What are UM dorms like?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Miami - Florida
1

<p>Some summaries describe the dorms as "like prison cells", others are not as negative. What are the freshman dorms like? How do they compare to other college dorms?</p>

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<p>when i went on my tour at UM, the freshman dorm room i looked at was extremely small, non-carpeted floor so i guess it was linoleum, and the window was the worst part. it was like a piece of glass with big metal shutters. in other words you couldn’t open it, you could only just the light that came through. but i guess that’s what it takes to be hurricane-proof.</p>

3

<p>When we toured last Spring, we saw a dorm room that looked like a concrete block bunker. It was small and kind of depressing. The rest of the dorm building was nice, just the room was bleak. I got the impression that it was the model unit that they show on the tour.</p>

4

<p>The dorms are fine. Nothing special, but not too many schools’ are unless you go someplace like TCU that is building and remodeling. The campus is beautiful. The dorms were close to the lake as I recall. The two freshmen dorms are side by side. Bring a carpet and a colorful comforter!</p>

5

<p>The freshman high-rise dorms also act as the hurricane shelters for the university. During hurricane lockdown students from other dorms will be moved into the high-rises, sleeping in common areas and on the floors. Members of the administration have been known to bring their families with them and to ride out the storms. Son1 lived through 3 hurricanes his freshman year. At full gale he said you barely heard the wind; the buildings may be a bit bleak but they are certainly very effective shelters.</p>

6

<p>Kind of agree with what everyone said.</p>

<p>The model that is shown does look a bit bleaker than other rooms mostly because despite the fact that it’s furnished, I assume it’s been furnished by people who are supposed to make it look nice, neat, and not overcrowded, whereas a normal room would have a lot more stuff in it, and all the stuff wouldn’t be the same color (in the model everything is green and pink), so it looks much more lively. But all the rooms in the Freshman dorms are identical to the model unit, with the exception of singles, and excluding the furnishings.</p>

<p>I personally LOVE the windows, because you can close the shutters and the room becomes pitch black. You can actually open the window upwards, to let fresh air in - you just can’t open them outwards because, as you mentioned, there are hurricane shutters.</p>

<p>I think they were perfectly fine. You probably won’t be spending most of your time in the dorm anyway… but even if you do, they’re perfectly adequate, unless you want eye candy (see <a href=“http://surfpunkkidtravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/burj-al-arab1-297x300.jpg[/url]”>http://surfpunkkidtravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/burj-al-arab1-297x300.jpg&lt;/a&gt;)</p>

<p>Also, as a side note, the upperclassmen housing is much larger. The doubles have a closet that is the size of the freshmen rooms.</p>

7

<p>Here is a thread from last year where Rankinr posted pictures of my daughter’s dorm room. Once decorated they can be nice and the closet space is huge!</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-miami-florida/858976-bad-dorms-2.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-miami-florida/858976-bad-dorms-2.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Look at post #23 and make sure to check out post #17 for the view out Rankinr’s window!</p>

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<p>The links on that thread don’t seem to be working…</p>

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<p>Oh, that is too bad. Maybe he took his site down.</p>

<p>Rankinr!!! How can we post those pics again?</p>

<p>Does anyone know how I can post pictures here?</p>

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<p>Yeah! I figured it out. </p>

<p>These are of my daughter’s room in the freshmen dorm called Stanford. Her bed was lofted.</p>

<p><a href=“http://i968.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/ae168/jacobsvictory/mail-1.jpg[/url]”>http://i968.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/ae168/jacobsvictory/mail-1.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
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<a href=“http://i968.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/ae168/jacobsvictory/mail5.jpg[/url]”>http://i968.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/ae168/jacobsvictory/mail5.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://i968.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/ae168/jacobsvictory/mail6.jpg[/url]”>http://i968.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/ae168/jacobsvictory/mail6.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
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<p>Ooops, sorry! Funny that we need the pictures just a week after I change servers… Glad to see you figured it out :)</p>

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<p>Hi Mangotree;</p>

<p>In short, yes, the apartments on campus do suck compared to off campus options. I, like most of my friends lived on campus freshman year (I was fortunate enough to live in Eaton though because of certain circumstances). After first year I lived in University Village (you need certain credit hours to do this) and then in an off campus arpartment in Brickell my senior year. So yes, bear with it for a year then move off campus.</p>

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<p>Also, from what I hear they are building new apartments on campus, they just knocked down the old crappy buildings last month.</p>

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<p>this page looks helpful on the subject, as it has diagrams showing the layouts:</p>

<p>[Room</a> Layouts | University of Miami](<a href=“http://www6.miami.edu/UMH/CDA/UMH_Main/1,1770,42701-1;43019-3,00.html]Room”>http://www6.miami.edu/UMH/CDA/UMH_Main/1,1770,42701-1;43019-3,00.html)</p>

15

<p>For dorms, Mahoney-Pearson and Eaton kick the ever living hell out of Stanford/Hecht. </p>

<p>Communal bathrooms in Stanford/Hecht, can’t move the furniture, one window, concrete everywhere.</p>

<p>At least you can move the furniture around in M/P and E. It can suck if you have suite mates that hog the bathroom and/or are dirty, but for the most part they are a much better layout.</p>

<p>Only disadvantage is that they are a long walk from frat row if you join a frat or like to go to parties.</p>

16

<p>Can freshman live anywhere besides Stanford/ Hecht?</p>

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<p>When I visited last spring, the dorms were extremely small, dull and the window looked really shabby and dirty. But most students at UM pretty much live outside during the day.</p>

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<p>Yea, the rooms are small.</p>

<p>But.</p>

<p>You probably won’t be spending much time in there.</p>

<p>Lofting your beds provides a LOT of extra room. So I recommend you do it.</p>

<p>There IS enough room. Before I came to UM, I lived in a room around half the size of the rooms in the Freshman Residential Colleges, with one other person.</p>

<p>It’s actually kinda cozy… It helps you keep organized, because if you start to let anything get disorganized, the whole room becomes disorganized.</p>

<p>Also, as far as I know, all Freshman (with the exception of some athletes) live in the Freshman residential colleges. You could e-mail housing and ask, though. But I recommend you stay in the Freshman residential colleges, at least for the first year… it will be a lot easier to make friends there than anywhere else, simply because everyone else there will be looking to meet others too.</p>

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<p>the diagram for the doubles at Hecht/Stanford do not show closets; are there any closets?</p>

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<p>In the diagram at [Stanford</a> Residential College | University of Miami](<a href=“http://www6.miami.edu/UMH/CDA/UMH_Main/0,1770,29532-1;41456-2;29623-2;29618-2;29614-3,00.html]Stanford”>http://www6.miami.edu/UMH/CDA/UMH_Main/0,1770,29532-1;41456-2;29623-2;29618-2;29614-3,00.html) the closets are the part of the room right next to the door with the two light bars going vertically.</p>