High School Counselors

Ever wonder what your high school counselors do over summer break? For some, it is their time to check out colleges. Just as we recommend students and families to visit us, we also welcome many counselors. This past week, we hosted about 20 counselors from Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri. Visits are a great way for guidance counselors to learn about the university and meet our staff. When they return to your high school, they are better equipped to answer your questions about Miami and assist with your college search. We suggest contacting your counselor to learn more about applying to colleges and finding schools that “fit” what you are looking for.


I also wanted to mention that this is another important week in our Admission cycle. Our fall 2009 transfer deadline draws to a close on July 1. If you are looking at transferring into Miami for this up coming fall, there is still time but don’t wait. Feel free to contact me at brian.jicinsky@muohio.edu with any questions regarding the transfer process.

Also, July 1 marks the day our first-year application goes live for fall 2010 applicants. Students looking at getting a head start filling out the application can begin Wednesday! Check out our website to learn more about applying as a transfer or first-year student: www.muohio.edu/apply.

I hope your summer is going well and that you are finding time to relax.

Until next time,
Brian

Bittersweet departure

Well, this is my last blog. I will be leaving this Miami and heading to the “other” Miami. Starting in August, I will be pursuing my Master’s degree in Sport Administration at the University of Miami! I am very, very excited at this opportunity, but of course it will be extremely hard for me to say goodbye to my MU family here.

I have made Oxford my home for seven years and have had some absolutely fantastic times here. I hope to be able to consistently make it back to Oxford for Homecoming each fall.

Even though I’ll be at a different Miami, I will always have my t-shirt from the MU bookstore that reads, “Miami was a university when Florida belonged to Spain”. That’s one of my favorites. :)

Good luck to you all as you continue on through your college search! Go RedHawks!

Both pictures are from the alumni association website and are of the Miami Merger attempt to break the Guinness World Records for the most couples renewing their vows simultaneously.

Although last week I blogged about the 2009 Alumni Weekend, I wanted to give you all an update. As an admission office we were able to be at the Welcome and Registration part of the event recruiting alumni volunteers to help with AARN which stands for the Alumni Admission Recruiting Network. These outstanding Miami alumni volunteers are helpers that you may see at a local college fair or event.

While I was sitting at the AARN table, I noticed that the one next to us was getting a pretty big crowd. I looked over at their sign and noticed that they were the Miami Merger table. Remember I talked about what a Miami Merger was last Monday? Well, if you need a bit of a reminder it is when a Miamian marries another Miamian. Luckily the tables were pretty close and I got to meet alumni that had been married for as little as 2 years to those celebrating 30+ years.

I am proud to say that the “unofficial” count of the attempt to break the Guinness World Records for the most couples simultaneously renewing their wedding vows was at 1,087. Previously, the record was set at 624 in Pittsburgh, PA. At this point, it will go through a bit of a process with the Guinness World Records in which they will look at the evidence of the copies of marriage licenses and photographs of the event. During the event, it included a couple that graduated in 1938 & 1939 and a couple that graduated this past May and were married the previous night.

Although I provided you with pictures of the Miami Merger moment, feel free to take a look at pictures from the entire weekend at http://www.miamialum.org/s/916/internal.aspx?sid=916&gid=1&pgid=1463 and let us know what you think!

A word from our Visit Coordinator!

Hello! My name is Carol Richmond and I am enjoying my 4th year as the Visit Coordinator in the Office of Admission. I am a Miami Graduate, a Miami Merger, both the parent of a current Miami student and a prospective student.
I love my job and you can find me at my desk in the lobby of the Admission Office. I look forward to getting a chance to meet you and I want to offer my help with your visit to Miami! I have fun with our fantastic summer tour staff who are all current students ready to share their Miami experience with you.
Summer is a great time to start your college search and join our 9,000 summer visitors who take advantage of the break from school and sports schedules to enjoy a more relaxed visit to campus. To plan your visit to campus you could schedule the date that is best for you at www.muohio.edu/visit . We offer tours weekly Monday – Friday starting at 10 am and 2pm, we have added some Saturday visit as well as two Thursday evening Tunes and Tours which start at 5:00pm and combine with a concert in Uptown Oxford. If you don’t have time to plan ahead and find you are close to campus please join us for a casual conversation with one our admission counselors or join our tours as posted. I am happy to help with connecting you with faculty, the honors program and more. I hope you will take some time to come to Oxford to experience our beautiful campus and unique setting in a college town this summer. You are welcome to call me so I could help you customize your time on campus.

An exciting weekend for Miami alumni!

The picture above is of the alumni parade that takes place
during alumni weekend. This picture was provided by the
alumni association.

The picture below is of the alumni commencement procession

in 1913. This picture was provided by the Miami University

Libraries-digital collection.

On June 18-21 Miami University will welcome back all of its alumni for the 2009 alumni weekend. This way they are able to celebrate together Miami’s 200th birthday!

Events for the day include group reunions, a “mini” pep rally around the seal, parade party and then Miami Fest. During Miami Fest alumni will gather for dinner, live music and even a kid zone for future Miamians.

This year an additional highlight will be an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for most couples simultaneously renewing their wedding vows. Miami Mergers are Miamians marrying other Miamians. Each February the alumni association sends Valentine’s cards to all merger couples in their database which includes over 26, 000. Their plan is to gather for a group photo, countdown to a kiss and then renew their vowels simultaneously. The current record was set for 624 couples in Pittsburgh, PA in 2008.

Guest Blogger

My name is Michael Haywood and I am the Head Football Coach At Miami University. I was hired on Dec. 27th, 2009, and am looking forward to my first season at Miami University. Before coming to Miami, I worked as an assistant football coach at The University of Notre Dame (4 yrs.), The University of Texas (2 yrs.), and L.S.U. (8 yrs.). Miami is a great fit for me since it provides an outstanding combination of athletics and academics, and I have been especially enjoying the campus, which is considered the Midwest’s most beautiful. Oxford is a vibrant college town with an “Uptown” that caters to your every need. Our freshmen retention rate is 91% and reflects a level of satisfaction that is unique to Miami. This impressive rate and our 80% graduation rate are among the highest in the country. Come visit Miami University-- once here, you will never want to leave!

Stop by for a visit!

Happy Monday all! I hope that you are enjoying your summer. Currently, we are in the midst of orientations and summer programs, and our office is filled with daily visitors as well.

In the summer, our hours change a bit from the normal 8:00am-5:00pm to 7:30am-4:30pm. We continue to offer daily visits, including selected Saturdays in June and July. Saturdays are usually our most popular visit days and the ones that fill up fast.

An additional visit opportunity that we have on Thursday, July 16 and Thursday, August 6 is our Thursday evening Tours & Tunes. Your visit that day will be an information session presented by an Admission Counselor beginning at 5:00pm, followed by a 90 minute walking tour. Right after your tour, you will be invited to join the city of Oxford for live music in the Oxford Memorial Park which is walking distance from the Office of Admission. The Music Festival is free and open to the public!

Because of space limitations, reservations are required. For more information on our daily campus visits and the Tours & Tunes events, please visit www.muohio.edu/visit.

A lil more summertime...

Anyone else suffering from a little humidity? Gotta love Ohio summers!

Brian just blogged about being a SOUL during summer orientation. While I was a student here, I spent 2 summers being a SOUL and had an incredible time. Not only did I get to hang out in Oxford during the summers, but I got the chance to welcome the first year class to campus. I was also a tour guide as an undergrad and my experience came full circle when one the students who I gave a tour to showed up 4 months later for orientation! My favorite part of summer orientation was singing the fight song every night and also dancing at the student socials.

I also took a summer class. There are a lot of students who will stay for some part of the summer to take classes--it's a great way to get ahead (or catch up) on class credit. Miami offers 4 summer sessions with plenty of options for classes.

Summers are great in Oxford. The pace is a little slower, but there’s always something going on. Be it a concert, the farmer’s market, or just hanging out in Uptown Park, you’re guaranteed a good time. Come visit us and see for yourself!

SOULs

As Chrissy recently wrote about Summer Orientation starting up tomorrow, I thought it would be a great time to mention a group of student leaders that will be helping with orientation. These students are called Student Orientation Undergraduate Leaders; we call them SOULS for short. The SOULs are here to help make your transition to Miami University a successful one. They are group of exceptional students that will act as facilitators, mentors, and most of all leaders. The SOULs are excellent resources for new students and they love answering any questions you may have. They have been training for your arrival for the past three months, and will be able to share many of their own experiences to help address concerns you may have and answer your questions.

Something also worth mentioning is that you too may want to be an orientation leader someday. The first step is to get to know your SOUL while you’re at orientation this summer. What better way to learn about the job than to watch and learn from the students who are doing it, right? Next, get involved at Miami when you arrive back on campus in August; find an organization or two or three to join. Perhaps, eventually start taking on leadership roles in the organizations in which you are a member. Finally, apply! SOUL applications will be available in late October 2009 – early November 2009. If you have questions or if you’d like to learn more about the SOUL position, please visit the Office of New Student Programs website at www.muohio.edu/orientation. On the website, if you click on “Student Leadership and Employment” you will find a section about the SOULs, including a position description.

I hope you are having a great summer!

Until Next Time,
Brian