Winter at Miami

Hey everyone. I hope you are enjoying the beginning of your holiday season. There has been a lot going on at Miami. Students are currently gearing up for finals as they get set to go home for a few weeks. But if there is anything I learned in my time as a student, and certainly as a working member of the university, it is that while it is fun to go home and see family in friends, after a few days you are ready to be back at Miami.

A question I always get asked when prospective students and parents learn that I am an alum is, “Was Oxford the type of place that you missed when you went home?” The answer is always the same. “Absolutely!”

Every winter I would go home after finals, take a two day nap that would be frequently interrupted by chores, see my friends and celebrate the new year. Then it would be January 2, 200_ and I would wonder why I was still at home in Chicago. Don’t get me wrong. The most important things to me are friends and family. But Oxford has that magical quality to it. It always calls you back. So much so, that I would volunteer at Winter Orientation not only to help new students, but to get back to what more and more became my home.

I love Oxford in the winter. Growing up, it isn’t winter if there isn’t snow, and while we don’t get nearly as much snow in Ohio as I did when I lived in Illinois, the beauty of a snowy Miami campus is breathtaking. Some of my best Oxford memories occurred in the winter—moments that will be with me forever. Here are two of my favorites.

In the winter of my sophomore year, Oxford had a rare blizzard. I was with six of my friends in a residence hall room and we were watching the weather as we debated the odds of classes being cancelled (they weren’t). We were hungry, and apparently blizzards are the only conditions in which establishments do not deliver food (pizza has been delivered during a tornado warning). So we called Bagel and Deli, who said that even though they wouldn’t deliver, if we came in they would make us bagels. So we put on our snow gear, tracked through campus in the blizzard and made our way Uptown. When we got to Bagel and Deli, my friends knew the person working there, so we talked to him for awhile as he couldn’t believe we had decided to leave the hall for bagels. As we thanked him and made our way back outside, he handed us a bag of popcorn and told us to take it. We earned it for making the trek uptown.

The second moment happened in the winter of my senior year. The university has an emergency text message system. When classes are cancelled or there is inclement weather, students who have signed up for the service receive a text message. As I sat in class, I could hear the vibration of everyone’s phone go off. Afternoon classes had been cancelled. I called my friends. We took everything we could find. Trays, garbage bags and sleds were taking to the giant sledding hill. There, the five of us joined, and I kid you not, at least 75-100 other students who found whatever they had and taking it sledding. We raced, took turns going off jumps, and had contests to see who could go the farthest down the hill. It was an absolute blast.

These are just two of many Oxford memories in the winter. I can guarantee that if you spend your next few winters in Oxford, you will be filled of winter memories that will be pulling you back to Miami as you drink hot chocolate on your couch at home wondering what your college friends are up to. I’ll give you a hint, they’re wondering what you are up to as well. And they’re already making plans for what to do when you get back to campus.

Early Decision Notification!

Today is December 14th. That means it’s a mere HOURS before our Early Decision applicants are able to view their decisions online! For those of you who are unfamiliar, Early Decision is a category that some colleges use that will always mean the same thing wherever you see it: it means that you make a binding commitment to attend that institution if you are admitted. As you can imagine, it is a big decision to apply to a school Early Decision, and that’s why we require the contract to be signed not only by the applicant, but also by the school counselor.

There a few important things to know about applying Early Decision. First, Miami performs the Early Decision application review the exact same way as we review all of our other applications. We don’t give special priority to those students who apply in this category. One thing to remember, though, is that Miami reviews our applications contextually, so we look at the whole pool of applications in addition to just your application. This year, Miami got 500 applications for Early Decision, while we have about 13,200 applications for our other admission categories! Because we review Early Decision files first, our context is smaller, and in some cases that can work to the applicant’s advantage.

Another important factor to think about when you are considering applying Early Decision is that you will hear your decision prior to receiving your financial aid award. Because we want to be fair to all of our applicants, we review for financial assistance blindly (meaning we don’t see which category you applied for) in March. However, an Early Decision applicant has already committed to attending Miami without seeing what the award will be!

We are very excited to release admission decisions to the Early Decision pool tomorrow. Applicants, you can log on to your

appcheck website to find out your decision at midnight tonight! If you are having trouble finding your login information, contact your admission counselor before 5pm today! To find out about all of our application deadlines, check out www.muohio.edu/apply.

Hope you're enjoying this holiday season as much as we are here in Oxford! check out a pic one of our tour guides took of Uptown Oxford:

It's A Great Time to be A RedHawk!

It’s the beginning of December and the atmosphere around Oxford is electric. This week we found out that our Mid-American Conference Champion football team will be competing in the GoDaddy.com Bowl in Mobile, Alabama on January 6, 2011. The RedHawks (9-4) will face the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State (6-6) in a game televised on ESPN. I have never been more excited in my life, and the way that we won the Mid-American Conference is an even better story. (Prepare for a short game recap…in case you missed it.)

Miami was a 17 point underdog going into the Mid-American Conference Championship game last Friday against then #25 Northern Illinois (NIU) but the RedHawks never let that get them down. We scored first after an amazing run by Thomas Merriweather (later named MAC-East game MVP) placed us in the redzone but NIU answered quickly. The game was a dog fight until the end. By the time the 4th quarter was winding down to its last 2 minutes Miami was down by 1 point. All we needed was a field goal to win but knowing that NIU had already blocked one of our extra point attempts and a field goal attempt we actually needed a touchdown to “seal the deal.” The Miami crowd (including President Hodge) stood in the stands nervous about what would happen. Hopes were high after we were given a short field with NIU punting out of their endzone, but we knew we had to be efficient and not lose the ball. The crowd stood still with anticipation as Austin Boucher started guiding the team down the field then the movement stalled and the RedHawks faced what seemed like an impossible 4th down and 20 yards to go situation. The NIU crowd was convinced that the game was over, there was less than 2 minutes left, what did they have to worry about? Austin Boucher’s completed 31-yd pass to Chris Givens is what they probably should have worried about. The pass was tipped by NIU and fell into the hands of Givens sending the Miami fans into a frenzy (and later being one of the top plays on SportsCenter!). It was unbelievable, the RedHawks were in field goal range and still had time to go for the endzone. Two plays later Boucher completed a pass to Armand Robinson who was wide open in the middle of the field and Armand ran straight into the endzone with 33 seconds left in the game. The RedHawk fans cheered louder hoping our defense could hold NIU and preserve our win. An Austin Brown sack as time expired finally sealed the deal for the RedHawks as the team rushed the field. Final score: Miami – 26 NIU – 21.

Miami completed a true worst to first turnaround going from 1-11 in the 2009 season to 9-4 and MAC Champions in 2010. This is only the third time this feat has been accomplished and Miami students, fans, and alumni could not be any happier. Now as we prepare for a trip to Alabama there is plenty of action going on in the friendly confines of Millett Hall and the Goggin Ice Center to keep everyone occupied. The men’s basketball team is currently 1 – 1 against cross town rivals, beating Xavier by 11 and losing to Dayton by 12. Next up is the University of Cincinnati on 12/21 at Millett. Ice Hockey just completed a series against Notre Dame which the RedHawks and Fighting Irish split. Next up the Brotherhood (the nickname for Miami’s Hockey team) will travel to Florida for the Florida College Classic before taking on Ohio State in Columbus.

Before I end this post I would like to also let all the readers that have already applied know that we are still processing your transcripts and recommendation letters. Please allow at least 10 business days for your paperwork to be processed and updated on your appcheck website. If you know these forms have been submitted do not worry, you are still eligible for the Early Action deadline! If you have problems with your application other than the transcript/recommendation letter please make sure you contact us (513) 529-2531.

I am going to leave you now with some pictures from the MAC Championship Game. Enjoy. Go RedHawks!


The RedHawk Offense


Lining up for the 4th and 20 Miracle Play


The Video Screen


Love and Honor! Let the Celebration Begin!

New Counselor in the Office!

Hello Everyone! My name is Lauren and I am the newest counselor in the office. I am very excited to be back at Miami, I graduated in May 2010, and I cannot wait to help you with your college search process. I am the designated counselor for Minnesota, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina. I love my territory because I have a connection to all of those states, except Tennessee (I cannot wait to visit so I can change that). My mother’s family is from South Carolina, my father’s family is from North Carolina, I have an uncle that currently lives in Kentucky, and my best friend from college is from Minnesota.

Currently the office is very busy because we are in the middle of our application deadlines for the entering fall of 2011 class. Our next deadline is December 1st, which is designated “Early Action”. This is a non-binding deadline and the great part about it is that you will find out your decision on February 1st. The majority of our applicants every year choose this deadline because of the earlier notification date, but please note that we also have a regular decision deadline of February 1st which is ideal for students who are taking standardized tests for the first time in December or are waiting for an updated transcript. When I applied to Miami, I applied during the Early Action deadline. I loved knowing where I was going to school at the beginning of February, versus my friends who were still waiting for decisions.

If you have any questions feel free to call the office or contact the counselor designated for your area. All of our contact information can be found at www.muohio.edu/askacounselor.

Happy Application Season!

Bridges

It’s November! That means it’s time for my absolute favorite program of the year at Miami. This year, we are hosting roughly 450 high school seniors from around the country for a program called Bridges. We conduct three two-day sessions in November (all lasting from Sunday to Monday) with 150 students each. This program allows students to experience Miami University firsthand through an all-expense-paid overnight visit where participants stay on campus with current students.

Bridges is different than all of our other programs at Miami because it is designed specifically for underrepresented student populations, and is a way that we as an Admission office can level the playing field for students with fewer resources and people that can help get them to college. That’s why in addition to our campus tour, academic classes, and campus exploration that any Miami visitor can do, our admission representatives conduct an “Application 101” session. In this session, we talk about the ins and outs of the application, the financial aid process, and how to monitor the status of the application after it’s been submitted. We also showcase some of our student support staff members from Financial Aid, the Miami Access Initiative, MADE@Miami, Academic Advising, and other offices.

The best part? Participants in the Bridges program, if they choose to enroll at Miami’s Oxford campus as full-time first year students, receive a $2,500 scholarship that is renewable for four years. And, they get an application fee waiver! To all you high school juniors out there who are interested in applying to Miami: that’s 10,050 reasons to apply to the Bridges program next year! You can find more information and the application for the program at www.muohio.edu/bridges, which will be updated in the spring with next year’s information.

The Miami Community--It lasts a lifetime

Happy Halloween! I love this time of year at Miami because it provides that sense of community that is on campus. Whether it is an English class full of students dressed up as Robin Williams from Dead Poets Society or a Finance class coming to the Farmer School of Business dressed as doctors, football players, and animals, you get that feeling of everyone just loves being at Miami right now, and it is a very powerful thing.

It is funny to think about the strength of the Miami community. While I was out on the road throughout the month, the campus kept pulling me back to Oxford. I was able to finish my travel season in time for Homecoming. To see all the alumni coming back from places like Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Denver, in addition to Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, really put into perspective how special this place is to those who have attended the university. Whether it was seeing the masses of people uptown after the football game, or the rowdy crowd cheering on our hockey team to two wins with a combined score of 13-1, or the people watching the parade floats drive by with the new generation of Miami students waiving to us alumni, the sense of the Miami Community was palpable.

When we talk about that sense of belonging to something bigger than yourself when you attend Miami, this is what we’re talking about. We’re talking about being able to go up to a complete stranger wearing Miami gear and becoming instant friends, simply because you both lived in Emerson Hall. Even if it was twenty years apart. It’s being able to talk to alumni who remember Miami having a struggling hockey program that played its games in a much smaller venue but still knowing that his passion for the RedHawks is as strong as your passion for the National Championship contender you see every year. It’s standing in line for bagel and deli, reliving a memory from sophomore year and hearing the Miami ’98 grad talk about the time he was waiting in line his sophomore year. It’s knowing that Miami is place that sticks with its alumni forever, and they just keep coming back every year.

I hope that as you enjoy your trips to Oxford and that you feel this sense of community as you visit campus. Because as an alum who just spent homecoming with thousands of others Miami family members, that feeling never goes away.

Admissions Note:
Today is the deadline for Early Decision. As long as your materials are POSTMARKED by November 1, they will be accepted for Early Decision. As a result, if have sent them through the mailed and we have them with a Nov. 1 date or earlier, they may be processed after the Nov. 1 deadline, but they will certainly be accepted.