I was there 4 years ago so I don't know what's changed since then, but these are my impressions...

quality of education - overall I thought it was very good. any complaints I have about the program are completely overshadowed by the fact that I walked out of UF with an excellent, diverse portfolio which I am still very proud of and imagine that I will be well into my career. it inspired in me a passion for good design, a rigor to do good work at all scales, and a boldness to approach even small problems with big ideas.

in terms of the day to day, studio classes are huge across the board but the professors still manage to engage the students in class discussions and a lot of one-on-one desk crit time, particularly at the undergrad level.

at the grad level you have to be much more of a self-starter. I think that's why a lot of people who do undergrad at UF don't like and/or don't do well in the UF grad program. there just isn't anywhere near as much individual attention or hand holding (which is how I always thought grad school was supposed to work anyway). you have to be willing to bring as much or more to the studio and other classes as your prof.

non-studio classes - I got the feeling that they were only teaching structures and professional practice classes because they were NAAB mandated. would be nice to see a little more effort go into these courses, especially the latter. but I imagine this problem exists at a lot of design schools.

facilities - dated but adequate. the upside of that is that the architecture building is not some precious untouchable gem. it creates nice interior/exterior connection with its open plan and great views. lots of great places for outdoor classes, outdoor model building, outdoor photography, etc. wood shop is on the small side but adequate. unfortunately no metal shop for architecture program. decent architecture library. architecture building is arguably at one of the best locations on UF campus.

equipment - did not have things like cnc, laser cutter, 3d plotter, etc. when I was there and don't know if they do now. even if they do have them now, the overall emphases of the educational approach are design, theory, process, craft and concept while technology tends to take a back seat.

professors - there are professors of a wide range of ages, backgrounds, interests, specialties, etc. UF was able to pull off a "brain drain" of some profs from Columbia in the 80's, most of whom are still around and, as of when I was there, still heavily influence the program's educational approach. if i have any complaint about the professors it's that many of them can often seem quite cold and distant, particularly on any subject outside of the scope of the class you're taking with them. this is understandable at the undergrad level, particularly at such a large university, but at the grad level it would be nice to have a bit more of a "human" relationship with them.

Personally, I think building models by hand is far more important than using cnc machines, rapid prototypes, etc.

One of those positive quotes was from me, so I'll leave it at that.


Gainesville is about the perfect size town to go to school too.

4arch， thank you very much。I‘m glad that you give me so detail information。