Love and Honor to Miami

Introduction
Oxford may seem like a small town with nothing to do, but it is quite the contrary. You will never run out of things to do here at Miami. Half the time you feel like there are not enough hours in the day. With the schoolwork, social life, and being involved in almost anything you want, it is extremely easy to meet fun and welcoming people. The campus is breathtakingly beautiful. I feel like I am walking through a picture everytime I go to class. You must see it for yourself to understand how wonderful it is. We are closer to Cincinnati than you think, but one thing that's a bummer is that the two largest chains are Wal-Mart and Kroger, but Wal-Mart is not in walking distance. You'll need to find a ride, which can be an adventure and actually quite fun. And Miami's campus really is bigger than you think. It took me 15 minutes to walk to one of my classes. That's when you take advantage of the metro (bus) system. That's always fun. And one time I was running through the 17 miles of paths in the woods and a deer ran in front of me. I bet that doesn't happen often. See, Oxford is full of surprises :-)

Campus Life and Social Life
The best part of the social life is that you never run out of options. The weekend basically starts on Wednesdays (sometimes Tuesdays) and goes through Saturday. Sundays are usually quiet and most students spend a majority of the day catching up on things they should have been doing Thursday but were too busy partying. But thats okay, Miami students are bright enough to pull it off. That's what's funny about campus is that the "work hard play hard" aspect is so true. But Miami students in general are just well-prepared, intelligent kids who just like to have fun. Intramurals and clubs are a huge part of Miami as well. I for one played broomball all three seasons this year and loved every minute of it. I played sports in high school but not in college, so it is nice to have some athletic organization rather than just going to the rec (which is amazing by the way). Greek like is huge on campus. In my closest group of friends (6 girls), we are all from a different sorority, plus one who is unafilliated. I never even thought about going Greek, but I did and I really enjoy it. It provides many opportunities to get involved, but one of my closest friends is not greek, so it is not like you don't hang out with other people still. As for sports, we are D1, and all home events are free for Miami students. Hockey is a huge part of Miami because our team is amazing. That is where most of the school spirit comes from for sports. There is truly SO much to do here it is a blast. But, if you have a lot of work I know people who stay in when they need to get it done. And sometimes my roommates and I are bums and we just watch movies on Thursdays instead of going out. No pressure, but the opportunity is there! Academics
I am personally a Microbiology/Zoology major, and the science department here at Miami is extremely challenging and competitive, partly because it is one of the best in the nation. I am one of the few who are not pre-med. You definitely need to be prepared and set aside time to study. Freshman year I got away with half-assing my studies and still maintained a decent GPA, but I really had to buckle down sophomore year and beyond that. Miami is extremely academically oriented, but the four short years really allow for such growth and a great experience. My professors have been AMAZING. Even if you don't necessarily like your professor, they make you think, are always willing to help, and challenge you in many different ways. But all of my professors so far have been absolutely wonderful. Not to mention that almost all of them have PhD's and classes are taught by professors rather than TA's. The business program here is very challenging as well, my roommates are business majors. Basically anything at Miami is going to be well recognized and respected, as well as challenging.

Student Body
The "typical" stereotype of the student body is that of a student who owns a northface jacket, ugg boots, coach purses, pearls, and polos. But you definitely do not have to be the son/daughter of a CEO to go here. I, for one, am not extremely wealthy, yet I have found some of my closest friends and met some amazing people at Miami. Yes, people have money, but you'll have that anywhere. It is just that everyone makes a big deal of this stupid reputation, which is far less than it's hyped up to be. If people who weren't super wealthy (just normal people, like me :-)) started coming here, then that stereotype would leave, but that isn't happening, although it needs to! If you are confident and don't worry about what people think, you'll be fine. It doesn't matter what your parents have, if you go here then you'll be very successful on your own in the future as well. There are so many interesting people here. It does lack diversity in a racial sense because most people are white upperclass, but everyone still brings their own unique character. Some people are flashy with their money, but most people don't really care. Just be true to yourself.

In Closing...
Don't let the preppy stereotype scare you away. People make it out to be worse than it is. I love it here!!!!!!!! Just give it a shot, it's the perfect college town and perfect college experience.