Hi,
I’m an international student who just found out that she got a scholarship of $30,000/year (= full tuition) from Miami. But surprisingly enough, when I asked the international admission staffs about the Honors program, they said I was not originally admitted so they just put my name back in for reconsideration. Since I got their most prestigious scholarship, I should be at the top of the applicant pool. But why wasn’t I chosen for the Honors program? Not feeling bitter, just totally confused. And also if I get into the Honors program, it will help me decide between Miami and Temple easier (accepted as a Presidential’s Scholar at Temple - full tuition + summer stipends + Honors program).
Anyone had the same experiences? And should I keep my hopes up for the Honors notification? A quick summary of my stats: 3.94 US-equivalent GPA, 2260 SAT I (730 CR, 800 M, 730 WR), 770/800/770 SAT II, 7.5/9.0 IELTS, great essays, great recommendation letters, unique extracurricular activities.
@evelynne1996. My son’s test scores and GPA are very good but not quite as high as yours. He has passed 13 AP classes with mostly fives, captained his varsity basketball team, and had good volunteering and work experience. He received $20,000 per year from Miami. He was admitted to the Honors programs at all the other public universities to which he applied. but not to Miami’s. We don’t understand why he was not accepted into Miami Honors. Like you, he is being “reconsidered.”
@Beaudreau Thank you for your comment and congrats your son on his college acceptances! I’ve heard that Miami’s Honors program used to require an additional essay and now it doesn’t.
@evelynne1996 We are visiting next week for a Make-It-Miami Day to help narrow down my son’s decision. Perhaps we will learn more.
Did you ever hear from Trinity in San Antonio? (I saw you there on a thread.) My son had a very nice second visit last week to compete in the Tower Scholars competition.
Good luck to you!
@Beaudreau I made that thread actually. Still feeling somewhat bitter about being waitlisted at Trinity, I’m not gonna lie 
@evelynne1996 I’m sorry to hear about that. I do know that Trinity has been swamped this year with very qualified applicants. It’s very hard being from out of the U.S. and not being able to visit. As I’m sure you know, colleges gauge an applicant’s interest based on whether he or she has visited. Then they weigh “demonstrated interest” as an important factor in the admissions decision. We did visit Trinity and have kept in regular touch, so this may have helped him get admitted. And most of their students are from Texas, so most can easily drive to campus.
We were unable to visit Minnesota, where my son was wait-listed, even though his statistics were way above average for admitted students.
@Beaudreau Thank you for your kind words. This just shows how college admission is unpredictable sometimes and we have to accept that. I was beyond frustrated when I received my admission result, but I believe things actually work out one way or another. Somehow it did.
Seems like your son has a lot of great options to choose from. Congrats again! Are there other schools that he’s still waiting to hear from or is he done with the application process now? I still have tons of RD schools left so I’m all good. Just hope that I can snatch several more acceptances 
@evelynne1996 We have all his acceptances. We are waiting to hear from Rose-Hulman concerning merit scholarships, and from Trinity concerning the Tower’s Scholar competition for full-tuition scholarships. There were 350 people on campus last Saturday competing for one of 25 full-tuition scholarships. Whether Miami reconsiders the Honors program will also be another decision factor.
Have you applied to Arizona State? I don’t think it is too late. https://students.asu.edu/international/future/undergrad The Barrett Honors College is rated as one of the top public honors programs in the U.S. http://www.examiner.com/article/the-nation-s-top-public-university-honors-programs
http://barretthonors.asu.edu/ We live nearby and have visited many times. It’s new, gated off from the rest of campus, and has its own dorms, cafeteria, gym, and lounge. Barrett graduates go on to some of the finest graduate schools in the world and are hired by the top companies. You should qualify for a significant scholarship. https://scholarships.asu.edu/estimator If my son goes locally, it will be ASU/Barrett. Many of his classmates have already decided on Barrett and most of them have options to go to one of the Ivy League schools, or one of the other top universities. As a parent, I would be delighted to see him there.
Also, the weather is great and there are quite a few Asian students.
This report is dated, but in 2012 ASU enrolled over 3600 Asian students including 48 from Vietnam. https://international.asu.edu/sites/default/files/IntlEnrollmentRpt031913.pdf
This video is pretty awesome: https://vimeo.com/31927104
Thank you for your information, but I’m done with this process. Actually big universities are not for me (looking for small liberal arts colleges) so after Temple & Miami acceptances, I’ll just rest assured that I have somewhere to go next year, while waiting for better offers. I think ASU and its Honors program will be great for other international students as well.
Competition for Miami’s honors program has become very intense, and it is likely that many qualified students will not be accepted. My understanding is that there are only about 400 seats for the honors program out of a total incoming class of 3600. Based upon history, roughly 45% of all Miami applicants are from the top 10% of their class, and with total applications of 27,400 for the fall 2015 incoming class (2,000 more applications than last year) selectivity is very high. Any strong signals you can provide the admissions dept that you will attend Miami if accepted into the honors program will certainly help your chances. Best of luck to all!
I didn’t realize that the Honors Program at Miami was so selective but it makes sense since they had a record number of applicants this year. We are in-state and DD received Honors admission along with $9000 per year. She is planning to do the Honors program but may or may not live in the Honors dorm. My son is a current junior at Miami and was not in the Honors program. He has had a great experience there and has had many wonderful opportunities so I don’t think whether you are accepted into the Honors program should define your decision.
DS received Honors admission with $7000 in state scholarship (4.0 GPA, 31 ACT). If he attends Miami, he is planning on the Honors program and the Honors dorm as it will get him a spot on South Campus rather than Western Campus, a big advantage in my opinion.
My son was accepted to Miami last year, and received a great scholarship he was accepted to IU, and the Kelly school, plus honors, but no honors at Miami. he is not going to either, but it does seem like Honors at Miami is quite competitive. Good luck.
Thanks everyone for your insightful comments. Does anyone know if it’s easy to apply and get into the Honors program later (after enrollment)?
We visited Miami last week and During the honors session they explained that it is a 2 year program and if the student applies for next year there was a good chance for admittance assuming academic success. I believe the merit money, scholars program, and honors program are stand alone decisions. I sincerely believe there are so many highly qualified applicants that decisions could have gone either way for many students for the programs.
More than other schools, we felt there was so much interest in the students and so much in which to get involved. If son wouldn’t have been invited to the honors program it would not have interfered with his decision as we we visited several higher profile schools and this was by far the best fit. If you received a $30k offer they want you to come. When you visit I believe you will see that this place is special!
Thank you for your detailed comment, @StewyGriffin. I wish your son success and I hope he ends up choosing Miami! It’s a really good school and I’m aware of that. Right now I’m leaning towards Miami too.
My son was just accepted into Honors. Successful appeal!
Congratulations to your son, @Beaudreau! I was rejected once again, unfortunately.
@evelynne1996 It could be a coincidence, but we paid the enrollment deposit on Sunday afternoon, and he got the email on Monday afternoon. Maybe they were looking for a commitment from him, before giving him a spot. He had decided that he wanted to go to Miami, honors or no honors. And being honest, we did not see as much value added by Miami Honors, compared to Arizona or especially Arizona State’s Barrett Honor College. Miami’s base commitment to and quality of undergraduate education far exceeds ASU’s. Barrett levels the playing field. Barrett’s facilities are also significantly better than Miami’s honor facilities. Barrett is actually gated off from mega-ASU. The complex is less than ten-years old, with great dorms, a really nice Barrett cafeteria, a dedicated fitness facility, student lounges, meeting rooms, and classrooms.
So our conclusion was that Miami would be a great college to attend, with or without the honors program, whereas we would not want to go to ASU without Barrett. ASU was losing too many top Arizona students to OOS schools and Barrett was the response. Arizona kids can get a great education with in-store tuition, and generous merit aid. ASU/Barrett also attracts OOS and International students that would not even have considered ASU alone. My son wanted to go OOS, so he is Miami bound.