I am very interested in going to Miami (I’m a HS Senior who was accepted) but my one reservation is that I have heard from multiple people that there is a very “plastic” vibe at the U. Essentially people have said it is hard to make friends with people who have interests outside of partying and getting laid, and that students are interested in social climbing over making actual friends. Is this true? Any help from current/former students would be much appreciated.
Not a current or former student but I was also accepted and I was there for a Frost audition and the campus was really welcoming. I think with most schools you need to join a club that suits you. Have you visited? The lake and surrounding building are amazing and there is a pool in the middle of the campus so I can’t see you not finding your peeps. On the other hand it is Miami and its a private school so there will be the pretentious in the mix.
@jbfield I’m the parent of a current sophomore at the U. There are all kinds of students there including the “plastic” ones. The challenge for you (and most freshmen at whatever university they attend) is to find the group of people you feel most comfortable with. Being in a big city, the nightlife possibilities are much better than they would be at a rural school. That doesn’t mean everyone is out partying. There are many clubs on campus and most students care about their studies/future. The last couple of admission cycles show the stats for the student body are increasing. They aren’t all a bunch of bubble heads!
I go to UM. It sucks. It is SO HARD to make friends, I can not emphasize that enough. I mean genuine, good friends. Yeah, you’ll find people to hang out with, but everyone at this school is in it for themselves. I love Miami, I love FL…but I would be lying if I said I didn’t think about transferring every other day
@jbfield thought I would chime in on this discussion. So that is a very real stereotype here. I have even heard it asked on tours, so do not feel bad for wondering. Having been here for a year now, I think I can provide a fairly accurate representation of my experiences that can be generalized to a large majority of the school. However, I want to emphasize, every single person’s experience will be different.
There is a lot of diversity here, which is a really good thing. The vast majority of students are from Florida, New York and New Jersey. A lot of kids are fit and good looking, but do in my opinion give off a sort of “better than you” vibe. Now, there are also down to earth people here too, and I’m lucky to call a bunch of them my friends. The social experience here is where I know a lot of people are disappointed. In fact, just recently two of my friends told me they were considering transferring. Again these are just two people, but these are two really normal, down to earth, fun kids to be around, and they told me they feel like the people are just too superficial, out for themselves and they don’t love the social aspect of the school. I should add that not being involved in Greek Life here as a guy will kill your social life. That is absolutely true in my opinion. There are also great things about the school. The weather is fantastic, I have found professors to be very engaging and the campus is very nice. Ultimately though the greek life sort of separates the campus and a lot of people (both guys and girls) sort of ignore people that are not in the top fraternity or sorority and look down on them.
It’s very ironic because coming here the social scene was the least of my concerns, but actually it seems that the social aspect of the school is what some of my friends and other people I know dislike most and are core reasons for contemplating transferring. I will note that the people I know thinking of leaving and disliking the social scene are all males. The girls I know seem to have no issue with it from what I can tell.
Best of luck with your decision and UM has a lot to offer!!