Bad Dorms?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Miami - Florida
1

<p>I haven't really heard anything too promising about the quality of the dorms at Miami (at least for freshman). Can anyone who attends the school comment on this please?</p>

<p>Bad dorms may be a deal breaker for me. I plan to visit within the next 4-6 weeks, but I was wondering if anyone wanted to offer his/her opinion.</p>

2

<p>When you tour the campus, they show you what the typical dorm room is like, and it’s accurate. I personally love the rooms, because I came from a boarding school where our doubles were smaller than the singles here. What specifically do you want to know? The hallways/bathrooms are cleaned almost every day, the RA’s and AF’s plan events for all the students, the floor plans for the rooms can be found online. It can be a little difficult to find a spot for your TV, but that can easily be worked out. Definitely take a full tour of campus when you visit, and if you want I’m sure the tour guide will give you a more in depth tour of the dorms. Don’t be shy – when they open the door to the sample room, push your way to the front! :)</p>

3

<p>rankinr:</p>

<p>I plan on coming down within the next 4 to 6 weeks as well. How many days would you recommend for staying and touring? What are some things that I should make a priority to see? How long have you been at UM?</p>

4

<p>I’m writing this right now from my dorm room (freshman).</p>

<p>And honestly, it is a dorm room. You’re going to share it with someone, presumably. But it’s actually quite a bit of space. A lot bigger than some of the other dorms I’ve seen at my friends’ colleges. If you were to loft your bed (and maybe your roommate’s too), you’ll be amazed at the amount of stuff you can fit in here. Futons, big TV’s, beds, chairs, and still room to spare! I have storage spaces that I don’t even use. :D</p>

<p>My biggest complaint before I came here was that I was going to have to have a communal bathroom. I didn’t like the idea. - Now that I’m here, I love it. I don’t have to clean it. It gets cleaned every morning for me. There’s always an open shower (usually 3 or 4). Never have to wait for a sink. It’s pretty nice.</p>

<p>Free laundry. I like that. A lot.</p>

<p>Yeah. When you take a tour, just be sure to get yourself to the front and look around the room. Don’t be shy. I’m hardly in my room other than sleeping or studying sometimes. The weather is so nice, a lot of people just sit outside with their laptops or just to hang out.</p>

<p>What to see while you’re here? </p>

<p>-Check out a dorm room
-Visit your specific school (Communication, Arts and Sciences, Business, etc.)
-See if you can sit in on a class
-Go see the dining halls and what they offer (Food’s not bad. But can get repetitive by the 4th month)
-Eat at “The Rat”
-Check out the Wellness Center (on-campus gym; super close to freshman dorms)
-Visit the UC (University Center)
-Check out the Richter Library
-Go out to the Coco Walk at the Grove and walk around. Maybe eat at Cheesecake Factory or Chili’s?
-Walk around Sunset (mall close to campus, walking distance)
-Maybe visit Dadeland Mall and Dadeland Station if you have the time?</p>

<p>-And most importantly, walk around campus and get a feel for it. Stop random students (that don’t look like they’re in a hurry to class) and ask them what they think! You’ll learn way more that way than you ever will from a tour guide. I’m so glad I chose UM, because UM is just right for me. I love the feel of the campus, and it’s just the right size: big enough that I meet new people every day, but small enough that I always see a familiar face on my way to class.</p>

<p>Feel free to ask anything about dorm life or anything else. I’ll be happy to answer.</p>

5

<p>JJ227 whats the difference between the two freshman dorms? i’ve heard one is for people who like to study etc and the other one is more like partier people?</p>

6

<p>I’m also a Freshman, so I’ve been here 6 or so months. I’d say you can get a brief glance at the campus in a day, but in order to truly appreciate everything Miami (the city and the University) has to offer, you’ll need at least a few days. I second everything JJ says, especially about the Wellness center. I have a friend who goes to a university with 30,000 or so students, and their Wellness center is half the size of ours… and ours is currently being expanded! :slight_smile: Can’t wait for that. If you visit, you’ll probably see me there, I’m there half of my waking hours, especially after the chocolate festival two weekends ago… Maybe even play a short game of football on the IM fields (outside the Wellness center and the freshman residence halls) if you have a large family :stuck_out_tongue: If you’re interested in ROTC, you can check out their offices when you visit. Maybe try to organize a visit with the Dean of the school you plan on applying to, or the head of the department (or an adviser within the department) in which you plan to study. They can give you an overview of what you’ll be studying while you’re here, and the options you have. Maybe you can work with housing to try to stay a night with a current student, I think I’ve heard of that being done before. You also might want to check out the larger city of Miami, the beaches, and, as mentioned, Coconut Grove.</p>

<p>Hecht has the stereotype of being more party-friendly while Stanford is generally considered more “down-to-earth,” but that’s difficult to quantify (never take a philosophy class unless you want to start saying stuff like this…) I’d say that’s probably relatively accurate. You’re more likely to find major partiers in Hecht than Stanford, but it’s not set in stone. Every floor in every dorm has its variety.</p>

7

<p>Between the two dorms, totally true. The stereotype exists, but it breaks itself quite often.</p>

8

<p>Any chance one of you (JJ227 or rankinr) could take a quick pic of your room?</p>

9

<p>My daughter gave me permission to post pics of her room. I am not sure if they will open, so here is a test run with only one pic. If it works, I will post more. </p>

<p><a href=“http://■■■■■■■.com/ykfduv3[/url]”>http://■■■■■■■.com/ykfduv3&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

10

<p>OK, that seemed to have worked so here are some more.</p>

<p>They are not new and fancy, but I think they are quite large rooms with incredible storage. There are a dresser and desk with shelf above for each student and each student also has a very large closet to themselves. If you loft (like in the last pic) you can fits lots underneath your bed. My daughter has a chair, ottoman, storage self, fridge and microwave under hers. </p>

<p><a href=“http://■■■■■■■.com/yhsdeqe[/url]”>http://■■■■■■■.com/yhsdeqe&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://■■■■■■■.com/yjekr9n[/url]”>http://■■■■■■■.com/yjekr9n&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://■■■■■■■.com/ykfl92d[/url]”>http://■■■■■■■.com/ykfl92d&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

11

<p>it didn’t work for me</p>

12

<p>huh, ok. Can anyone see the pics?</p>

13

<p>i didnt work for me either</p>

14

<p>Here are some pics of my room. A little bit messy. My roommates side is neater, but even though he gave me permission I didn’t really want to take pictures of his side. I also took some videos but they’re really blurry, so I don’t even think it’s worth it to upload.</p>

<p>The closet (just for size… it’s really messy so I left it closed. But there’s a shelf up top, lots of room on the floor and a rack to hang clothes): <a href=“http://www.robrankin.com/myroom/closet.jpg[/url]”>http://www.robrankin.com/myroom/closet.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
Full room as seen just after entering: <a href=“http://www.robrankin.com/myroom/full_room.jpg[/url]”>http://www.robrankin.com/myroom/full_room.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
Full room as seen from outside door: <a href=“http://www.robrankin.com/myroom/outside_door.jpg[/url]”>http://www.robrankin.com/myroom/outside_door.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
The wall with my desk and above my desk. I know, really messy, but it gives you an idea of what it offers: <a href=“http://www.robrankin.com/myroom/wall.jpg[/url]”>http://www.robrankin.com/myroom/wall.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>These pictures make the room look a bit more cramped than it is, I feel like. Maybe I’ll see if anyone has a better video camera on their phone than I do so you can get the full effect…</p>

15

<p>If you’re a music major, Stanford has practice room while Hecht doesn’t. Please don’t let dorm rooms be a deal breaker unless all other factors are equal to you, there is so much more to a university. Enjoy your visit.</p>

16

<p>The dorms are average dorm rooms, nothing special, nothing terrible. People don’t usually spend too much time in their rooms. Regardless, living in the any of the freshmen towers is a lot of fun because the people on each floor are usually close and it is great to be able to walk into your friends’ rooms without having to go to far. They create a nice sense of camaraderie. The actual room itself shouldn’t make your decision just like my3sons said. A great plus to the freshmen towers is that the windows have hurricane shutters that when closed make the room pitch black and really great for sleeping at any time of the day.</p>

17

<p>Completely agree! Those shutters are a life saver in multiple regards :wink: Also, now that it’s daylight, I figured you all might like to see the view from my room… enjoy :)</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.robrankin.com/myroom/view.jpg[/url]”>http://www.robrankin.com/myroom/view.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

18

<p>rankinr</p>

<p>How did you get your pics to post? I can’t seem to make mine work and my daughter has a loft, so I want people to be able to see how that works.</p>

19

<p>I just put them on my website. You’re giving us gmail links… you need to upload them to some sort of web server like imageshack.us, or you can e-mail me them (to <a href="mailto:vasavasori@yahoo.com">vasavasori@yahoo.com</a>) and I can put them on my website.</p>

20

<p>rankinr omg the view is amazing!!
i am so excitedd :)</p>