I know many of you have been waiting anxiously for prescreen results. Though, I haven’t seen anyone specifically ask about Frost, my D got her email this morning. (Vocal)
So, it is in your email or coming soon! I have to say, this waiting game is a killer!
Congrats! One of my D’s classmates got his last week too
Thanks!
Hi dbandmom, my daughter got her email the same day too. Her audition is 2/12. When is your’s?
We will be there 2/12 also. We are finding flights and hotels to be pretty expensive for that weekend! Between the prescreens, app fees and travel, this is by far her most costly audition!!!
Flying into Miami in January/February is expensive. If you plan on renting a vehicle, check out flights to Fort Lauderdale. Often, they can be a little cheaper and renting a car there is MUCH easier than at the Miami airport. Also, you may be able to use the U of Miami negotiated hotel rates (check their website for travel rates - sometimes, AAA rates are comparable). The Holiday Inn is the only hotel truly walkable to campus. Everything else requires a cab or Metro ride if you aren’t renting a car. A lot of Miami parents have good luck using Priceline and Hotwire for hotels in Coral Gables. Hotels at the Miami airport tend to be a little easier on the budget (but still not inexpensive). We’ve had very good luck at the Hampton Inn Blue Lagoon.
It’s a long weekend—Presidents Day is the 15th (AND Sunday is Valentine’s Day), so hotels even in outlying areas are likely to be up there. In addition to the UM negotiated rates, have you considered an Airbnb for the duration? We’ve had good luck with rentals very close to some of the schools we’ve visited (they’re more vacation rentals with separate entrances than being in someone’s house, though we did have one of those in Boston, and it worked out fine). Best of luck in your planning!
Thanks for all the travel tips @NEILRRM . Our flights are in / out of Fort Lauderdale. Planning to rent a car.
Thanks @listenmissy Had never heard of Airbnb. I will have to check it out.
@dbandmom - good luck. Feel free to message me if you have additional questions on travel to Miami or Frost. We typically are at UM 3-4 times a year and have stayed at lots of different hotels over the last 4 years!
Best of luck to you, @dbandmom ! Safe travels and let us know how it goes 
Thanks everyone. We have one full day with absolutely no plans. Any suggestions?
@dbandmom - South Beach is obviously an attraction but here are some others.
Coconut Grove - great restaurants, lots of shops, entertainment. We really like Green Street Cafe and Lokal.
Matheson Hammock Park - it’s a quiet park with great views of Miami. Beautiful lagoon. Take Old Cutler Rd to the park and drive through some of the old Miami neighborhoods. Gorgeous.
Coral Gables Museum - a great way to spend a couple of hours. Great history of Coral Gables and the Merricks (and the U). Then, go to Merrick Place - great shopping and restaurants.
Vizcaya Museum & Gardens
The Everglades
We haven’t done this (yet) but a lot of Miami parents highly recommend doing one of the Little Havana food tours - reservations need to be made in advance.
@dbandmom if you’re really looking for something to do on your off day, assuming you and your daughter are the type of people that can do this, here’s my suggestion: Do nothing. Find a chair with a view of the ocean and read a book or just talk. As I mentioned in another thread, we had a down day at a friend’s lake house last weekend and it definitely helped recharge everyone for the final push in February. For 36 hours we just holed up and watched movies (and took turns falling asleep during them). It was absolutely wonderful.
All the best on the trip.
Thanks! We are gonna play it by ear on the plans. Just nice to have some ideas if we venture out!
Just called to double check on something with my hotel reservation and they mentioned a boat show and art festival this weekend. More reasons why hotel rooms were so hard to come by and extra expensive! Gonna be leaving single digit temperatures behind tomorrow night. Guess I should just suck it up and stop complaining!
Yup, not going to get much sympathy here! We’re driving to lovely Ohio… 
Good luck to your D!
Ha ha! Thanks @ScreenName48105 ! Good luck to your S, too!
It was 48 degrees this morning in Coral Gables so hopefully, temperatures are back to normal in southern FL in time for your trip!
One more day off idea, if you end up heading to South Beach: the Wolfsonian - FIU’s fabulous little design museum. You can “do” the whole thing in a couple of hours and then spend the rest of the day hanging out (and dining around) SoBe. Best of luck with the audition and enjoy Miami!
I typed this while in Miami, but I guess I didn’t hit "post’:
That moment when you realize it’s gonna be kind of hard not to like it here, but there’s still this thing called an audition…
and tuition…
Lol
Yep, there wasn’t much not to like about Miami / Coral Gables…except for the traffic and crazy drivers! There was a big boat show and art festival in town, which didn’t help matters any. So, we didn’t do much, but it was nice anyway. The campus is like a resort. I was kind of surprised that the dorms didn’t “match” though! Yikes!