<p>As a parent of 4 children, all of whom have either graduated college or are currently attending, I am amazed at how 2 people can have vastly different opinions about the same school. What is obvious to me is that their perceptions of reality are completely shaped by their level of happiness on that campus. If a student is happy, they will love their school, and if they are unhappy, they see everything in a negative light. </p>
<p>My son is a freshman at UM and he couldn’t be happier. By the end of orientation week, he knew everyone on his floor and felt like it was a perfect fit. As a BME/pre-med student, I can assure you that he has never worked so hard in his life so there’s little room for partying. Some of the closest friends he has made are Singer Scholars so I’m sure they’re not partying too hard either. During the week, his days are filled with classes and studying. He also spends part of his weekends on school work and the rest catching up on sleep and his social life. Social functions include going to games, going to The Grove for dinner, using the pool, etc. </p>
<p>As for everyong being snobs, I was there during orientation and never saw anything like that. And although we don’t qualify for any need-based aid, we arrived on campus in a Chevy SUV wearing clothes from Marshalls and looked great!</p>
<p>I think if you are looking at universities based on what the stereotype is of the student body, you might be in for an unpleasant surprise when you arrive as a student yourself at the school you eventually choose. College is an immersive experience unlike any other. I like to call it summer camp on steroids. And while it would be very easy for me to walk you around campus and point out every designer label that goes by, until you do get to campus, I cannot also show you the groups of students that are the biggest (to use your terms) athletes, nerds, hipsters, etc. that you have ever seen. I think when we talk about the U, the word diversity always rolls off of our tongue. And that’s no mistake. There is truly a niche for everyone at UM. Perhaps with the exception of those who love cold weather. </p>
<p>In regards to transportation to Brickell and South Beach, there are a few options. Public transport to Brickell is easy (and quite affordable). There are buses to South Beach as well from there (free transfer if I remember correctly), although that will take you some time. Do NOT make the new-to-Miami mistake of taking taxis. It will be about 40 dollars one way to Lincoln Rd. DO meet people who have cars and check out the ZipCar program on campus. For only $8 an hour, you can rent out a car (free gas and insurance included) to go to South Beach, making it only $2 an hour if you split it with 3 friends. </p>
<p>Lemme know if you have anything else I can answer.</p>
<p>i agree with rghelmcamp and aamato34. the stereotypes are definitely true, a majority of students here are very wealthy and it shows. i often feel that people have an “i’m better than you” attitude towards each other, and much of the partying occurs in south beach and at clubs. a lot of people seem just to be looking out for themselves and don’t seem to care much about other people. also, there’s stereotypes about the two freshman dorms, hecht and stanford. i’m a freshman in stanford and whenever i meet someone from hecht, they give me an almost sympathetic look and say “it must suck to live in stanford” when in reality they are exactly the same, aside from the lobby. i think that also reflects the student body- people who live in hecht honestly believe they’re better than those that live in stanford. granted, that would go away after freshman year since you’ll no longer live in the dorms, but it reflects attitudes of the people who go here.</p>
<p>Majority are very smart
Lots of wealthy kids–tons of BMWs, Lexus, Mercedes and even Maseratis and Bentleys on campus
Can be shallow, but overall friendly
Very cliquey though</p>
<p>In general private schools have snobs and UM is no exception, but if you find the right group of friends UMiami is very enjoyable!</p>
<p>This topic has been beaten to death. Very tired of fighting it, but here goes again.</p>
<p>More than half of students applied for aid and were deemed qualified. Thus this statement:</p>
<p>“a majority of students here are very wealthy” is false. Proof from College board:</p>
<p>Financial Aid Statistics
Full-time freshman enrollment: 2,106
Number who applied for need-based aid: 1,402
Number who were judged to have need: 1,094</p>
<p>Statistics only account for so much. Just because people aren’t deemed ‘wealthy’ by the government doesn’t change their attitude or the way they act. Even if people aren’t ‘wealthy,’ they certainly act like it. The actual wealthy people do flaunt it and the money on this campus solely in cars could buy a nation.</p>
<p>I’m a Freshman here at Miami and I find it hilarious how people always try to say that their “ideal school” is 100% nice, not snobbish, respectful, and kind. There are 9,400 undergrads here with 2,000 freshmen alone. YOU WILL MEET PEOPLE FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE! This is true for ANY school. Your high school probably is the same way. </p>
<p>As for blanketing the entire school as snobbish, it’s not true. Sure you have them here. But you know what? You’ll have this kids at any school. And guess what! You’ll have to interact with that type of people sometime throughout your life as well. </p>
<p>Walk into it with an open mind and a desire to give everyone a chance. You’ll be surprised to find out the true character of anybody here, or anywhere you go to college.</p>
<p>Honestly, college is college. There are all types of people everywhere you go. I go to UM and honestly, have not met any snobbish people that I wouldn’t expect to meet at another school. There are snobby people everywhere but if you’re asking about the majority, no the majority is not snobby at all. People here are extremely laid back. UM probably has that stereotype because Miami is a very superficial city…but isn’t that what makes Miami so great? UM has people from all over the nation and globe. There are absolutely ALL types of students. I’ve seen so many athletes, cheerleaders, hipsters, nerds, gays, lesbians, artists, musicians and more. I haven’t seen very many goths to be honest…but that’s probably because of the weather here. </p>
<p>I’m definitely not saying this because I go to UM…I do recognize other flaws of the school. But in relation to what you asked, I do not think UM is lacking in this way.</p>
<p>and yes, there is a shuttle bus that goes to Miami/South Beach, Coconut Grove, Sunset Place and more. </p>
<p>I hope this helped and let me know if you have any other questions.</p>
<p>I’m also a Freshman and I’ve got to disagree with some of the others. Yes, because it’s a private school a lot of the kids have money and there’s certainly not a lack of BMWs and Mercedes on campus, but not everyone is like this. I have friends from all over the spectrum wealth-wise.</p>
<p>Also, I don’t think the partying atmosphere is “overwhelming.” It depends on who you hang out with. Yes, a lot of people go to clubs on the weekends, but the partying doesn’t really happen so much in the dorms. I have been to one party, and I didn’t drink and that was fine. The majority of my friends don’t drink (of course, I’m on a substance-free floor). We spend our weekends mostly watching movies, going to Sunset Place, playing cards, and generally being nerds.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, people still get their work done. It’s not an easy school to breeze through. Yeah, there are people who go overboard on the partying, but they’re going to find themselves out of here by next semester anyway.</p>
<p>So from a nerd’s perspective (one that hasn’t been to a real party until the one I went to here, and who hasn’t had a drink in her life) I love it here. My friends are either like me or don’t judge, and we have an awesome time.</p>