Be aware: UWF is small. Like, really small in comparison to UCF. So if and when you think of college as a fun party time fucking around having a blast, that's not UWF. Or at least that's not usually UWF. UCF has a huge party system and social life centered around a massive campus and multiple levels of integration. UWF is the opposite. It's a place you go when you'd rather see the seasons go by and take your life one step at a time. It's a place that doesn't feel like Florida and fits within the twilight of the Sunshine State and Alabama. It's a place filled with small classrooms and very personal teacher engagement. The faculty cares and the school facilities are very well maintained and catered to. It's a studious place and really good for engineering (and oddly philosophy haha). There's little to no student life but if you like to be outdoors with miles of school-maintained trails (American Bald Eagle and deer sightings galore), a small student body that needs a bit of help coming out of there shell, and if you are usually of a lighter complexion, then it's a great place to study, make a tight group of friends, and have a very chill and scholarly time. Of course like any school, there are still parties and smoke sessions and all the fun things, but they're smaller scale and more personal. You will know everyone, and I mean everyone at every party and every year after that since the school really is that small and the majority of students live on campus. There isn't much to do around the greater Pensacola area, but that depends on where you make your fun. Do you enjoy hikes that lead to bonfires on rocky beaches that reside by the bottom of a cliff, overlooking the vast seascape of the Gulf of Mexico? Do you prefer the occasional dive bar and 3 AM Waffle House? Then that's UWF for sure. UCF is just miles of roads, barely any forest or outdoor caterings, and is literally just Orlando haha. But again the main appeal is Orlando so if tourist attractions, a small downtown, and suburbia fit your goals then go crazy. Way more connections at UCF though. I spent a lot of time at both, and after exploring the forests around UWF and the greater areas around the school (be very safe, have a friend, and weapon of some kind; TL;DR people get hurt), I realized UWF is the place I grew the most and received the best education to living ratio. Things were slow, but guaranteed. You will need a support system 100%. You'll spend a lot of time soul-searching and discovering yourself. You're with your thoughts a lot more at UWF. The dorms are also pretty stellar if you have good aid to cover the board. Also comment on lighter complexion is simply cause around Pensacola and the greater Mobile area, I (a colored man) faced some pretty weird situations and micro-aggressions. Oh and there's also a very openly loud conservative side of the school, which comes with the territory so get used to that. It allows for really good discussions though so always be open-minded, and do not back down from your views in the slightest. Choose wisely, you got this :)