Arriving in Gainesville

There are more than 50,000 students at the University of Florida, many of whom fly into the Gainesville Regional Airport. Airline reservations need to be made EARLY! Gainesville Regional Airport is located at 3400 NE 39th Avenue. When making reservations we suggest flying all the way to Gainesville. (For example, a ticket to Miami or Atlanta without a connecting flight to Gainesville will require the passenger to travel about eight hours by vehicle to Gainesville). Bus service to Gainesville is very limited. The University of Florida International Center (UFIC) recommends that students make arrangements to arrive on a weekday (Monday through Friday), since the UFIC and other University of Florida offices are closed on the weekends (Saturday and Sunday).

More about UF

• Virtual Tour
• Student-Led Tours

Finding Your Way around Gainesville

Gainesville's original settlers planned the town in a grid pattern that makes it relatively easy to find one's way around the city. The center of the grid is the intersection of University Avenue and Main Street. Streets run parallel to Main Street in a north-south direction. Avenues run parallel to University Avenue in an east-west direction. An easy way to remember east-west routes is to remember the word "APRIL," since the letters in that word (except "I") represent a route which runs in an east-west direction. Avenues,"A"; Place, "P"; Roads, "R"; Lanes,"L". Routes running north-south are streets, ways, drives, and terraces (SWDT).

The city is divided into four quadrants: northwest, northeast, southwest, and southeast. Since the University of Florida is south of University Avenue and west of Main Street, it is located in the southwest section of Gainesville. Although the University of Florida extends beyond Gainesville, the main campus may be found between the boundaries of West University Avenue, SW 13th Street, Archer Road, and SW 34th Street. Streets and avenues are usually numbered. The lower the number, the closer the street is to the center of the grid. House numbers indicate the street and avenue on which the house can be found. For example, "1608 NW 2nd Avenue" would be found two blocks north of University Avenue (on 2nd Avenue), between 16th and 17th streets. When writing down an address, students should be certain to indicate whether it is NW, NE, SW, or SE and to include its designation, whether street, avenue, place, terrace, etc. Otherwise, there would be 4 different quadrants in which that address could be located, and it would be difficult to find the address. You will need the entire address to enter into your GPS, and for entering your address in your ONE.UF account.

Getting Settled

Once in Gainesville, students are responsible for finding housing, bus lines, stores, laundries, post offices, libraries, banks etc…and for completing all required paperwork. The UFIC recommends arriving on campus no later than a week before the mandatory orientation. Students who have an assistantship or fellowship award should contact the awarding department to confirm when they should arrive in Gainesville, since hiring procedures need to be completed before the start of the semester. Students with an assistantship or fellowship are also required to apply for a Social Security card once they arrive in the United States and have been present in the country for at least ten days. Students with valid F-1 visa status may be permitted to obtain an assistantship or fellowship. United States Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) does not allow B-1/B-2 visa holders to be degree-seeking students nor enroll at all until the change of status to F-1 is approved. F-2 visa holders can attend school part-time but must wait for the change of status to F-1 to be approved before they can enroll full-time.

Gainesville has a semi-tropical climate, with hot summers and cool winters. During a normal winter the days are sunny and warm (60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit or 16 to 21 degrees Centigrade), nights are cool (30 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit or -1 to 10 degrees Centigrade). There are occasional freezing temperatures but it does not snow. A winter jacket is necessary. The summer days are hot (80 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit or 27 to 35 degrees Centigrade) with high humidity; brief rain showers are frequent, especially throughout April/May – September/October; an umbrella/rain gear is suggested.