<p>Thanks for the warm welcomes!
Dumbo11 - Crossing my fingers for tomorrow! I’m not sure how it will go though because of the interview; I don’t know how well the interview went - some parts were okay but others weren’t as good. My interviewer did tell me my essay was “very moving” though, which made me feel good! (And I’m excited for the upcoming cruise! Did you go on any excursions you would recommend?)
Oh and Illinois mom’s description of my attire was pretty accurate.
Musicalme - When it comes to ballet flats, I think most girls here wore them because of all the walking; however if you have a pair of low heels that you are comfortable walking in, those could be good too! I did see a few girls with heels, they were only 1-2 inches high at most though. And I do suggest bringing a lightweight cardigan or cropped sweater. Many of the rooms have the air-conditioning on high; it didn’t really bother me, but my mom asked to borrow my sweater a few times. I also put the sweater on for the interview to look more professional.</p>
<p>Thanks you guys! You have all been soo helpful. 
Do you think like nice leather embellished sandals would be okay? (the Greek-looking ones…any idea what I’m talking about? haha) Would sun-dresses be okay for both days?</p>
<p>Yes, I think the sandals you are describing would be fine as long as they are comfortable.<br>
Yes also on the sundresses, but I’d take a lightweight cardigan. I think you’ll need it inside, because they really keep the a/c on.</p>
<p>Okay thanks for your help!
What were the interviews like? It’s fine if you don’t want to release that info…I don’t know how private it is ha.</p>
<p>My interview went really well. My student interviewer was also my student mentor, so it was really easy to talk to her (I’d already talked to her during the day). My faculty interviewer was Dr. Hitchcock of the marine science school, and he was awesome. Really easy to talk to, easy to get along with, asked only questions that were important (as opposed to typical interview questions). It really was more like a conversation between the three of us than an interview. I really enjoyed talking to him, found out a few things I had questions about (ask questions, it shows you’re interested). Hope this helped!</p>
<p>that awkward moment when you’re on CC and see your mom posting</p>
<p>that awkward moment when you realize you somewhat know the person you are talking to. hi DiverMom! I’m really not superficially obsessed with clothes :P</p>
<p>**<a href=“Part%204”>color=orange</a><br>
[/color]
Well hello there, lovetodive, yes, lots of moms and daughters are bonding and spending quality time together on this thread it seems!
These are my impressions and recollections – please feel free to make additions, and/or correct me if I misremembered or omitted something!
By now the weekend’s events were drawing to a close with only the interviews and closing session left to describe. Since I wasn’t privy to any interviews all I can report is what I heard secondhand. D talked to a group of students after their interviews because she was in group A and had free time to spend socializing with other students coming out of their interviews. One group of boys she talked to asked if she was illinoismom93’s D since her nametag listed her hometown and state. When she acknowledged her parentage, they confessed to stalking my posts on CC!
Apparently that’s what prompted her to drop the books for a while and head over here yesterday to check out my posts and make sure I’m not embarrassing her by posting public pictures of her standing in front of palm trees on campus, etc. Like I would even think of doing anything like that! Not on this thread anyway, since I can’t paste pictures in here, you’ve gotta go to the real trip reports section to see all those embarrassing photos ; ) Anyway, while here, she discovered a thread that kept her in hysterics for at least an hour:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/705291-stupidest-reason-child-wont-look-college.html?highlight=stupidest[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/705291-stupidest-reason-child-wont-look-college.html?highlight=stupidest</a>
Check it out if you need something funny to distract you from the last hours of tonight (since hopefully we will all wake up to an early morning email containing good news!)
So about those interviews……During the parent presentation, I think it was Dr. Green who told us not to worry because the interviews were set up as a casual conversation. Afterward it sounded as if things ran the gamut from that casual conversation (sounds like marinebio444 had one of those) to more generic open ended formal interview “tell me about yourself” questions to specific questions about the applicant’s high school, to a relaxed conversation about movies, to a request to draw a calculus picture, really no pattern or standard list of questions as far as I could tell. These descriptions all came from different kids D talked to; she’s quite a chatty girl - with peers at least; I know her interviewer made her clam up at one point though : (
I asked another girl in D’s mentor group what she thought about the interview when I saw her immediately afterward. She looked unnerved and said it was “weird.” So there certainly didn’t appear to be any script that was followed or any consistency to the interview questions from what I heard. The interviewers did appear to have read the applicant’s essay, or at least they did in my D’s cases since it was discussed in the interview.
D is really unsure about how her interview went… she was more confident about it right afterward but as time has passed, has started over-analyzing every question and answer, so we are all pretty nervous about tomorrow! She just can’t attend without the Singer or equivalent, so thanks so much, Dumbo11, for reminding us both what happened last year to Zinc’s D. That really will help if bad news arrives mid-day since we’ll still have some hope; Zinc’s D’s award didn’t appear until a few weeks, I think, after Stamps weekend. I’m sure he would chime in here with the exact date it appeared on myUM on any other day but is off on vacation with the family sans computer. He has a blackberry but can’t type well on it : ( so he’s probably reading our posts in frustration at not being able to whip off one of his speedy replies!
to be continued…
**</p>
<p>Somefay I wil lern to tyep on 1 of thees dum smert phoens!
~Zinnk</p>
<p>haha! Come back soon Zinc, you are sorely missed! </p>
<p>And I looked up last year’s Singer/Stamps notification time based on posts here on CC. I thought it was two weeks later but it wasn’t. It was the exact same timing, 9 days later on Monday at 3:21pm CENTRAL time, the first person posted their results and then everyone else checked email and posted, so they all seemed to have been seen out at the same time. </p>
<p>So right as they were leaving the office probably…Going to TRY to get some sleep now! GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!</p>
<p>**<a href=“Part%205”>color=green</a><br>
[/color]
These are my impressions and recollections please feel free to make additions, and/or correct me if I misremembered or omitted something, especially since I did NOT take my normal notes during this presentation!
So I messed this part up - I remember very little about the closing speech by Provost LeBlanc because while he was introducing Donna Shalala and describing her back story, I was anxiously waiting to hear her speak and just sat there watching her the whole time he talked. All I remember hearing from him was her introduction : ( So please chime in here and let me know what I missed! I took notes during most of the other presentations, which is the only way I could recreate the weekend for this trip report, of course, but forgot to while Dr. LeBlanc was speaking. Before he even started talking, Dr. Shalala, who was there a little earlier than the scheduled start time, instead of chatting with him, or looking at her notes, or whatever you might expect, instead walked up to everyone sitting in the front row to introduce herself and chat a bit to each person! We were kicking ourselves that whole time for not getting there early enough to get those seats; we were in the second row. Luckily at the end of the presentation she and Dr. LeBlanc stayed to chat with everyone so we had a chance to meet and shake her hand then. </p>
<p>Next she spoke. She is completely down to earth and unpretentious. Her demeanor is relaxed and friendly and she is obviously very very student focused. She talked a lot about the healthcare policy class she teaches, and how former President Clinton called her to ask her to have dinner recently since he was going to be in the area playing golf, and she said, “I cant, Bill! Ive got a class to teach.” Her class, btw, is scheduled at an odd time, Mondays at 5pm, I think, which she said is intentional so as not to conflict with many other classes to ensure that the largest number of students can fit it into their schedules. There is no cap on the size of the class, and any junior or senior can take the class, regardless of their major. It is the largest class at the <em>. I think she said there are 300 students enrolled and that fits with the press release afterward (pics here too).
[A Presidents? Day to Remember | News Releases | University of Miami](<a href=“http://www.miami.edu/index.php/news/releases/a”>http://www.miami.edu/index.php/news/releases/a</a></em>presidents/)
Her class is held in the same Storer Auditorium we were sitting in at the time, and which I noticed has AC outlets built into the side of the seats for your laptop. This is a class D cant wait to take since our countrys health care policy/access has long been an important issue to her and the opportunity to learn from the former Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Clinton cabinet talk about a once in a lifetime experience.
Anyway, she was able to convince him to stop by and help her teach the class. He told her that if it was a surprise he didnt need to arrange it with the secret service, so when her class started that Monday night, which happened to be on Presidents Day, she told her class that since it was Presidents Day, she thought they should have a President! And then he walked in. He talked for I think 20 or 30 minutes, and then took questions for an hour and a half!
The very next day, Harvard philosopher and professor Cornel West spoke to a packed field house to commemorate the 50th anniversary of desegregation at the University of Miami. Then on Thursday President Obama visited campus and addressed 1400 people in the same fieldhouse, where we had had our welcome dinner the night before, speaking on energy policy. Here he is making the U with his hands:
[Obama</a> Touts Energy Policies During UM Visit | News Releases | University of Miami](<a href=“http://www.miami.edu/index.php/news/releases/obama_touts_energy_policies_during_um_visit/]Obama”>http://www.miami.edu/index.php/news/releases/obama_touts_energy_policies_during_um_visit/)
Several times during the weekend we heard speakers refer to this obviously unprecedented week jokingly, Monday - former President Clinton, Tuesday - Cornell West, Thursday - President Obama, just a typical week at the University of Miami! (perhaps Provost LeBlanc was one of those who made this comment, since I know he did speak and feel awful that I took no notes during his presentation after taking notes for most of the weekend.)
President Shalala holds a BBQ at her home for all incoming freshman during orientation week; unfortunately it happens after the parents part of the orientation is over. But on the last day of parent orientation (based on last years schedule which was helpfully provided by dindune) she hosts a closing breakfast/brunch for all the parents! And H looked at the Family Weekend schedule coming up in September and the parents (and students too) are invited to her tailgate party!
So this was the end of the scheduled events for Stamps/Singer scholarship weekend. We checked out of the Courtyard Dadeland and into the Courtyard Coral Gables; we were staying two more nights because airfare for the three of us was so much cheaper on Monday than over the weekend. That night we had dinner with Hs clients, who are also long time friends who winter down there, at Perricone’s (Italian in Mary Brickell Village) which was wonderful; we just cant get over the experience of eating outdoors, such a treat for northerners! The next day we met up with more old friends who recently relocated to Coral Springs from Illinois our kids together way back when and a new one taken at the street fair: <a href=“https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/xQ17GTGwp1QUCqbYReP7ExgDQ69oiru4AQHghQky5L4?feat=directlink[/url]”>https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/xQ17GTGwp1QUCqbYReP7ExgDQ69oiru4AQHghQky5L4?feat=directlink</a> ; we spent the afternoon with them at a Cuban art street fair on Miracle Mile in Coral Gables. They blocked off blocks of the street for this event. D had to spend the rest of Sunday and Monday on the massive amounts of homework she brought along, so we were stuck in the hotel the whole day/night and H got carryout for us on Sunday night. On Monday we checked out of the hotel and headed back to the <em> for a last look at the campus. D had to buy souvenirs for all her friends and we found t shirts in the campus bookstore on sale for $7.99 for her best friends and then a pack of 10 super bright orange/green </em> pencils for the same price for the rest : ) <a href=“https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ZvqQXqaA9Z33pCJXpWExiBgDQ69oiru4AQHghQky5L4?feat=directlink[/url]”>https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ZvqQXqaA9Z33pCJXpWExiBgDQ69oiru4AQHghQky5L4?feat=directlink</a>
Now on to something really important that I forgot until D looked at my first night trip report and reminded me so I figured Id add it at the end!
Friday night during the big dinner at the fieldhouse, she scolded me for forgetting that there was a video presentation of Mr. and Mrs. Stamps. I had been disappointed that they werent in attendance this year, but their foundation is expanding the scholarship opportunities at so many universities, and they had to be elsewhere. In the absence of their physical presence, they had created a special video for the <em> to show us. Mr. Stamps talked about their commitment to the U, and both Mr. and Mrs. Stamps were dressed in the </em>s colors! His tie, her dress, showing their school spirit in orange and green and then made the _ symbol by putting their hands together too! (wish I had a picture of that!)
**</p>
<p>Great trip report. I’m so glad current and prospective students and parent are continuing to enjoy UM the way our family did when my S attended! Lucky are the kids who get to spend 4 years studying at UM.</p>
<p>Donna Shalala is often seen strolling on campus casually interacting with the students; not pretentious in the least. My S took her class and loved it. He met with her several times and she helped him think through and process his post grad options (worked in a lab for a year and is now finishing up his MPH). What a little dynamo! President Shalala has done wonderful things for the U.</p>
<p>Hi! I am new to this forum … Can someone tell me how the guys dress for Saturday Singer Scholarship interview day? Do they wear a tie? I know they specifically said “no suits” but wasn’t sure how young men were dressing for Saturday activities? We leave tomorrow and want to make sure he has the appropriate clothing! Thanks!</p>
<p>A lot of people do wear ties but it’s not necessary. But maybe preferable? I think as long as you look professional your interviewers won’t judge you too negatively.</p>
<p>But don’t wear a t-shirt and shorts.</p>
<p>Thanks so much! Appreciate the feedback …</p>
<p>Vocalist mom - I found some posts for you re what the boys have been wearing to these weekends this year and in past years. I have a girl so I didn’t really notice what the boys were wearing over Stamps weekend myself! So here are some posts from some of our experts on the board :</p>
<p>ZincWhiskers :last year, at the dinner most of the men wore pants (like Dockers / khakis) and polo or golf or oxford (collared) shirts, a few had sports jackets, only saw 1 or 2 in shorts. I wouldn’t say the dinner is “formal” but it definitely had a stuffier feel to it than the rest of the weekend. Now, for Saturday, most of your day is not spent in the interview, but I would think you’d want to look “nice” for that - whatever your definintion of nice is…so technically if you could pull off a time to change and wanted to cart around extra clothes you could wear shorts in the AM and pants in the PM. If you were my S, I would urge you to wear pants and a polo shirt on both Friday and all day Saturday. After you arrive in August, you can wear shorts every day for the whole school year!! Except when you’re scuba diving… </p>
<p>rankinr : Agree with Zinc, definitely pants on Saturday, but Friday I think shorts (khaki) are fine. Is the dinner on Friday night? If so, switch into pants for the dinner. But especially if you’re going on the tour Friday afternoon (5PM!) you’ll thank me for suggesting shorts. Until you get to your interview it doesn’t matter too much, anyway. I feel like people on tours think that the tour guides are taking down their names and taking notes on them. We really don’t, haha.</p>
<p>As for the interviews, when I was helping out last year there was a huge variety in dress. It went all the way from wearing a T-shirt (sorry, man, not gonna get the scholarship) to a full suit. I’d recommend a healthy medium and wear, as Zinc suggests, a polo shirt (for comfort) or maybe a dress shirt. Most of the interviewers wear a polo shirt or a dress shirt with a tie, if my memory serves me well. “Business formal,” whatever that means.</p>
<p>racquetdad :The dress code should be mentioned somewhere in the Stamps/Singer weekend info. Last year my S wore a polo shirt and nice pants. No formal attire needed. </p>
<p>cpq1xtbu: At Friday night’s dinner, a few of the boys wore blazers, but most wore dress shirts and slacks or polos and khakis. The girls wore skirts or slacks. I did see one boy with jeans and a hoodie, but that was it.</p>
<p>Best of luck to your son this weekend!</p>
<p>Thanks! Sounds like we may have to pack a few options and decide once we are there Terrific information. Thank you so much!</p>
<p>I did Stamps weekend this year and on the first night I wore khaki pants and a polo (collared) shirt with boat shoes. On Saturday, the day of the interviews, I wore the same khaki pants, the same boat shoes, and a button-down dress shirt (it was white with thin feint purple stripes). I felt adequately dressed on both days… not too fancy the first night (it’s really not needed at all) and not overdressed on the second day.</p>
<p>Just a note, don’t wear shorts to the dinner on Friday night. I made that mistake, and a) it was pretty chilly with the A/C at full blast, and b) I felt kinda silly being the only guy with shorts at the dinner. Just a few words of wisdom.</p>
<p>^ Oh yes, it was SUPER cold at the dinner on the first night, I definitely recommend a jacket if you can bring one… I was literally shivering at some points.</p>