University of Florida ⋆ College Magazine

The University of Florida is THE school you imagined after watching all of those movies about college life. You’ll feel like the ultimate college student strolling beneath the huge mossy trees amidst the brick buildings and cheering on the Gators in the Swamp. This is the SEC y’all, so break out your cowboy boots, and brace yourself for country music and corn hole. UF stands out as the hardest school to get into in Florida, so the student body is full of tons of driven and intelligent kids that discovered Gatorade, Sharklet and the formula for balancing hard schoolwork and even harder partying.

The weather is hot nearly year-round, so you’ll find UF students at the gym more often than not. They’ll be the ones rocking Nike shorts, frat tanks and running shoes every second of the day. The campus is huge but Greek life is bigger. For most organizations on campus, it’s all about who you know, so being Greek plays a huge political role. More than anything else, what truly brings this campus together is the spirit and pride behind their Florida Gators.

The Vibe: Classic large football school

Bragging Rights

No. 48 in U.S. News World & Report Top National Universities

Ranked as on of The 10 Colleges with the Best Career Services

Ranked in College Magazine: CM’s Top 10 Journalism Schools

No. 3 in Kiplinger’s “Best Values in Public Colleges”(2013 & 2014)

No. 1 in Washington Monthly magazine’s 2013 Best Bang for the Buck Ranking

No. 4 in Fiske Guide’s The Best Buy Public Colleges

Ranked in College Magazine: CM’s Top 10 Schools for Greek Life

Ranked in College Magazine: CM’s Top 10 Colleges with the Hottest Guys

Getting In

Average SAT score: 1810-2060

Average ACT score: 27-31

Average GPA: 4.1 – 4.5

What’s important: Application essay, character and personal qualities, extracurricular activities, rigor of classes

The University of Florida emphasizes the “holistic” approach to college applications. They tend to look less at students with impeccable academics and more at students with a strong background in community service, extracurricular activities and general talent. “When I was applying to UF, I focused so much of my time on the essay because it was the only way for me to truly showcase my personality on the application,” junior Stacey Taft said.

Getting Around University of Florida

Where We Live

Where We Study

Death to the Dining Hall

I Don’t Eat Meat

Caffeine Fix

Goodbye Freshman 15

Getting Outside the College Bubble

Annual Bashes

Where we Spring Break

I Like Us Better When We’re Wasted

It’s Not Always Sunny at the University of Florida