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FactsSlang
- 8-Care - Dial this on your room phone whenever the power goes out, the air conditioning breaks, or anything else goes wrong with school equipment, and a UM employee will come fix it.
- Book Horizons - The sketchy bookstore across the street from campus that sometimes gets books cheaper than its on-campus rival; also carries school supplies and UM merchandise.
- The C-Store - The convenience store located in the UC, which stays open until the middle of the night and accepts dining dollars.
- Chartwells - The name of the two dining halls on campus, also known to disgruntled students as Chart-Hells.
- Dining Dollars - Money that comes with a student’s meal plan, which can be used like a credit card at most of the restaurants on campus.
- Hurricane Drive - The street that runs through campus, past the baseball field and the fraternity houses; connects Ponce to the back roads of the campus; also known as San Amaro Drive.
- The IM Field - A giant field that is used for intramurals or just for fun.
- The Lake - Lake Osceola, a huge body of water in the center of campus; a path around it connects the Towers to Eaton Residential College, the UC, and several campus buildings.
- The LC - The Whitten Learning Center, a group of lecture-sized classrooms where many large classes are held.
- Memorial - A long building that holds hundreds of classes per day, as well as the campus movie theater.
- Metrorail - Miami’s elevated train system
- myUM - The name of the computer network where students can log in to retrieve their grades, professor rankings, course schedules, and most other student-related information.
- The Pit - A large, mysterious hole in the ground behind Memorial where students study and hang out under the cover of thick trees.
- Ponce - The smaller road running right past campus, which runs through downtown Coral Gables. Real name: Ponce de Leon Blvd.
- The Rat - Refers to the Rathskellar, a popular bar on campus.
- Resident Master - A member of the faculty who lives in an apartment in the lobby of every residential college; the teacher and his or her family act as a host for the students living in the building and often have students over for dinner or meetings.
- The Rock - The main area outside of the UC where pep rallies, protests, and other campus events are held.
- Sebastian the Ibis - The school’s mascot, a common face around campus; the ibis is supposedly the last bird to leave before a hurricane and the first to return afterwards.
- Stanford Circle - The driveway outside the UC where students get picked up and dropped off; the name refers to Stanford Drive, which is the main entrance to the campus.
- The Towers - The dorms where most freshmen live, also known as Hecht and Stanford; there are actually two 12-story buildings in each dorm, making for four identical “towers” on one side of the lake.
- The UC - The University Center, aptly located in the center of campus, which is home to the food court, a student lounge, the book store, a swimming pool, and assorted offices.
- U.S. 1 - The main road running near campus that is almost always insanely crowded; this road runs from Key West up to Maine, where the traffic must ease up slightly.
- Unicco - The janitorial service on campus that cleans the floor bathrooms, halls, and study lounges; treat the Unicco staff nicely or they may not get to your floor’s bathroom for a while.
Things I Wish I Knew Before Coming To School
- According to University policy a student does not have to have more than two finals per day.
- The air conditioners don’t always do what you want, so be prepared to make wardrobe or linen adjustments.
- Bring a long Ethernet cord so you can use your laptop in bed.
- Bring plenty of quarters to wash clothes, because, for some reason, there are no change machines in the laundry rooms.
- Don’t buy the posters they sell on campus in the first couple weeks. Prices plummet later in the semester when they’re desperate to get rid of inventory.
- Get the smallest meal plan allowed.
- If you’re a light sleeper, bring earplugs, because the freshman dorms are usually pretty loud late into the night.
- Leave your door open for the first week so people on the floor feel like they can talk to you. Walk around to others’ rooms and talk to them.
- Make friends with people in your orientation group, especially ones of the opposite sex.
- Never buy school merchandise (clothes and hats) from the bookstore on campus, unless you like long lines and inflated prices.
- The second floor of the Student Health Center has a student pharmacy.
- Some local restaurants offer UM student’s discounts.
- Students can get their clothes dry-cleaned in the UC.
- Students can sell back their books to the UM bookstore all year round.
- An up-to-date video game system will make you plenty of friends in a hurry.
Tips to Succeed
- Talk to your professors. This is the number one piece of advice.
- Don’t get too involved in campus activities unless you’re confident in your grades and ability to study.
- Enjoy your major, or you’ll hate it here.
- Find people on your floor that have the same classes or major as you and share notes.
- Free tutoring is offered at the Academic Development center for those students who need it.
- Get used to using a computer for everything. There are plenty of classes that are very research based, and hand-written assignments are rarely accepted anymore.
- Go to your classes!
- Look up student evaluations of professors on my UM or check out ratemyprofessor.com before you choose your classes.
- Party responsibly and exhibit self control. Do not stay up partying all night, all of the time limit it to the weekends.
- Pay attention to your advisers during orientation, especially when they talk about student life.
- Pick an academic adviser early and make sure he or she knows who you are and what your interests are.
- Sit in the front of the class and make sure the professor knows your name if you actually want to get something out of the course.
- Stay on top of deadlines.
- Study rooms in the library can be reserved in advance
Urban Legends
- A lone crocodile makes its home in the lake on campus, where it sometimes feeds on fish in front of awed students. There are also rumors that the crocodile was removed by wildlife officials.
- A student drowned in the lake a couple years ago after taking a swim during a hurricane.
- Football players and other athletes go to the dining halls for steaks and huge portions of food not available to regular students.
- To the delight of the male student body, the Olsen twins were considering UM before settling on another school.
Traditions
- Boat-Burning Ceremony - This tradition takes place during homecoming and involves burning a boat on Lake Osceola. Fireworks conclude this exciting event.
- Hurricane Howl - The Hurricane Howl is a pep rally that starts the Homecoming festivities. After attending the sprit-filled pep rally, students can enjoy a concert on the UC patio.
- Miss UM Pageant - This annual event showcases many beautiful women competing for the title and crown of Miss UM.
- President's Picnic - Before the beginning of every fall semester, President Shalala invites all students to her house in Coral Gables for a lunch. Buses take students to the house, where they are able to mingle with the president and other administrators. This event includes fabulous food and a great deal of Cane Spirit.
- Homecoming - This is not an event exclusive to UM, but some of the events happening during the week are pretty unique. For example, the school always gets an old car and writes the name of the team we play in football that weekend. Students then line up to take out their aggression on the car, sledgehammer-style.
- Hurricanes Help the Hometown - This is one of many service-oriented events taking place every year. For this, students dedicate a Saturday morning and afternoon to volunteering at dozens of locations all through Miami. Many of the participants are there from fraternities and sororities, since the event is part of Homecoming, but others come out just to help the community in any way they can.
- Iron Arrow - This is the University’s oldest and most mysterious tradition. The true inner workings of this honor society are only available to its members, who are hand picked every semester. Membership is extremely limited and competitive, but members swear that this Seminole Indian-influenced organization has changed who they are.
- Sportsfest - This is a yearly competition where residential colleges battle one another in various sporting events. The dorms, broken up by floor, field teams to compete in games ranging from football to rock, paper, scissors. The winner is declared Sportsfest champion and gets a trophy on display in the Wellness Center.
- The Breezeway - This is a tunnel that splits the UC in half, and is the site of a frenzied stockmarket-like atmosphere on weekday afternoons. The short, narrow walkway is full of students coming to and from classes, and so organizations set up tables to try to sell stuff or promote themselves. This can be a good thing if you’re looking for weird antiques or girl scout cookies, and it does allow for some groups to get their name out, but overall it seems like a nuisance to most students.
School Spirit
A popular chant at football games says, “It’s great to be a Miami Hurricane!” Most students seem to feel this way, with plenty of school-related things to be proud of. The sports teams, notably football and baseball, are always among the top in the nation. The weather is great, the people are gorgeous, and the campus is beautiful. Shirts or hats with the school logo or colors on them are fairly common, as are cool little items like UM slippers, car magnets, and school supplies. Since UM is the only major college in the area, there is no direct rival other than schools from central or northern Florida like UF or FSU. Sporting events against these opponents attract huge crowds, while games against lesser-known opponents like Rutgers might have students sleeping in or heading to the beach instead.
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