<p>mavitale,
We also visited Miami over spring break and D loved it… so much so, that I am worried she may not want to continue our search! 
We were both impressed by the faculty & students we met at RSMAS and the entire campus vibe. It meets all her criteria. The admissions office was overwhelmed that day and the presentation and tour guide were first class.</p>
<p>Just to comment on your serach… We live in GA and were wanting to put together a longer list of FL schools to visit just to make our trip worthwhile, but I have to agree with many of these comments regarding academics @ the other schools. It sounds like many of the others might not be a good academic fit for your son either. </p>
<p>After all our research, we narrowed it down to UM, FL Tech & Eckerd (we decided at the last minute not to take the tour @ FL Tech after checking the freshmen class profile). We had no interest in the big flagships as there is no financial incentive for GA residents to attend these over UGA or GA Tech.</p>
<p>We were also anxious to visit Eckerd College (for the marine sciences & engineering), but it fell short for a few reasons. I think she realized that it was just too small for her. Other observations were: there is construction of a beautiful new sciences building (good sign), great location on the water with a fantastic waterfront program (canoes, kayaks, sailboats, etc.), small classes led by professors, not grad students, 3-2 engineering (Columbia & Wash U-StL), unique bike program to get around campus, some athletics, no greek system.</p>
<p>Odd things: no central meeting/social place (no student union, quad, etc.), we didn’t see groups socializing anywhere, there are 3 dining halls, but no one hanging out in the ones we visited, tour guide indicated that residence halls served that purpose although we didn’t see any common area in those. Also, that part of St. Pete is very quiet and residential, but the gulf isn’t too far and they have zip cars on campus.</p>
<p>Curiously, the marine science building was very quiet and the labs were dark and not being used (9-10 AM) so I asked why? The tour guide said that most science labs are in the afternoon. But that didn’t explain why there was nothing (water, plants, creatures) in the acrylic tanks that covered the entire length of the classroom. It just didn’t look like it was heavily used(?) And the holding tanks underneath the building where the water supposedly comes in through pipes from the bay were dusty and didn’t look like they had been used in a long time. Can’t put my finger on it, but it just fell short.</p>
<p>Thank you for posting your questions and I’m learning so much from the responses!</p>