<p>When we visited MU, D liked the school, but felt it was too large. Assuming she would be in the Honors Program (maybe), does that make MU feel like a smaller school? There are so many great things about MU, but the turn-offs for D are size and Greek life. Just hoping that Honors could give her that intellectual,smaller school feel that she is looking for elsewhere (but the elsewhere is many more $$). Thanks much!</p>
<p>To answer your question directly, yes being a part of Honors or even the Honors LLC residential community will give your daughter a built-in smaller community where she will make close friends and interact academically.</p>
<p>Miami daughter #3 is newly matriculated frosh in Honors LLC and couldn’t be happier with her choice… and she is OOS and had less expensive options like IU or Purdue.
The school size issue is certainly a subjective matter for students. Miami definitely has a much smaller feel for it’s student body size. Although it won’t seem as massive as OSU or other state flagships, it also won’t feel like Kenyon or other similar LACs.
The matter of personal preference is variable because our family has never really thought of Miami as a “large” school.</p>
<p>As for the Greeks, there is an active sorority scene on campus, but it’s not for everyone.
Miami daughter #1 did not participate in Greek life but loved her time there.
Miami daughter #2 was very involved Greek, to the point of being on Panhellenic Board, and likewise loved her Miami experience. She had many non-greek friends and would be the first to tell you that being part of a sorority in no way defined her Miami experience. It was just another avenue to get involved.
Of course like anything, your time in Oxford is what you make of it. My most recent kiddo is the fifth family member to attend MU. All have graduated in four years (or less) and three went on to graduate education… 2 MD, 1JD/MBA and 1 TBD…
We are fans…</p>
<p>Thanks so much! I wouldn’t consider MU to be a large school either, but we saw Kenyon one day and MU the next, so D’s impression was a little skewed! Thanks for your very helpful response!</p>
<p>D2 never thought she would follow the path of her older sister as a Miami student. She was more interested in a very small college, like Kenyon. She met another gal at an Honors overnight who was also considering the same. They both ended up attending Miami and were on the same floor freshman year. After a month of being at Miami, D and her corridor friend both were in agreement that they were glad they had not attended the smaller college. They felt they might have outgrown it before graduation. Do I think they would have been happy at a small school as well? Yes. Could they have been happy at OSU? Yes. It is all what you make of it. Miami is a nice size. They do a lot to make it feel very small yet have the advantages of a large university.</p>
<p>While we have nowhere near the expertise in this area that GunnerDad does (I’m not sure anyone could), from a new MU Honors family, our S just started and I have to say initial early reactions are mixed - but in a good way. He’s already made a couple of friends on his floor in Tappan, guys he clearly has interests in common with. Interestingly in all three cases their roommates seem on other tracks. All Honors kids, just into different things.</p>
<p>The reason I say mixed is that it sounds like he’s also made connections with several kids in the creative arts LLC. So he seems to split his social time between the two crowds. Again, very very early but he seems to get on well with the other Honors kids. He’s helping a couple of others in Tappan with their Linear Algebra homework so that seems to be another connection.</p>
<p>This is a young man who is not exactly Mr. Social. He’s…discerning is maybe the best way to put it. But he seems to have connected pretty well, and he certainly isn’t into Greek life (like his father was) so that doesn’t seem to be a social requirement, just an option. But again, it’s boys; I’d stick with what GunnerDad has to say.</p>
<p>I should add - re the title of the original post - the LLCs seem to make a HUGE difference in the feel of the school. Since they’re themed (some more overtly than others, it seems), and since there is a live-in advisor in addition to the RA on each floor, it feels from our initial impression to be a lot closer to the Residential College feel at a place like Yale or Rice. The continuity of the architecture helps that - it feels like clusters of smaller colleges around the quads.</p>
<p>@ericd1112
D lives one floor down from your S in Tappan… you see, it really is quite a bit smaller universe than you would think… not sure they know each other but kinda cool anyway.</p>