<p>I grew up in South Florida and went to FSU. Very collegiate feeling: great dorm life, college bars, tons of school spirit -- but it was a large school. Does anyone know what the atmosphere at U Miami is like now? Since the football games are no longer at the Orange Bowl, I wonder if the school is still a sports-oriented school with tons of fans? Also, is there dorm life? College hang-outs? A community feel? Or does everyone leave campus every weekend and go hang out in Miami Beach?</p>
<p>The U is still a very sports-oriented school. Everyone is very proud of the athletics programs and displays their pride appropriately with apparel, bumper stickers, throwing up The U, etc.</p>
<p>Dorm life is existent, yes, though it’s most fun to go to Coconut Grove for shops and restaurants.</p>
<p>Community feel is what you make of it. There’s a lot of people content with just staying on campus, but others fall into the club scene in SoBe and others.</p>
<p>It feels like a traditional college campus, for sure.</p>
<p>Do the students ride the buses to the football games? How do they get there?</p>
<p>Yes, lots of students ride the buses to the games. Of course, if you have a car/have a friend who has a car, you also might drive there. Besides that, though, there’s no other way to get there in a reasonable manner. But I think these two methods of transportation are more than adequate.</p>
<p>What are the best dorms to live in? Do they have their own social life?</p>
<p>I personally like Hecht/Stanford because being the freshman dorms there is a lot more on-the-floor social life. In the upperclassmen dorms, everyone already has their friends and aren’t too concerned with branching out, whereas the freshman are new and are likely to make lots of friends on their floors.</p>
<p>I think there’s plenty of life in the dorms if you want it. I never have really liked hanging out in the dorms, though… I mean, why would you when there is so much to do everywhere else?</p>
<p>Rankinr – I agree… hopefully the students are out and about taking advantage of the beautiful campus! Is there much going on around campus? For example are intramurals big? Do kids hang by the pool? Is there a nice athletic facility that the students hang at?</p>
<p>Many of my friends are on intramural teams, and have a lot of fun. It’s a good way to meet people.</p>
<p>As for the pool- definitely, yes. The pool is always packed with students on nice days. The IM fields are also a popular place to lay out, study, play soccer, hang out with friends, etc. With the weather being so nice, you will see people hanging outside at all times day/night. There are gliders all over campus, and especially near the residential dorms. People are always studying outside, or just hanging out with friends.</p>
<p>The athletic facility is pretty big and always busy. I mean it’s Miami, so most students feel the need to be in healthy and in their best physical shape. Right now it’s being renovated so it’s going to be much nicer and expanded than it currently is.</p>