It's almost time!

I'm blogging today because it is a mere 12 hours until August 1st! The Common Application is finally available for you to begin applying for admission for Fall of 2011! Our future Miami Class of 2015 can go to www.muohio.edu/apply or directly to www.commonapp.org and create your Common App profile. This application is accepted at 416 colleges, including Miami University! It's great because you fill it out one time online, and you can select the schools to send your application to. Most college applications ask you for the exact same demographic, personal, and family information, which is why the Common Application is so nice: you fill out that information just once!

One aspect of the application that can be confusing, though is the list of deadlines on the Common Application. Because colleges use different terminology, there is a list of many different "Decision Deadlines" that you can select. At Miami, we have three deadlines to choose from:

Early Decision (November 1st)- This deadline is different from the others because you actually fill out a contract to go with it. You sign a document saying that if you are admitted during this deadline, you will attend this college. It's also referred to as a "binding" deadline because you are doing just that: binding yourself to attend that school if you are admitted. You are notified of your decision on December 15th, and if you are not admitted, you are released from that contract, but your application is automatically reviewed again in Regular Decision.

Early Action (December 1st)- This is Miami's most popular deadline. You are not making a binding commitment, so you still have the freedom to choose which college you would like to attend after you receive your admission decisions. But, you get notified of your decision on February 1st, so you have the peace of mind of knowing your decision earlier! If you're not admitted, your application is reviewed again in Regular Decision.

Regular Decision (February 1st)- Generally speaking, if you are planning on applying to selective colleges or universities, you should have your application in by February 1st, as this is the latest deadline for most selective colleges. We let you know on March 15th of your admission decision.

So, set your clocks, and begin working on your Common Application on August 1st! We are SO looking forward to reading them, and welcoming you to Miami's Class of 2015! As always, if you have any questions, contact your admission counselor at www.muohio.edu/askacounselor.

Summertime Visit to Miami!
Last night we hosted over 100 visitors for an evening tour which gave our visitors a chance to join the Oxford Summer Music Festival Concert Series free concert in Uptown Oxford. These events are great entertainment for our summer students and Oxford community members who come together to enjoy local musicians! My brother plays string bass in one of the local bands that performs each year and everyone in the band is a member of the Oxford community. They all work full time in different careers, some who are owners of Uptown businesses and they come together to share their passion for music.
Schedule your visit www.muohio.edu/visit
Oxford Summer Music Festival Concert Series in the Uptown Parks Thursday Evenings in July & Augusthttp://www.enjoyoxford.org/2010_Music_Festival.pdf

Future Cincinnati Opera Idol?

I am so proud to work at a university with such talented and amazing students. The best part, though, is that we have such a wide variety of student success. We get constant updates on scientific research, business proposals, archaeological digs, and volunteer work that students are doing. I just found out something that I just HAD to share!



Mark Aiken, a senior music education major, made it to the finals of the Cincinnati Opera Idol competition! And just like the TV show, he needs votes to win!! Aiken, who is from Cincinnati, will compete against five other finalists for the title. To vote, go to http://www.operaidol.org/. Deadline to vote is July 19, so don't waste any time!

Summer Heat!

A lot of our current student’s really seem to think that we admission counselors don’t work in the summer since they know that they and their faculty are not on campus (unless taking/teaching summer classes). On the other side of this, the university still needs to function whether it is summer, fall, winter, or spring. The few of us who do work in the summer get to spend some quiet time around town. Since we don’t have a lot of students here, it is also a great time for those staff members to take some vacation time. So, if your admission counselor is out vacation and you really need to have a question answered…no worries! There is always someone here in our office Monday-Friday from 7:30am-4:30pm EST that can help you, so give us a call at (513) 529-2531. As for me, I am headed to my hometown of Brownsville, Texas in two days to visit my family and friends and to get married in nearby South Padre Island, Texas (please keep your fingers crossed for no rain or hurricanes).

What will you be doing this summer? Staycation? Any vacations?

My Miami Experience

For the last two days, I have been at a seminar on Privilege and Allies on campus here at Miami. Although we talked about many different types of privilege, including gender, religious, sexual orientation, and class, the seminar really centered on issues of race. The issue of race and privilege is actually the reason that I decided to work at Miami, and so this was a great experience for me to remember why I am here.
Let me give you some context: as a White woman, I never really expected to feel so passionately about racial oppression. But once I came to terms with the reality that oppression that doesn’t live in the hearts of individuals, but in the systemic inequities, there was no turning back. I knew that the rest of my life would be full of conversations about this concept we call “White Privilege.” As I said before, there are so many different ways that a person can have or not have privilege. Students of color are one of many demographics that have to think about things that the average Miami student doesn’t. For example, Black students are sometimes the only member of their race in any given classroom.
Although this topic is much too deep to delve into in this context, I am proud to say that I work at a university that holds seminars just so that we can get together and talk about what it means to be privileged and what it means to be oppressed. And we generate conversation about how we can be better allies as we continue to educate our constituents.
Miami is a university that continues the conversation about inequity. When it came time for me to choose a job, I knew Miami was a good choice because of opportunities like this one. When it comes time for you to choose a college, I hope you remember that Miami is a university that values education that will help change our students and our world.