Miami University -- Oxford
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Majors: Information Systems and Analytics and Geospatial Analytics (co-major)
Minor: Sport Leadership and Management
Student Self Identifies as: White Straight Male
Summary
I play Club Lacrosse and am part of a fraternity.
Background
Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: White
Sexual Orientation: Straight
High School Experience: Private Catholic school in Raleigh, North Carolina with about 325 students in the graduating class. There was a culture of going to college.
First Generation College Student: No
Majors: Information Systems and Analytics and Geospatial Analytics (co-major)
Minor: Sport Leadership and Management
Extracurricular Activities: I play Club Lacrosse and am part of a fraternity.
What is the difference between a double major and a co-major?
I think it’s specific to Miami, but the only difference is that you already have to have a certain major already. A co-major can’t be a stand-alone major.
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for your majors?
It is learning SQL (Structured Query Language), a coding language for database query. This semester, I’m also taking a class for Python, another coding language, statistics classes, and going through the business courses, like basic accounting and management classes.
What are your major graded assignments?
There are more tests than projects so far, but at Miami, as you get older you start moving more towards projects.
Is there anything that you feel your majors’ departments do especially well or especially poorly?
One problem I have had so far was when I was applying for internships for the summer many of the jobs required that I know certain coding languages that I wasn’t supposed to take a class in until my junior or senior year. I feel behind on that and I have to try to teach myself some coding languages just so that I can catch up. I would like if we at least learned the basic concepts of coding earlier on.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I think it is competitive. Farmer School Business has always had that reputation of being a pretty competitive school.
What has been your favorite class in your majors?
My favorite class so far is Business Computing and it was learning how to use advanced Excel tools. It wasn’t the most fun class but it has been the most useful class so far.
What has been your least favorite class in your majors?
My least favorite class was Intro to Management. When I first came to Miami I was as a management major and when I took that class I realized that management basically meant Human Resources. That was when I decided to change my major.
How accessible have your professors been so far?
They have all been really accessible. It is more a matter of if I choose to go to their office hours, but whenever I have, they have always been willing to meet.
What made you change your majors?
I took AP Statistics in high school and the spring semester of my freshman year I took my first Business Statistics class. I realized that I like that field of study and that is what made me change my major from management. It was that and then actually taking my first management class that I realized that I didn’t like it. I am really happy so far and like the classes that I take and they are interesting.
Reasons to Attend
1) The way Farmer School of Business goes through its classes is decent especially if you are in one of the big majors like finance or accounting. Those programs are great.
2) The nightlife is awesome
3) The fact that it is like an old school and has all this tradition associated with it. One of the traditions is that I never heard of is that the nickname is “The Mother of Fraternities” because there are 35 different fraternities at Miami and there were three fraternities and one sorority that started there. There is also a lot of tradition around the football too, like the Cradle of the Coaches.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) If you want a school in the city, Miami is definitely not for you. When I was first starting to look at colleges, I wanted to go to school in a city, because my older brother went to school in Chicago. After taking my visits I realized that I just wanted more of a rural feel to it, so Miami was perfect. If you want an urban college you definitely don’t want to go to Miami.
2) If you want to have a football team, you definitely do not want to go to Miami. We have a football team but no one really cares about it.
Around Campus
Where have you lived over the past two years?
Freshman & Sophomore: Hahne Hall with is on North Quad. Freshman year I only had one roommate and last year I did a triple room with two other roommates.
What was your favorite living situation?
Last year was actually really fun. My friend group from freshman year was like a core group of five guys; two of them rushed a fraternity and us three didn’t that year. I already knew them for a while so we got together and got a triple. That was fun last year.
What is your favorite off-campus restaurant?
Fiesta Charra, that is a really good Mexican place.
What is your favorite place to get away from campus?
I want to pass on that one.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
A lot of people like to go out during the weekdays and I wouldn’t say I’m one of them. I usually wait until the weekend to do that. It is the standard thing that you go out to the bars of town. Usually, you go to a house party and then you go uptown.
What have been some of your favorite times at Miami?
You can’t rush a fraternity until spring semester, so during the fall semester your freshman year all the parties are open because the fraternities want to know you and see if they want to give you bid. That was a lot of fun.
How happy are you with the nightlife at Miami? If you could change anything, what would you change?
I’m really happy with it. I don’t think there’s really anything I would change. I think it is perfect the way it is.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
My closest friends are from my freshman year. My closest friend was my roommate and I’m also friends with the two kids that lived in a room across the hall and other kids that just live down the hall. I’m living with four of them next year.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Miami?
I would say a lot of it is dependent upon Greek life. I hang out with people that aren’t in my fraternity, but for the most part, you are doing stuff with your fraternity just because there are so many [diifferent fraternities]. [About 30% of students are involved in Greek life.]
How would you describe the overall student body?
For Miami, I would say it is what they call the Five C’s of Miami. It is Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Chicago and then China. There is a lot of people from the big Ohio cities and Chicago. There is also a big group of exchange students from China. Most of the students are affluent. [There are a lot of guys and girls in Greek life]. Business majors stick together as well, but I’m not sure why that is. [There are about 2,200 undergraduates from China. About 65% of students are from Ohio.]
What is the impact of Greek life on social life?
It does influence who your friends with. It is different for me because I waited until sophomore year to rush. I had a full year and a half to get to know people before I was first into Greek life and only hanging out with this group of guys for an entire semester pledging and things like that. I would say that for the most part it heavily influences who you hang out with.
Do you think people are generally happy with their choice for Miami by the time they graduate school? Do you think people love Miami?
Yes I think so. Most of my friends graduated last year and didn’t want to leave. I think that it is mostly true for any college in the that you don’t want to leave college. Specifically for Miami, I think people are grateful for the opportunity that they gave them when they graduate.
Careers
What have you done through Miami career-wise so far?
I joined the Center for Business Leadership and over winter term, we spent 2-3 weeks living in Cincinnati doing case studies for big Cincinnati companies. I was not a member at that point, but that’s how I found out about the group. I joined in the spring semester. As far as the career office, I’ve only gone to check over my resume.
Have you learned any computer programs or languages through your coursework that will be helpful to you professionally?
I’ve worked with Tableau and this semester I’m doing an independent study where I’m learning R. I have not done much coding so far.