The University of Miami

Date: Dec 06 2005
Major: Biology (This Major's Salary over time)
The University of Miami is an amazing school. The atmosphere about this place is great, and the campus itself is beautiful. Or was beautiful, but Wilma and Katrina had their ways with that. School spirit has it's peaks and valleys, usually dependant on how the football team is doing.

Realize that this school is a private university. Most people do not realize that. Miami has been gaining ground in academics, and currently I find that about 75% of the students here are pretty intelligent.

You will find a lot of people from Florida at this school. A LOT. Everyone I know here is from Florida. The Florida atmosphere is very similar to suburbian NY and many other New England states, if you're from New England or the Tri-State area, you will have an easy time adjusting.

The people here are rich. Simply put. Some are FILTHY rich. I knew a student who had a Ferrari and a Maseratti. If you have a car, bring it—it can only help you. You will not have to change the way you dress or anything about yourself to fit in, but the majority of the student body does dress well.

Nightlife… Well there's South Beach and Coconut Grove. That's pretty much it. Both places are littered with clubs and bars. The grove has a more laid back relaxed feel to it, mainly because the dress code isn't as strict. SoBe on the other hand, has a very elitist feeling to it. 95% of the clubs are 18+ for girls and 21+ for guys. This can be a serious problem for guys, and as a result, Fake IDs are HUGE here. If you are a guy, it will be expensive to go out. If you are a girl, most clubs and bars have no cover before 12am for you, and drink specials. For the most part, the only money you'll pay is cab fare.

Greek life plays a very big part at UM. Big sororities for girls (In my opinion) are Delta Gamma (DG) and Delta Phi Epsilon (D Phi E). Big fraternaties include Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp) and Pi Kappa Alpha (Pike and/or PiKap). Pike is HUGE. They are probably the best looking frat, but they're kinda shady. Females, try not to date a Pike if you can avoid it.

The beaches. South Beach is about a 15-20 minute drive depending on traffic. It's GORGEOUS. Parking is crazy on the weekends, and a quarter buys you 15 minute at the meter, so if you plan on hitting the beaches, make sure you have some quarters. If you stay on campus for spring break, parking anywhere near South beach (SoBe) is nearly impossible.

Key Biscane offers a nice alternative to South Beach. Its slightly closer, about 14 minutes away. The beach itself is a little dirtier and less pretty, but if you're not from Florida it'll still be gorgeous to you. You pay like $6 for parking.

Class size varies, this semester I had a class with 8 and a class with 245, it really depends on the classes you take. The communications school is good, business school is good, law & med schools are pretty good too. Marine Biology is great here (go figure..) Other sciences are decent, the Biology and Pre-Med tracks are HARD. You'll have to take Calculus 2 for both. The good thing is if you finish everything for a Bio major, you already have all the classes needed for a Chem minro. That's sweet.

The faculty is good for the most part. One stress: when you register for courses your second semester USE THE EVALUATIONS posted on EASY/myUM. You will regret it if you dont. There are some teachers that are just terrible.

If you have any questions feel free to email me, it's listed here somwhere.