I have a friend whose daughter goes to Miami. They love the school, but the cost goes up each year including housing. They can afford it, but it is definitely something that would give me pause.
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Mama 3 Thank you for confirming Iām not crazy. So great for your son to get something! Iām just so perplexed going from NPC $20k to ZERO. Donāt know if itās a business school thing (lots of demand so not giving discounts)? Obviously they arenāt giving answers. Just bummed as itās one of his top choices.
My son is not business school applicant. But it is too far out of the budget without at least 20. And frankly, even then I donāt think itās worth that much. We would definitely be paying for a lifestyle and thatās not the point of higher ed.
But youāre not going crazy and it does seem like this could backfire on Miami w yield
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Mama3 Thanks for the input! Agree should impact their yield - problem is the competition out there is nuts. Think the toxic higher ed culture with some companies now pushing back saying they wonāt hire grads from some schools is making kids/families flee many typically competitive schools to others (particularly in the South) making them more competitive than ever before. Very frustrating!! Would love to be a fly on the wall in these places!
You can secure 1 on 1 fifteen meeting to discuss Financial Aid with a UM Financial Aid Officer via the following link for admitted students:
https://apply.miami.edu/portal/admt-one-on-one_appts?tab=financial%20aid%20advisor
May only work for admitted applicants as it doesnāt ask for student contact info (automatically generated) You can schedule the same with an admissions officer. Click at the bottom of the applicant portalās main page (looks different after accepted), which takes you to this second page:
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CollegeDad8 - great advice - thanks! Weāve reached out to admissions and didnāt get far. Looks like response was cut and paste.
Attending high school in South Florida in the 1980s, both UM and UF were considered the best colleges in the state. After federal financial aid and state and school scholarships, both schools cost me the same. Several high school friends attended UF as it was much cheaper.
UM in mid 1980ās: Only 2/3 of the students returned the 2nd year and about a quarter of those starting actually graduated. I didnāt like the campus as it was difficult to find a blade of grass and parking lots were everywhere. I was in the first year the schoolās SAT broke 1,000, tuition was $6K, R&B $2,500, total on-campus budget $10K/yr, Tad Foote became the new president to make UM more academic and shed the Suntan U image by pushing the honors program (which was small back then). They offered 125 1/2 tuition scholarships (I received one) and 10 fulls (30+ ACT, 2 lived on my honors floor). UMās 6 yr BS/MD program required a minimum 29 ACT. (I wasnāt in it)
During high school, Iād hear stories from UF students of 1,000 student Calculus classes, and how they were told ālook to your left, look to your right, one of you wonāt be here at graduation.ā (I hear mixed stories of this still being true) The campus was huge in both population and size, almost 10 square miles.
At the end of first UM semester, my mom convinced me out of transferring to UF (where my high school best friends enrolled). It was one of the best things she ever did. UM ended up being perfect for me. I ended up getting into top law schools, and several years later an MBA from Wharton. My best friend at UM ended up at U.Chicagoās med school. (His roommate was UMās first Rhodes scholar) Michael Irving sat in the back of my marketing class. My and my honors program friendsā results were not typical for that time. Very few of them would get admitted to UM as non-scholarship students today.
Of the 3 honors student floors in my dorm tower, (the on-campus honors students at the time), almost 1/2 ended up not returning the 2nd yr, but the ones who stayed did exceptionally well. We had the bandwidth to do well academically plus activities. For example, I was a DJ at the radio station, a student senator all 4 yrs, pres. and VP of a few clubs, member of many more, and also in the schoolās student run dance troop (1 of only 2 guys). My floor participated in almost all the intramural sports and we did do some crazy things at times.
I donāt recommend parsing acceptance rates or other statistical data, rather finding a school which fits your child best. Although my wife and I were against it, my son (junior) is attending a mid-size in-state state school (Iām no longer in Fla) where his near perfect stats were significantly above the schoolās average. (As a premed, he was targeting college where heād secure a 3.9+ GPA) He felt he was going to do well academically while also have time for activities. He has A+'s in honors Organic, is a student gov senator, on mortar board, an RA, in a research lab, etc. Heāll graduate with a 4.0 w/2 bachelors degrees and is having the time of his life (socially). So much so, that heās trying to find a way to stay an 8th semester (covered by scholarships) although heāll graduate in 7. My oldest, on the other hand, attended the same college and hated it socially but did finish summa cum laude and is at a top 25 med school. Sheās the only one in her med school class from her college.
My point. I cannot stress how important it is to identify a college where your child will thrive. If he/she wants to be there, their grades and social life will follow. My only rules for my kids: no jobs (except research) during school year and must live on-campus all 4 yrs. Something Iām trying to figure out for my 12th grader, in case anyone has ideas, is how to handle with UMās new 1 yr only on-campus housing guarantee policy. I lived on-campus all 4 years and also want my child to do so. Identifying where theyāll thrive is tricky as you canāt tell from touring the campus buildings. I was lonely my first semester and didnāt really get into student life until 2nd semester.
Note: The reason UM wasnāt considered by my older children is that I didnāt learn until recently it went to meeting 100% need in 2000. The pre-2000 net price calculator was much less generous. For anyone remotely qualifying for FA, Iād suggest targeting āmeet 100% needā schools. I was surprised Tulane does not, uses academic based need. It meets 100% need for talented, not all, students.
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CollegeDad8 - great advice and insight. Choosing a place to thrive should indeed be the gut check. Grateful that is the primary factor for us. Think itās UM but just peeved/leaves sour taste that getting screwed on merit. As you suggested earlier - will reach out to financial folks to get their two cents.
I recently got deferred and am wondering if I can send in a letter of continued interest to um, does anyone know? or if i can send in anything else that can be further considered as part of my application
Thanks for the reply. Iām not sure if this was perhaps intended for the OP, I actually donāt have any skin in the game, my kiddo is happily a Freshmen in college 
She didnāt ultimately select UM, for a number of reasons. But, while we were there for admitted students day, I picked up their student newspaper and there was an article about the very real problem of housing. It was discouraging. Honestly, one of the young ladies giving us a tour said she was a Junior and she never got on campus. I seem to vaguely recall they were putting in new dorms but I might not be remembering correctly.
This article is of course a year old, so perhaps things have gotten better?
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I talked to Miami Housing today.
Freshman dorms: Centennial, Mahoney/Pearson, Stanford
Sophomore dorms: Eaton/Lakeside
Jr/Sr: University Village
No graduate housing
Cost: Housing Rates
(Note: Lakeside Village rates are per student, not for whole apartment)
They said for Fall '22, 1200 students were waitlisted for housing of which 80% were offered spots. (the bad press year) For Fall '23, all 700 remaining on the waitlist were offered spots, but offers came in as late as July which is a bit close to the start of the school year to be without housing. Theyāre tearing down the remaining 2 towers this May but a new freshman complex center is opening for a small net gain in spots for this Fall.
They currently have 4,500 campus housing spots. Not good math with 2,500 freshman taking over half of them. A new complex will open for Fall '26 which will add thousands more. So, housing situation: guaranteed freshman year, most likely 2nd year, and plenty of spots junior/senior year.
Every year is a lottery, where the student must reapply. If a student requests a cheaper class year dorm, they will try to accommodate. Wait list preference can be made by dorm building or 1st available.
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This housing insight is very helpful. Thank you so much.
Our daughter will not know anyone attending U Miami in the fall. Any suggestions for finding a roommate? Do students still do a random roommate match? Or most find someone to pair up with ahead of time?
My son is postingālike many other studentsāon a U Miami Insta page to pair up. Not sure the exact name, as I believe there may be multiples. I believe most schools also organize a roommate match via surveys, if the students choose to go that route.
Some kids try to find roommates ahead of time , some do random. There is fb group
āUM Furniture sales/roommates/sublets/apartmentsā.
Did any Umiami deffered applicant get an email asking them to verify thier financial aid interest and financial certification form
Did you? Could you post screen shot of it?
Did many people get that email?
Iām not sure yet. Did you?