<p>@mwyatt</p>
<p>LOL you’re funny as hell.
Party animal.
I like it.</p>
<p>for any current UM students… I’m not going to be in Florida during orientation, what am I missing out on and what would I have to do once I get back? I’ll be back a few days before first day of classes</p>
<p>@mwyatt-- If you’re underage you’re not going to be able to get alcohol in the Grove or most clubs/bars without a fake ID. And possessing a fake ID is a FELONY in Florida so I would not recommend it. The good news is for the Grove, UM runs a shuttle on Thursday and Friday nights so transportation is free. You can take a taxi downtown for like $50 round trip if you want or the metro is $4 round trip. As for club fees and whatnot I wouldn’t know because I haven’t been. Frat parties are pretty much free unless they’re fundraising and you will probably be able to get alcohol there, but you’ll have to take a taxi to the location if it isn’t nearby campus. There are websites you can go to to estimate cab fare.</p>
<p>@umjess-- You’re definitely going to miss a lot of floor bonding and meeting people. In your few days before classes, I recommend meeting everyone on your floor and spending time with them. Go to the events and stuff and get to know more people. Orientation is really the time to make friends because it gets harder once you’re busy with classes.</p>
<p>Couple of quick questions-</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Is the campus life any good at all outside of parties and clubbing and stuff? I don’t mind that, but it’s not really what I want to do with the majority of my free nights. Is there usually stuff going on otherwise? I’m sure I’ll be able to find stuff to do at any time in the city, but it also seems like going into the city very often would become a hassle.</p></li>
<li><p>The dorm rules say you can’t play an electrically amplified instrument in a room. I’ll be bringing a guitar. How lenient do you think they’d be as far as this goes? I don’t see why it would be a problem, as it’s perfectly possible to turn my amp down as soft as or even softer than an acoustic guitar would be, and I doubt any neighbors would get ticked off if it’s not loud.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Hey justbus,</p>
<p>I’m going to be attending FIU this fall as a freshman and I’ll be doing the QBIC summer bound sessions as well. I’d like to know if you knew anyone who transferred from here or if you knew how to go about applying as a transfer to UM, because I am the studious type and will most likely leave FIU after my freshman year, or maybe sooner. I excelled academically in high school (Enrichment, E.C’s, AP’s, 3.8 GPA, Sports…) I just simply felt that I wasn’t prepped enough to attend a university of a caliber as high as UM my freshman year. Despite my 1820 SAT score from last year, I studied rigorously and will be re-taking SAT Math II, SAT Bio E/M, and the ACT in June. I want everything to be pristine before I present myself. I also wanted to know if you could throw me some tips about the transfer application process and whatnot, I’d really like to know how to dive into the essay topic, just so I have a general idea of what I’m aiming at. And if you don’t mind me asking, is the school generous with their scholarships? Like how much of tuition will they actually cover because I’m frightened of their steep expenses lol. I’ll be crushed if I get accepted and I can’t afford to go 
Anyways hope to hear from you soon!</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Sorry for the late reply, folks! Summer’s here…</p>
<p>@RoKr93–
- I spent my entire Freshman year without going downtown or to a single club, so yes, there are plenty of other things to do. They have events going on on campus all the time because there are so many different clubs that host them. Honestly I spent most of my weekend nights hanging out with my friends in the dorm and watching movies/playing games. It’s so easy to get a group together to hang out when you all live with each other.</p>
<ol>
<li>I wish my neighbors had been aware of that “no amp” rule for their music… yeah, the rules on that stuff get pretty lenient. As long as you don’t bring attention to yourself, start a fire or blatantly flaunt it in front of your RA, you’re probably going to get away with it. Everyone just hid their illegal stuff (mostly cooking appliances) during room inspections (all they do is walk in, look at what’s visible and leave). So I think you’ll be good.</li>
</ol>
<p>@wuantonsoup–
I only know one transfer student and he went to a community college for the first semester and then transferred the second. So I can’t really offer personal advice about the transfer process, but if I were you I’d go to the UM site, search “Transfer” and look at the instructions. As far as essays go, it’s always good to write about something that is very personal to you because it will come across better than something you think they WANT to hear. Draw from people or activities in your life that have helped shaped you into who you are today.
They have a lot of stats about the scholarships on their site. I’m not sure how easy it is to get a merit-based scholarship as a transfer, but you can probably get some need-based ones. Search “scholarships for transfers” on their site and go from there.</p>
<p>Hello Justbus; thank you for taking your time in answering our questions. </p>
<p>I’m an international student and I’ve been accepted to the University of Rochester, NY and the University of Miami. I want to major in Business but I don’t know what school to choose. </p>
<p>My question is: Where does students work after graduating? Do they usually stay in Florida state or some of them move out of state? How strong is the alumni network?
After graduating, I don’t see myself to work and live in Miami. I rather see myself living in the northeast.
I assume that being a UM alumni won’t help me very much if I decide to leave the state. </p>
<p>The University of Rochester is considered as a new Ivy so I don’t know if I would be stupid by not taking that opportunity.</p>
<p>
This isn’t true. I can’t really elaborate too much being that I’m just an incoming freshman for this fall, but UM is a nationally-known/recognized research university, ranked #38 in the nation. It’s not like UF or UCF (and most public state schools) where its identity is known best/only in the state of Florida.</p>
<p>Hello! I have a question for you. I am going to be a freshman this fall and I was just looking at the orientation schedule. I get to move in from 8am-1pm, the first set of students to move in. But then I saw that I have nothing to do until the next day at 6:30pm. My roommate is planning to be gone from 3pm-8pm on move in day. What will I do? What did you do on your first days at orientation before sessions began?</p>
<p>Also, I know this is random but what kind of chair does the dorm come with? I have a nice leather one with arm-rests and cushioning. Should I bring it?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>
Yes you can bring your own chair! The one they provide is a basic wooden one, I believe and probably isn’t that comfortable. I think during move-in you can set the chair outside your dorm (or turn it in somewhere) and they collect it so that you can use your own.</p>
<p>“My roommate is planning to be gone from 3pm-8pm on move in day. What will I do?”</p>
<p>You’ll be on a floor with ~40 other students and an RA. Wander around the floor and make some new friends!! Someone will probably be moving in early like you are. If not, wander the campus - check out the fitness center - go for a swim in the pool. I assume you’re parents/siblings will not be there, otherwise you could hand out with them. I’m betting the time will fly by.</p>
<p>Hi Justbus, I’m a parent of an incoming freshman. Thanks for this thread, very helpful.</p>
<p>Any recommendations about banking at UM? Looks like there is a credit union and a BOA on campus. Any other options that would make it easy to get to the bank?</p>
<p>I saw that one can buy laptops directly from UM. Is there an advantage to doing this, like better tech support? Do students who bring their own still get help from the tech people?</p>
<p>How about a list of must bring items for new students? You mentioned power strips above. Anything else?</p>
<p>Thanks again.</p>
<p>@elzorro If justbus doesn’t mind I think I can help with this one. I’m going to be going into my second year at the U next year so I’ll do my best. The BOA is the best bet. Ease of access to the ATM’s where you can deposit checks and withdraw money whenever you need it. I don’t know of any other options that are on campus.</p>
<p>If you buy it through tech support you get a slightly better deal. I think they install antivirus software and set it up on the internet if you buy though them. If you don’t you still get all of the services listed here. [IT</a> Student Support Services | University of Miami](<a href=“http://www.it.miami.edu/c2/services.html]IT”>http://www.it.miami.edu/c2/services.html)</p>
<p>Make sure you buy a coax cable if you have a TV otherwise you won’t be able to watch it.</p>
<p>Here’s the master list my mom made when I moved in. I’ve edited it a bit since moving in, you won’t need all of it but hopefully it can give you some idea.
<a href=“https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3211694/Packing%20List%20College.docx[/url]”>https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3211694/Packing%20List%20College.docx</a></p>
<p>I was Wondering if UM is a good school for Theatre? Are there any Theatre majors who can answer this question?</p>
<p>@shocker4256 - Your master list is fantastic. Thanks for posting it!</p>
<p>@shocker4256 - Ditto to what Sunnytown said. I am also a parent of a freshman (and new member here in CC), and your list is excellent - your mom is quite on top of things, I see! 
I haven’t started hammering out a detailed list yet, but definitely will be using this as a start and reference. Thanks so much to you (and your mom!) for sharing!</p>
<p>PS - Also many thanks to Jusbus for a very helpful thread…</p>
<p>@Devonte I am not a theatre major but I am in the Comm school and have a bunch of friends double majoring with theatre and I also know a ton of actors who are in the theatre school. I can say that yes it is. Lots of the faculty have practical experience. It also helps with the strong communications school because all the motion pictures students are always looking for actors to work in their movies so you can build a reel. They put on A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Roman Forum last year and it was very well done.</p>
<p>For orientation groups, are you put with other students from your floor or is it random? Thanks!</p>
<p>How is not having a car? I read that first-time students weren’t allowed to have a car. Is there anyway I can get around this?</p>