<p>Ok so ill start off with my high school experience. Im one of those kids who went to a really competitive high school where academics came first. I basically spent my 4 years of high school with a little to average social life. </p>
<p>Now coming in to college, Im looking to change that. Is UMiami a college where academics and partying is balanced or its is purely partying? (A lot of my friends have compared it to ECU which is a pure party school. Is this true?)</p>
<p>You seem to be under the impression that the school - any school - decides your lifestyle. You are, for all intents and purposes, an adult. You get to decide how much you party and how much you study. There will be students who will only study and others who will only party; while you can’t make sweeping generalizations about how they are going to perform it’s a pretty safe bet to guess which ones will do better academically. </p>
<p>If you’re going to college to party, you’ll find parties. If you’re going to prepare yourself for the next step and can only envision doing that by studying 24/7 you’ll find that as well. It’s entirely up to you, but if you think you’re going to be able to party the night’s away and still perform well in the classroom, you’re in for a surprise.</p>
<p>Going to make a long story short: In high school, I was a pretty independent, academically-focused, introverted shy kid with very very few friends in high school. Didn’t go to parties, go out at all, drink, etc. </p>
<p>Within a few weeks of moving in to UM (and this is attributable to living on-campus in the dorms), I blossomed in ways that I had never imagined, I have a huge social sphere of friends, close friends, acquaintances, and people from school I now see as brothers and sisters - they’re legitimately like a second family. I go out regularly, have explored and experienced new things (sorry mom and dad!) but I’ve maintained a near-4.0 GPA throughout all of that. </p>
<p>Bottom line is that no matter where you come from or what you’re like, you can make changes and grow personally, socially, and academically instantly upon beginning your journey at UM. You have to just put yourself out there and not care what people think about you.</p>
<p>Miami is not all-partying. There is a lot of it, but there is just as much academic focus. The same kids you see out trashed on Friday nights are the same kids you see at the library late Sunday night and throughout the week, working hard.</p>