<p>The Miami of Ohio vs. Ivy debate is an interesting one. The loudest voices seem to be coming from those trying to justify their own choices. Both types of schools have a lot to offer. Both are good choices. The schools, and those who have chosen them, deserve respect.</p>
<p>Full disclosure: I happen to know students and professors at Miami. Family members have attended well-known elite schools, as well as Miami. Some attended both.</p>
<p>Miamis campus is beautiful, but the academics are nothing to sneeze at. Fiske is not the only publication that noticed Miami. The following are bits and pieces copied from Miamis website as well as other discussions on CC: </p>
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<li>Up from last year’s ranking of #8, Miami was recently ranked #2 by U.S. News and World Report in the Best Colleges: Undergraduate Teaching at National Universities. Miami tied with Princeton University and is one spot behind Dartmouth.
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<li>Kiplinger has named Miami as one of the “100 Best Values in Public Colleges” since the ranking began in 1998.</li>
<li>Miami ranks as the top public university in Ohio for a quality education based on student satisfaction, affordability, and success (Center for College Affordability & Productivity/Forbes).</li>
<li>Twice as many employers recruit at Miami than at similar sized schools, and they conduct four times as many interviews on campus.</li>
<li>Graduation rates are high, especially for a state school. Miami’s graduation rate of 81 percent is one of the 10 best for publics in the nation and the best for publics in Ohio. MU graduates about 68% in four years and 80+% after 6 years. This puts MU in top 5 of the Large State Schools in the US. </li>
<li>Miami’s 3.7 years to graduation average places it in the bottom half of Ohio schools in cost-per-degree.</li>
<li>Miami graduates gain admittance into graduate, law, and medical schools at a much higher rate than average. For medical school, 64 percent of qualified Miami applicants were admitted, versus 47 percent nationally. That number rises to 90 percent for those with a 3.4 g.p.a. Miami seniors applying to law schools for the 20092010 school year were accepted at a rate of 92 percent, compared to a national average of 77 percent. </li>
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<li>Payscale.com ranked Miami eighth out of 150 Midwestern universities for best earning potential after graduation.
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<li>In Business Week magazine’s latest ranking of undergraduate business programs, Miami’s Farmer School of Business appears among the nation’s top five percent, ranking sixth among public universities and colleges. (2010)
*The architecture department was recognized by Architect Magazine in their ‘Arch Ed 2009: A new guide to inform (and demystify) the process of choosing an architecture school’ as one of the Schools that Excel in Distinctive Specialties. Of the 400 to 500 undergraduate applicants the department receives, only 75 are accepted.</li>
<li>Miami’s Interior Design program is ranked ninth in the nation, according to the 2009 edition of “America’s Best Architecture & Design Schools” published by Design Intelligence magazine. </li>
<li>Survey results released by Entrepreneur magazine and The Princeton Review show the Miami University Institute for Entrepreneurship ranks 20th among the nation’s undergraduate entrepreneurship programs. (2010)</li>
<li>Miami’s undergraduate and master’s degree programs in accountancy were ranked 17th and 21st in the nation, respectively, by Public Accounting Report. (2009)</li>
<li>Miami is among a select group of universities in the nation that have produced a Rhodes Scholar, a Truman Scholar, and a Goldwater Scholar in the same academic year. Other schools in this select group are Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Duke, Stanford, Syracuse, and the University of Washington.</li>
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<p>I think Miami deserves the accolades they receive. </p>
<p>Frankly, Im tired at the impression that Miami is a party school filled with snobby, conservative, preppy students. I think part of the image is a self-perpetuating stereotype, which is only true if you believe it to be. Or it is sometimes based on a very small select sample (of one or two students you happen to know). It is a large campus. There is something for everyone. When visiting campus, it reminded me much more of a smaller liberal arts college than a public university, both by the student body, the friendly atmosphere, and the campus environment. Odd how many elite private schools don’t have the same reputation, yet I would guess they have even higher stats regarding financial backgrounds, low diversity, etc. Part of the reputation may be because Miami is a state school, that functions more like a private school.</p>
<p>State schools have some brilliant students. Ivys have some not-so-brilliant legacies.
BOTH ARE GOOD CHOICES.</p>