University of Miami Top Questions

As previously stated, greek life is popular, more and more students, especially girls, are rushing each year, we have 7 sororities (adding an 8th in the immediate future). We have 11 fraternities. Dorms are fun, alternate girl floor/boy floor, but doors are generally not left unlocked, things are stolen sometimes. Not too many things are in easy walking distance, so not much real dating for freshman, cars make life a lot easier here, although you can survive without one (me). People party often, tuesday-saturday. We have so many activities, you can really join a cub for anything, if not start your own. We give a lot of funding to organizations, making anything possible. There are always events going on at the center of campus.

The most popular student activity would probably be frats and sororities. Greek life is pretty big mainly because it's the number one source of on campus entertainment. If you're looking for something to do on a Friday or Saturday night that doesn't involve an expensive cab ride or a fake ID, frat parties are probably your best bet. For girls, I'd say being in a sorority isn't all that important because you're more than welcome at any frat event. Visiting the frat houses and hanging out with the brothers is a great way to make friends. For guys, though, being in a frat gives you a huge boost in having a super exciting social life. Many of the dues they pay go towards taking buses to south beach and throwing killer ragers, most of which are an exclusive "brothers only". However, if you don't really care about being part of that crowd, it's not like your stuck sitting in your room. Miami is really the place to be if you're into electronic music, and most shows are 18+ and $20-$40. There's also other school sponsored activities like free movies in the cosford cinnema and plays put on by the theater department. Even kids who don't want to drink or stay out late can still find ways to have fun.

Recently, the popularity of fraternities and sororities has been on the rise, and more and more students have been registering for recruitment. Greek Life doesn't dominate campus (only about 15{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of students are involved), however, and it is not at all necessary to be in a frat/sorority to have a social life, especially as a female. Sororities do not have houses, and only a few of the frats do. Different days of the week usually offer different social activities. Tuesdays and Thursdays are popular Coconut Grove nights (a local bar scene); Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays are popular South Beach club nights (many internationally famous dj's have been frequenting our clubs); and Fridays and Saturdays are typical frat party nights. There are always other activities to choose from as well, such as Brickell (a more mature, higher end bar scene), concerts, plays, guest speakers, or just staying in with friends to watch a movie. In general, people go out an average of 2-3 nights a week. In terms of campus activities, students are staunch supporters of the football team and avidly attend games at the Sun Life Stadium; basketball has also seen a rise in popularity, and in general, each sport has a decent following. There are numerous student organizations and our student body is generally very active- Dance Marathon, Relay for Life, Camp Kesem, Kaos Dance Group, etc are just a few. These organizations have a very strong presence on campus. Many students make strong friendships through their campus involvement, but also through smaller classes, living in dorms, and Greek Life.

A big part of the University of Miami experience is what happens after class hours (and in some cases, before, for better or worse). Though we are in the process of ridding ourselves of our “Sun Tan U” reputation, it is undeniable Hurricanes love to party. We are, after all, the University of Miami, and I would wager no other student body has a better time in a better city for it. Popular weekend spots for students include Coconut Grove, where going there to drink or club is affectionately referred to as “Groving”, and all of South Beach; you have not seen a beautiful beach till you’ve seen South Beach lit up at night. All of these areas are easily accessible by public transit or on-campus Zip Car service, basically a sort of car rental service for students with driver’s licenses. I myself spent last weekend in the incredibly chic and cool Miami Art District, also known as the Design District of midtown, as part of the art festival Art Basel weekend, where local artists throw open doors to their galleries and homes (often the same places) for free viewing, local bands play very cheap or free shows, and local food trucks serve hot, delicious and gourmet meals along the streets. Even better, getting drunk was not even required to enjoy this; it was entirely optional, like in any one of the many events going in Miami students can enjoy for free. UM’ theater department is an excellent program that puts on excellent shows free for students, all of which I have attended and enjoyed so far. This semester our school premiered Studio 52, Tommy Tune’s new musical, and I was able to meet writer/director Nilo Cruz when UM’s theater premiered his play Night Train to Bolina. Athletic events and Homecoming as a Hurricane are like nothing you’ve ever been a part of before, with unrivaled school spirit. As for clubs and organizations, fraternities and sororities are present on-campus but not a vital part of University life unless a student wants it to be; US News estimates about 10 percent of the male and student body respectively go Greek, so to speak. The school offers a variety of clubs and organizations that was quite frankly overwhelming for me, who went to a small charter school in high school, but a joy to become a part of. Eventually I narrowed my list down to membership of the Hurricane, the school newspaper, Sigma Tau Delta, the English Honor Society, the Racquetball Club, and perhaps most unique and fun, the school’s Muggle Quidditch team. I say team instead of club because Hurricanes take their sports seriously, broomsticks or not. Playing against other school’s Muggle Quidditch teams is an unlikely but welcome source of fun in my University Life. There is plenty to do as a Hurricane, not all of it involving alcohol, contrary to stereotyping. You’ll be wishing for more time, not more activities. And as for the student body and dating scene, I’ll say that we may have come a long way from the days of “Sun Tan U”, but our tans still look very, very nice on all of us, and leave it at that.

Almost everyone gets amped up for home games! Students get free tickets to the student section, the school provides transportation, and when you get there you can feel the excitement. I'll always hear people talking about 'what they did last night.' Night life is a popular aspect of life, and you can always find a place to party. If partying is not your thing there is plenty else to do at night. The on-campus cinema plays movies every week, the intramural fields stay lit pretty late with people playing different sports, and the dorms are always running cool events. Lots of people are also involved in on-campus clubs, especially the sports clubs. I like table tennis so I spend a lot of my free time at those practices. Most all the clubs go to Regional and even National level competitions and are very successful.

Almost everyone gets amped up for home games! Students get free tickets to the student section, the school provides transportation, and when you get there you can feel the excitement. I'll always hear people talking about 'what they did last night.' Night life is a popular aspect of life, and you can always find a place to party. If partying is not your thing there is plenty else to do at night. The on-campus cinema plays movies every week, the intramural fields stay lit pretty late with people playing different sports, and the dorms are always running cool events. Lots of people are also involved in on-campus clubs, especially the sports clubs. I like table tennis so I spend a lot of my free time at those practices. Most all the clubs go to Regional and even National level competitions and are very successful.

Almost everyone gets amped up for home games! Students get free tickets to the student section, the school provides transportation, and when you get there you can feel the excitement. I'll always hear people talking about 'what they did last night.' Night life is a popular aspect of life, and you can always find a place to party. If partying is not your thing there is plenty else to do at night. The on-campus cinema plays movies every week, the intramural fields stay lit pretty late with people playing different sports, and the dorms are always running cool events. Lots of people are also involved in on-campus clubs, especially the sports clubs. I like table tennis so I spend a lot of my free time at those practices. Most all the clubs go to Regional and even National level competitions and are very successful.

There is a wide variety of organizations, clubs, and Greek life available to UM students. Although about 20{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the student body is in Greek like, the students tend to be involved in multiple clubs as well. There is really an organization for everyone. Some of the favorite clubs include Salsa Craze, Scuba Club, and Rock Climbing. A big UM event that happens every year is SportsFest in which all of the freshmen, most commuters, and other students participate in a campus-wide group of competitive events

Well, as I said the FEC is definitely popular, I'm involved with Caribbean Students Association and the Organization for Jamaican Unity because I'm an international student from Jamaica. Those two clubs definitely made my experience here so much better, to have people you can identify, and relate with really can change things for you. Students do leave their dorms open and that's why recently we have had some safety problems but hopefully everyone is now aware and keeps their doors locked. Football is the most athletic event. The games are HUGE and so is the school spirit! Go Canes! I My closest friends are exchange students, they are some of the ones who didn't have a set group of friends already and we're ready to meet new people. I'm here for another year so I will need to find new friends because the exchange students are only here for a year. If I'm awake at 2 am on a Tuesday I am most definitely doing work. The traditions for homecoming are nice, with the homecoming parade, boat burning , football game and concert. Apparently people party a lot but as I said before not really what I call partying and also because I'm not a heavy drinker. Fraternities and sororities apparently were bigger and so was the party scene but things are changing. I see some frats and soros being represented but its not heavy like I expected it to be. Off campus there are other schools to go , South Beach, the malls and so on so that can be really fun especially if you have friends at other schools.

There are a wide variety of clubs on campus. You can pretty much find a club for anything you're interested in from rock climbing to book clubs to community service. I'm a member of Phi Sigma Pi National Honors Fraternity, a general honors co-ed fraternity and I love it. Most of my close friends are girls from my floor freshman year and the guys from a couple floors above us that we hung out with a lot our freshman year. The rest of my close friends are from my fraternity. I'm also a member of the rock climbing club and I was involved with Students Together Ending Poverty. There are plenty of active religious groups on campus. The freshman dorms are very social, people leave their doors open and you meet someone new every week. The upper class dorms are a little less open, people have established most of their friend groups. Freshman year it seemed like most people were interested more in partying than in dating but the dating scene isn't bad on campus. If it were 2 am on a Tuesday and I was still awake I'd probably either be studying or playing Mario Kart in a friend's room. It is a big thing to go out to Coconut Grove on Thursday nights and go bar hopping but there's plenty of other things to do on campus. Our on campus theater shows free currently released movies every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. The pool is a popular place to hang out in between or after classes on the weekend. We are a 15 minute drive from South Beach and a 5 minute drive from several big shopping areas.