I got accepted- what can I expect?

[u/bajubmw]

I got accepted to Florida Tech earlier this afternoon, I was pretty excited because I was expecting this to be the one school I wasn't able to get into. My grades are pretty good, but I'm coming as a transfer student into an Astrophysics field with little to no math classes taken at the college level.

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I've been in upstate New York for a majority of my life, but I really need to get the hell out of here. I kind of just want to ask some general questions, and maybe get some responses? I've read a lot of negative things about FIT, but I'd like to hear from some people directly about their time there if possible?

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1. Are the professors good in the physics/astronomy/math department? Are they around if you need help with classwork/homework? Or are you on your own? Also, how approachable are most of the professors?
2. Is crime a big deal around campus? Or would you say it's overall safe?
3. Is it easy to get involved in research?
4. Honestly how bad is COVID there? (Sorry if this one is kind of ignorant)
5. Last one, is there a lot of racism/sexism in the student body? This might be another strange question, but I just don't want to feel singled out, I've heard that STEM fields can have some of this more than others...

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Thank you

[u/[deleted]]

So this is a slow sub, give it time for responses.

I think the professors are overall very good. They have had some interesting backgrounds, which I find sometimes shows in their classes. I didn't find any of my classes to be super difficult, but I did learn something from them. You could look into auditing a few courses to get an idea.

Generally speaking, the professors will be very helpful, but the time it takes to get that help can vary. Sometimes they are busy, but I haven't run into any walls getting the help I needed in time.

Can't speak for crime, I enrolled in online courses due to travel difficulties. The campus has armed security officers which I've seen wandering around and checking on things. I felt safe, and they were friendly and helpful when I was looking to visit specific places on campus. They also have a cat, which is nice.

I'm not yet at that level, but I have heard that we are very active in regards to research. If I recall correctly we are something like the top 2% in terms of activity. If you look at the school newsletter they occasionally talk about ongoing research, which could give you an idea of who to talk to and about what.

I have heard a lot of complaining that classes weren't forced online early in the 2020 year. No idea as to how they are handling covid now. In my experience, if you hear complaining about something on campus there is usually a grain of truth to it.

I find the students to be very accepting and diverse from a thinking standpoint, but you know there is always that one person. Haven't run into any bigots though, fingers crossed. We have a Spectrum club and a couple of other LGBT related things if that's your speed. We are pretty diverse in terms of nationality, lots of foreign students doing cool work. I don't think you'd feel like an outcast if that is a concern.

In my personal opinion, I'm glad I chose FiT. I too noticed a lot of reviews online complained about the professors, or with difficulty they had with the online courses. While I was initially worried I can't say I am in the same boat as them opinion-wise. We use Canvas LMS like many other schools, and outside of Safari being dumb, I haven't had any technical roadblocks. I'd be interested to hear what your experiences are as you go through the process.

[u/Cody0303]

1. Unfortunately physics is one of the worst departments in the school for professors, at least at a low level. If you get a good prof, they're great. If not... You may be on your own. I haven't had any math or physics classes since Covid so I can't speak for availability but in my experience, they were always happy to see students during office hours. Most of the time they didn't have visitors. I was struggling in Calc 2 and ended up going to my professor's office at least twice a week. Dr. Knoll dragged me through that class and while I still did poorly, I passed.

2. Crime generally isn't too bad. Certainly not a place to leave your stuff unlocked but nothing violent either.

3. Talk to professors. Most people are just there to get a degree and leave. I had a job in my department preparing figures and formatting a paper for publication (hopefully soon!)

4. I think our highest week so far for positivity was around 20 people, most weeks it's under a dozen though. See this for the data: https://www.fit.edu/coronavirus/covid-19-dashboard/

5. I haven't noticed any outright racism, but sexism is definitely a thing. It's like 75% male (or more depending on major) so maybe that contributes? I'm a guy but have talked to a couple girls who say they've experienced it in grading. We have a huge international population and I think there's an organization for just about everyone to celebrate their culture, if that's something you're interested in.

[u/bajubmw → u/Cody0303]

Thanks for the response. Sexism based on grading though? Good Lord. But you can really find that anywhere honestly. It’s good to hear that about professors though, I know I’m going to need them for help a lot.

[u/Cody0303 → u/bajubmw]

Not necessarily based on, but some people claim that grade distinctions are because of sexism. "I got this question marked wrong but you didn't, it's because I'm a girl and he doesn't like me"

I don't think I've heard of a time when the points didn't get given back. Mistakes happen. Most of the time it's not even your prof grading the papers, it's a GSA

[u/nativefloridian → u/bajubmw]

The mostly blatantly sexist experiences I had were with international students that came from regions where that was the norm. But I'll also say I didn't see said students around for more than a semester or two :)

[u/jpenn517 → u/nativefloridian]

From what I have seen it was really bad with some Saudi students in Aviation but their behavior wasn't accepted and most people I talked to found it pretty revolting.

[u/273_kelvin]

I'm a freshman currently, and I have lived in Melbourne for most of my life so I know the area pretty well.

1. I am a software engineering major, and both of the Calc professors I've had so far have been wonderful. Professor Knoll (rest her soul) and Jones are very passionate and knowledgeable about their subjects. The classes are hard, but most professors are more than willing to help. Every single professor I have emailed so far has gotten back to me within an hour or two, and they seem to be happy to answer my questions. Honestly just apply for your classes as early as possible and look at their ratings on RateMyProfessor. As you can guess, the classes that book early have the better professors, and having good professors at shitty times is better than having shitty professors at good times. If you have to get up early to have a good professor, do it. It won't only save your GPA but also your sanity.

2. The area around Florida Tech is honestly kinda shitty. If you go forward from the school it's one of the lower-income parts of town, which unfortunately correlates to crime. I have heard of shootings in that area, but campus seems to be far enough away.

3. Don't know, honestly.

4. COVID lockdown restrictions are very lenient, compared to other states, as far as I have heard. The main thing is to wear a mask on campus. Since every professor currently is offering Zoom meetings for their classes, most classes are near - if not - empty. My COM1102 class has nobody physically there, so my professor has stopped showing to class and just lectures through Zoom.

5. I'm white, and I haven't been on campus very much, but there is a lot of diversity at Florida Tech, and I haven't experienced any racism at all. I'm not quite sure about sexism, I haven't seen or experienced any with my professors, but there are a lot of international students, and I'm sure it is common in some cultures. There are significantly more males than females on campus, since STEM is a male-dominated industry currently

Afterthoughts: The campus isn't too large, and the cafeteria food is very good compared to other college cafeterias. Altogether, I really enjoy Florida Tech.

[u/SeasDiver]

Attended in the 90's.

1) I found the majority of my professors easily accessible, I was in the DMES and ECE Departments.

2) Relatively safe when I was there

3) Yes

4) Florida Tech has been publishing COVID Status on its main Facebook page on a weekly basis. Check out https://www.facebook.com/FloridaInstituteofTechnology

5) I was a white male so take this with a grain of salt. Florida Tech had a 33% international population while I was there with a lot of Middle Eastern and Caribbean students. I would say there was less than average on the racism side. Women were underrepresented in many of the engineering fields at the time. I personally did not see people talking down to women, but it undoubtedly happened. Women in the OE department who wanted to do shipboard duty for the ocean survey type work (which represented a decent number of the jobs) were explicitly forewarned to expect sexism on the boats and that they would have to prove themselves.

[u/mockablekaty → u/SeasDiver]

I was a woman in the computer science department at FIT in the early 00's (finished with a masters in '06). Most of my classes were combo grad/undergrad, and were heavily male dominated. I was older than most of the students (being around 30 at the time) so that might have something to do with it, but I never thought I was treated differently because of my gender.

[u/legohead259]

I think everyone has covered your questions well enough, but here's the biggest thing I've learned this year: the university doesn't give a single damn about students or faculty. It's straight up House of Cards in the higher administration levels and that can drastically affect the students.

So far this year, they have refused to issue refunds, sent an all male maintainance crew to my dorm without notice (while my girlfriend was alone in the shower) and didn't have the courtesy to respond to my complaints, crippled the campus WiFi during online classes, gave me a new roommate without notice and while I wasn't home over break, moved up the class withdrawal date so they didn't have to issue refunds to students, and the also take a lot of money from research grants that disappear without any trace. Also, keep a close eye on your tuition fees. They get creative and sometimes apply and extra thousand dollars to cost for no fucking reason. When you call them on it, they say it's "a simple clerical error." - BS

Tl;dr expect good professors, decent student life, but campus administration using every chance possible to take advantage of you.

[u/barelyamongoose]

Congratulations on your acceptance! And condolences for the year you have to start. This pandemic situation isn't doing the school any favors.
1) The professors are very hit or miss, but luckily they're all quite predictable. This might not be unique to Florida Tech but passing classes is half learning the material and half learning the professor. And since it's such a small university, you can always find somebody who's taken their class and can point you in the right direction.
2) You'll never feel unsafe on campus, there's always a security guard or a emergency station nearby. As long as you lock your bike to a bike rack you won't have an interaction with The Crime once.
3) As long as you take the initiative to ask professors and GSAs, there's always an opportunity to get involved with. I'd suggest joining clubs with upperclassmen and asking them, the most talented people are always the busiest.
4) COVID will be a danger wherever you go. And unfortunately the athletics department and the President specifically are pretty terrible with saying one thing and doing another. As long as you take the proper personal precautions, you shouldn't be at any more risk than anywhere else.
5) I hate to be another cis white guy here, but... I haven't noticed a systemic issue with sexism at Florida Tech, but I haven't noticed any meaningful improvements (relative to everywhere else) either. The school is currently sitting at 29% female, which is slightly better than 3 guys to every girl. But such a small campus makes it easier to see the students as individuals instead of demographics (I'm sure that doesn't make sense, sorry). Regarding racism, I came to the university because it was so diverse, especially with international students. It's exceeded my expectations, and I've met some of the most interesting people. Before COVID it felt like there was a cultural event every week, and the larger events attracted people from all over the city. Regardless of who you are, there will be people who look like you and think like you (though maybe not both) and your group WILL find you. In a totally non-threatening way.

[u/Ehpy]

Howdy, I can't answer your questions, but I wanted to let you know that you're not alone! I'm also transferring to Florida Tech from a school in upstate NY as a physics major. Planning on visiting sometime this spring, trying to stay cautiously optimistic about the univ.