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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]In the past few years (with three kids) we toured: CNU, VCU, Virginia Tech, GMU, Longwood, American, Roanoke, JMU, MWU, Miami (oh), Xavier, St. Joseph, Loyola MD, University of Vermont, and William and Mary.

Of these schools, the tours made two of my kids fall in love with Virginia Tech and William and Mary.

The worst tour we took was of Miami of Ohio. We really wanted to love it- great merit aid, we have family in Ohio, etc. We arrived in Oxford early and went to a local bagel place where there it was a challenge to finish the menu of all the items. Cute idea, but we look over and see a photo of one of the students who won the challenge and it's titled "XXXX XXXX, first African American to complete the challenge." It is dated 2021!!! This sort of set the tone for the day. My DC goes to school in NOVA and diversity is important for her. The tour guide was a nice kid, but when asked about diversity she told my DC that a few students at the school had told her she was the "first black person they'd ever met." She was very honest, and we appreciated her candor.

The Admissions sit-down session talked about diversity but there were no signs of it around campus. They also kept talking about "being in the middle of a cornfield" which might be charming to some, but not to my DC. The other part I thought was really weird- they kept talking about being named a "Public Ivy." I know that book was written in 1986, and even within the state- Ohio State is by far the hardest school to get into now so I thought that was weird to boast about this book that had been released 37 years prior.

Then during the actual tour part- they split the tour into two parts but didn't tell the families first. So we saw the "social" part of the tour first- dorm, hockey arena etc.. and wondered why on earth the tour was focused on the hockey arena and not the business school. Then during the second part of the tour- they took us to the Union and put us in the tiniest classroom ever for a question-and-answer segment. The carpet in the room was covered in stains and it just generally left a terrible impression.

I know Miami is a great school and we wanted to love it, but it just was such a weird experience.

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When was this? My daughter toured Miami last spring. The presentation was excellent - in a rather new student center. The tour was not split-up as you described and was fairly comprehensive. We stopped over on Western Campus to see it on our way out, though, because that was not part of the tour - and doesn't house the academics it used to. I went to Miami in the '80s. There isn't a lot of diversity, that's for sure. But the "first black person I've ever met" is more of a statement of wherever that student grew up. I grew up in a small Ohio town, vast majority white. But my junior-year roommate was hardly the first black person I knew.[/quote]

The tour was November 2023. I don’t mean to insult the school- my boss went there and served on the Board of Trustees, I know it’s a great school… but the tour we attended was just a mess. To clarify.. our guide was black and told us that other students had told HER she was the first black person they’d ever met. She was lovely, it was just not the vibe my dd was looking for. Between that and the cornfield talk and the public ivy book from 1986. As someone who has worked in public relations I wanted to redo the presentation.

I will say- Miami has a few students who have social media accounts who make the school look amazing. They should hire them! Bitsy.c on TikTok is a great Miami influencer.

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