<p>I know this topic has been raised a lot, so you'll have to forgive me, but I'm posting this on behalf of a friend who may attend UM.</p>
<p>UM students have often had a rap of being stuck up, shallow, superficial, image obsessed ect.... Can any current students or anyone who is familiar with UM speak to the validity of this?</p>
<p>Some people here have claimed it really is as bad as the rumors are, while others have said its not at all true. What is the truth? </p>
<p>Look, I know a lot of people that are at UM that do not think like that at Miami. UM has, like any other campus, is diverse. You have the commuters and the residents and each group for most part have their own independent live in campus. I think that is the only reason people from one group see the other as “stuck up and superficial”. Most kids that get involve in a variety of activities and clubs find a lot of meaningful friendships.</p>
<p>My son is probably attending UM in the fall. We have visited the campus three times, and that has not been our impression at all. Students seem bright, enthusiastic and happy to be at Miami.</p>
<p>Mauswa what is your son major? Are you planning to attend the day for accepted students on the 7th? My son will attend the school of Engineering in the Fall.</p>
<p>This is what’s really bringing me down about UM… The other school I’m considering is University of Rochester, and the student body there really seem to be academically engaged and for the most part, down to earth. In the Class of 2017 FB group, nearly everyone is already friendly and supportive to one another despite high school senior year not even being over yet. Contrasting to that, all the reports I see back about UM’s student body are mostly negative… I don’t believe that this reputation of Miami will still fully hold true though, since it’s attracting more diverse applicants nowadays. If any current UM students can provide new insight (as an eye-opener to relevant 2013 information as opposed to old threads back in 2008), please do! It really helps us out here to make our decisions.</p>
<p>I think that culture is starting to fade at UM. The school’s academic standards for admission are now too high for the shallow, airhead type. 5 years ago the snobby, shallow concerns were more valid than they are now. If UM continues to rise it will only diminish further as more academically minded students will continue to matriculate.</p>
<p>No matter how selective and competitive UM gets, however, it will always attract a certain kind of student. That is, one that likes to have fun, and likes to go out. With this, there will always be the rich, shallow, stuck up type. But I dont’ think it rules the school like it once did.</p>
<p>SeekingUni, As a UM student do you encounter a lot of the shallow/stuck up type in your daily life? Could you elaborate on it from your personal experience?</p>
<p>Spidermc,Rochester is an excellent school, but there’s no comparison in living there and living in Miami. The climate is far from ideal-rainy, snowy ,cloudy. Also, there’s not a whole lot to do outside of school. Just my opinion.</p>
<p>Not any more than I do in the real world. Look, it’s easy to characterize any group of people by the ones who get noticed, even if they don’t accurately represent the rest of the group - and that’s the case with the “snobby” image. They’re the ones that get noticed because that’s characteristic of their type. Nobody stops to notice the “regular” people here (who aren’t in your face), and there are plenty… Actually they’re the majority.</p>
<p>The future of the US does not look like Rochester, as nice as it is. It looks like Miami. Undergraduate years are as much about growing up as growing smart. Go to a real city and a school that is clearly growing in stature.</p>
<p>Honestly, I transferred out of UM for this reason. It’s not that all people are stuck up, I met a ton of nice people, it’s just underneath it all there is this pressure to be a certain “type”. I felt like that type was very superficial, and after the first couple months of school kids started acting like high school and wouldn’t want to mix too much with kids who weren’t “As cool” as them.</p>
<p>Many people here care about how they look/dress and their physical appearance. That doesn’t make the people stuck up. They just care about how they look. Yes there are stuck up kids here but I don’t think they’re nonexistent anywhere you go. </p>
<p>I’ve never felt the “pressure” to “keep up” though.</p>
<p>I find that it’s not a matter of the percentage of rich/stuck-up/snobby people on campus, it’s a matter of how you deal with them. For most of my middle school and high school career, I was a conformist; I was really self-conscious about what people thought of me, so I kept most of myself to myself, and only let out those things that would make me seem “cool” and help me to “fit in”. Then, my senior year of high school and mostly in my freshman year of college, I realized that I’m my own person, and if people don’t like me for who I am, I’d rather just not hang around with those people. I am a proud, self-proclaimed nerd, and I’m obsessed with baseball (go O’s!). Don’t like it? Tough! I’ve found that my confidence has shown through, and I get people all the time that think I’m an upperclassman (I’m still a freshman, by the way) because I give off this air of confidence. This has helped me make friends with people that are like me, and all but ignore those people who consider themselves holier-than-thou. Just my $0.02 on the subject.</p>
<p>^ Totally a fan of this post. For those who are affected by the “undesirable” crowd, maybe it’s a sign that you have to mature yourself and be confident. The real world isn’t a utopian bubble where everyone is going to be like you. If you can’t handle it in college, then you won’t be able to handle it anywhere. Be your own person. Build it and they will come. There’s no reason to get all flustered by what the people around you are like, because I guarantee you every single one of them is NOT the same.</p>
<p>I am extremely happy with the program. I just noticed your PM, I’ll answer that when I get a chance (sorry, the CC phone app doesn’t notify me when I have a new PM, and then when I go to open the web browser it doesn’t pop-up saying that I do…).</p>
<p>Thanks a lot . My son has a lot of interest. He is currently doing an internship researching factors that promote coral growth. He wonders about opportunities after graduation.</p>