My daughter was accepted early action and into UASP. Have not heard about honors yet, which brings me to my first question. When she went into her portal to sign up for a Make it Miami day, she was given the option of adding “University Honors Program and University Academic Scholars Program Breakfast.” Is this option available for everyone and you only check it if you have been admitted to honors, or since it gives her the option to check it could that be a hint that she has been accepted to honors?
Second, we are late to the game I’m considering Miami. She added it to the common app at the last minute and we have not visited yet. After spending an overnight at a small liberal arts school she is wondering if bigger may be a better fit and Miami has risen high on her list. How much does Miami consider demonstrated interest when deciding merit scholarships? She has a 4.0 unweighted, 9 AP’s 4 year varsity athlete, captain, national writing awards and 36 ACT. She would definitely consider Miami at this point with a full tuition scholarship but did she hurt her chances for that by not visiting? (We are in state.)
Lastly— Which is a better bet— sign up for a campus tour at the end of January or wait till the end of Feb. for the Make it Miami. Or should we do both? Looks like the tour on the Make it Miami day takes a lot of time away from other events. Any experience you have had with this would be much appreciated— sorry so many questions!
So we didn’t get to Miami either (among several other schools). So kid applied with intention to visit if accepted. Well be hitting it in late Jan / early feb probably. I would say go as soon as you can and as many times as you can. Time to start narrowing down choices.
@2manycollegequestions4me I have two students at Miami - a freshman and a junior. Like your D, both initially wanted a smaller, private LAC. Both eventually decided a bigger school was a better fit and really enjoy the private school feel of Miami with the advantages a school with bigger programs can offer. We were not able to attend a Make it Miami day for either D, but have heard that Miami does a great job with this visit. I think what’s most important is a visit where your daughter can meet with an advisor and/or professor in her desired major. We found that the Miami professors and advisors are very accessible, so I would suggest your daughter contact the college for her intended major to set up a meeting http://miamioh.edu/admission/visit-opps/academic-exploration/index.html There might be time for such a meeting during Make it Miami, but if there isn’t I would definitely go back for a second visit. The meetings both my Ds had with the Miami advisors and professors is definitely what sold them on Miami.
My younger D is in both honors and scholars. She received her honors invite through her acceptance in the portal and received her scholars invite the beginning of February. It’s possible your D could still get an honors invite, but in years past I think all were sent with the initial acceptance letters. That said, I would not let honors be the deciding factor on Miami. Both honors and scholars are great programs and scholars students have access to honors classes and honors housing. If you go to a Make it Miami, I would definitely try to attend the breakfast. We found the head of the scholars program to be very helpful.
As far as merit aid - last year my Ds came via snail mail on 12/29. She received an updated offer the end of January/beginning of February that was a bit higher because it included an Arts and Sciences Dean’s scholarship in addition to the university scholarships. So depending on your Ds college, it is possible she could receive more later on. Miami is pretty cryptic on why some students receive more money than others. My Ds both received generous scholarships that made Miami quite affordable (we are in state.) Both did show a lot of interest, but no idea if that affected the amount they received.
Sorry for the long post. Best of luck to your daughter. These are exciting times and I’m sure she will land at a fantastic school!
My son applied without visiting, also. He was accepted and offered a very generous merit scholarship and we are scheduled to attend a Make It Miami session in early March. We decided to attend due to the day-long programs, meeting with departments, opportunity to tour campus, honors presentation, and my son was invited to a Presidential reception. It seemed like an efficient way to learn a lot about the school and my son liked the fact that it would be all excepted students attending, giving him more of a feel for who his classmates might be. In the grand scheme of things, I think most colleges understand that families cannot always fly around the country visiting colleges in the short window of spring of junior year/fall of senior year!
For what it’s worth we just attended “Make it Miami”. It truly is worthy of your time. Very informative. My D was also invited to the presidential open house. We really enjoyed it. All
my questions have been answered (and stuff I did not think of). My daughter wanted to commit during this visit. ( they have a table set up.). I must say, they are not pushy at all and wanted to assure the (Merit) offers remain on the table until May 1. She is waiting on a few more schools. Good luck. If you can, it’s worth your time to visit this event.
I wasn’t sure as well. So I brought a sport coat. I left in the car because of the weather. I wore jeans and a button down shirt. But It was pretty casual. Definitely worthy of your time.
Any “make sure you don’t miss this” tips for the Make It Miami event? We are going to the Presidential Open House and of course the college lunch/presentations and a tour. Any other sessions that you would recommend? Things to see on campus or in town?
In town: go to Kofenya, a great coffee shop! My daughter made me take a one-hour detour on our way home from a University of Dayton visit so that we could go back to Oxford for the best chai tea latte of her young life. “Do you want to swing by the campus to give Miami another look while we’re here?” “No, Mom, I’m good. Just Kofenya.”
@JKrazney2 Be sure to walk up town (or at least drive through). We love coffee and scones at Kofenya and be sure to check out Bagel and Deli. If the weather is decent, take some time to walk around on Western Campus - which is actually on on the east side of campus. It’s beautiful and many people never fully explore it.
We can’t make the “make it Miami” schedule work for us, so we are visiting in the middle of the week, doing the standard tour, but getting a private tour of engineering and meeting with ECE and CS professors. We also plan to attend the short honors presentation. I’m bummed we couldn’t do the official accepted Student day…but what else should we see or departments to schedule while there? Wondered if there is something for study abroad? But couldn’t find anything official.
Just as another perspective, attended Make it Miami with my daughter yesterday. Well-spent day. They ran a great program, totally worth it if your student is still considering Miami.
Make it Miami was a great experience - so much so that we just paid our deposit! We loved that we got to spend so much time on campus, worked out in the rec center, ate in the dining halls, lunch with professors from the department/major, saw the housing options, watch the baseball team warm-up for a game, checked out the town (and had a spectacular meal at Steinkeller’s). So happy with my son’s decision - decided school the size of Ohio State weren’t his cup of tea after all!
Glad to hear Make it Miami was great. We are visiting in April from CA but can’t make it to the Make it Miami so going on the tour of the school and the School of Business tour. We are hoping the visit puts it all in perspective with our other options. Good idea about Steinkeller’s – we will have to try that.