Is this worth attending? My son would love to go to Miami but he will need to get a bigger scholarship than what was offered. Will going increase his chances to maybe get an invite for an interview for the Presidential Scholarship? He will have to miss hockey practice to go and our coach is usually not very nice about missing practice.
Re Red Brick Roadshow, I imagine that administration will be at each event, and will be an excellent opportunity for your student to network and ask about scholarship opportunities.
I would not make a decision based on hockey practice. (and I am a hockeymom of an elite-level hockey player.) As you know, Miami is a phenomenal hockey school. There is of course our phenomenal D1 team, where the former goalie coach just brought The Cup to Miami this past fall. In addition to D1 hockey, Miami has 3 Club teams, and 60+ intramural teams encompassing 5 divisions. So, if your student attends Miami, he will find a team.
@Materof2 - Thank you very much, very helpful information. We appreciate you taking the time to answer
I was going to echo COboysmom: the coach should understand a missed practice (it’s not the playoffs, right? 
and what great hockey choices if he ends up attending!
@Napafolie - no, it’s not playoffs. Playoffs are over MLK weekend in Detroit ?
@COboysmom Personally, I can’t see how it could significantly increase his chances for a scholarship unless he has an in-depth conversation with one of the admissions people – it’s more of a mix-and-mingle event for admitted students and the admissions staff, alumni, etc who visit. (Having said that, there would definitely be time to talk to someone from admissions and possibly hint at how one would get a little more scholarship money, though YMMV.) Likewise, I don’t think it would hurt his chances by not going, either.
BUT…I would 100% go to the Red Brick Roadshow, because it’s a great opportunity to learn more about the school! Plus you get some free Miami swag (and, in my experience, some pretty awesome snacks too, not that that should be the deciding factor or anything :))!) There are really lots of opportunities to ask questions and have some in-depth conversations with anyone you would like to speak to, as everyone is very happy to talk.
IMO, I don’t think skipping one practice should be a barrier to going if your son is truly interested in Miami. A few months from now, his HS hockey team will be completely meaningless, but college is still going to be important! Maybe sell it to the coach that he’s learning more about Miami’s hockey teams
Can I ask some questions? We are going to this, and I see it starts at 6pm. Do you know how long it goes for and if they serve dinner? Thanks
@SuperSenior19 thanks for the info. We are attending the red brick road show in NY on Wednesday and then visiting the campus for make it miami day in a few weeks. Sounds like the road show is very well done. I’m a little jealous that they had the road show at sports venues in some other cities, but I’m sure the NY location will be nice too.
We’ll definitely have a lot of traffic to get there with the a 6pm start, so hopefully there will be something of substance to eat there as we won’t have time to eat prior.
The “fit” is probably what is most in question for our daughter at this point, so hopefully she’ll get to meet and mingle with a good many other admitted students from our area. As parents, we are already very impressed with both the admissions and social media staffs. Both do a great job of promoting the school.
@citymama9 I don’t want to promise anything because obviously it could be different, but yes, it would definitely qualify as dinner! I would probably describe it as heavy appetizers, but it was more than enough for a meal. There was a hour-long presentation and then the mix-and-mingle part, which could take about an hour or more depending on how much you want to talk (and where you are in line).
@lexluthor5, the food was served around 7pm, after the presentation. Ours was at a sports venue, so that might have influenced the choice of food (mini corn dogs, pretzel bites, tacos, etc). It was pretty cool but I’m sure it will still be great in your city! I ate a light snack beforehand just so I wasn’t hungry during the presentation, but you’ll be fine. I actually didn’t talk too much with other admitted students, honestly, but you would definitely be able to if you want.
I agree, they really do a great job of promoting the school and I’ve heard even better things about the Make it Miami day! The only downside is that it’s hard not to be too convinced by the marketing, but hopefully seeing the school will help since I’m going there too next month.
@SuperSenior19 thanks for the info. I’ll definitely be back to post our impression after we go wednesday night. Our trip to make it miami is already booked, so hopefully our daughter doesn’t find anything negative that puts a damper on that trip. We are all excited to learn more about Miami. The profile fits well other than distance from home and the net cost is great after their merit offer, but we haven’t visited the school and no Miami admissions people have been out this way at any events we’ve been to, so this is our first contact.
My daughter came away from the Roadshow really loving Miami. It’s the frontrunner right now. We still have more schools to hear from, but I think this one is tough to beat. Anyone else have thoughts about the Roadshow?
We went tonight as well. I thought they certainly did a great job showcasing the school. Obviously, most any school has a roster of great stories that they can pull out, but the people that picked were very impressive and each story highlighted something different. I thought the main speaker did a great job with his presentation as well and the panel of alumni were all excited to be there and clearly all happy with their choice to go to Miami.
The food was make your own street tacos, some artisan cheeses and some pass arounds.
I just don’t think our daughter is warming to Miami. The net cost will be much lower than the other options, so I certainly like it from that standpoint. It ticks off almost all of checkboxes of things she’s looking for from a numbers standpoint (other than distance from home), but she’s certainly worried about the “fit” and the fact that it’s in the midwest. Both our older daughter and I went to school in the midwest and had great experiences, so there’s some good history with that.
She still hasn’t fallen in love with any other school yet, though we have a visit next week to the school she thinks she likes that most. We are still planning on going out to Make It Miami on 2/22 and are looking forward to it. I’m just not sure what can change to overcome her perception of the fit. Maybe she’s right, maybe she’s not, but, at this point, I don’t think she’s really got enough data to determine that. I know with D1, we visited some schools and she was out before the tour even started. Not sure how they get that feeling exactly or if it’s even a fair analysis, but that’s how it works.
@lexluthor5 My daughter and husband were in Tarrytown last night too. I have a cold so stayed home. You probably saw them there:) When you say fit, what makes your daughter think it may not be a fit? My daughter and husband thought there seemed to be a variety of people last night. However, my daughter felt there was a preppy vibe. My husband didn’t feel that, but said it had a suburban vibe, whatever that means. Both loved what they heard and said the people from the school were very welcoming. Interested in hearing your thoughts when you see the school. We’re going in March.
My son and husband got there late yesterday, missing most of the presentation. My son said it was cool. We are going to visit over February break. Let’s hope it warms up!
@citymama9 I’m not really sure what she means. That’s what makes it tough. I think she feels it might be a bit too preppy? It’s got a bit of a large greek culture as well that may worry her. Not that she doesn’t want to maybe go greek, but if not, maybe it’s a bit more pronounced there than other schools? Or maybe worried about most students being from the midwest and that’s less of a comfort level. But, on the other hand, she doesn’t want to go to SUNY Binghamton because everyone there is from our area/similar to people at her HS.
I’m not sure any of that should really rule out Miami at this point though so we are certainly going to visit in a few weeks and are looking forward to it.
From the parent perspective, we’ve been very impressed with Miami and their communication directly and via social media. Plus, the much lower COA would really be nice. Distance stinks especially since D1 is far away in Iowa and we know not only how much tougher it is to get back and forth, but how frustrating it is for us that we can’t visit too often. For the right situation, that’s certainly not a deal-breaker though.
@lexluther5 It sounds like your daughter needs to see the school in action and really take a look at the students. I think Greek life is big so that’s worth exploring. I understand about the “going far away” aspect. I hope your D falls in love when she sees it. It will make the process easier. If not, she will find the right place. Report back when you visit.
@lexluthor5 I’ve also heard people call it preppy before too. Not to veer too far off-topic, but my two cents is that 1) only 1/3 of students are actually involved in Greek life, meaning that 2/3 aren’t, and 2) the definition of “preppy” can vary drastically from person to person. For example, I’ve heard people describe Miami’s version of preppy as “leggings and Starbucks,” both of which are pretty common at my HS even if it’s not me. Like you, though, I’m holding back on a decision until we visit.
It does seem to be in sort of a remote/quiet area…maybe that contributes to the suburban vibe? It’s something I’m definitely contemplating too (as well as, yes, the fact that many students there are obviously from Ohio, although I feel like there’s a certain level of Midwestern friendliness and down-to-earth-ness that’s a plus in my book).
Happy visiting!
People around here have labeled it J Crew U.
@SuperSenior19 yes, only about 1/3 are in greek life, so the large majority are not. That number is still a lot higher than most other’s on her list. Even more than just the numbers, it sounds like there’s definitely more of a greek culture there or maybe that greek life is more important there than at other schools on the list. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad anyhow. My wife and I were both greek and loved the experience. Daughter 1 wanted to go to a school with no greek life and this daughter is interested in looking, but it could go either way.
Yes, “preppy” can mean a lot of different things. My thoughts on it as far as Miami U is concerned is more to do with the dress. Yes @DCNatFan I think we’ll see a lot of J Crew type stuff and perhaps a student body that is more well dressed than other campuses. I’m not sure that’s so much of a negative really. If “preppy” means that there are a lot of stuck up rich kids, that wouldn’t be good. I don’t think that’s the case at here though.
Hopefully the visit coming up in a few weeks helps understand all of this a bit better. We have a visit coming next week at a school that she thinks is is a better fit, so we’ll get a good comparison.
I just hope she winds up falling in love with something at some point.
We attended a Red Brick Roadshow event and left there not very excited about Miami. We aren’t sure exactly what it was but we just didn’t “feel” it. A week later we attended another out of state college event, which was the total opposite. We left excited and can’t wait to visit in two weeks. I guess everyone have different things they are looking for and when they find that “thing” they just know. At this point I’m with @lexluthor5 , I just want my son to fall in love with a college. Hopefully that’s also the one with the best scholarship offering ?