<p>Hi. I have several questions about Miami University in Oxford,Ohio.
My first question how hard is it to get into Miami?
My second question: Is Miami friendly towards everybody? because I've known their stereotype f J. Crew and rich spoiled brats. Is that stereotype strong?
My third question: Is it easy to make friends, date, and to fit in at Miami being a black female?</p>
<p>I was admitted to MU back in the fall of 08, visited but ended up not attending. I would say that admissions are somewhat competitive and people seemed friendly. MU/Oxford just wasn’t for me.</p>
<p>I think you need As and Bs, with good SATs or ACT. My D was accepted with a 31 on ACT.</p>
<p>The “stereotype” we are hearing now is most of the kids drink to the point of stupidity, then destroy property and get themselves arrested.</p>
<p>This is not only on campus or in the frat/sorority house. A 3rd sorority now is in the paper for scandalous, unbelieveable behavior while on a trip or at a banquet off campus. </p>
<p>Anyone else disturbed by this?</p>
<p>I am completely horrified by this. Here are letters from managers of the venues where the parties occured: [Sorority</a> Girls Gone Wild - May 24, 2010](<a href=“The Smoking Gun: Public Documents, Mug Shots”>The Smoking Gun: Public Documents, Mug Shots) and [More</a> Drunken Sorority Madness - May 25, 2010](<a href=“The Smoking Gun: Public Documents, Mug Shots”>More Drunken Sorority Madness | The Smoking Gun)</p>
<p>I live in Ohio and have several friend’s with kids at Miami. I would encourage any prospective student or parent to pay close attention to Miami U administration’s response to this behavior. So far it appears to be a slap on the wrist. This is NOT just stupid sorority shenanigans. This is appalling!</p>
<p>"Anyone else disturbed by this? "</p>
<p>-I have not even heard about it. I guess if one wants to get into stupid situations, onw always find the way to do it at any place on any campus or out of campus. D. has never mentioned anything and is having very postive experiences with her sorority. But again, some are going for education, some are going for getting drunk silly. I do not believe that after 18 years old anyone is capable to baby sit a person, no matter where person is, including living with his own parents and attending local college, let alone be away. Yes, there is security on campus. No, it cannot babysit every single activity of all frat / sorority at Miami, and yes Greek life is very big at Miami. We all can only make our educated guesses and talk to our kids about their priorities at college and hope for the best.</p>
<p>The administration should make it known to all students that there will be consequences for such behavior, on or off campus. Sounds like they’re still trying to sweep it under the rug.</p>
<p>The latest sorority to get in the paper was harassing the bus driver on a field trip (name-calling and hitting him on the back of the head AS HE WAS DRIVING), so much that he got off the bus and called his supervisor, refusing to continue.</p>
<p>Edit: The kids were drunk, of course.</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>Will not make any diff. for us - D. is senior next year and she is not staying, since Miami does not have Med. School. But, she surely wishes that it did, she loved it, very hard to match campus like this and she is already complaining about locations of some Med. Schools. People get killed everywhere, including D’s #1 choice, nothing can be done, one needs to be careful and take care to stay away from troubling spots.</p>
<p>mommusic: How many of your children attend MU?</p>
<p>None, but many of my children’s friends do or did (it’s only about 20 miles from us.). It is a fine school with a beautiful campus and I hate to see this blot on Ohio’s public university system because the administration is turning a blind eye to all the goings on. As seems to be the case. </p>
<p>It’s a major topic of water cooler conversation around here. I just wondered if people outside the area know.</p>
<p>Edit: The OP asked about MU stereotypes. I’m just telling you.</p>
<p>Just seems as though the two posters most appalled by a few out of control girls/guys are mothers who do not have children attending MU.</p>
<p>Oh fine.</p>
<p>I am appalled and proud of it. I can’t believe you think it’s ok for THREE sororities to have done the things they did. Did you actually read the articles?</p>
<p>If more of their parents were appalled, maybe things wouldn’t be so out of control.</p>
<p>And as I said, I live near MU. It really distresses me in a way that it would not if it happened in a faraway state.</p>
<p>To recap–the Freedom Center officials confiscated 50-60 bottles of booze. Every girl/guy brought a bottle. Similarly with the other incidents.</p>
<p>Not “a few out of control girls/guys”</p>
<p>
Yes - in the greater scheme of things it is “a few out of control girls/guys”. One (or even two) out of control sororities does not come close to representing the overall student body of MU. To take these limited examples and use them to justify the following statement is IMHO outrageous.
Most? Get real.</p>
<p>This is going on everywhere, heard it from my own son - different school, 20 years ago and hearing it from somebody who could be described at a time a “party anymal”. He said that some kids has never got it out of their system during HS and do not understand priorities.<br>
I am glad to hear that “officials confiscated 50-60 bottles of booze”. Means that they are watching what is going on and doing something about it. I have no idea how it could be prevented. Even searching every car coming to Oxford would not help, kids are pretty inventive. Even if kids stay at home and go to local school, it is not going to stop them from getting drunk and behave silly and even killings happen everywhere. I quess the only solution is to never let them leave thier room. But then, how they going to get education / jobs / get married / get independent. Any other suggestions?</p>
<p>Am I concerned as the father of an incoming student? No. Some of the specific details in these incidents are rather vivid; however, as stated by others, but getting stupid drunk is absolutely normal for college students. In my opinion, our society unfortunately encourages this type of behaviour with a drinking age that is out of touch with the rest of western civilization.</p>
<p>Back in the ancient days when I was in college, the students from colleges in those states where the drinking age was 21 behaved like idiots when visiting friends in states that were 18/19. The kids who knew they could get a drink anytime they wanted it were much more level-headed in their partying. After a couple of nasty hangovers they learn their lesson and eased-off a bit.</p>
<p>I know MADD tries to dismiss the “forbidden fruit” concept, but believe me- its real. The best proof doesn’t even included college age students. I’m a frequent traveler. On your next visit to Canada or Mexico, look at all the U.S. men in their 40/50/60’s buying boxes of Cuban cigars and stuffing them everywhere - luggage, overcoats, and in a rare case undergarments! These are guys who probably have never had more than a traffic ticket sticking it to “the man”. </p>
<p>Everyone wants to taste the forbidden fruit - but some of those cigars might have a rather unusual flavor!</p>
<p>MiamiDap: To clarify, it was the officials from Cincinnati’s Freedom Center that had to confiscate the booze, when they discovered all their young guests were drunk and one guy was trying to urinate on the Slave Pen exhibit! This would be like desecrating Mount Vernon on a visit. I hope no one thinks that was just a silly prank. Kids will be kids, you know… :eek:</p>
<p>No idea if there were any chaperones or “officials” from MU. From the way things unfolded, I gather there were not.</p>
<p>Again, it is the thinking that this is “normal behavior” for college students that it part of the problem.</p>
<p>I do not think that it is very normal, but I also think that some kids go to college away from home with very screwed up priority list in their heads and there is no way to babysit them at any place. I heard this 20 years ago and I hear it now, no difference. It is no excuse, nor it is valid explanation, it is just the fact.</p>
<p>Two articles in today’s paper delivered at least some good news–President David Hodge has a task force working this summer to “review sanctions for Greek organizations, beef up training and teach members how to intervene and stop the misbehavior.”</p>
<p>According to one article, this comes after a 22-page report last year from a national Greek assessment team concluded, among other things, the university office established in 2005 to oversee the frats & sororities wasn’t doing its job, and that the Greek system at MU is “in crisis.”</p>
<p>12 sororities/fraternities have been suspended at MU since 2005. There can’t be that many left. :/</p>
<p>As an alum and a hopeful parent of an admitted student, I am not pleased to see the blight on the university’s reputation in addition to the promotion of the greek system stereotype as a bunch of drunken idiots. 1/3rd of the campus is greek, and there were 26 sororities when I attended and at least that many fraternities. The drinking age changed while I was in college and many greek organizations were just beginning the policy of required mass transportation rather than cars=attendees were spending the night in hotels where their events were held…Dayton, Cincinnati, etc. There were always greek groups under suspension or recolonization for disciplinary or membership reasons. There are 21 sororities and 30 fraternities listed on MUs website, including the suspended chapters (suspension may mean no social or recruitment activities hosted, etc…does not mean their members can’t attend others’ events or that they stop existing as a group; however, their membership suffers in that seniors may withdraw rather than pay dues if partying their main concern and they miss 1-2 years of formal recruitment activities)</p>
<p>Greek organizations do a lot of good for students (leadership skills, gpa standards, financial responsibility, housing, behavior standards, etc) and perform community service but their public persona is always seen as a reflection of misbehavior exhibited by the minority of their members. I would hope the suspended chapters would expel the members involved in these incidents. I was horrified to be brought before my standards board for having missed an officer retreat because I had overslept…we “deactivated” members for actions exhibited in the current suspensions.</p>
<p>I don’t think behavior has changed that much since I was there. Greek life is a social outlet in a small town with few other social opportunities. The kids who drank in highschool will drink in college…greek or not. Some students go crazy in college drinking more freely than parental supervison allowed in highschool. </p>
<p>I don’t like hearing it about my alma mater and like mommusic, that it’s a school near my home and that many local students attend. I’m relieved it wasn’t my sorority; but it just as easily could have been. </p>
<p>Unfortunate timing for Miami as the class of 2009 was smaller than hoped for (% attending that were accepted was down) but 2010 had responded well to their recruitment efforts. Who knows what class of 2011 will bring as parents may steer students away from a university gaining ground as a “party school”? Might help my borderline student!</p>