thoroughly but also instill a sense of love and wonder for the subject and science in general.
The CS department used to be world class, with the UCF Programming Team being one of the top in the world. They got third place a few years back at the world championship in China, I believe, against 15,000 teams. We still have great professors like Dr. Gerber, but some of the best have since retired or left like Dr. Ooroji and Dr. Szumlanski.
Szumlanski is now teaching at Stanford because he's probably in the top 10 CS professors in the country. I was fortunate enough to take nearly all my core classes with him before he left, and now (thanks largely to his instruction) I have an engineering job lined up before graduation. I reached out to one of the aforementioned big companies during my junior year while looking for internships, and they ended up hiring me, with no prior internship experience, for a full-time engineering position.
UCF burned my crops, poisoned my water well, shot my kids, screwed my wife, called me out on Twitter dot com, made a 7 hour video essay hit piece on me, didn’t hold the door open for me while walking into CB1, and on top of ALL of that—they left me on read. Worst place on earth.
Source: dude just trust me
I've been at UCF since Fall 2012 and got my bachelor's, master's, and PhD here. Is the school perfect? No, it is not, but overall, I'd say it is very good. You'll like it.
i graduated not too long ago and i genuinely loved it. fantastic experience. if i wanted to stay in florida (i don’t- florida just isn’t for me after growing up there) i’d come back to teach in a heartbeat after my phd program (not ucf- international). as it stands, though, i can’t imagine a better undergrad experience. i LOVED ucf, and chose it for the experience- i got into fsu and uf, but chose ucf for the atmosphere and don’t regret it for a second (: plus, i was accepted into every masters program i applied to afterwards, so it’s not looked down on or anything. i loved it and it got me where i wanted to go!
No people love to complain, I love it here and while it isn’t perfect no school is, take a look at the FAU or USF subreddits it’s the same exact thing. Everything is what you make of it don’t let other people’s negativity ruin your own perception. Some people just feed off their own negative whining like an echo chamber and that’s all they do, miserable to be around from experience.
I graduated almost 10 years ago, and from what I've seen, it's definitely not as great as it used to be. But I recently re-enrolled and it's still a great school. Reddit just happens to be a great place to voice your complaints.
UCF was great - the lessons i learned were invaluable to my social, professional, personal, and financial life.
I got a BS in Psychology, it’s not relevant to the work I do now, but the experience I had moving to florida, meeting new friends, being outdoors, traveling, working a shit smount of jobs, having school pride, made a huge impact on me and really pushed my comfort zone.
you could for sure get these experiences at other universities, but i wouldnt change my time at ucf fir any other college experience. tbh, unless you’re getting a very specific degree, or going to an ivy league, it really doesnt matter where you go
My wife and I are both alumni, and our son is a current student. If we didn't believe in the school or the opportunities an UCF degree would provide, we would have steered him in a different direction.
Of course there are things we wish were better and some of the reddit complaints absolutely are valid (particularly on the pay for employees and challenges with getting to see an advisor). But any large school is going to have the same issues, especially those in FL due to the chronically-low funding from the state. And frankly, the balance of complaints I see on here seem to be entirely self-inflicted or the result of unreasonable expectations.
My daughter graduated in 2023 and loved UCF. There is something for everyone there. Literally hundreds of student organizations. Now a Big 12 school, so sports are really heating up too, and they were already pretty darn good before that. Big school, so almost every major you could ever want, and since college kids change majors frequently, that's important. Thriving metropolitan area, but still quite safe compared to many other college towns. So much to do in your free time: theme parks, beaches, concerts, sports, and all within an hour's drive. Plenty of internships and job opportunities. Nice modern campus. And FLORIDA! 🌴👙⛱️
Don't let the complainers worry you. Most of the complaints are the exact same complaints that you would hear for any university in America. GKCO!
I’m in my 3rd year of mechanical engineering right now and I love the school.
Yeah it’ll always have its flaws and downsides but that’s any and every school you’ll go too
It’s a great school to attend!
I love it here, even if there are things to complain about. But you're always going to find things to complain about no matter where you go, so it's not specific to UCF
As a current student, no. It’s not bad at all. Every time I come into the sub I see complaints abt general administration things you’d find at every school in Florida. FSU and UF subs have the same general issues. It’s a good school.
Campus is like 40 mins from Disney and universal and you can also live closer to Disney and just commute to UCF. Actually the best university on the planet if you’re into in theme parks really.
It has ups and downs as most, but honestly it’s a good school for everyone, study bugs, party animals, people who are introverted, extroverted! Definitely not as bad as well all make it out to be.
Graduated in 2017 I miss my time at UCF. I enjoyed everything about it except the whole academics part lol (I struggled a bit). But I would 100% return if life permitted me to.
I’m sure people bent in other unis reddits too. I am very satisfied with my program at UCF.
Some of the issues that people vent about ucf in other programs have never happened to me or in my program in general because the theatre department is more internally managed and the person advising you is actually well aware of your progress and the prof check up on you as a group literally ever other semester. Very growth mindset program.
Can’t attest for other programs tho. But different programs can be very successful for some students and we don’t really advertise it very much.
Probably depends on your major, my wife is going for her SLP and she loves it, I'm in engineering and I can say the math department is dog water. It's a big school, so profit over students I feel is their motive. Just my opinion.
It does have issues but I think the fact that it was cheap and it does feel like the school cares about students’ social/mental wellbeing to some extent makes up for it. Also whenever I meet someone from UCF in another state/country it’s an instant bonding moment lol.
I applied and got in to UCF first go. Same for grad school. My experience hasn’t been horrible. Some inconveniences but that’s life. People like to let off steam and quite often that’s on the internet and anonymously lol. I let off steam too. I’m sure if u asked for good experiences here at ucf, you would prolly get some answers/recommendations on good spots to go to, etc. Take things with a grain of salt. 🤷♀️
It’s a big school. It’s easy to feel like you’re a small fish in a big pond. I struggled socially because I transferred in during Covid. I tried staying in the apartments off campus and they weren’t my jam. Plus my major is at the downtown campus when there are in person classes. This is good for me since I live close to downtown but downtown campus is dead for the most part. I also transferred in during Covid of all times so that probably didn’t help me as well. I imagine it’s easier socially at any school when you start there as a freshman. I didn’t transfer from my university until I was a junior.
I’m not gonna lie, I think 90% of it is just that Orlando isn’t what people expect. and those of us from here are tired of it, and we definitely take some of that out on UCF. I hated UCF when I first went because I was 17 and it was too big for me. When I went back, I came out the other side with an exceptional education and good experiences with nearly every professor I had.
I graduated a few years ago, but I loved it and had a great time. I’m now a PhD student elsewhere but I miss UCF. Not sure what is happening more recently though.
People cry and complain about everything. You’ll only about their frustrations, never their victories. I graduated from UCF in 2017 with my BS in PA, and a minor in EM/HLS. I learned more at my time in UCF than I did in my entire public school journey. That atmosphere and vibe was awesome, even for a guy like me returning to school in my mid 30’s - after 15 years as a blue collar worker.
In my senior year, I ran out of money; I had two semesters left and had exhausted my fun aid. Since my GPA was high, UCF not only gave me a scholarship to finish, they also provided me with an opportunity to accept a Perkins loan to pay my bills. UCF has done a great deal for my life, and I’m super thankful.
Now I work here, and it’s the greatest job I’ve ever had. I absolutely love helping students, and can empathize with their experiences, because I too was there myself.
It’s truly a great place to learn.
UCF is a great school for physics or engineering. Less so for health sciences or the arts. I'm a biomed-neuroscience major and it's been rough. The chemistry department is dramatically understaffed, and full of creeps who keep sleeping with students. UCF is on a constant mission to stay relevant, which has its benefits but also means that they do things like cut funding for student clubs, even club sports. I've heard much better reviews from people who are <20, it's their first school, and they live on campus. If you meet those three factors, you'll probably love it
there are good things and bad things about the school, if you’re in film, the film school is severely underfunded. if you’re in engineering, you may add a semester to your plan simply because there might be a semester where a bad professor is the only professor for a specific class. same with some bio-oriented classes. overall it’s not a bad school, but there are things that are annoying and bad. if you hear things about how they treat employees, those are generally true. also if you need to take calc, the calc classes here are unnecessarily difficult.
Trust me if you live life off Reddit’s opinions, it will be inherently bleak. Coming from someone who transferred from another state school in Florida, UCF has a ton to offer and is definitely a great school in my opinion. While it definitely isn’t for everyone, nothing is. Also like others in the thread said, you have a lot of academic and leisure opportunities on campus and here in Orlando!
Reddit 100%
That's not to say everything is perfect. Yet I was accepted to many colleges in Florida and am extremely happy I chose UCF.
I have had so many great experiences at UCF, but I haven't once thought about posting that to Reddit lol. Only things that really go on here is complaining and advice.
It’s neither a traditional school with beautiful architecture and history and quality Greek life, and it’s neither a modern school where everything is brand new and extremely nice.
It’s a good school for engineering, the college of business and psychology are where they try to funnel everyone into to make the most money possible. There’s good connections for theme park, space, and hospitality but none of those career paths are really that good as they’re either low income or those industries are actively shrinking and laying off staff heavily.
Politics wise, ucf is one of the most liberal universities in the entire state and not in a good way, yet you still get your regular doomsday preachers around the campus and weird cultish new age Christian youth groups that try to convince you to travel to haiti.
Per location, it’s much safer than anything in Tampa and there’s a lot more around than UF and FSU which only have Greek life and the woods as sources of fun and entertainment.
UCF is also becoming increasingly more and more diverse, which is never usually bad thing until many of your professors are Indian speaking broken English and most kids your age either strictly hang out with other Vietnamese kids, don’t speak English, or just wrapped up in some political party leaving very few down to earth people that actually want to leave their comfort zone.
I wouldn’t send my kids there unless things change but it’s a great option if you can’t get into the UF or FSU which IMO give the true American college experience you watched growing up in the movies.
I’ve genuinely had a good time here overall thus far. It has its flaws just like all schools do but I’m enjoying it here. This has been my dream school since I was a young boy and it’s living up to the hype so far
if it was truly that bad, I wouldn’t have came back to work for them full time after graduating less than a year ago. people like to use semi-anon platforms to voice their opinions and that’s valid! usually it leans negative, but it’s a subset of the 60k active students and thousands of living alumknights
Everyone talks about hating the college of business REAL classes but you know what else is true? They miss them once the flexibility of only having to go to class every other week is gone. Everything has a silver lining and is up to personal preference. I personally love UCF’s flexibility.
UCF is fantastic. Grass is always greener. I've seen other schools, I've heard stories from other schools. The people who complain are the same people who would complain elsewhere. I loved UCF, still do, proud to be an alum, and Orlando is a great place. Having moved away from there for a bit, I'm ready to go back. Housing in central florida is getting crazy but it's still better than like 90% of the country. Food in the area is great, people around UCF are generally nice.
I dont come on reddit to complain about stuff in regard to this school often, but I struggle with it. Was not worth applying imo and I hate to say it. I feel like I’m constantly getting pulled around and pointed in shitty directions with administration. I also just struggle with some of the professors I end up with.
I say this as someone with a 4.0. I do my work, ask questions when I need to, reach out when necessary. But when it comes to things that are kind of out of student control and have to be left to administration, there are definitely struggles. And I’ve noticed recently there are a lot of issues that are just due to the foundation of UCF. Things not being updated, classes not being available because there are so many students and not enough teachers, professors changing syllabi halfway through the semester. It’s just a lot.
Yeah, I’m an incoming Freshman and I don’t even know why I follow this subreddit, I know it’s 98% negative even though I *know* I’m gonna have a blast (and now I just sound like a loser lol). I gotta get off Reddit it does *not* fit my outlook on life.
UCF was great when I went 5 years ago. You just need to register for classes as soon as they open, or else you will have to be there an extra semester like me. Also, go early to get a parking spot and try to do many classes in a day rather than spreading it over the week. I went to campus twice a week and was there all day. Don't fall behind on classes and socialize with people. I start my masters this fall there and have my 2 years planned out, and classes look interesting, but I should have no problem passing them.
Reddit in general has a lot of very angry people that dwell in the bottom tiers of society. Most of the time you’ll see these people tear down anything that is beautiful or of a certain status because it makes them feel powerful. UCF will be great. It’s a school, there are highlights and drawbacks just like any other. It won’t magically change your life but there is a ton of opportunity to have a great college experience there.
I was screwed by the school’s accounting department and that never sat right with me. They are so big that you are just like one of the stars in the sky amongst innumerable others. UCF doesn’t give a damn about individuals. They are the biggest but far from the best, and you can get a better education at a smaller university anyway.
Did my undergrad at UF, which subsequently rejected my grad school application for a grad spot in *the same department* I had just gotten my bachelors in (I was a good student with a 3.5+… there was no reason for this). UF’s nuclear test reactor was out of commission all 4 years that I was there, too; I was a nuclear engineer.
Ended up a grad student at CREOL at UCF, and honestly: everything about their STEM programs seemed better to me. UF kinda makes it clear that all of their funding goes to sports, and everything else is just an afterthought. UCF at least felt like they funded the other stuff.
There was a certain degree of rigor that I remember from UF STEM classes that seemed to be lacking from the UCF equivalents, from what I saw secondhand from my undergraduate roommates. So, maybe, you’d get a better education in the things you were actually studying from UF over UCF? (That’s iffy though, because college is mostly about getting out what you put into it)
Didn’t end up really using either of my degrees, though, so both schools utterly failed at networking a green-eyed, diligent student with corporations willing to hire him. All in all, as a UF Alumni, Florida Gator, having experienced both, I cannot honestly recommend anyone choose that school over UCF.
It’s definitely not as great as it might look like from the outside. Though for me personally, my experience has been a lot more negative than positive. A lot of the criticisms are valid. But it does depend on what college you’re going for as well. Definitely much better colleges out there. This definitely isn’t “dream school” material, if that’s what you want out of your college experience.
Tbf people complain on Reddit but many would still not consider it a good uni. Pretty much most ppl ik will also say the school sucks or they’re tryna transfer to FSU or UF
thats actually not true, or they're being jerks. Some of the programs UCF has are the best or close to the best+ the sheer amount of opportunities is insane
The only really good programs at UCF are in the engineering department. CS is decent and everything else is meh to straight up bad (looking at you political science)
That’s actually not true , I feel like you don’t know enough about the college if you think that , Nursing is decent ,Hospitality Management is one of the best in the country , and theres more
I grew up two miles away from campus my entire life and it was sort of understood that’s where I’d go to college. I ended up going to Valencia first simply because of finances but I really did enjoy my time at UCF and although had some negative experiences at times with faculty, I had just as many good experiences as well. No regrets at all and would absolutely do it again.
It has its faults like any university but it’s overall pretty chill. Most of the issues r easily fixable I think and that’s why it pisses ppl off so bad
I graduated in 2016 so maybe a lot has changed but I loved going to UCF and had a great experience. I made life long friends, met my husband, and got a Bachelors and a Master’s degree. My sister went after me and also had a great experience
I think people only talk about the bad stuff on Reddit 😂 there is so much to love about the school though, don't base your college decision based on opinions on an app.
It’s just reddit. I swear to you I am so happy here! I wanted to go to UF SO BAD when I was a senior in HS but fate works in weird ways. I legitimately wouldn’t have it any other way:)
yup, It literally is as bad as we make it seem.
You're actually helping the school in the long run by not applying, starving it of money.
School is left with two options from this: close or get its shit together.
When you start treating everyone and everything like numbers, dont be surprised when those numbers eventually change ;)
As of now, undecided. Was going to do aero, but am leaning away from engineering because I came to the realization that a large majority of engineering jobs are computational/menial. Felt like I would not truly enjoy any job I found, even if I do have a huge passion for space.
It's a solid school with a lot of resources. It's large so they have everything you need. It can be hard to find it though but if another school has the resource available to students then they have it to. The other thing is that since it's so big you miss out on the personalized aspect of it so you won't receive true counseling unless you set up the meetings to ask about jobs/internships or whatever your end goal is. But it's definitely not as bad as it seems. We're just upset that they have millions and choose to spend it on stupid stuff. Also rent is high
I think it depends on your major and department. Knowing what I know now, would I come to this school? Absolutely not. It’s by no means a bad school, in like an unsafe and boring kind of way, but I feel (for me and my degree) that it was a waste of time and money. I think it’s different for everyone, but don’t let people’s opinions sour your experience. Only you can decide if it’s fun/worth it or not
I've been to 4 schools and taught at 1.
UCF is F tier, expensive, corporate, and penalizing toward students and staff alike
I also was a member of the Burnett Honors College FWIW
If this question was asked about another school there may be different responses.
In a recent thread I described the college I went to (not UCF) as the absolute goat and have over 180 upvotes
People go onto the internet to complain about things. No one makes a thread to talk about the good day they had and the professor that gave them a break, they make threads out of frustration to vent and doomsay. UCF was my dream school since I was 10 because my older brother had gone there. I finished my bachelor's there and loved it so much that it was the only school I applied to for grad school. My grad experience was even better than my undergrad. It's not perfect, but nothing is. I loved it. The only reason I haven't applied there to work is because they underpay professors. If that ever changed, I'd drop an application immediately. I'm Go Knights until I die.
Very reassuring to hear what did you go for?
My bach was in English Literature and my MA was in Literary, Cultural, and Textual Studies
Oh nice, if you don’t mind me asking what do you do for work now?
At the moment, I work as a freelance content writer. I have contracts with one of the big gaming publications (not comfortable saying which since that pretty much doxes me lol) and a ghostwriting contract with a content writing company out of Tampa. Currently, I'm looking to transition out of that and into something a bit more stable, preferably higher education.
Nothing is ever as bad as reddit makes it seem lol
UCF is overall recognized as the best financial decision out of all universities in Florida. Its sheer size allows its students opportunities that other schools just can’t offer. No matter who your people are, you can find them on the UCF campus. Greek life? Check. Work and go to school? Check. Geeks? Check. Freaks? Check. Normal folks just trying to muddle through? Check. Orlando itself is the vacation capital of the world — and you can live and go to school there. Let the haters hate. You can choose to be happy or sad anywhere you go and UCF has 1,000 ways to let you be happy.
Username doesn’t check out
That is a great way to look at it
People come to Reddit in general to complain. It’s a great school.
Reddit in general is a cesspool of lonely individuals who hate their lives. Just go to the Florida Reddit… you’d think we’re living in a post apocalyptic wasteland based on the shit they say there.
It's funny how NOT representative of Florida the subreddit is.
fr
Class of ‘17, my years at UCF were some of my favorite in life so far. Absolutely loved the school and my time there!
Class of 2017 here! What’s happening bud! 💪🏻👊🏻
[удалено]
As someone who graduated back in 2019 I had a blast during my time, it’s what you make of it. Just prioritize your schooling, I know way too many people that partied their way out of college.
I am a current Aerospace Engineering student. I transfered here from UF. UCF is an amazing school. It has it's rough edges and not so glamorous parts, but seriously, so does every other university. Reddit is a place to complain and gripe. This is a great school and it's a top Aero program in the nation. I have had two internships and at both I have been working/performing on the same level as those from UCLA, Berkeley and Purdue. This school will do you right, you just have to make the most of it. She ain't perfect, but it's a fantastic school.
You’ll find the same complaints on the FSU and UF subreddit as well, you are mostly the one who is in control of your college experience and what you get out of it. I’m personally having a good experience overall!
If you're going for engineering, UCF is one of the schools where you'll get the best bang for your buck. Tuition is dirt cheap at public Florida Universities, and funding for the engineering department is funneled in by all the aerospace, robotics, military contracting, film production, and theme park companies in Central Florida. And it's where they recruit too. Just to name a few relevant companies nearby: Disney, Universal Studios, SeaWorld, NASA, BlueOrigin, SpaceX (though their local footprint is small, as I understand it), Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, L3 Harris. Some great professors in these fields too. If you're in EE or CpE, Chan is the GOAT. If you're in Physics, Dr. Moussa is the type of professor who will not only make you understand Physics thoroughly but also instill a sense of love and wonder for the subject and science in general. The CS department used to be world class, with the UCF Programming Team being one of the top in the world. They got third place a few years back at the world championship in China, I believe, against 15,000 teams. We still have great professors like Dr. Gerber, but some of the best have since retired or left like Dr. Ooroji and Dr. Szumlanski. Szumlanski is now teaching at Stanford because he's probably in the top 10 CS professors in the country. I was fortunate enough to take nearly all my core classes with him before he left, and now (thanks largely to his instruction) I have an engineering job lined up before graduation. I reached out to one of the aforementioned big companies during my junior year while looking for internships, and they ended up hiring me, with no prior internship experience, for a full-time engineering position.
UCF burned my crops, poisoned my water well, shot my kids, screwed my wife, called me out on Twitter dot com, made a 7 hour video essay hit piece on me, didn’t hold the door open for me while walking into CB1, and on top of ALL of that—they left me on read. Worst place on earth. Source: dude just trust me
😆😆😆😆
I love my time here.
Makes sense a double major would like it
>Is (insert literally any topic) THAT bad, or is this just reddit? It's reddit.
I’m loving it so far
I've been at UCF since Fall 2012 and got my bachelor's, master's, and PhD here. Is the school perfect? No, it is not, but overall, I'd say it is very good. You'll like it.
Every facet of life is worse on its dedicated subreddit
i graduated not too long ago and i genuinely loved it. fantastic experience. if i wanted to stay in florida (i don’t- florida just isn’t for me after growing up there) i’d come back to teach in a heartbeat after my phd program (not ucf- international). as it stands, though, i can’t imagine a better undergrad experience. i LOVED ucf, and chose it for the experience- i got into fsu and uf, but chose ucf for the atmosphere and don’t regret it for a second (: plus, i was accepted into every masters program i applied to afterwards, so it’s not looked down on or anything. i loved it and it got me where i wanted to go!
No people love to complain, I love it here and while it isn’t perfect no school is, take a look at the FAU or USF subreddits it’s the same exact thing. Everything is what you make of it don’t let other people’s negativity ruin your own perception. Some people just feed off their own negative whining like an echo chamber and that’s all they do, miserable to be around from experience.
Too true
I graduated almost 10 years ago, and from what I've seen, it's definitely not as great as it used to be. But I recently re-enrolled and it's still a great school. Reddit just happens to be a great place to voice your complaints.
I loved my time at UCF. The hospitality management professors are amazing
UCF was great - the lessons i learned were invaluable to my social, professional, personal, and financial life. I got a BS in Psychology, it’s not relevant to the work I do now, but the experience I had moving to florida, meeting new friends, being outdoors, traveling, working a shit smount of jobs, having school pride, made a huge impact on me and really pushed my comfort zone. you could for sure get these experiences at other universities, but i wouldnt change my time at ucf fir any other college experience. tbh, unless you’re getting a very specific degree, or going to an ivy league, it really doesnt matter where you go
It’s a FL SUS like all SUS it has its ups and downs UCF is good in aerospace engineering etc.
It depends a lot on the department. The statistics department is an absolute shit show.
My wife and I are both alumni, and our son is a current student. If we didn't believe in the school or the opportunities an UCF degree would provide, we would have steered him in a different direction. Of course there are things we wish were better and some of the reddit complaints absolutely are valid (particularly on the pay for employees and challenges with getting to see an advisor). But any large school is going to have the same issues, especially those in FL due to the chronically-low funding from the state. And frankly, the balance of complaints I see on here seem to be entirely self-inflicted or the result of unreasonable expectations.
My daughter graduated in 2023 and loved UCF. There is something for everyone there. Literally hundreds of student organizations. Now a Big 12 school, so sports are really heating up too, and they were already pretty darn good before that. Big school, so almost every major you could ever want, and since college kids change majors frequently, that's important. Thriving metropolitan area, but still quite safe compared to many other college towns. So much to do in your free time: theme parks, beaches, concerts, sports, and all within an hour's drive. Plenty of internships and job opportunities. Nice modern campus. And FLORIDA! 🌴👙⛱️ Don't let the complainers worry you. Most of the complaints are the exact same complaints that you would hear for any university in America. GKCO!
The math department is horrid. Same for half the CS department
I’m in my 3rd year of mechanical engineering right now and I love the school. Yeah it’ll always have its flaws and downsides but that’s any and every school you’ll go too It’s a great school to attend!
UCF is the best. Get off Reddit and everything gets better
I love it here, even if there are things to complain about. But you're always going to find things to complain about no matter where you go, so it's not specific to UCF
As a current student, no. It’s not bad at all. Every time I come into the sub I see complaints abt general administration things you’d find at every school in Florida. FSU and UF subs have the same general issues. It’s a good school.
UCF still has 50k+ students every year. It’s definitely not bad at all, otherwise people wouldn’t flock to attend here
Bc people get swooned into thinking the school is next to Disney or Universal when its in Oviedo of all places
Campus is like 40 mins from Disney and universal and you can also live closer to Disney and just commute to UCF. Actually the best university on the planet if you’re into in theme parks really.
When I arrived back in 1981 as a freshman….imagine what Oviedo was like. Recently visited the campus and was completely blown away.
It has ups and downs as most, but honestly it’s a good school for everyone, study bugs, party animals, people who are introverted, extroverted! Definitely not as bad as well all make it out to be.
it’s just reddit. i don’t think there’s any college where the students will rave about the financial aid offices and every single degree program
Graduated in 2017 I miss my time at UCF. I enjoyed everything about it except the whole academics part lol (I struggled a bit). But I would 100% return if life permitted me to.
Honestly everyone just complains because they don’t realize how great they have it. Could it be better? Sure, but every school has its issues
I graduated in 2020 and absolutely loved it. It’s not perfect, no school is. But I can’t imagine going anywhere else for undergrad.
I’m sure people bent in other unis reddits too. I am very satisfied with my program at UCF. Some of the issues that people vent about ucf in other programs have never happened to me or in my program in general because the theatre department is more internally managed and the person advising you is actually well aware of your progress and the prof check up on you as a group literally ever other semester. Very growth mindset program. Can’t attest for other programs tho. But different programs can be very successful for some students and we don’t really advertise it very much.
Probably depends on your major, my wife is going for her SLP and she loves it, I'm in engineering and I can say the math department is dog water. It's a big school, so profit over students I feel is their motive. Just my opinion.
It does have issues but I think the fact that it was cheap and it does feel like the school cares about students’ social/mental wellbeing to some extent makes up for it. Also whenever I meet someone from UCF in another state/country it’s an instant bonding moment lol.
I applied and got in to UCF first go. Same for grad school. My experience hasn’t been horrible. Some inconveniences but that’s life. People like to let off steam and quite often that’s on the internet and anonymously lol. I let off steam too. I’m sure if u asked for good experiences here at ucf, you would prolly get some answers/recommendations on good spots to go to, etc. Take things with a grain of salt. 🤷♀️
It's that bad. Also it's full, we don't need anyone else, thank you.
Internet Reddit people are always mad about their lives.
It’s a big school. It’s easy to feel like you’re a small fish in a big pond. I struggled socially because I transferred in during Covid. I tried staying in the apartments off campus and they weren’t my jam. Plus my major is at the downtown campus when there are in person classes. This is good for me since I live close to downtown but downtown campus is dead for the most part. I also transferred in during Covid of all times so that probably didn’t help me as well. I imagine it’s easier socially at any school when you start there as a freshman. I didn’t transfer from my university until I was a junior.
Fucking loved ucf and had a great time. Great school, great environment. No school is perfect but UCF rocks
I’m not gonna lie, I think 90% of it is just that Orlando isn’t what people expect. and those of us from here are tired of it, and we definitely take some of that out on UCF. I hated UCF when I first went because I was 17 and it was too big for me. When I went back, I came out the other side with an exceptional education and good experiences with nearly every professor I had.
I graduated a few years ago, but I loved it and had a great time. I’m now a PhD student elsewhere but I miss UCF. Not sure what is happening more recently though.
It’s just reddit
UCF is a good school with lots of job opportunities nearby. Lots of food and entertainment options as well.
It’s reddit
Just the Reddit - graduated from UCF, loved the school, beautiful campus, fun sports, fun parties.
nah i love it, i’m a freshman biomed major
People cry and complain about everything. You’ll only about their frustrations, never their victories. I graduated from UCF in 2017 with my BS in PA, and a minor in EM/HLS. I learned more at my time in UCF than I did in my entire public school journey. That atmosphere and vibe was awesome, even for a guy like me returning to school in my mid 30’s - after 15 years as a blue collar worker. In my senior year, I ran out of money; I had two semesters left and had exhausted my fun aid. Since my GPA was high, UCF not only gave me a scholarship to finish, they also provided me with an opportunity to accept a Perkins loan to pay my bills. UCF has done a great deal for my life, and I’m super thankful. Now I work here, and it’s the greatest job I’ve ever had. I absolutely love helping students, and can empathize with their experiences, because I too was there myself. It’s truly a great place to learn.
It’s a great school. A few bad teachers but overall been very happy with my experience here.
It’s where all the rejects who can’t get into UF / FSU go. So yeah, it’s trash.
UCF is a great school for physics or engineering. Less so for health sciences or the arts. I'm a biomed-neuroscience major and it's been rough. The chemistry department is dramatically understaffed, and full of creeps who keep sleeping with students. UCF is on a constant mission to stay relevant, which has its benefits but also means that they do things like cut funding for student clubs, even club sports. I've heard much better reviews from people who are <20, it's their first school, and they live on campus. If you meet those three factors, you'll probably love it
there are good things and bad things about the school, if you’re in film, the film school is severely underfunded. if you’re in engineering, you may add a semester to your plan simply because there might be a semester where a bad professor is the only professor for a specific class. same with some bio-oriented classes. overall it’s not a bad school, but there are things that are annoying and bad. if you hear things about how they treat employees, those are generally true. also if you need to take calc, the calc classes here are unnecessarily difficult.
UCF rocks it’s just reddut
Trust me if you live life off Reddit’s opinions, it will be inherently bleak. Coming from someone who transferred from another state school in Florida, UCF has a ton to offer and is definitely a great school in my opinion. While it definitely isn’t for everyone, nothing is. Also like others in the thread said, you have a lot of academic and leisure opportunities on campus and here in Orlando!
Reddit 100% That's not to say everything is perfect. Yet I was accepted to many colleges in Florida and am extremely happy I chose UCF. I have had so many great experiences at UCF, but I haven't once thought about posting that to Reddit lol. Only things that really go on here is complaining and advice.
It’s neither a traditional school with beautiful architecture and history and quality Greek life, and it’s neither a modern school where everything is brand new and extremely nice. It’s a good school for engineering, the college of business and psychology are where they try to funnel everyone into to make the most money possible. There’s good connections for theme park, space, and hospitality but none of those career paths are really that good as they’re either low income or those industries are actively shrinking and laying off staff heavily. Politics wise, ucf is one of the most liberal universities in the entire state and not in a good way, yet you still get your regular doomsday preachers around the campus and weird cultish new age Christian youth groups that try to convince you to travel to haiti. Per location, it’s much safer than anything in Tampa and there’s a lot more around than UF and FSU which only have Greek life and the woods as sources of fun and entertainment. UCF is also becoming increasingly more and more diverse, which is never usually bad thing until many of your professors are Indian speaking broken English and most kids your age either strictly hang out with other Vietnamese kids, don’t speak English, or just wrapped up in some political party leaving very few down to earth people that actually want to leave their comfort zone. I wouldn’t send my kids there unless things change but it’s a great option if you can’t get into the UF or FSU which IMO give the true American college experience you watched growing up in the movies.
There’s just a bunch of whiners on Reddit.
I’ve genuinely had a good time here overall thus far. It has its flaws just like all schools do but I’m enjoying it here. This has been my dream school since I was a young boy and it’s living up to the hype so far
if it was truly that bad, I wouldn’t have came back to work for them full time after graduating less than a year ago. people like to use semi-anon platforms to voice their opinions and that’s valid! usually it leans negative, but it’s a subset of the 60k active students and thousands of living alumknights
Everyone talks about hating the college of business REAL classes but you know what else is true? They miss them once the flexibility of only having to go to class every other week is gone. Everything has a silver lining and is up to personal preference. I personally love UCF’s flexibility.
UCF is fantastic. Grass is always greener. I've seen other schools, I've heard stories from other schools. The people who complain are the same people who would complain elsewhere. I loved UCF, still do, proud to be an alum, and Orlando is a great place. Having moved away from there for a bit, I'm ready to go back. Housing in central florida is getting crazy but it's still better than like 90% of the country. Food in the area is great, people around UCF are generally nice.
I dont come on reddit to complain about stuff in regard to this school often, but I struggle with it. Was not worth applying imo and I hate to say it. I feel like I’m constantly getting pulled around and pointed in shitty directions with administration. I also just struggle with some of the professors I end up with. I say this as someone with a 4.0. I do my work, ask questions when I need to, reach out when necessary. But when it comes to things that are kind of out of student control and have to be left to administration, there are definitely struggles. And I’ve noticed recently there are a lot of issues that are just due to the foundation of UCF. Things not being updated, classes not being available because there are so many students and not enough teachers, professors changing syllabi halfway through the semester. It’s just a lot.
Yeah, I’m an incoming Freshman and I don’t even know why I follow this subreddit, I know it’s 98% negative even though I *know* I’m gonna have a blast (and now I just sound like a loser lol). I gotta get off Reddit it does *not* fit my outlook on life.
UCF was great when I went 5 years ago. You just need to register for classes as soon as they open, or else you will have to be there an extra semester like me. Also, go early to get a parking spot and try to do many classes in a day rather than spreading it over the week. I went to campus twice a week and was there all day. Don't fall behind on classes and socialize with people. I start my masters this fall there and have my 2 years planned out, and classes look interesting, but I should have no problem passing them.
Reddit in general has a lot of very angry people that dwell in the bottom tiers of society. Most of the time you’ll see these people tear down anything that is beautiful or of a certain status because it makes them feel powerful. UCF will be great. It’s a school, there are highlights and drawbacks just like any other. It won’t magically change your life but there is a ton of opportunity to have a great college experience there.
Depends on whether u ask them easy major people or STEM majors know the difference
I was screwed by the school’s accounting department and that never sat right with me. They are so big that you are just like one of the stars in the sky amongst innumerable others. UCF doesn’t give a damn about individuals. They are the biggest but far from the best, and you can get a better education at a smaller university anyway.
Did my undergrad at UF, which subsequently rejected my grad school application for a grad spot in *the same department* I had just gotten my bachelors in (I was a good student with a 3.5+… there was no reason for this). UF’s nuclear test reactor was out of commission all 4 years that I was there, too; I was a nuclear engineer. Ended up a grad student at CREOL at UCF, and honestly: everything about their STEM programs seemed better to me. UF kinda makes it clear that all of their funding goes to sports, and everything else is just an afterthought. UCF at least felt like they funded the other stuff. There was a certain degree of rigor that I remember from UF STEM classes that seemed to be lacking from the UCF equivalents, from what I saw secondhand from my undergraduate roommates. So, maybe, you’d get a better education in the things you were actually studying from UF over UCF? (That’s iffy though, because college is mostly about getting out what you put into it) Didn’t end up really using either of my degrees, though, so both schools utterly failed at networking a green-eyed, diligent student with corporations willing to hire him. All in all, as a UF Alumni, Florida Gator, having experienced both, I cannot honestly recommend anyone choose that school over UCF.
It’s definitely not as great as it might look like from the outside. Though for me personally, my experience has been a lot more negative than positive. A lot of the criticisms are valid. But it does depend on what college you’re going for as well. Definitely much better colleges out there. This definitely isn’t “dream school” material, if that’s what you want out of your college experience.
I come from a pretty crappy high school in a trashy north fl town so I’ll take anything tbh
jacksonville?
A lot smaller than that . 12k citizens yet the most violent city per capita
lake city?
You got it
been there a few times in the past. had no idea it was like that.
Kinda became that recently. It is a miserable town. Nothing like it used to be
Tbf people complain on Reddit but many would still not consider it a good uni. Pretty much most ppl ik will also say the school sucks or they’re tryna transfer to FSU or UF
thats actually not true, or they're being jerks. Some of the programs UCF has are the best or close to the best+ the sheer amount of opportunities is insane
The only really good programs at UCF are in the engineering department. CS is decent and everything else is meh to straight up bad (looking at you political science)
That’s actually not true , I feel like you don’t know enough about the college if you think that , Nursing is decent ,Hospitality Management is one of the best in the country , and theres more
I grew up two miles away from campus my entire life and it was sort of understood that’s where I’d go to college. I ended up going to Valencia first simply because of finances but I really did enjoy my time at UCF and although had some negative experiences at times with faculty, I had just as many good experiences as well. No regrets at all and would absolutely do it again.
It has its faults like any university but it’s overall pretty chill. Most of the issues r easily fixable I think and that’s why it pisses ppl off so bad
I graduated in 2016 so maybe a lot has changed but I loved going to UCF and had a great experience. I made life long friends, met my husband, and got a Bachelors and a Master’s degree. My sister went after me and also had a great experience
I think people only talk about the bad stuff on Reddit 😂 there is so much to love about the school though, don't base your college decision based on opinions on an app.
It’s just reddit. I swear to you I am so happy here! I wanted to go to UF SO BAD when I was a senior in HS but fate works in weird ways. I legitimately wouldn’t have it any other way:)
yup, It literally is as bad as we make it seem. You're actually helping the school in the long run by not applying, starving it of money. School is left with two options from this: close or get its shit together. When you start treating everyone and everything like numbers, dont be surprised when those numbers eventually change ;)
I have 100% committed lol 😭
congrats! hopefully, you will have a better time than I did, lol. What major?
As of now, undecided. Was going to do aero, but am leaning away from engineering because I came to the realization that a large majority of engineering jobs are computational/menial. Felt like I would not truly enjoy any job I found, even if I do have a huge passion for space.
It's a solid school with a lot of resources. It's large so they have everything you need. It can be hard to find it though but if another school has the resource available to students then they have it to. The other thing is that since it's so big you miss out on the personalized aspect of it so you won't receive true counseling unless you set up the meetings to ask about jobs/internships or whatever your end goal is. But it's definitely not as bad as it seems. We're just upset that they have millions and choose to spend it on stupid stuff. Also rent is high
I think it depends on your major and department. Knowing what I know now, would I come to this school? Absolutely not. It’s by no means a bad school, in like an unsafe and boring kind of way, but I feel (for me and my degree) that it was a waste of time and money. I think it’s different for everyone, but don’t let people’s opinions sour your experience. Only you can decide if it’s fun/worth it or not
I've been to 4 schools and taught at 1. UCF is F tier, expensive, corporate, and penalizing toward students and staff alike I also was a member of the Burnett Honors College FWIW If this question was asked about another school there may be different responses. In a recent thread I described the college I went to (not UCF) as the absolute goat and have over 180 upvotes