If you love natural beauty, take a walk around University of North Florida. Here the tall jungle will delight you! The pathway between the Osprey Fountains dorms and the main campus is particularly beautiful. Once on the campus, sit at the tables in the bamboo garden, stroll past the Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. statues in the Peace Memorial Courtyard, and most of all, enjoy the walkway by the water, where you might see an alligator. Here, islands of cypress reach to the sky across the black water. 

Students at UNF (a public university) enjoy some very modern facilities, as well as some older concrete or brick buildings. The recreation center is impressive with its high ceilings, huge windows, and abundance of fabulous equipment. There is a huge ropes course out in the jungle with a zipline that takes you over the water to an island, as well as canoes and stand-up paddleboards to rent for free and take onto the river. Students can also rent camping equipment, or work at the organic farm. The school has many green features, such as the AC that adjusts to the amount of sunlight outside.
While students are in the middle of a stunning and gigantic preserve, they are near the very large city of Jacksonville (home to a navy base), where they can do internships and enjoy the nightlife and restaurants. Beaches with fairly big waves are also nearby, so surfers will feel at home. There is a movie theater, amphitheater, game room, and restaurant with trivia nights and karaoke on campus.
The average GPA of entering freshmen is 3.89, though half of the students at UNF come as transfers from Jacksonville community colleges (2.0 GPA minimum), and the four year graduation rate is not high. Many students also transfer to UF or FSU their junior year. Still, students are very involved on campus, and the college has three times the national rate of students who go on study abroad (there is lots of funding for this). Programs the college excels at are Ecology, Nursing (students can work with Mayo Clinic), Big Band Jazz, and Business. 
You will definitely want to make your dorm room more homey if you live here- unplug the brutal fluorescent lights and bring some lamps. The doors that slam loudly when closed are a pain, but the windows that can open in all residence halls are awesome. Most dorm rooms in Florida have very cold AC around the clock and windows that can't open, but Florida has beautiful weather more than half of the year (Nov-May) so why not enjoy the fresh, perfect air? Osprey Fountains dorms even has a small lazy river and a beautiful pool!

Directions

University of North Florida is located at 1 UNF Drive, Jacksonville FL 32224, call (904) 620-1000.

Click on map for interactive view