<p>How is the college life at Miami so far?</p>
<p>Do they enjoy dorm living?
How is the food?
Have they been able to get into clubs?
How have the classes been? Too big?
Are the students friendly? Have they made new friends?
How have the parties been? (don't know if this is appropriate to ask parents)
What have they been doing for fun during weekends?</p>
<p>I know that football loss was tough...</p>
<p>I'm going to let the freshman parents take this one......</p>
<p>but from what I remember from sons freshman year (oh so long ago)...the answer would be yes...he loves everything about your questions. Even the parties! ;)</p>
<p>My son could not be happier. Both my H and I have graduate degrees from the U of M (Go Blue!) but UM is perfect for our S (Go Canes!).</p>
<p>He has made lots of friends and "meets people every five seconds," is very impressed with the options, people, resources and contacts available at the Bus school, is playing on the lacrosse team as well as a flag football team, likes his roommate and room, found a great job, and indeed is delighted with his choice of UM. He is a very social kid so I imagine the parties are fine too.</p>
<p>He isn't crazy about two of the freshman requirements (English and Intro to Religion) but he is enjoying Oceanography, UMX and Econ. Calc is Calc, a requirement. He likes his advisor. Classes seem to be only a part of the whole experience.</p>
<p>He never mentions the food so I expect it is OK. When I ask he says "Fine, a little boring."</p>
<p>And yes, the loss was very tough!</p>
<p>My S also loves UM and says he could not have made a better choice. </p>
<p>He and roommate get along great and they love where they are-Hecht, Pentland Tower. I haven't heard any complaints about the food but he has said that he has extra meals left on his dining card each week-he has the 14 meal plan. He's a biochem major and his classes are Chem w/lab, Calc, Eng, Spanish and UMX (freshman seminar). Chem is his only large lecture although the Chem lab is only 15 students, all others are 23 or less. Right now, chem and calc are kind of a review for him, but he knows they will get harder. His one complaint is his Spanish class-but he has a foreing language requirement and is getting through it.</p>
<p>He had a health issue and is now in a cast and UM and the profs have all been very helpful and supportive. The residential coordinator has checked in on him to see how he is doing and help him get support services. UM really seems to care about their students.</p>
<p>He has been to the beach, Coconut Grove, Sunset Place and gone deep sea fishing with a frat. I don't think he is the club scene type. Until he broke his thumb he was playing racquetball in the Wellness Center every night. Boredom is definitely not a problem and he says he has met some great kids.</p>
<p>He is one very happy Cane.</p>
<p>Wow April! That's kind of weird, you two having degrees from Michigan, and your son going to UM!</p>
<p>The thing is, both my parents have degrees from Michigan, as well as grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins. It's become like something that the family does - attend Michigan.</p>
<p>I just don't have the passion that they have for the university though. They are basically forcing me to go there if accepted. Not even letting me look at other schools except safeties. I've been a bit quiet about Miami, I really want to go there, it's my first choice. </p>
<p>But everytime I talk to them about it, they just bring up Michigan and say "You're not going to Miami", not giving any reasons. Quite ignorant. I wish I had you guys as my parents! HAHA!</p>
<p>I hope I can still qualify for the 1/2 scholarship. My class rank is VERY LOW (30%, but that's what happens when you go to a school that has the most merit scholars in the state and the top 10% is a 3.93). So I hope that UM considers the entire application, because there is no way they will let me go w/o a nice package of some sort.</p>
<p>Best wishes for all your sons. It sounds wonderful, all the things to do, all the oppurtunities, the weather, etc. So much more to do there than here, LOL!</p>
<p>A squared, our top priority was that the college be a good match for our son, and affordabe for us all. His college counselor stressed that a good fit was most critical - a fit for the needs of the kid, not the parent.</p>
<p>You might see if your counselor can talk to your folks about whether UMich is indeed a good match for you.</p>
<p>For our S it wasn't - we'd have paid OOS tuition, admission to the Bus school wasn't guaranteed (he'd have to apply as a soph), there were not enough internship opportunities, and he hates the cold. So he did not even apply.</p>
<p>That said, UMich is a super place, with a better rep than Miami. It might not be your first choice but it sure is a good school, and I am sure you'd find friends there as well as courses of interest, as they have just about everything! Good luck!</p>
<p>Oh, yeah, if someone comes to your area to interview for Miami, by all means get an intervuiew, and explain that your school is so competitive. My S's school was also very competitive and they took that into account when awarding scholarships.</p>
<p>april - Your son is a business major right? How strong is the Miami FL business program? I don't know much about it, but i'd like to minor in Business, or even dual-major.</p>
<p>how is miami's english/creative writing program?</p>
<p>also, how strong is a miami degree after graduation when applying to graduate schools and jobs, particularly outside of florida?</p>
<p>im applying ED to emory and EA to miami, and at this point, although it is technically more of a "safety", its looking like my second choice school... it just seems like a great time in an awesome place, but still w/ strong academics. </p>
<p>right now i'm looking into the strength of the english/writing programs there, but i know the school isnt KNOWN for those subjects. im hoping thats just because the marine biology program is more popular (and being that its in florida, very applicable), so maybe english is still strong but just a little overshadowed by those majors. however, aside from CCers, i dont really know who to ask about this! its not like i can ask the college..i doubt they're going admit to if the english and writing programs are weak...
help!</p>
<p>Do they enjoy dorm living?
- Dorms are awesome. I got stuck with a crappy/weirdo roommate but he comes in handy. Usually girls comment about him while I'm there and then we get into a lengthy conversation on all the weird things he does and thus I made a new friend.</p>
<p>How is the food?
- In high school, I never ate the food because it horrible. Here, I enjoying going to breakfast and getting 2 omelets (choices: tomatoes, onion, green peppers, ham, cheddar cheese, mozzarella sp?, then regular or egg white) with 2 bagels and some grape fruit juice.
- I used to eat a lot of subway so the deli = my favorite. There is this one REALLY nice lady named Hazel, be sure to always get on her line. All the other people that work there... let's just say they always seem grumpy. The deli is good: you can get French white bread, French wheat, regular white, regular wheat, toasted, hoagie roll, regular wrap, onion wrap, tomato wrap, there are probably more... with turkey, ham, provolone, Swiss cheese, American cheese, tuna, roast beef, mayo, mustard, etc. You can always get it toasted too.
- Grill... always the same: grilled turkey breast, hamburger/cheese burger (bread isn't always that fresh), fries, chicken burger, and hot dogs.
- The pasta! I only started eating from this station recently but it's always been delicious. I mean it's not as good as say a $150 meal in an NYC Italian restaurants (which are to die for mind you), but it certainly isn't something to complain about. Also they always have pizza here.
- Stir fry: ehh, I don't like this too much but I know people that love it. They serve it over rice or spaghetti I believe.
- The other two stations are not really popular unless they have tacos or Chicken Fingers with Curly fries (EVERYONE loves these).
- I'm one of those people that can eat the same thing everyday and never really get too tired of it (probably since I go for breakfast and dinner and not lunch and dinner like most people). As a result of the fact that it rarely deviates from what I've written, most people get bored and go to the Starbucks/Wendy's/Jamba Juice/Panda Express/Mexican food place/food court.</p>
<p>Have they been able to get into clubs?
- Clubs as in nightclubs? You betcha. First three weeks I partied so hard it was crazy. All the frats were having parties, everyone was going out, everyone was ultra-friendly and all that. For the people on my floor it calmed down after that but we still go out on Thursdays (Metropolis), Fridays (take a shuttle to the grove), and Saturdays we go to the beach. That's pretty much our partying schedule.</p>
<ul>
<li>If you meant clubs as in organizations, yup. Although some organizations actually prefer you to not be in your first semester, most are always happy to see new faces.</li>
</ul>
<p>How have the classes been? Too big?
- NO! I wish they were smaller. I hate it when the professor gets on me because I missed a class. Most of my professors know me by name except for my Physics professor because that's a lecture hall with 140 students, although it really doesn't seem that big. My math class has 30 or so, English 16 (although I'm dropping cause the professor. and I, well lets say we don't get along), physics lab 10, calc lab 14, and in the rest are under 20. The classes are pretty small.</p>
<p>Are the students friendly? Have they made new friends?
- I think you have to go out of your way not to meet people. My roommate he's not very normal. I know no one on my floor likes him and most girls are scared to death of him (he'll walk into your room sniff you and leave. yes he's that strange and no I'm not making this up). Even he has found 1 person to talk to (although it's rare that they talk, it's still a friend I guess). During the first weeks the fun thing to do was to walk around and say hi if someone's door was open. What the guys on my floor did (to snag the ladies) was buy a lot of pizza and soda went into the room with the biggest TV and when the girls passed by they wanted to see what was up. We all made A LOT of friends. I don't really meet many people in class since I, for whatever reason, most people in my classes are sophomore or higher. I have met a lot of people tat the guys on my floor have met through classes so I guess it works out. </p>
<p>How have the parties been? (Dont know if this is appropriate to ask parents)
- On campus = none. I remember there was a "foam party" and the only people there were the ones organizing it. We'd all have mini get-togethers in our rooms which are awesome but those aren't parties. I've spent so much money on clubbing it's crazy (the clubs aren't the expensive part, it's the taxi to get there and back that really get you). If you stick to going to the grove and taking the school shuttle to get there it'll only run you $15 (assuming you don't 'drink' anything, it's not that easy to get drinks though unless you're a girl, trust me). House parties are awesome (yes there is drinking, music, and lots of talking) and the cops usually do come shut them down (at which point we all go to someone elses house), but they are a lot more fun than clubs not because you can drink as much as you want but because you can actually talk and sit down and chill. It's not like anyone is saying "You have to drink" either, totally up to you. After a while though, most people realize that it dents your pocket too much to go to clubs all the time and that only way to find out about the good house parties are through seniors (which usually arent very close with the freshman, unless you live on their floor or whatever).</p>
<p>What have they been doing for fun during weekends?
-Hmm... Vision nightclub, Quench nightclub... the grove in general. A new club opened up called metropolis. It's like $30 to get in but my friends know someone that gets us in for free, if it wasn't for that we wouldn't go. South beach is awesome, we usually go relax there. Also, there is a lot to do on campus with other people. The Wellness center is AMAZING, so you can always workout, play racquetball, squash, and basketball, run around the track, play tennis, take karate lessons, learn yoga, etc. Also there is always some type of game going on outside on the IM fields. On Sundays some guys on my floor play 'arena-football' and the whole floor goes to support them because we're the best in the school. Also, don't forget we can't ALWAYS relax on weekends. Sometimes those professors really know how to pile things up on you. My floor mates and I usually don't do anything after 3 on Sundays so that we can sit down and do our homework and all that.</p>
<p>NOTE: I don't want to make it seems like I absolutely love the SCHOOL. I do love all that the environment offers, but not the school itself in terms of academics. I find that it's fairly easy (with the exception of maybe 2 classes) to get a high grade by not doing anything. I find that my physics professor often makes my high school AP physics teacher look like Albert Einstein. I once had to get up and correct a mistake my calculus professor made on the board. Maybe it's because I had a lot of AP classes (didn't take the tests though, I know I'm weird), but I find the school, from an academic standpoint, to be sort of lacking (although I guess some people would expect that). I'm going to apply to transfer to NYU because, well, I like the school itself more and my home is 15 min away. UM is def. an awesome place though. Maybe I'm not giving its academics a real chance though seeing as I am only freshman. Time will tell I suppose...</p>
<p>I wrote so much = (. Oh, I'm a freshman in Stanford - Rosborough and am originally from Jersey (don't know if it matters).</p>