Warning: this article contains classic clichés. If you have any known allergies to these figures of speech, stop reading immediately, as they can cause serious health concerns. Having said that, here’s Cliché #1: “Life is full of tough choices.” Broad, but true. In this context, the saying applies to the choice of where to go to college. Universities know this decision is difficult and they know the options are bountiful. So they give tours of the campus for potential applicants. This gives people an opportunity to see the school and hopefully make a more informed decision about which college will be best for them.
However, the biggest drawback to these campus tours is that they can be a little bit generic, meaning they only really show you and tell you about the BIG stuff –they’re scripted to cover where you eat, sleep, exercise, and study. They don’t really get into the nitty-gritty details of the school (the stuff you really want to know). Which brings me to Cliché #2: “You won’t know unless you ask.” So we’re going to run with this one. What we have for you here today is a list of five important questions that you should definitely NOT forget to ask during your tour of UCF.
Ask about intermural sports and student organizations.
I recommend this to all students, but I especially emphasize the importance of this for students who come to UCF from outside Florida. I would imagine that these soon-to-be-students are wanting to meet new people (Cliché #3). Intermural sports and registered student organizations are great way to do that. Ask your tour guide when and where sign-ups are held for intermural sports. You can also ask to see a list of student organizations on campus, and when they hold their meetings.
Ask about shuttle services.
For those who will live on campus, this question may not be as important. But there are over a dozen apartment complexes along UCF’s main strip (Alafaya Trail). These neighborhoods are close to UCF, but they’re not on campus. Several thousand students live in these apartments (sophomore year for me) and commute to UCF via the shuttle service (did that too). However, these shuttle schedules and drop-off locations can be tricky. Ask your tour guide to show you the drop-off/pick-up areas on campus. You can also ask to see a shuttle schedule, although sometimes these are not set until the start of the academic year.
Ask about life on campus during breaks.
This is another point that is mainly reserved for students attending UCF from out of state, because a lot of them don’t leave Orlando for breaks. But it could also apply to students who stay at UCF for all or part of the summer semester. The UCF campus changes quite a bit during winter and summer vacations. If you’re not going home for Christmas and youwill be around campus, you’re going to want to know what’s open, what’s closed, etc. As a side note, campus is actually pretty awesome during breaks (it’s practically empty, so you feel like you have the entire place to yourself).
Ask about internships & jobs on campus.
Like my parents used to tell me in high school, “You can’t just go to class and do your work, it’s all about the extracurricular activities.” (Cliché #4) And to a certain extent they were right. Employers look for students who went above and beyond in college and did more than just get 120 credits. Ask your tour guide about internships and finding jobs on campus. They will hopefully direct you to www.jobswithucf.com or KnightLink (basically a job database, but fancier and geared more toward UCF).
Ask about study abroad.
This one is not very UCF-specific, but it’s one of those things that people forget about, which is understandable since there’s already so much being thrown at you. But studying abroad can be very rewarding, even life-altering. Ask your tour guide where you can find out about courses in another country. They should be able to point you in the right direction.
Joshua Pellis is a 2013 UCF Graduate, with a B.S. in Political Science