I just visited campus today and was very unimpressed…everything seemed dirty and stained…and the campus vibe didn’t seem as great as it looked in pictures and videos. This might have been a deal breaker for me. The freshman dorms reminded me of a jail cell. Did anyone else feel the same way? I love Miami and I love the weather, and was drawn to the U for its academics, but now I feel as if the campus quality is kind of pushing me away…
What?! Weird because the campus quality is what drew me in. Many colleges are old, so I would expect a few imperfections, but a lot of people actually fall for the school after they have visited.
@PassionForUMiami Idk it seemed really dirty for the most part. Especially the architecture building…one of the worst buildings I have seen on a college campus…and I have toured very many. The only nice building was the student center.
What schools have you visited?
@rightofway Boston College, Northeastern, Brown, Cornell, Penn, URI, BU, HWS Colleges, Ithaca College to name a few
I would never call the campus dirty. Freshman dorms and architecture school buildings are not strong points of the school.
You can’t compare any of those campuses to Miami. Totally different schools. Some of those schools have histiories going back hundrends of years. Also, don’t tell us that the URI campus is nicer than Maimi.
@rightofway never said that so don’t make assumptions. I said I have never seen a building as bad as the architecture building on UM’s campus. So what schools CAN you compare to Miami?
@Justinn76 I’m sorry to hear that your visit to campus didn’t leave you with the best impression. Let me try to address some of your concerns. So most of the large buildings on campus were built in the 70’s-90’s including the dorms and the architecture buildings. Part of the reason they are not as aesthetically pretty as those from up north (I’m from NJ and have been to many of the colleges you mentioned) is because the buildings had to be Hurricane Proof. The high rainfall in Miami as well as the chance of strong hurricanes made concrete the best choice for buildings back then and that’s why you don’t see a lot of steal, glass, or brick on campus. I’m not trying to defend the designs (especially of the architecture school; those buildings are hideous and will be torn down in the next 5 years) but it is important to consider these factors when looking at the buildings on campus.
As far as cleanliness is concerned, I am surprised to hear that you found campus dirty. I have always found that the grounds staff do a great job of keeping campus looking clean and well groomed. You may have visited at a bad time but I’m not sure what you specifically found dirty so I can’t comment.
Lastly, I do agree that Miami’s campus is nothing like any campus up north. I think it can be compared to UCSB in terms of feel but there are very few other colleges with a campus ours. Honestly, I think it is best described as feeling like a resort in the keys. What we lack in architectural design, I believe we make up for in natural beauty. But this feel and style is not for everyone and if you are looking for campuses more akin to Brown, BC, Northeastern or Penn, then Miami may not be the best choice. I hope you still consider UM because I do think it has a lot to offer and the fact that we get to enjoy our grounds all year long is a big selling point in my opinion. Either way, good luck with the college decisions!
If you have any questions, feel free to message me.
Excellent post Oceanchem. I have visited UM multiple times and have always been struck by how clean the campus is with no trash and beautiful landscaping. It is certainly a different concept of what a college campus is.