U. of Florida c/o 2015 Applicants (2011-2012 cycle) Forum

[VanillaBear]

Just out of curiosity... Have they accepted anyone in their middle 50 percent yet? The lowest LSAT I have heard among people that I know who have been admitted that is a 165. Meanwhile, it seems like FSU has dipped down to 160 already, which is below their median. I know they are the best school in Florida, and many people have their hearts set on this place, but what gives? Schools that are much more prestigous have already accepted people at the top and bottom of their middle 50%.

I got in last week with a 162/3.9. I've seen other people with LSAT's lower than 165 get in as well.

[Dream Machine]

Actually UF averages LSAT scores. See thread:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 2&t=107648

[UMiamiCane]

Actually UF averages LSAT scores. See thread:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 2&t=107648

All scores considered does not necessarily mean they average scores. There are other schools that say the same thing that I know for sure don't average because all they care about is LSAT.

[georgia32]

Actually UF averages LSAT scores. See thread:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 2&t=107648

Well then, if that's the case, it looks like UF is out for me...

[seancris]

Actually UF averages LSAT scores. See thread:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 2&t=107648

All scores considered does not necessarily mean they average scores. There are other schools that say the same thing that I know for sure don't average because all they care about is LSAT.

TITCR

[NoleGirl12]

Just out of curiosity... Have they accepted anyone in their middle 50 percent yet? The lowest LSAT I have heard among people that I know who have been admitted that is a 165. Meanwhile, it seems like FSU has dipped down to 160 already, which is below their median. I know they are the best school in Florida, and many people have their hearts set on this place, but what gives? Schools that are much more prestigous have already accepted people at the top and bottom of their middle 50%.

I got in last week with a 162/3.9. I've seen other people with LSAT's lower than 165 get in as well.

I got in last week with a 160/3.99, definitely one of the lowest accepted so far. If I had to guess my strong PS, letters, GPA, and LSAT addendum helpedd

[seancris]

I went through last year's thread to see when scholarship offers came out after the hollidays. People reported getting smaller scholarship offers (6k/yr) on January 18th, February 9th, and February 11th. I didn't bother to look at anything after Feb 11th since it's so far away. So there's some evidence to suggest that some admitted students may recieve scholarship offers in the next few days/weeks.

And even though the scholarships were 6k/yr, I would say that there's some reason to believe that new offers might be slightly higher this year, given that the max scholarship has increased from 12k to 14k, and that UF has said that the new tuition $ will also be going towards increasing merit aid.

Can anyone who has already recieved an offer tell us whether or not the mailed offer is listed under your "mailings" on the UF status checker? Thx

[bendtheslurry]

Actually UF averages LSAT scores. See thread:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 2&t=107648

I was also told by the undergrad coordinator for law school (Sara Mock) that you should not take the LSAT more than once because they will average the scores (granted this was in 2005). I just don't think they actually do it.

[VanillaBear]

Has anyone already decided on attending UF/where you might live?

[seancris]

Has anyone already decided on attending UF/where you might live?

Grad/family housing.

[LSATmakesMeNeurotic]

Has anyone already decided on attending UF/where you might live?

Grad/family housing.

Are you sure about that? It's expensive, and not all that nice. You can get a better apartment just across 34th.

[seancris]

Has anyone already decided on attending UF/where you might live?

Grad/family housing.

Are you sure about that? It's expensive, and not all that nice. You can get a better apartment just across 34th.

Already live there. My wife and I split the rent, so essentially I pay $260 a month in rent and utilities and couldn't live closer to the law school. I don't know what you mean about it being expensive, it's one of the cheapest places that I've found in Gainesville. Most decent two bedrooms in Gainesville are in the $700-800 range, and it's less than $500 in family housing for a decent two bedroom... and cable, internet, and water are all included in the rent. Cooking and heating are gas which brings energy costs down somewhat as well. There might be some slightly cheaper places along 20th but they're obviously a lot further away and pretty ghetto, and you of course would have to pay extra for internet, cable, etc at all of those places.

[LSATmakesMeNeurotic]

Has anyone already decided on attending UF/where you might live?

Grad/family housing.

Are you sure about that? It's expensive, and not all that nice. You can get a better apartment just across 34th.

Already live there. My wife and I split the rent, so essentially I pay $260 a month in rent and utilities and couldn't live closer to the law school. I don't know what you mean about it being expensive, it's one of the cheapest places that I've found in Gainesville. Most decent two bedrooms in Gainesville are in the $700-800 range, and it's less than $500 in family housing for a decent two bedroom... and cable, internet, and water are all included in the rent. Cooking and heating are gas which brings energy costs down somewhat as well. There might be some slightly cheaper places along 20th but they're obviously a lot further away and pretty ghetto, and you of course would have to pay extra for internet, cable, etc at all of those places.

It must be cheaper than the rest of on campus housing, because I know that when I was debating moving off campus (in undergrad), the rent was about 600 a month for on campus versus 400 off. How long have you been living there? My experience is limited to when the PPD shot kofi in his apartment a couple of years ago, so maybe things have changed since then.

[seancris]

It must be cheaper than the rest of on campus housing, because I know that when I was debating moving off campus (in undergrad), the rent was about 600 a month for on campus versus 400 off. How long have you been living there? My experience is limited to when the PPD shot kofi in his apartment a couple of years ago, so maybe things have changed since then.

It is significantly cheaper than dorm housing. When I was living in Buckman Hall (cheaper than other dorms since there was no AC), rent was apx. $550/mo. When we got married, we literally cut our housing expenses in half by moving into grad/family housing. It's significantly below market value when you compare it to apartments immediately near campus with comparable size. Not sure if the prices are deflated to help ease the burden on married students who have the financial obligations associated with children (as the majority of grad/family housing tenant seem to have young children) or what. Either way, it's a pretty good deal IMO.

Anyone interested in grad housing should know that it is definitely not perfect, though. First, it's very difficult to get an apartment. When we moved in, there were apparently 1700 applications for only 1000 or so apartments (most of which were already under lease). The way to get around this and jump to the front of the line is to do what's called a "quick rental." Anyone who's interested in this should google it to get all of the information. Another issue with grad housing is that the units are pretty old and out-dated. We don't have central AC- just two window units which look like they'll add a lot to our energy bill. The heater is in the living room and consequently only heats the living room. Also, when we moved in the stove was so old (1980s or earlier gas stove) and rusted out that we were concerned about gas leaks and the safety of the unit. Eventually housing replaced the unit though, which was nice.

To answer your question, we moved in last semester. Either way the rent is subject to increase every few months, so even if we moved in years ago we would be paying the same rate.

[corvid]

How do you locals like the weather? I hear it is humid and hot all the time. I had a friend that graduated from UF law and said he didnt even own a jacket. Sounds nice. I also hear there are some epic spiders. Hows the area? Crime? Politics?

[UMiamiCane]

How do you locals like the weather? I hear it is humid and hot all the time. I had a friend that graduated from UF law and said he didnt even own a jacket. Sounds nice. I also hear there are some epic spiders. Hows the area? Crime? Politics?

It is hot and humid- but not all of the time. We do have a winter here, tonight it will be in the 30s and there's even been a few nights in the 20s. Most days in the winter it warms up though. The spring and fall are short but really nice! The summer is disgusting- more hot and humid than South Florida.

The spiders? I guess you're referring to the banana spiders. They are huge but harmless.

The area around UF is generally nice. Just north of campus is the student ghetto, which mixes east (across 13th St) into a not so nice neighborhood but a lot of students still live there. I live north of that area in a quiet, mostly older student and local neighborhood. Crime statistics are inflated because of the university, but generally the worse crime is in the worse neighborhoods (several areas along Tower Road, Pine Ridge up on 34th St, the east side of town (east of NE 9th street-ish).
Go to this website and look at police calls for service in different areas:
https://www.crimereports.com/

Politics are funny here. There is such a mix of people. There are a lot of people who live in areas just outside of Gainesville and work/shop here- they are mostly southern and conservative. The people who live in Gainesville tend to be more liberal.

[seancris]

How do you locals like the weather? I hear it is humid and hot all the time. I had a friend that graduated from UF law and said he didnt even own a jacket. Sounds nice. I also hear there are some epic spiders. Hows the area? Crime? Politics?

Gainesville weather is pretty extreme for Florida. What I mean is that it tends to be 5 degrees hotter than a coastal city on a hot day, and 5-10 degrees cooler on a cold day than a coastal city. Usually like 90+ from mid June until September, and humid. Summers are rainy, just like any other place in Florida. November to March is really nice, moderate weather although it does get cold here. It was 27 degrees here one night a week or two ago... so definitely bring a jacket.

Banana spiders are epic. I would flip out if I found one of those in my apartment. During the summer all sorts of insects (gnats, mosquitos, etc.) come out and make it pretty unbearable to be outside for any length of time, along with the 95+ degree heat. Winter is the nicest time of the year IMO since it never gets too unbearably cold and all the insects seem to disappear from December to April.

I love the area, though. Campus is beautiful. It has a lot of natural beauty, espc. near Lake Alice. Be sure to check out the bat house at Lake Alice at dusk when you come visit.

Crime is an issue, but no more than any other college town. Don't walk alone at night, especially if you're a female. There have recently been a lot of (3-4 in a month) sexual assaults near campus at night. I heard about a kidnapping the other day. Armed robbery, sexual assault, things like that seem to be in the student newspaper at least once a week. The main thing is to stay away from the east side of town if you can avoid it, because that is where most of the crime occurs. If you avoid the east side and generally stay in doors at night, there is practically no chance of you being a victim of any kind of violent crime. Naturally you should also assume that people will steal your stuff if you leave it unattended though.

In terms of politics, Gainesville is a heavily Democratic town, but I would say that UF students might generally lean more republican since most of the students are upper-midle class white kids. The (undergrad) college republicans seem to be a lot better organized than the dems, but the dems are a larger group. So basically on either side of the fence you should probably feel comfortable in this community.

Sorry that was long lol but there's a lot to say about UF.

[seancris]

Also, Gainesville has a superfund site somewhere along N Main Street. If they sell apartments in that area, don't lease one.

[beezy08]

Also, Gainesville has a superfund site somewhere along N Main Street. If they sell apartments in that area, don't lease one.

It's on NW 23rd near main. I wouldn't suggest living over there in the first place but the superfund site is certainly another reason.

[salsahips]

How do you locals like the weather? I hear it is humid and hot all the time. I had a friend that graduated from UF law and said he didnt even own a jacket. Sounds nice. I also hear there are some epic spiders. Hows the area? Crime? Politics?

Gainesville weather is pretty extreme for Florida. What I mean is that it tends to be 5 degrees hotter than a coastal city on a hot day, and 5-10 degrees cooler on a cold day than a coastal city. Usually like 90+ from mid June until September, and humid. Summers are rainy, just like any other place in Florida. November to March is really nice, moderate weather although it does get cold here. It was 27 degrees here one night a week or two ago... so definitely bring a jacket.

Banana spiders are epic. I would flip out if I found one of those in my apartment. During the summer all sorts of insects (gnats, mosquitos, etc.) come out and make it pretty unbearable to be outside for any length of time, along with the 95+ degree heat. Winter is the nicest time of the year IMO since it never gets too unbearably cold and all the insects seem to disappear from December to April.

I love the area, though. Campus is beautiful. It has a lot of natural beauty, espc. near Lake Alice. Be sure to check out the bat house at Lake Alice at dusk when you come visit.

Crime is an issue, but no more than any other college town. Don't walk alone at night, especially if you're a female. There have recently been a lot of (3-4 in a month) sexual assaults near campus at night. I heard about a kidnapping the other day. Armed robbery, sexual assault, things like that seem to be in the student newspaper at least once a week. The main thing is to stay away from the east side of town if you can avoid it, because that is where most of the crime occurs. If you avoid the east side and generally stay in doors at night, there is practically no chance of you being a victim of any kind of violent crime. Naturally you should also assume that people will steal your stuff if you leave it unattended though.

In terms of politics, Gainesville is a heavily Democratic town, but I would say that UF students might generally lean more republican since most of the students are upper-midle class white kids. The (undergrad) college republicans seem to be a lot better organized than the dems, but the dems are a larger group. So basically on either side of the fence you should probably feel comfortable in this community.

Sorry that was long lol but there's a lot to say about UF.

Pretty spot on. Except I really never had an issue with insects in the summer. They are problem in some areas I guess, but this isn't the Everglades either. There has been a recent string of assaults (and two shootings actually), but that is pretty out of the ordinary and actually caused a big stir. The cops stepped up their patrols and I guess its back to normal for now. I've been here 4 years though and crime has never really been an issue (but like sean said if you stay in west Gainesville which is really where everything except the ghetto is, you'll avoid most of the problems - except for drunken fools in Midtown and Downtown).

Btw, if your friend didn't own a jacket during his stay in Gainesville then that means one of two things, either he's chewbaca, or an eskimo, I don't see any other explanation. My first two winters the temps got down to the 10's several times. Last winter was milder (still got really cold though, especially for Florida) and this has been the mildest yet.

[corvid]

How do you locals like the weather? I hear it is humid and hot all the time. I had a friend that graduated from UF law and said he didnt even own a jacket. Sounds nice. I also hear there are some epic spiders. Hows the area? Crime? Politics?

Gainesville weather is pretty extreme for Florida. What I mean is that it tends to be 5 degrees hotter than a coastal city on a hot day, and 5-10 degrees cooler on a cold day than a coastal city. Usually like 90+ from mid June until September, and humid. Summers are rainy, just like any other place in Florida. November to March is really nice, moderate weather although it does get cold here. It was 27 degrees here one night a week or two ago... so definitely bring a jacket.

Banana spiders are epic. I would flip out if I found one of those in my apartment. During the summer all sorts of insects (gnats, mosquitos, etc.) come out and make it pretty unbearable to be outside for any length of time, along with the 95+ degree heat. Winter is the nicest time of the year IMO since it never gets too unbearably cold and all the insects seem to disappear from December to April.

I love the area, though. Campus is beautiful. It has a lot of natural beauty, espc. near Lake Alice. Be sure to check out the bat house at Lake Alice at dusk when you come visit.

Crime is an issue, but no more than any other college town. Don't walk alone at night, especially if you're a female. There have recently been a lot of (3-4 in a month) sexual assaults near campus at night. I heard about a kidnapping the other day. Armed robbery, sexual assault, things like that seem to be in the student newspaper at least once a week. The main thing is to stay away from the east side of town if you can avoid it, because that is where most of the crime occurs. If you avoid the east side and generally stay in doors at night, there is practically no chance of you being a victim of any kind of violent crime. Naturally you should also assume that people will steal your stuff if you leave it unattended though.

In terms of politics, Gainesville is a heavily Democratic town, but I would say that UF students might generally lean more republican since most of the students are upper-midle class white kids. The (undergrad) college republicans seem to be a lot better organized than the dems, but the dems are a larger group. So basically on either side of the fence you should probably feel comfortable in this community.

Sorry that was long lol but there's a lot to say about UF.

Pretty spot on. Except I really never had an issue with insects in the summer. They are problem in some areas I guess, but this isn't the Everglades either. There has been a recent string of assaults (and two shootings actually), but that is pretty out of the ordinary and actually caused a big stir. The cops stepped up their patrols and I guess its back to normal for now. I've been here 4 years though and crime has never really been an issue (but like sean said if you stay in west Gainesville which is really where everything except the ghetto is, you'll avoid most of the problems - except for drunken fools in Midtown and Downtown).

Btw, if your friend didn't own a jacket during his stay in Gainesville then that means one of two things, either he's chewbaca, or an eskimo, I don't see any other explanation. My first two winters the temps got down to the 10's several times. Last winter was milder (still got really cold though, especially for Florida) and this has been the mildest yet.

I'll go with eskimo.

Well then it seems Gainesville isn't that much different from other big cities. Except for giant ass banana spiders, but I can fix that with a cat, assuming these aren't monsters. I would probably also get a CPL/CWP/CCW whatever it's called down there as well. Thanks for the info guys! Now, the matter of getting accepted.

[salsahips]

How do you locals like the weather? I hear it is humid and hot all the time. I had a friend that graduated from UF law and said he didnt even own a jacket. Sounds nice. I also hear there are some epic spiders. Hows the area? Crime? Politics?

Gainesville weather is pretty extreme for Florida. What I mean is that it tends to be 5 degrees hotter than a coastal city on a hot day, and 5-10 degrees cooler on a cold day than a coastal city. Usually like 90+ from mid June until September, and humid. Summers are rainy, just like any other place in Florida. November to March is really nice, moderate weather although it does get cold here. It was 27 degrees here one night a week or two ago... so definitely bring a jacket.

Banana spiders are epic. I would flip out if I found one of those in my apartment. During the summer all sorts of insects (gnats, mosquitos, etc.) come out and make it pretty unbearable to be outside for any length of time, along with the 95+ degree heat. Winter is the nicest time of the year IMO since it never gets too unbearably cold and all the insects seem to disappear from December to April.

I love the area, though. Campus is beautiful. It has a lot of natural beauty, espc. near Lake Alice. Be sure to check out the bat house at Lake Alice at dusk when you come visit.

Crime is an issue, but no more than any other college town. Don't walk alone at night, especially if you're a female. There have recently been a lot of (3-4 in a month) sexual assaults near campus at night. I heard about a kidnapping the other day. Armed robbery, sexual assault, things like that seem to be in the student newspaper at least once a week. The main thing is to stay away from the east side of town if you can avoid it, because that is where most of the crime occurs. If you avoid the east side and generally stay in doors at night, there is practically no chance of you being a victim of any kind of violent crime. Naturally you should also assume that people will steal your stuff if you leave it unattended though.

In terms of politics, Gainesville is a heavily Democratic town, but I would say that UF students might generally lean more republican since most of the students are upper-midle class white kids. The (undergrad) college republicans seem to be a lot better organized than the dems, but the dems are a larger group. So basically on either side of the fence you should probably feel comfortable in this community.

Sorry that was long lol but there's a lot to say about UF.

Pretty spot on. Except I really never had an issue with insects in the summer. They are problem in some areas I guess, but this isn't the Everglades either. There has been a recent string of assaults (and two shootings actually), but that is pretty out of the ordinary and actually caused a big stir. The cops stepped up their patrols and I guess its back to normal for now. I've been here 4 years though and crime has never really been an issue (but like sean said if you stay in west Gainesville which is really where everything except the ghetto is, you'll avoid most of the problems - except for drunken fools in Midtown and Downtown).

Btw, if your friend didn't own a jacket during his stay in Gainesville then that means one of two things, either he's chewbaca, or an eskimo, I don't see any other explanation. My first two winters the temps got down to the 10's several times. Last winter was milder (still got really cold though, especially for Florida) and this has been the mildest yet.

I'll go with eskimo.

Well then it seems Gainesville isn't that much different from other big cities. Except for giant ass banana spiders, but I can fix that with a cat, assuming these aren't monsters. I would probably also get a CPL/CWP/CCW whatever it's called down there as well. Thanks for the info guys! Now, the matter of getting accepted.

Its actually not like any big city at all, but that might depend on what you mean by big city. I'm from Miami so coming to g-vile (pop. 140k) was a huge decrease in size. It feels small town to me, not "white picket fence and a general store" small town, but "drive 10 minutes in any direction and hit rural Florida" small town.

[Dream Machine]

WTF I lived and worked and went to school in Gainesville (UF undergrad) and know nothing of these bananna spiders everyone speaks of...

[dolfan0516]

WTF I lived and worked and went to school in Gainesville (UF undergrad) and know nothing of these bananna spiders everyone speaks of...

+1

Except im here now and born and raised in Miami and have never heard or seen banana spiders

[UMiamiCane]

Allow me to introduce you to the golden silk orb-weaver, commonly referred to as the banana spider:



They are mostly in wooded areas, but I have had some pretty big ones in my yard. These things can get huge! I keep them around though because they don't seem to try to get into the house (unlike those weird jumping furry spiders) and they probably eat things that I don't want.