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The U is famous for being a party school populated by rich, attractive students. Which is pretty accurate. Even though the party scene is big here and the tuition is high, the school gives out a lot of scholarships and most students are very good at spending the weekend partying but keeping up with their grades. Greek life is pretty big on campus but not as many kids are as involved as you'd think.

The best thing about the U is the atmosphere. The campus is the perfect size (15 minute walk from one side to the other) and is gorgeous. Most people think that UM is a huge school because of our football team but we only have around 11,000 undergrads. Another common misconception is that the school is in a dangerous area but our campus is located in Coral Gables, a quiet upscale town right outside of Miami. The Rathskeller is the best place to be, located right in the middle of campus you can sit outside on one of the swinging tables and grab a burger and a pitcher. The school is located close to the beach and lots of restaurants, shops, and bars. Cane pride is huge at UM. Once a Cane always a Cane and we go all out. My first football game will always be my favorite part of college. Our campus is probably the most unusual part about our school, it feels more like a resort than a school with all of the green grass, palm trees, and fountains. The school even sets up hammocks during finals. The biggest student complaint is probably that our football stadium isn't located on campus. However, UM provides charter buses free to students to take you to and from the game.

One of the great things about UM is that class sizes are small. The largest class that I've ever been in had 250 students. The majority of my classes have around 20-25 students so you really get to know your professors. The best class and the most unique that I've taken so far would have to be APY415: Forensic Anthropology II. We got to go to a gun range and shoot, collect data, and put together a project about the effects of firearms on the human body. Because class sizes are so small it's easy to get involved. I'm an Anthropology and English double major and I love both of my departments. I'm more involved with anthropology (I am a teaching assistant for 2 courses) but I love all of the English classes that I've taken. Most of the professors that I've had have been very knowledgeable and good teachers but I have had 2 horrible professors. I think that's pretty common everywhere. Asking around and looking at ratemyprofessor.com helps you avoid those professors though. UM offers a lot of research and internship opportunities that I feel will be very helpful when applying to grad schools and eventually getting a job.

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.

The library is always a good place to get work done.There are study rooms and lots of couches and chairs to do group projects on the first floor. The stacks or the law school library are good for when you want quiet. But my favorite place to get work done is outside. During finals the school sets up hammocks in the palm trees to make studying more relaxing. We have a lake in the middle of campus and that's where I go when I need to get reading done during the semester. The University Center is good for group project meetings.

My most memorable day on campus would be the day that the old Rathskeller building was closed to make way for the new student center that is being built. The Rat is the only place on campus where you can buy alcohol and it's tradition to buy your first pitcher there when you turn 21. The Rat still exists, they just moved it to another location on campus but the closing of the old building was a big deal. There was basically a party for a solid week. I had friends that would camp out in the morning to make sure they got one of the outdoor gliders for the day. The school gave out Rathskeller souvenirs every day. On the last day it was open there was a huge storm but everyone just sat out in the rain drinking their pitchers and having a good time.

Unlike a lot of people I don't usually go out to the Grove on Thursday nights because I don't have a fake ID. But the few times that I have I haven't even needed an ID to get in anywhere or get served. I have an off campus job so I usually work Friday nights but as soon as I get off there's usually a party going on somewhere in the University Village. Most of the parties in the apartments aren't ragers and are more just hanging out and drinking with friends. Saturday I work as well and usually I'll get some homework done. Depending on how much I have I'll either just hang out with my boyfriend or go to one of my fraternity's parties. Also pretty chill. I don't go to many traditionally greek frat parties but if you're into that thing there's usually at least one every weekend. Sundays are about recovery and relaxation.

There are 2 freshman dorms, Hecht and Stanford and if you do not live in the Miami area you are required to live there as a freshman. The floors are divided by gender and you share a room with one other person. The rooms are pretty narrow, but they aren't too bad. They have hurricane shutters that effectively block out all sunlight which can be awesome for naps. Every floor has a communal bathroom in the center. There are plenty of showers and stalls and aside from orientation week I never had to wait to take a shower. They keep them pretty clean. There are 3 upperclassman dorms, Eaton, Mahoney, and Pearson. They are suite style dorms meaning you share a room with one person and a bathroom connects you to another room. Eaton is a lot quieter than the other two dorms. A lot of the jocks live in Mahoney and Pearson because there are floor kitchens on the 6th and 7th floors. All of the dorms have free laundry. The University Village are apartments that are owned by the school. They have single apartments, 2/2, 4/2, and 4/4 style apartments as well. You have to have 60 credits to live there but they're really nice. Everything is included and a bus runs to campus.

The weather. I hate cold weather so Miami was the obvious choice. The academics and the scholarship that I received didn't hurt either. UM was by far the most relaxed and friendly campus of all the schools that I visited when I was applying.

I'm currently taking Spanish 101, Shakespeare, and Criminology as well as getting credit for an anthropology internship through the Audobon House in Key West and for being a teaching assistant for Forensic Anthropology I. Criminology is my biggest class at 25 students. I really like my Spanish and criminology classes, the professors are excellent. My English professor is really obnoxious and not very helpful so he really makes it hard to enjoy the class. I love that I can get credit for doing an internship on campus. I get to analyze and catalog the bone material and ceramics found on the last archaeological dig conducted at the Audobon House in Key West. I also get credit for being a teaching assistant for a class that I took last year; unfortunately, it doesn't count towards my GPA.

The food court has a pretty good dining selection with everything from Panda Express to Jamba Juice. We have the Rathskeller which serves bar food and is the only place on campus where you can order alcohol. We also have Oasis which is a kosher dining option and has good breakfast sandwiches. However, the dining halls are horrible. You have to chew everything a little longer than you should. Very rarely do they have fresh fruits and vegetables and the chicken always seems under cooked. If you live on campus you are obligated to have a meal plan. I've heard that they added a new option where you can buy meals in bulk (50 for the semester) as opposed to a weekly allotment (8-20 meals a week). I was on the 8 meal plan and I never used all of my meals for the week. I moved into the University Village because they have kitchens so they don't require a meal plan. There are kitchens available for the entire building on the 6th and 7th floor of Mahoney and Pearson (the upperclassman dorms). But they're really gross and it's hard to store food to cook in your dorm room.

Sportsfest is far and away my favorite campus tradition. It's an entire weekend in the spring where the whole school competes against each other for a pair of personalized sweat pants. Each of the residential colleges and the commuters make teams and compete individually for a catered meal from the restaurant of their choice and a personalized track suit for every member of the team. We compete in everything from canoe races around the lake in the middle of campus to flag football and rock, paper, scissors. It is really competitive but really fun because there's something for everyone and it really fosters school unity and pride.