<p>Looks like my daughter's choice is getting down to Elon or Miami of Ohio. She has visited both but still having a hard time deciding. Which would you pick and why given this choice? Thanks.</p>
<p>Bump. I have answered a bunch of other people's choices. Give me a little help with this one, please.</p>
<p>What is your daughter interested in? What type of crowd does she hang out with? What extracurriculars is she involved with and maybe hopes to get involved with at college? Does she care about climate?</p>
<p>Both are solid schools, but one may be better than another depending on answers to some of these questions above.</p>
<p>Both are great schools. Some differences...</p>
<p>Miami tends to be very heavily Greek oriented. Elon isn't. </p>
<p>Miami is known for teaching and business. Elon is known for liberal arts programs (plus excellent study abroad). </p>
<p>Elon has warmer weather. </p>
<p>Both are somewhat secluded, but would your daughter rather visit Cincinnati on road trips or Greensboro/Raleigh?</p>
<p>Elon is a great school with a very warm faculty and administration. Miami is a state sponsored school and larger. Elon is private, somewhat religious, and smaller. Elon students are HIGHLY respected in the business community from what I can glean.</p>
<p>I dont know enough about Miami to comment with any sense of authority. So dont take that negatively, however.</p>
<p>Elon has a growing sports reputation and a new law school.</p>
<p>MIAMI OHIO!</p>
<p>My sister spent a dreadful two years at Elon. She and most of her friends hated it and got out as fast as they could. There is actually a Facebook group for kids who transferred from Elon. The main points were that it was incredibly preppy and elitist, and the students were incredibly underwhelming intellectually speaking (read: dumb), and the classes and professors in general just weren't stimulating. Also, at least in her eyes, the Greek scene was huge; a bit too huge.</p>
<p>And I must say that unlike myself, my sister is amazingly social, almost a life of the party type figure.</p>
<p>That being said I know almost nothing about Miami Ohio except that a couple of her friends transferred there after quitting Elon.</p>
<p>Also, my sister now attends a HUGE state school and loves it, though of course that partially depends on taste. She was also somewhat into the business field, but found Elon's offerings in that area very disappointing.</p>
<p>Oh goodness! Well...I suppose you cant please everyone. But I have to say drummerdude, that Elon is highly respected in the South and has a LOT of kids from the Northeast attending there. Everyone I have ever met loves it. One kid I am aware of is now managing director for a North Carolina company in Hong Kong, based upon his work ethic, his entrepreneurial spirit, and his overseas studies while at Elon. </p>
<p>Sorry your sister had a miserable time. I hope she is happy now and doing well.</p>
<p>No school wants its students to be unhappy....including Harvard, Northwestern or UChicago.</p>
<p>Some people are better suited socially and otherwise to be at state schools. Some are better suited to be at smaller private schools that are more quiet.<br>
I dont know about Elon's business school per se, only that its graduates get GREAT jobs and are highly prized. A lot of kids find out after a year or two they picked the wrong school....and its nobody's fault, just a mistake in judgment. Nobody wants you or your sister to be unhappy and Elon would be the first to suggest that.</p>
<p>Elon professors and administrators are delightful and warm individuals and I am sure they would be glad to hear she is doing well.</p>
<p>drummerdude_07, I'm sorry your sister did not enjoy the Elon experience. I'm sure it's not for everyone, but then again, neither is anywhere. Some people will go to a small school and find out they really wanted a big state school, and vice-versa.</p>
<p>I just looked on Elon's website and the school has a ~90% freshman retention rate, so it can't be that bad, can it?</p>
<p>This being said, it's tough to give your daughter any further advice until you provide us with some further information, eli.</p>
<p>Eli, your daughter is so lucky to have two wonderful schools to choose between, different as they may be. </p>
<p>I graduated from high school in Ohio and though I did not attend Miami-Ohio, I visited there semi-frequently throughout my college years as I had many friends who went there. Individuals who attended Miami-Ohio from my high school were academically solid and at the top of their game socially. Greek life was definitely a hallmark of the campus and lots of fun, and I can't imagine much has changed in this respect. Being a state school most students are from Ohio, traditional and characteristically like-minded in their thinking. </p>
<p>As an Elon Mom, I can also tell you that Elon has fit the bill for my two very different kids. Coming out of an elite competitive high school, one of them is an accomplished, academic/athletic overachiever admitted to one of the Fellows programs, and the other is an all around happy-go-lucky underachiever admitted most certainly for his potential and not likely for anything he did to draw attention to himself in high school. I am seeing each of these kids hit his stride and take responsibility for his life and education at Elon, and I'm loving it. </p>
<p>Trying to be objective, now, Elon seems to attract a wider array of types of individuals and is a blend of northeast and southeast cultures for the most part. There really is no typical Elon student. I get the sense that faculty and administration are respectful of all students and acknowledge that differences make life rich and interesting. Taking ownership of your own growth and development is a big part of what happens at Elon. Students at Elon might be a little more adventuresome than those at Miami-Ohio given that roughly 75% at Elon come from out-of-state and the travel abroad program is so popular. It helps to have a car with the beach a few hours in one direction and mountains a few hours in another, but most road trips are to Southern Conference games or Duke/UNC-ChapelHill events. </p>
<p>This is an exciting time for your daughter. My advice to you is to have her look inward, know herself, and to her own self be true. </p>
<p>Good luck, and enjoy the ride!</p>
<p>My daughter is a sophmore at Elon and couldn't be happier. I think she chose Elon over a much larger school because of the class sizes. The class size allows for a lot of interaction which she thrives on. She is in the sciences and has already been a TA for 2 classes.</p>
<p>And the answer is: Miami OH. Ultimately, Miami was in the lead going into admitted students weekends and then cinched it. A very personal decision ultimatley, of no use for others coming later. Both schools seem just great.</p>
<p>Best of luck to your daughter. MofO is a great school.</p>
<p>Miami is an awesome school, despite its homogeneous student population. Plenty of nice kids from my old school in Ohio goes there every year.</p>
<p>Best of luck</p>
<p>Miami is a beautiful campus, it will be a nice place to spend 4 years.</p>
<p>great choice, I actually just chose Miami over U maryland College park,
and i am from the northeast as well, also going to a tough private school.
its a great school and HIGHLY regarded for business</p>
<p>Congratulations. Miami is an excellent public university. Comparing it to my state system I’d say it combines the best of the University of Buffalo and Binghamton University. Although the student body is not particularly diverse by coastal standards the percentage of Asian and Hispanic students at Miami actually exceeds the percentage of those minority groups statewide. It falls down somewhat in recruitment of African-American students. Few places are perfect. I think your daughter made an excellent choice.</p>
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<p>Perhaps. I really can’t think of a peer school in Ohio to compare it to both academic and location-wise. But, 3 percent African-American is kind of eye opening. That said, if you Google top choices for African-American students it’s not too surprising. Putting traditional black colleges aside, the list is pretty much schools that are at the top of the academic heap (e.g. Stanford) or larger schools in great urban locations (e.g. University of Maryland).</p>
<p>From an outside perspective both are good schools. I don’t think you could really go wrong with either. I think personally, I would choose Elon because weather, family location, and it’s strength in the sciences. But, I mean you probably could reverse what I said and make a strong argument for Miami(Oh).</p>