[TNRyan23]

Can anyone with experience in going to UF or Santa Fe and living in Gainesville tell me about how easy it is to be a student and find any kind of work ?

My wife and I are considering schools to transfer to after we get our current A.A. degrees and UF is on the list but we're a family with a young son and want to make sure that where we go atleast has stuff like food industry jobs.

It's going to be a year or so. So if you can base the info off of the area before the economy tanked that would be great.

[Rae the Chef]

TNRyan,

I am not sure about living there, but UF, being that it's a decent school, is hard to get into. It used to be relatively easy a few yrs ago, maybe pre-2003 or so, but now, it's hard. Not sure you were aware of this, so I thought I'd let you know. As a transfer student with an AA, coming from out of state, your looking at probably a minimum GPA of a 3.2 or 3.3 to get into a competitive program, and you are likely to pay around $12-15K for your first year until you become a FL resident. You could move down an then just work for a year, establish yourselves as FL residents, and save yourselves about $10k. Being that your in TN, I'd also look into Vandy (very good school) and UT. Being a student at Santa Fe might make the transition easier. I believe as long as you maintain a certain GPA (probably 3.3 or higher, not sure) you are automatically admitted into UF, or atleast, that's the way it once was.

[TNRyan23]

I have dual residency. My current GPA is 3.8.

I am thinking about UT but Vandy is out. I can't afford 40k a year for tuition.

[Rae the Chef]

Holy cow! I had no idea Vandy was so expensive! Isnt that where Jay Cutler played?

Anyhow, UT would also be a good choice. Of course, if you are a Gators fan, going to UT is a no-no, but you will see (as you already may have noticed) Gator fans that have moved to Knoxville. On the other hand, if you are a TN Vols fan, it'd be hard to go to UF and not have ppl give you a hard time, as they are rivals, but not many Vol grads move down to FL like Gator fans move up to Knoxville, so you may not have a lot of UT fan company in Gainesville, lol.

[TNRyan23]

Originally Posted by Rae the Chef

Holy cow! I had no idea Vandy was so expensive! Isnt that where Jay Cutler played?

Anyhow, UT would also be a good choice. Of course, if you are a Gators fan, going to UT is a no-no, but you will see (as you already may have noticed) Gator fans that have moved to Knoxville. On the other hand, if you are a TN Vols fan, it'd be hard to go to UF and not have ppl give you a hard time, as they are rivals, but not many Vol grads move down to FL like Gator fans move up to Knoxville, so you may not have a lot of UT fan company in Gainesville, lol.

I'm considering alot of schools but mostly SEC schools not really because of sports but because of the traditions. Besides, It doesn't matter who I'm a fan of, Whoever is my alma mater will always be my school/team anyways so that all changes.

I really like some of the programs offered at Ole Miss and Mississippi State too.

[Rae the Chef]

UF has a good CM program.

[ngrome]

My son goes to UF now, but my wife's cousin and her husband went there when they were young parents, having a kid straight from high school. You may want to look and see if UF has a program which takes into consideration a married couple's situation with children. As my wife's cousin attests to the fact that UF was very supportive of a family situation, with an on-campus daycare center and housing for married couples. They will always be grateful for the support they received from the university for their situation. Go Gators!

[Rae the Chef]

Absolutely! Go Gators!

[Gatornation]

Not sure about jobs but I do know the HOPS restaurant on Archer just closed. That being said BJ's just opened on Newberry Rd.

[TNRyan23]

Thanks for the info everyone, The only thing I know about Gainesville is to never get gas there because they are ALWAYS higher then Ocala and Lake City.