U of Miami 2015 Forum

cutecarmel · Post by **cutecarmel** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 10:30 pm

Its not mentioned in the acceptance letter.

backwards54 wrote:I just got my acceptance letter!!! (quite surprised it arrived in the middle of the night but whatever!)

Scholarship money question : from what I've read so far in the thread, they seem to be given out the amounts they give to you via mail rather than online... however are you supossed to see something referring to scholarship money in your acceptance letter (that you see online)? Because I read it all and nothing refers to scholarship money but I'd be very surprised not to get any ever since I have a 168 LSAT and 3.88 gpa + tons of softs...

Leaborb192 · Post by **Leaborb192** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 11:35 pm

westcoast wrote:Admitted recently and very happy about it. I love Miami. Good luck to everyone else who's applying.

You all should keep us posted on how things are going at U of M. I have decided to apply to University of Miami and Florida International University, but won't apply until fall of 2014. I want to take some time, work, move down to the Florida and get myself acquainted with the Miami area. I also want to spend a lot of time studying for the LSAT, even taking some prep courses so I can get the best score possible. But I definitely want to visit the school this summer. Now that I have a set goal in my mind I can actually work at achieving it whereas before I had no clue what I was doing next.

backwards54 · Post by **backwards54** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 7:19 am

Unagi wrote:
backwards54 wrote:
Unagi wrote:Yes...
I got a merit-based scholarship of 25k per year. Then I got the Miami Scholars. Will only keep the Miami Scholars...
Is there any difference? I mean, aside from the fact that Miami Scholars gives you opportunities for pro bono stuff and etc, but $$ speaking, both are 25k a year right?
Yeah, it's the same. Actually Miami Scholars give you 26k...
I was hoping for more money from them.

Oooh I see you were hoping that the merit-based would add up to the miami scholars $$ !!! I guess from their point of view I can understand why they only give you one (that way they can give more to more people) but I can understand your reaction!

backwards54 · Post by **backwards54** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 7:23 am

Unagi wrote:
backwards54 wrote:I just got my acceptance letter!!! (quite surprised it arrived in the middle of the night but whatever!)

Scholarship money question : from what I've read so far in the thread, they seem to be given out the amounts they give to you via mail rather than online... however are you supossed to see something referring to scholarship money in your acceptance letter (that you see online)? Because I read it all and nothing refers to scholarship money but I'd be very surprised not to get any ever since I have a 168 LSAT and 3.88 gpa + tons of softs...
There was nothing in my acceptance letter... I got an email a while after - "good news from miami law" - where they told me they sent a letter to me with scholarship info. I emailed them back saying it would take a month for me to receive the letter and then the lady told me I've gotten 25k per year.
From what I've seen they consider other things besides your LSAT when determining your scholarship amount.

Ahhh ok this reassures me, I'll wait to see if I get another message from them in the next few days! Thanks!

Unagi · Post by **Unagi** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 8:02 am

backwards54 wrote:
Unagi wrote:
backwards54 wrote:
Unagi wrote:Yes...
I got a merit-based scholarship of 25k per year. Then I got the Miami Scholars. Will only keep the Miami Scholars...
Is there any difference? I mean, aside from the fact that Miami Scholars gives you opportunities for pro bono stuff and etc, but $$ speaking, both are 25k a year right?
Yeah, it's the same. Actually Miami Scholars give you 26k...
I was hoping for more money from them.
Oooh I see you were hoping that the merit-based would add up to the miami scholars $$ !!! I guess from their point of view I can understand why they only give you one (that way they can give more to more people) but I can understand your reaction!

Yes

I know they want to share the money among more people, and this is a good thing. I was just hoping for a bigger schooly because I would love to attend but I'm an international, which means I can't get loans in the US. My country's loans are craaazy, so I'll probably won't be able to attend.
I'm happy I have other good schools to go with more money, but Miami would be great for my family and all that stuff. I don't know, I still have some hope, let's see

gatorlaw · Post by **gatorlaw** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 12:44 pm

To the people that are praising the ideology of spreading out these scholarships: please remember that the more people that receive awards, the more likely you are to lose your money. The 3.2 stip is very steep when compared to higher ranked schools, which leads me to believe a substantial portion of the class ends up paying sticker their 2nd and 3rd years.

benburns214 · Post by **benburns214** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 2:46 pm

Class of 2015!!! Just curious where everyone (who has been admitted and is fairly sure they will be attending) is coming from... Im from Montana. LOOOOOOONG ways away from the sunshine of Miami lol

checkster · Post by **checkster** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 2:58 pm

Missouri here, but probably going to withdraw soon.

tennisking88 · Post by **tennisking88** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 4:24 pm

Withdrew a few days ago. Their 3.2 stip is horrendous. They refuse to release 2010 employment stats (which they've had since last March) with any detail, and I highly doubt they'll release the detailed 2011 stats that they should receive in March. Should be a huge red flag for all of you. Ethically speaking, I refuse to pay for a school that actively refuses to disclose pertinent employment data.

legalmaestro · Post by **legalmaestro** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 4:53 pm

I submitted a couple days ago via LSAC and have not heard anything, cant find where to sign up for a caneid if I need to...any help on what to do?

legalmaestro · Post by **legalmaestro** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 5:06 pm

nevermind i figured it out now the waiting game begins along with the obsession of checking 5-6 times a day...its my first choice...fingers crossed

tolson1 · Post by **tolson1** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 5:41 pm

tennisking88 wrote:Withdrew a few days ago. Their 3.2 stip is horrendous. They refuse to release 2010 employment stats (which they've had since last March) with any detail, and I highly doubt they'll release the detailed 2011 stats that they should receive in March. Should be a huge red flag for all of you. Ethically speaking, I refuse to pay for a school that actively refuses to disclose pertinent employment data.

Ditto.

salsahips · Post by **salsahips** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 5:46 pm

tolson1 wrote:
tennisking88 wrote:Withdrew a few days ago. Their 3.2 stip is horrendous. They refuse to release 2010 employment stats (which they've had since last March) with any detail, and I highly doubt they'll release the detailed 2011 stats that they should receive in March. Should be a huge red flag for all of you. Ethically speaking, I refuse to pay for a school that actively refuses to disclose pertinent employment data.
Ditto.

Double ditto.

cutecarmel · Post by **cutecarmel** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 6:26 pm

Did you actually ask them for the information? I was speaking with admissions from other school and I think the ABA is just now making them release that information, and the way the job market is now, no one really wants to highlight their dropping unemployment rate. I don't think its ethically irresponsible, but why stick negative information out there if they don't have to.

tennisking88 wrote:Withdrew a few days ago. Their 3.2 stip is horrendous. They refuse to release 2010 employment stats (which they've had since last March) with any detail, and I highly doubt they'll release the detailed 2011 stats that they should receive in March. Should be a huge red flag for all of you. Ethically speaking, I refuse to pay for a school that actively refuses to disclose pertinent employment data.

surfer · Post by **surfer** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 6:37 pm

tennisking88 wrote:Withdrew a few days ago. Their 3.2 stip is horrendous. They refuse to release 2010 employment stats (which they've had since last March) with any detail, and I highly doubt they'll release the detailed 2011 stats that they should receive in March. Should be a huge red flag for all of you. Ethically speaking, I refuse to pay for a school that actively refuses to disclose pertinent employment data.

I've found that many schools don't answer employment questions directly. So I don't think it should reflect badly on this particular school. I've been in several online seminars and information sessions where someone asks about employment figures, and they usually get a circuitous answer that doesn't fully address the question. I'm not saying it's a good thing. It's just very political, and I think it's fairly ubiquitous. Every school (including Yale) is in competition with another.

gatorlaw · Post by **gatorlaw** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 6:44 pm

I don't mean to shoot down your theory, but I was at the Georgetown ASW last weekend and I sat down with the fin aid office and they showed me all of the employment data they have...on the last 3 graduating classes. Their placing isn't stellar, especially for a T14, but they were hiding nothing, which made me very comfortable about possibly attending.

Where are you guys getting Miami's latest employment data from? Law School Transparency only has their stuff on 2009, and even that is blotchy. A lot of info is missing.

surfer · Post by **surfer** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 7:00 pm

I'd be surprised if one doesn't receive similar treatment on campus (1-on-1 with an administrator) at most schools. The way you went about it at Georgetown would be the true litmus test. But I could be wrong.

backwards54 · Post by **backwards54** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 11:26 pm

Unagi wrote: Yes
I know they want to share the money among more people, and this is a good thing. I was just hoping for a bigger schooly because I would love to attend but I'm an international, which means I can't get loans in the US. My country's loans are craaazy, so I'll probably won't be able to attend.
I'm happy I have other good schools to go with more money, but Miami would be great for my family and all that stuff. I don't know, I still have some hope, let's see

Aww I know what you mean! Don't know where you're from, but I'm from Quebec - Canada and loans here are ridiculous. Basically, it costs nothing to go to univ. here (about $3000 a year, no matter which uni you go to and no matter what you study) so depending on your situation, the loan program of the gov. will lend you between 1000$ and 12 000$ (at the most needy) per year, and the same numbers apply if you go study elsewhere than Quebec, they don't they in consideration the fact that it costs like 45 000$ per year to go to law school in the US... I either need to get a full ride somewhere, or to get into Harvard or Stanford, which have loans and grant programs available to international students!

What are the other schools you got into? best of luck, maybe you could try negotiating with U of Miami, mention that it is not possible to get loans in the US and that at home you can't get a lot of loan money!

backwards54 · Post by **backwards54** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 11:33 pm

--LinkRemoved--

Has anyone else seen that article? They expanded the deadline for Miami scholars from Jan. 6th to Feb 1st and are offered fee waivers to those applying to Miami Scholars... does that mean they didn't receive a lot of applications for that program? I'm quite surprise because a lot of people in this thread mentionned applying to it and being selected as scholars, and I assume there are also other people who got in who are not on the forum!

tennisking88 · Post by **tennisking88** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 11:40 pm

surfer wrote:
tennisking88 wrote:Withdrew a few days ago. Their 3.2 stip is horrendous. They refuse to release 2010 employment stats (which they've had since last March) with any detail, and I highly doubt they'll release the detailed 2011 stats that they should receive in March. Should be a huge red flag for all of you. Ethically speaking, I refuse to pay for a school that actively refuses to disclose pertinent employment data.
I've found that many schools don't answer employment questions directly. So I don't think it should reflect badly on this particular school. I've been in several online seminars and information sessions where someone asks about employment figures, and they usually get a circuitous answer that doesn't fully address the question. I'm not saying it's a good thing. It's just very political, and I think it's fairly ubiquitous. Every school (including Yale) is in competition with another.

This is exactly the problem with legal education today. Education is not supposed to be a business. Non-for-profit academia is supposed to be about teaching students to become better at whatever they want to do, not to earn money to pay off administrators or professors or to climb the rankings. It is not excusable for academic institutions to HIDE employment data from students, even when we ask them for it! If you wanna make us take out hundreds of thousands in loans, you better have a damn good reason for us to do so. The biggest reason: if you work hard and put in three years of your life, you should have even an OK chance of finding a job. And if you see that a school like Miami had only 15% of their class earning more than 85k/yr in 2009, when legal hiring was still OK, and refusing to release the statistics that a lot of their peers voluntarily release, that should be an enormous red flag. I would not pay a dime to this school without proper transparency and honesty. Period.

tennisking88 · Post by **tennisking88** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 11:44 pm

Miami Scholars is a scam. It's only 1k more than their standard 25k scholarship (but with a 3.0, instead of a 3.2 stip). Unless you already have family or housing in Miami, the COL+14k in tuition will run you over 100k by the end. But hey, at least they fly you down.

backwards54 · Post by **backwards54** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 11:51 pm

tennisking88 wrote:Miami Scholars is a scam. It's only 1k more than their standard 25k scholarship (but with a 3.0, instead of a 3.2 stip). Unless you already have family or housing in Miami, the COL+14k in tuition will run you over 100k by the end. But hey, at least they fly you down.

Yeah I know I'm not too keen on Miami Scholars and personally don't plan attending U of Miami unless they offer me a full ride (and even then, if I get into harvard or stanford I'd rather go there and end up with some debt). I just pointed out the article because I was surprised!

surfer · Post by **surfer** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 12:13 am

tennisking88 wrote: This is exactly the problem with legal education today. Education is not supposed to be a business. Non-for-profit academia is supposed to be about teaching students to become better at whatever they want to do, not to earn money to pay off administrators or professors or to climb the rankings. It is not excusable for academic institutions to HIDE employment data from students, even when we ask them for it! If you wanna make us take out hundreds of thousands in loans, you better have a damn good reason for us to do so. The biggest reason: if you work hard and put in three years of your life, you should have even an OK chance of finding a job. And if you see that a school like Miami had only 15% of their class earning more than 85k/yr in 2009, when legal hiring was still OK, and refusing to release the statistics that a lot of their peers voluntarily release, that should be an enormous red flag. I would not pay a dime to this school without proper transparency and honesty. Period.

Fundamentally, I agree with you. Ideally, higher education should be about disseminating knowledge above all else.

But as far as I know. Nobody has actually asked for UM's employment statistics. So until they do that, I don't think it's fair to be so critical.

In every resource that I've found, the average starting salary for private practice is above $100k (US News, Princeton Review). I don't know how accurate this figure is, but it's not consistent with the number you mentioned (only 15% of class earning more than 85k). Do you have a reliable reference for that percentage?

tennisking88 · Post by **tennisking88** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 12:32 am

surfer wrote:
tennisking88 wrote: This is exactly the problem with legal education today. Education is not supposed to be a business. Non-for-profit academia is supposed to be about teaching students to become better at whatever they want to do, not to earn money to pay off administrators or professors or to climb the rankings. It is not excusable for academic institutions to HIDE employment data from students, even when we ask them for it! If you wanna make us take out hundreds of thousands in loans, you better have a damn good reason for us to do so. The biggest reason: if you work hard and put in three years of your life, you should have even an OK chance of finding a job. And if you see that a school like Miami had only 15% of their class earning more than 85k/yr in 2009, when legal hiring was still OK, and refusing to release the statistics that a lot of their peers voluntarily release, that should be an enormous red flag. I would not pay a dime to this school without proper transparency and honesty. Period.
Fundamentally, I agree with you. Ideally, higher education should be about disseminating knowledge above all else.

But as far as I know. Nobody has actually asked for UM's employment statistics. So until they do that, I don't think it's fair to be so critical.

In every resource that I've found, the average starting salary for private practice is above $100k (US News, Princeton Review). I don't know how accurate this figure is, but it's not consistent with number you mentioned (only 15% of class earning more than 85k). Do you have a reliable reference for that number?

"Average starting salary" is quite possibly the worst metric for employment stats. You gotta look at how many graudated, of those how many ppl actually report salary, the salary ranges, what types of jobs, do they need JDs, etc. They also need to post stats for classes of 2010 and 2011, because those classes were hit the hardest and it's grossly disingenuous for UM, who has the stats, to not release them in full.

Read my/the comments in this thread for further info: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5&start=25.

Also, someone did contact UM asking for stats. It's in Paul Campos' blog. http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/201 ... n-show-biz

surfer · Post by **surfer** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 12:35 am

tennisking88 wrote:They refuse to release 2010 employment stats (which they've had since last March)...

Here are the 2010 employment stats. They are freely available.

--LinkRemoved--

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