The University of Tampa

Date: Sep 25 2008
Major: Biology (This Major's Salary over time)
I come from a very competitive, all girl Catholic high school. I chose to come to UT over other universities that would have been more challenging when I was accepted into the Honors and Music Programs. I could not get an honors class in my schedule even after speaking with the head of the program and I had to beg my way into a choir so that I could at least have something that would make me happy.

I knew that UT did not have a very good academic reputation when I applied so I'm not sure why I'm so surprised that my classes are not as stimulating as I would have hoped. Several of my professors do not speak English very well and are difficult to understand. Additionally, if you want to get good grades here, you're going to have to find a way to motivate yourself. There are some pretty unintelligent people here: one girl in my Biology class mistook a chicken for a mammal and a boy in my Calculus class had trouble accepting the concept of infinity. How these people got through high school is a mystery to me.

While I do have some professors with bad English, overall, the faculty here seems to be topnotch. One of my professors has a reputation of being too difficult, but in all actuality, he is probably one of the most intelligent members of UT's faculty. Students just aren't willing to put in the work to do well in his class because they want to lounge by the pool all day instead. One of the Biology professors was featured on the Discovery Channel during Shark Week. Another one of my professors is moving to New Zealand in the new year to do research.

While the people here are not the main reason why I am transferring next semester, they certainly do not make the situation any easier. The majority of the student body is from somewhere up north whether it be New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, etc. The typical girl is blond, overly tanned, and decked out in fake designer gear. The typical guy is desperately trying to look "ghetto" and to "get some" for lack of a better way to put it. It's difficult to find students who are really serious about their work; the library is rarely crowded and when it is, there are often students chatting away on their cell phones.

While the campus is beautiful and well manicured (the school probably pays more attention to its appearance than the well-being of their students), there is nothing really to do in Tampa. There are several clubs in Ybor City and Channelside, but Ybor is not really situated in the best part of town. If you don't drink, you will be bored out of your mind here. And if you don't have a car, forget it. Getting anywhere is impossible with all of the one-way streets on Tampa and taxis are outrageous…a one-way trip to the airport has a flat fee of $25.

In conclusion, if you are serious student such as myself looking to get as much as possible out of your college education, consider another school. UT is beautiful and has a great business school, but other than that, it does not compare to some of the other schools in the area. If you are dead set on Florida, look into Eckerd College in nearby St. Petersburg. The school has a much better academic reputation and also has the gorgeous campus that UT has…plus, it's closer to the beach :). I'm thankful that I realized this so soon into my time here so that I could get out before things got really bad.