crazed

Public transportation at Miami is great, or so it seems.
The students can tell you better, but the campus shuttle takes the kids to the Grove and other places I would expect. Also, the train (don't know the official name) takes them to the Dadeland Mall and elsewhere. Can also use it to get to the train that takes them up the Florida Coast, up North. My son and others used it to go to relatives/students houses for Thanksgiving (for those that choose not to come home). There are restaurants/CVS within waking distance as Sunset Mall/Movie is in walking distance too.

I believe that most of my sons friends do not have cars but a couple do. All you need is 1 or 2 and you then have transportation!!! He should not include that in his decision. He will meet others with cars.

While Miami seems to have their fare share of the "arrogant" there are many wonderful/friendly kids too and those will be your sons friends if he prefers. I would expect that BU has their fare share too.

Expenses? I suppose SB is a bit more expensive than the cover or clubs in Boston. He'll have to budget if that is what he wants to do. For those not clubbing, expense is minimal.... meals/movies/incidentals you'd have anywhere. There seems to be an abundance of jobs on campus if he needs it.

The campus is so pretty and there is so much going on all the time. We recently visited and the campus atmosphere was wonderful with lots of happy looking students. It looked like a great place to be.

BU for the city atmosphere but it is a trade-off for the campus.

Hope this helps you out.

LilyMoon

I can understand why your son is having a hard time making a decision. Both are very good schools in fun areas.

My son is transferring from UM after 2 years. It's not that he didn't enjoy UM, because he did, but I think he is ready for a change. He just can't see spending all 4 of his college years there and with weighing out all the factors decided to go to a NY state school.

UM has it's pros and cons. He loved the weather and made really good use of the wellness center and the outdoors. I think he will miss that. I think he will also miss the school spirit, since UM students have a great deal of pride. He will also miss the division 1 sports. He made some really nice friends and met people from all over the world. UM is very diverse. He enjoyed the majority of his classes, although he didn't like that he had to double major being in the Comm school. However, he has told me that they will be phasing that out. I think the main problem he sees is that there are a great deal of students who are quite intense and superficial. Since he is basically very laid back and down to earth, this has been a problem. He was able to find others whose company he enjoys, however, it took a while to find them. He will miss those people but in general many of the friendships at UM tend to be more on the surface. He has heard this same sentiment from others at the University that have also been thinking of transferring out or those he knows that already have. I guess it depends on the kind of person you are. He is also not into the clubbing scene and it is a big thing at UM.

I wish your son the best of luck in his decision.