The Good Along with the Bad

Introduction
The kind of student who fits in at the University of Miami is an extroverted person who either: likes parties/clubs, or likes to hang out in small cliques. Introverts need not apply and be forewarned: literature book clubs and the like are in short supply here. Are you a mediocre English major student who sits in his/her room and reads Shakesphere? Go to a small liberal arts college in the boonies, not here.

This school is pretty non-political but leans on the conservative side. A combination of white-yuppie southerners, wealthy northern kids who want to go to Miami, Cubans, Puerto-Ricans and Floridians mirrors the Republican Party's demographic. Although it's Miami, so they're too busy clubbing or at the beach to be gung-ho about it. My point: liberal activist-types don't belong here.

If you like football you've already applied here, so I don't need to say that this is THE place to be for college football.

Jazz musician? No one seems to know we have one of the best jazz programs in the United States (ranked top 3 yearly).

Marine biology, you should seriously consider this school.

Like to party? You can't beat this place. Although the police presence has toned it down a bit (regardless there are some of the wildest parties I have ever seen, my God!)

Campus Life and Social Life
Social life centers on football, intramural sports, frats, and clubbing. That's the big 4. We have a very small minority of Christians who do bible readings, but I assume they are everywhere. Weekends are wild in the dorms, and frat houses. As someone who doesn't like to party, I have to admit I enjoyed how LIVELY it was. The place was bumping, and in a good way. Dorm pranks were plentiful, and most of them were HILARIOUS. Parties/Clubs galore, you'll find whatever you're looking for here. A note though, if you're into heavy metal/hard rock, forget this place.

I guess I'm mixed on the partying here. I liked it to a degree (and I'm not a big partier). It kept things loose, interesting, and friendly. It, of course, was occasionally annoying, excessive, and a bunch of spoiled kids acting up. Take the good with the bad. Academics
Academics.... right. Not quite what you would expect if you came from a tough high school or an academic family. Workload... easy (for the liberal arts program). Comp Sci/Music/Med School/Law ... moderately difficult. International studies has a good department. Does athletic sports count as a department? Professors are reasonably nice. Reasonably accessible. They know their subjects, although I don't know if many of them were excellent teachers. I wasn't blown away by any professors. Some were downright rude to me. Some were beyond nice. It's a crap shoot. We have a large number of TA's by the way.

Student Body
The typical student breaks down into two basic groups (if you will allow me to grossly generalize):

1. White southern conservative, or white northern moderate. Upper middle class or filthy rich. Apolitical but will turn conservative once they stop popping shots and start thinking about the world. Political affiliations range from conservative, to ultra-conservative. Practical. Athletic. Friendly, but clique-y. Not particularly academic nor hard-working. But excellent social skills, and "intangibles". Plus connections. They live on campus mostly.

2. Middle class Latino. Mostly likely Cuban or Puerto Rican although all countries are represented here. Conservative, most likely Republican. Friendly. Educated. Lives off campus and isolated from the white upper middle class community that lives on campus.

In Closing...
I have mixed feelings about Miami. There were some parts of it that were definitely positive: the atmosphere, the people, excitement, sports, parties, weather, campus (unbelievably beautiful). And some parts that were definitely negative: the relatively low academic quality of the student body, the non-impressive professors, and the total non-factor that the liberal arts tradition plays into the school. A career services department no one knew existed, and the ridiculous cost of tuition.