The University of Miami

Date: Dec 10 2011
Major: English (This Major's Salary over time)
I feel like it?s my duty to put my two cents in on this university. Let me start with this: I am from Ohio originally, I grew up a University of Miami Canes fan and it was my lifelong dream to attend this school.

I read probably every review, positive and negative on this website before I came here. You can say I was forewarned, but going to Miami was a dream of mine and nothing was going to stop me. I figured the negative reviews were probably just the same old miserable wretches we sometimes see who are never happy about anything. I assumed that they had a bad experience because they were anti-social, uptight, what have you, and one thing I think of reading the negative reviews now is: ?I wish I could have run into one of the people who wrote one of these reviews on campus, because I might have made a legitimate friend here.? Many of my complaints are carbon copies of complaints already on this website, I?m just here to reinforce them. Again, Miami was my dream school, so I came here with higher hopes than just about everyone else.

First I?ll start with the academics. I took four classes, and none of them were ?easy,? but none of them made me want to pull my hair out either. To say I was able to skate by is a lie, but it would be equally egregious for me to pretend that I had to study every night, hell, even once a week to pass. 3 of my profs were absolutely awesome, and one was a total prick. Sheskin was his name, he is VERY condescending, and his class is nothing more than a powerpoint review session. Boring as hell, and the jerk off won?t even let you leave his class to go pee. He also gets upset if you ever question the consistently misinformed, actually just out right lies he regularly retorts. My academic advisor was really nice as well. Overall, I didn?t have any issues in this area. Even Sheskin is alright if you just keep your mouth shut and let him rattle on (btw, the great profs were Stringfellow and Gwilliam in English and John Fitzgerald in Religious studies). The library is also pretty nice too.

The Campus is very beautiful, I?ll give it that. Coral Gables isn?t much of a town, at least not the parts near the University, and by near I mean within reasonable walking distance. Get used to McDonalds, Denny?s, or CVS, because that?s going to be where you walk 90% of the time.

As far as student activities, again, I have to give the school a nod here. Miami generally has something going on on campus every night, so if you get bored you can dip to many cool things going on near the student center, or the basketball arena. There are a ton of clubs, and joining them is pretty easy. The bookstore is big, mostly UM memorabilia. The student center isn?t bad, but the food court in it is borderline useless. Almost every food place in the food court closes at 6, and isn?t open on the weekends. I never once ate there. The Rathskeller is a bar and grill near the student center. I went there a couple of times, it?s nothing special really, but not bad.

As far as dorms and dining hall, I lived in Pearson. It?s not that bad, the AC always works (it stopped twice but a maintenance guy came and fixed it both times within 20 minutes), the dorm rooms themselves are pretty unspectacular, but they?re not anything that should be condemned. Here?s the problem with Pearson: You have a few cliques, but other than that, it?s like living in an apartment building and you have no clue who your neighbors are. Any sense of community in the dorms is practically non-existent. Maybe the other dorms are different, but I know Pearson and Mahoney are like this. Seriously, I?m not being overdramatic here - nonexistent. The food at the dining hall is okay, but you do get sick of it, but that?s any college.

Sports are pretty big here. It sucks that the football stadium is so far away (at least a half hour away), but the school actually does a really good job lining up free transportation to the stadium (there and back), and the football games are free, huge plus. Football games are a lot of fun, in fact, probably one of the most fun things you can do as a student. Unfortunately, not everything else is so fun (and we aren?t a very good team to boot).

I?ll move on to night life. South Beach is great to party at don?t get me wrong, but if you don?t want (or can?t afford) to spend at least $50 to drink a night (and that?s for only like, 4 beers), you won?t enjoy it. You better plan on closer to $100 for a really good night (unless you are a girl, but it?s still expensive for them). Brickell is a little cheaper, and also fun, but still not something you can do all of the time if you aren?t rich. Coconut Grove is cheap(er) and fun, but on the weekend it?s completely dead because everyone goes to SB or Brickell. Moral of the story, if you?re on a modest income, don?t plan on partying too hard. There is only one bar within walking distance (and it still isn?t that close) called Titanic, which isn?t a bad place, but no one really goes there. Don?t bother trying to find someone to just chill and have some drinks with in the dorm either, unless they?re underage. Here when people drink they either party hard and go out or don?t drink at all.

Now to what puts the nail into the coffin, and the reason I?m transferring out of what I thought my dream school- the student body. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING you read on these reviews about the student body being conceited, snobby, stuck-up, rude, arrogant, selfish etc. IT?S ALL TRUE. First Miami loves to talk about diversity, the funny thing is the diversity here is exactly like it is in prison. Whites hang with whites, blacks hang with blacks, Spanish hang with Spanish, etc. I?m not saying it?s completely racially divided, but it?s pretty darn close. I?m white, but here?s the problem: most of the white kids here are spoiled rich brats whose parents have more money than God. One of my ?friends,? I guess I?ll call him, asked me to go to South Beach one night. I told him I couldn?t afford to, and he didn?t get it. I mean literally, didn?t understand the concept of ?Seriously dude, I have like, 20 dollars to my name.? If you go on a visit here, take a look at the cars in the parking lot?you don?t see many beaters. My parents are not poor, but they?re not rich, just typical middle class. They can float me $50 bucks once in a while, but that?s about it. If you are in a similar situation, seriously consider the cost of living, it is completely outrageous here. It?s hard for people with modest incomes to hang with the rich kids because the rich kids are always going on trips over the weekend, staying in hotels, going to South Beach every weekend, so you?re left alone a lot.

If you have a lot of money, you might do alright, but if you don?t, seriously don?t even consider this school, you WILL get left in the dust. Not to mention you won?t be able to stomach some privileged little prick go on about how much his dad?s company makes a year. The first month and a half, I thought maybe it was just me, maybe I was doing something wrong, but the few people that I?ve been friends with here all say the same thing, and I felt a lot better about myself because I didn?t even prompt them into saying it, it came out on its own. My dad once told me ?No one is better than you, but there are some people who just aren?t in your class no matter what.? That?s true of Miami, the rich kids rule here and those dogs are too big for at least half of our country to run with.

In closing, Miami hasn?t been Hell, and I?ve had some fun here, but I?ve spent way more time wanting to just go home and never come back then time spent glad that I was here. For the record, I am not one of those whiny kids who can?t stand being away from mommy and daddy. I spent two years in the military and deployed overseas in that time, so I?m okay with being on my own. The cost of living and the student body, which gets a BIG, FAT EFFFFFFFFF, are the reason this place isn?t great. If you?re really well off financially, you?ll probably love it here, but if you?re not, seriously take my advice, because I didn?t take anyone elses seriously and I later found out that they weren?t just grinding an ax, they were 100% correct.