College Spotlight: The University of Miami

At the end of January, I was lucky enough to attend a counselor-fly-in to the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida for three days. I have never visited this school and I was impressed with the high level of academics and the beautiful community of students, faculty, and surrounding environment that makes up 'The U". Miami is a research university and has just over 11,000 undergraduates, which makes it a very accessible campus, and allows for students to get to know their faculty and administration and establish relationships to help with their academics and career search. As you can see by the pictures below, the University of Miami is situated on an absolutely beautiful campus surrounding a small lake with water fountains in the middle. Right next to the lake is an outdoor swimming pool with Olympic style diving boards. The University is about 25 minutes outside of Miami, and is in the suburbs of Coral Gables, which is an absolutely pristine town.

Academically, the university has pretty much any type of major students are looking for, including architecture, marine biology, engineering, and business. Miami is a school that continues to grow in popularity, and is a school that's academics, culture, and environment, makes it a place where many students should look. For everyone who has had enough with this year's winter, when I was down there, it was a bit chilly to the locals at about 72 degrees every day! Check out some facts about the school below, and you would be smart to put this school on your map!

Miami's Mascot is the Ibis, which is a type of bird, known to be the last to leave before a storm hits and the first to come back when the storm is over, so just like their students and faculty, the Ibis is known for its resiliency.

There are 11 schools and colleges, including the Miller School of Medicine and the School of Law. The other nine undergraduate colleges are: 

• School of Architecture
• College of Arts and Science
• School of Business Administration
• School of Communication
• School of Education and Human Development
• College of Engineering
• School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
• Frost School of Music
• School of Nursing and Health Studies 

For admissions, they offer Early Decision, Early Action, and Regular Decision, with an RD deadline of January 1st. This past year, UMiami had about 700 students apply through ED, and they accepted about 180 students, they had about 15,000 applications through EA and accepted about 6,500 students, and through regular decision they had about 17,000 applications, and most likely will accept about 5-6 thousand students. Their middle 50% for the SAT for acceptance is 1900-2100 and the ACT is 28-32. They offer a ton of big time merit scholarships including the Stamps Foundation Scholarship which is a full ride (applicants usually have a 1500 SAT or 35 ACT) and they offer 70 full tuition scholarships each year.

UMiami has a fantastic career development center, called the  Toppel Career Center. This is a 12,000 square feet building dedicated to career counseling, which is a big deal on their campus. Here they offer 1-on-1 career advising and interview labs which are focused on the student's industry they are going for, and they have cameras and microphones to record practice interviews. The career center also offers "meet-ups" with employers for their students to network. Finally, UMiami gives 1 free academic credit for an internship. Check out  www.hireacane.com for more information.

Othere highlights:
Architecture has 3 semesters focused on the art and drawing aspects of this field, they are very big on urban design and living, and students complete one semester studying in Rome.

College of Engineering offers a 6-year BS/MS Program Partnership with the University of Bologna in Italy (which is a top 10 school for civil engineering in world). This is for civil engineers only, where they do 3 1/2 years in Miami and 3 1/2 years in Italy. Students graduate with BS and MS from UMiami and a MS from U of Bologna.

The Nursing program usually has about 25-35 students per class and students do not have to apply directly to the program. If they are accepted to the University, they can be a nursing major if they want.

The Frost School of Music has about 450 undergraduates, and all students  must audition.

They also offer a music engineering major, where students get a BS in music, and take lots of math and engineering courses. Other unique majors include music therapy, music education, and music business. Although it is not mandatory, it helps to audition on campus, as this could help with potential scholarships.

The School of Communication offers five main areas including Interactive media, journalism, advertising, PR, and motion pictures. LinkedIn has named UMiami the #17 school in the country for media preparation.

Hopefully this information was helpful, and I urge you all to look more closely into The University of Miami as a potential destination! Enjoy the pictures, and as always, happy searching!

-Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

College Quick-Hitters

Hofstra University (Hempstead, NY)

Total undergraduates: 6,900 students

Middle 50% for acceptance SATs: 1640-1890, ACT: 23-27, Acceptance Rate: 59%

This is a medium sized private school located on a suburban campus in Long Island, 25 miles outside of New York City. Campus is divided in two with the north side housing the residential halls (38 of them and 87% of students live on campus) and the south side housing all of the academic buildings. Hofstra has 143 different majors, with biology being their top major and business being one of their most popular. They have a state-of-the-art trading room, and internships are very big across all majors. They also offer a 5-year Journalism Master’s program. Class sizes are small with an average of only 21 students per class. 2014 will be the first year that Hofstra is going test optional in their admissions process. As long as the student has a good GPA, they are advised to not submit SAT scores below 1080 (Math and Critical Reading).

University of New Haven (West Haven, CT)

Total undergraduates: 4,700

Middle 50% for acceptance SATs: 1445-1715, ACT: 20-25, Acceptance Rate: 74%

New Haven is an up-and-coming university about 90 minutes outside of New York City. It is a residential campus, near the water, with about 25% of students participating in Greek life. They have Division 2 in sports and have over 170 clubs and organizations on campus. They have a focus on connecting students to careers, and all business students are required to do at least one internship. A recent survey of 2013 graduates showed 91% of them had a job or were in graduate school. Forensic science is their top major and most competitive one to get into. They are also very popular for their music industry major. Other top majors include engineering, music & sound recording, and marine biology. Finally, about 35% of their students reside in living-learning communities on campus.

Johnson and Wales University (Providence, RI)

Total undergraduates: 9,500

Acceptance Rate: 72%

This is a unique institution in the heart of Providence, RI. Once you are accepted, you are accepted to all four campuses across the county including Providence, Miami, Denver, and Charlotte. Students are encouraged to study at one of the alternate campuses at least once during their time at school, but it is not mandatory. Their top majors are culinary education, hospitality and management, and business. They offer a 5-year MBA/accounting program, which allows the students to quickly sit for the CPA exam. They also offer a sports and entertainment business major on all four campuses, which is very popular. They are very much a hands-on-learning institution, and résumé building is extremely important to the school. On day one of freshmen year, they start students with career advising, and work with them through graduation. Students that have a GPA of 84 and above and/or SATs of 1200 and above will receive a substantial scholarship. There are no classes on Friday for anyone, which helps students who have internships or need to travel, which is a great idea on their part.

Adelphi University (Garden City, NY)

Total undergraduates: 5,050

Middle 50% for acceptance SATs: 1520-1840, Acceptance Rate: 68%

Adelphi is a school with a ton of promise. Right now, only 60% of students live on campus, so there are a lot of commuters, but the school is working on improving their residential life. They are offering a new nursing program, and it is not a direct-admit program, meaning if you are accepted to Adelphi, then you can become a nursing major if desired. They offer a joint law program with the University of Albany, where they are given early assurance to the program. They also offer a highly ranked (#5 in the country) social work major, with an optional 5-year Master’s program. Finally, they offer a 4-2 program with Columbia, where the student would graduate with a BS in environmental studies from Adelphi, and a Masters in Science in a specific engineering degree from Columbia.

Feel free to email me with any questions, and as always, happy searching!

-Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

College Quick-Hitters: Le Moyne College

Le Moyne College is a small, liberal-arts Jesuit school of about 2,800 undergraduate students located in Syracuse, NY. Only 4 hours from New York City, Le Moyne is situated on a beautiful campus only minutes from the action of downtown Syracuse. They have many different majors ranging from business to psychology to engineering, and have some excellent partnerships with Syracuse University. They have a 3-2 Bachelors and Masters engineering program with Syracuse, a 4-1 Bachelors and Masters Forensic Science program with Syracuse, and a 3-3 Law School Program with Syracuse and Fordham. Students in this law program with a 3.65 of higher GPA after junior year can bypass the LSAT exam and go right into law school at Syracuse of Fordham. Specifically, at Syracuse, students will also receive a 50% discount on tuition for years 5 and 6 (students do not receive this discount at Fordham). Le Moyne also has a brand new business building and a 20 million dollar science complex was completed three years ago, as well. If students apply early action, they will be notified by December 15^th, and all online applications will have no fee. The average class size at Le Moyne is 20, with a 13:1 student to faculty ration, and there are 21 different D2 sports, not to mention countless club and intramural sports. Housing is guaranteed all four years, and 85% of the student population lives on campus. Demonstrated interest is very important in their admissions process, so make sure you get up there for a visit, and make contact with the admissions counselors!

-Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

College Quick-Hitters # 2

Bentley University- This is a fantastic school right outside of Boston, which specializes in Business, but is not just limited to this concentration. Bentley has an extremely high-tech campus with seven officially high-tech buildings and they even have a 3-D printer accessible for student use. The student population of 4,200 allows for small class sizes and personal relationships with professors. Bentley is a very active campus with 80% of the students participating in varsity or club sports, and 80% of students choose to live on the beautiful green campus all four years. Their top three majors are management, marketing, and finance, and business students have access to one of the nation’s best trading rooms on a college campus. Business students are given real money from the college to trade with and learn from. With career preparation and readiness at the forefront of Bentley’s mission, they are happy to report that 98% of seniors in the past few years have been placed in jobs or are in graduate school after 6 months.

College of Mount Saint Vincent- Small, Catholic Liberal Arts School of 1,500 students located in Riverdale, NY right off of the 1 train. The biggest majors are nursing, business, and biology, and they have an excellent pre-med track program. They also offer solid business majors in areas such as marketing, finance, and business administration, where they offer a 5 year Master’s program. They are situated on a 70 acre campus right on the Hudson River. 65% of students live on campus and the majority of students come from the 5 boroughs and New England. To stay competitive with NY State schools, Mount Saint Vincent has actually reduced their total cost of attendance. They are now at $29,000 for tuition, room, and board, which is an incredible deal. This is before merit scholarships and financial aid which is available to most students.

University of Notre Dame- Notre Dame has five current colleges that include Architecture, Arts and Letters, Business, Engineering, and Science. Starting in the fall of 2017 they will open their 6^th college, which will be the School of Global Affairs, housing such majors as international relations, political science, international economics, and some foreign language program. Notre Dame in currently on an initiative to improve their engineering program to become one of the nation’s best and a ton of money is going into their program right now. Architecture majors spend five years at Notre Dame, where they spend their entire junior year in Rome and then finish their 4^th and 5^th year at Notre Dame where they complete their architecture license. The essay is extremely important to their admissions, so make sure this is done well! There is no Greek life at Notre Dame, but dorm life is very important to students, and dorms even have their own mascots. 100% of all family need is met by ND and on average, students leave ND with only $20,000 in loans. Finally, starting on October 27^th, Newark and LaGuardia airports will offer flights to South Bend’s airport. 

-Joe Korfmacher, MA

College Quick-Hitters

As a college admissions counselor and consultant, part of my job is to learn about new trends at colleges and help spread the word about interesting college programs and updates at schools across the country. As information comes across my desk and I listen to admission representatives speak to students during visits, I want to update families about the pieces of information I think everyone should know. These following “quick-hitters” should provide you with tips, trends, and general helpful advice about schools you may be interested in applying to.

Hampshire College (Amherst, MA): Will now NOT accept test scores as part of the admissions process. While there are many test-optional schools out there, Hampshire is one of the first colleges to be test-blind, in that they consider all parts of the applicant, but will not look at SAT or ACT scores.

St. Bonaventure (St. Bonaventure, NY): Fantastic business program, especially finance and accounting. In past years, 100% of accounting majors have been placed in job by graduation. School also has live trading floor for business majors. School was ranked best value school in New York State in 2014, with average amount student paying per year being $19,000. Families that file for the FAFSA will automatically receive $5,000 off from cost of attendance.

College of the Holy Cross (Worcester, MA): All students will come in with undeclared majors. School has a great pre-professional advisory program, and a solid 3-2 engineering program with Columbia. 91% of students are accepted into medical school and 100% of students are accepted into dental and veterinarian school. Holy Cross is a test-optional school and strength of curriculum is more important in decision process…interviews are also very helpful to show demonstrated interest. Early decision has a 65% acceptance rate, while regular decision only has a 35% acceptance rate. Offers year-long study abroad program

Sacred Heart University (Fairfield, CT): 22 students per classroom on average…great internship possibilities, especially business. School is surrounded by golf courses, and business students are given free lessons to help learn the game. School also offers etiquette class for business students. School is test-optional and applying early action and visiting can greatly help in admissions process.

Stay tuned for more colleges and more inside information. As always, happy searching!

-Joseph D. Korfmacher