Questions for current students and parents of current students

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Miami - Florida
1

My son was recently accepted for business and invited into the Foote Fellows Honors Program.

1.) Does anyone have experience with this program and what are your thoughts?

2.) When we toured Miami it was a beautiful Saturday afternoon in April, but the campus was pretty empty. Our tour guide said everyone was at the beach. Is it normal for the kids to evacuate campus in their off time? Or are there activities and things to do on campus? Are intramural sports popular? Club sports?

3.) Off campus housing?? It seems that a lot of kids move off campus. Are the apartments full of Miami students or does it become a situation where you’re pretty much a commuter student?

4.) What is it like on game day? Do many students go to the game and how do they get there?

We are from Maine so I want him to have all the info and not just decide based on amazing weather!!

Any input would be helpful. Clemson and Penn State seem to be the other schools that have made it to the top of his list.

2

FWIW, we visited twice, both times it didn’t seem like there were a ton of kids out. Miami is building more on campus housing with some almost done and others about to start. They will be knocking down the old dorms as they go. Only Freshman must live on campus, they want to have more upper classmen stay moving forward. Freshmen are not allowed to have cars on campus. Students take busses to the football games. I have attended a few games and it looked like there were a lot of students there.

3

Go back during M-F when school is in session, campus is hopping, and The Rat is always busy.

4

Thanks @JamesFL

Is your son strongly considering Miami? If I remember correctly I think our boys applied to a handful of similar schools.

5

@mamawitch Yes he is. UF is his first choice and then Miami as it turns out. With rejections at UT and deferal at UNC I don’t think we picked the right schools to apply to. Both of those schools have artificial caps on how many oos kids get in. So I guess we will know Friday which way he is going. I will say that I will be very mad if he can’t even get into the top public school in our state. It’s a nice idea to get give lower performing kids a chance at the top public school because they had to work or something, but when you push much better qualified kids out to do that, I don’t think that is right.

6

@JamesFL Well we applied to 14!! And it was mostly my doing because I started to panic and kept suggesting schools!! We pretty much hit the whole east coast plus TX. He seems to have narrowed it down to 5, but he’s holding back emotion and thoughts until he gets an acceptance. Smart, but makes the process a bit harder. My niece is a sophomore at Florida and loves it. She’s from GA. The whole online class thing scares me though. I’m not sure where they fall in his ranking. I guess I’ll find out Friday.

7

@mamawitch My D is a Foote Fellow in the College of A&S. Being a Foote Fellow for her has meant being able to move in to the residence halls sooner, being able to register for classes earlier, etc. There haven’t been any major perks and I think it’s because A&S is just so big. HOWEVER, one of her closest friends and freshman roommate is a Foote Fellow in the business school. They are treated like kings and have all sorts of special perks in addition to those I already mentioned (special mixers, advising, etc.)

I think it’s important to remember that the []_[] is located within a large city so there are lots of activities to pull kids off campus. I would imagine it is the same at schools like Columbia, Vanderbilt, Emory, etc. And, Miami has a very active nightlife scene. I wouldn’t be surprised if half the kids were sleeping or in the library recovering from the night before.

That being said, I do believe there is a pretty active campus life at the []_[]. My D is active in student government and her sorority. I can’t speak personally of sports, but there are lots of athletic kids there so I have no doubt that intramurals are big. Even though my daughter lives off campus at Red Road Commons (which is mostly students, btw), she spends most of her time ON campus and, when not in class, she is in the library studying. I am a member of the Cool Parents Group on FB and I can tell you that students are involved in SO many ways on campus, but they had to go out and grab the opportunities.

The freshmen housing isn’t pretty, but it’s functional. I swear my D had more room in her shared freshman dorm room than she has now in a shared bedroom in a private apartment. Anyhow, all incoming freshmen are required to live on campus unless they are living at home with their parents. The freshmen housing is going to be torn down soon to make way for new freshman housing.

Traditionally and currently, rising sophomores put a lot of pressure on their parents to move off campus. They complain of food, old housing, all their friends will be living off campus, etc…you name it. When the new housing for upperclassmen opens in 2020, I believe that will change. It’s going to be amazing and I’m guessing lots of students will want to be in those dorms (and their parents will want them to be there.) Forewarning, housing off campus is shockingly expensive.

I would not classify my D or her friends who also live at RRC to be commuter students. Most of them don’t have cars and either walk/bike, Uber, or take the Canes shuttle to class. They are all actively involved on campus in lots of activities. If they lived farther from campus, it might be different.

The Hurricanes now play their games at the Hard Rock Stadium where the Miami Dolphins play. The []_[] has shuttles that take students to and from the stadium. There is an active tailgating scene that takes place there. It’s super hot (it is Miami, after all.) Some students go to parties at a fraternity house and then take a bus to the stadium. I really wish they had a stadium nearby because I think it would be a vastly different experience, but that is never going to happen.

My D is very happy there. She had the opportunity to go to higher ranked universities and a Big 10 university with a big football scene, but she has no regrets, not one. The []_[] is not perfect, but no place is.

8

Thank you so much for all this info @sdteak. He definitely seems to be leaning towards Miami. He immediately added their weather to his weather app!! We’ll be visiting as many schools as we can this spring, hoping for that “Ah-ha” moment for him somewhere. But, you’re right, nowhere is perfect. I think from everything you said that’s what I have to remember. Sounds like your D really likes it there, and other than getting a good job after graduation, that’s really all we want for them!

Thanks again for taking the time to share all the information.

9

@mamawitch You’re welcome! Feel free to reach out at anytime. I’ll be honest, I was on the fence about Miami, but I’m a big fan now.

10

@mamawitch thought I would chime in. I am a current freshman at the U. I remember being so nervous about the college decisions and everything last year too! As for your questions:

  1. Don't know a ton about the program, but I have a few friends in it and they seem to like it. Basically the only real advantage they see is getting to register earlier than other students for classes. It's a nice perk and honor!

2.My first year here, so I haven’t gotten to April. I had the impression Miami felt like a commuter school before coming, but I’m happy to report it is not. Basically there are people that live off campus and come for school and nothing else. Most, people are on campus Mon-Fri for classes and to hang out. Any partying is done off campus however. Campus is beautiful and can’t beat 75 in February.

3.There are a lot of students that live off campus. Miami is building a new housing complex that everyone is excited about. It will be ready for my junior year, and you’re sons Soph. year if he attends. It is attracting a ton of students and the majority of my friends are living on campus next year. I think off campus housing will eventually become more of a senior thing. Every other college my friends go to also have seniors living off campus, so that is not a big deal in my opinion.

  1. Game day is interesting. Depends on the game. Certain games (FSU this year) are more rowdy than others (Savannah State). Frats have small-ish tailgates that girls go to a lot, but it's pretty fun to go. I went to all the games this year with my friends and it was awesome even though we sucked.

My friend actually goes to Clemson (don’t know anything about PSU sorry) and he likes it, but feels it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Just his 2 cents. Said he feels things revolve around greek life and being in a town named after the school is a little isolating. The best thing about Miami is you have a separate campus in beautiful Coral Gables, but also have the perks of Miami (beaches, professional sports, clubs) there IF you want it.

Best of luck to your son in his decision and hope he chooses the U! Feel free to ask any more questions as well…I remember February last year being super crazy deciding!

11

Thanks for your feedback @princeofhappy. I had heard about the new housing and wondered if it would get more students to stay on campus. We’ll be going to a few accepted student days so hopefully being at the schools again will help him to decide.

12

@mamawitch no problem! I will mention some of the negatives too just to be balanced. A kid I know did transfer out after first semester because he hated the “commuter” feel as he put it. That is only 1 person’s opinion, but weekends on campus are pretty quiet because most people go off campus to party or whatnot. I personally just hang out with friends on my floor, but the people here who are unhappy always mention how they don’t like the fact that the campus is so dead socially especially on weekends and how little there is to do on campus. Again, there are always positives and negatives everywhere.

Basically people who like the school feel that it’s nice to have peace and quiet on campus and go party off campus. And they love the weather. Conversely, the people who don’t like the campus and school hate how dead it is socially on campus, find it hard to meet new people (I do feel that way btw) and wish more people would “hang out” and socialize on campus rather than in random places in Miami.

13

@mamawitch I’m currently a sophomore living on campus.

  1. Being a Foote Fellow has great perks! They advertise the classic “enroll early, move in early, etc.” but the even bigger perks are how you are able to navigate the various on campus offices (registrar, advising, etc.) If a rule exists that doesn’t seem to make sense or is prohibiting you from doing/studying something you would like to, being a Foote Fellow can get you around that obstacle. It has for me several times already.

  2. Yes, campus is dead on the weekends (unless nearing midterms or finals, then library is packed!). Since only 40% of student body lives on campus, there tend to be very few people on campus over the weekends. The 40% who are on campus often go out for the weekends (in my case, usually beach or mall).

  3. The desire to live off campus is terribly misguided in my opinion. You have to bring your car if you want to live off campus, and Miami traffic can make that a nightmare. It’s just as easy, if not easier, to get off campus with Uber or Zipcar. Apartment buildings nearby are filled with UM students, so they are basically just dorms farther from campus, but should something break or have problems (AC, fridge, lights, etc.) you can’t get it fixed quickly an for free (university maintenance is on call 24/7 to fix anything in your dorm room).

  4. Gameday is fun, and the university provides free shuttles to the stadium. Honestly, gameday is going to be fun regardless of where you go (providing the school has a good team, which, despite last season, UM does).

I have a couple friends from Maine here and they all are so glad they came. Before coming, I didn’t want to let the weather be a factor in choosing UM, but the fact that it’s 85 in February should be considered. There is a reason depression rates are so much higher in the Northeast and Midwest. The lack of sunshine in those places can cause serious mental strain when coupled with a tough academic load. Being able to take your work outside in the sunshine and warmth year round makes for a great quality of life.

14

Thanks @Physics_131-S

I think I am overthinking things. We’re going to a few accepted student days this spring, including Miami, and hopefully he’ll just have a feeling somewhere. No school is perfect, I just want him to be aware of the pros and cons at each one.

He’s working on arranging an overnight as well. Just to hang out with some current students and get a feel for the school after all the hype of admitted student day was gone. Never been to one, but I image they do their best to sell you on the school!!