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University of Miami Supplemental Essays 2023-24 Prompts and Advice

August 28, 2023

In the 1980s and ‘90s, the University of Miami was a football powerhouse; albeit one with its fair share of controversy. In the 2020s, the school has more to brag about on the academic front than on the gridiron. Now attracting close to 50,000 applications and sporting an acceptance rate of just 19%  (and dropping), U Miami has become a highly selective university that is no longer anything close to a sure thing, even for students with excellent grades and test scores. This means that, in 2023-24, the University of Miami supplemental essay is more important than ever before.

 (Want to learn more about How to Get Into the University of Miami? Visit our blog entitled:  How to Get Into the University of Miami: Admissions Data and Strategies   for all of the most recent admissions data as well as tips for gaining acceptance.)

Although it only has one general essay prompt, the University of Miami’s supplemental section still affords applicants an opportunity to illustrate what makes them uniquely qualified for admission. Below is U Miami’s supplemental prompt for the 2023-24 admissions cycle. Additionally, we offer advice on how to pen a winning composition.

2023-2024 U Miami Supplemental Essays

Prompt 1 (250 Words): Located within one of the most dynamic cities in the world, the University of Miami is a distinctive community with a variety of cultures, traditions, histories, languages, and backgrounds. The University of Miami is a values-based and purpose-driven postsecondary institution that embraces diversity and inclusivity in all its forms and strives to create a culture of belonging, where every person feels valued and has an opportunity to contribute. Please describe how your unique experiences, challenges overcome, or skills acquired would contribute to our distinctive University community.

Pro tip: the language used in any given prompt provides you with critical information about what your essay should address. As such, note the information that U Miami chooses to share about itself : a values-based and purpose-driven postsecondary institution that embraces diversity and inclusivity and strives to create a culture of belonging . Essentially, they want to know how you will contribute to that mission, and how your personal experiences will impact what kind of academic and social community member you might be.

University of Miami supplemental essays (Continued)

As such, you might consider discussing:

• Your role in your family.
• Your role in your social group.
• A challenge you’ve faced.
• A formative experience or realization.
• An opinion or perspective that has developed over time.
• Important aspects of your upbringing.
• Cultural, religious, community influence.
• A skill you have that you feel could impact others in a positive way.

Once you’ve chosen a particular direction, think about what you’ve learned from the experience. Also ponder what you think others could learn from you. Most importantly, how will your learnings positively contribute to U Miami’s mission? This is a chance to show that you are an open-minded, curious, and humble young person who is willing to learn and grow from their experiences.

How important is the UMiami supplemental essay?

The essays (both the Common App essay and the supplemental one) are “very important” to the evaluation process. Five other factors are also considered as “very important.” These factors are: rigor of coursework, class rank, GPA, recommendations, and extracurricular activities. Clearly, the University of Miami places enormous value on the quality of your supplemental essay.

Want personalized essay assistance with the University of Miami supplemental essays?

In conclusion, if you are interested in working with one of College Transitions’ experienced and knowledgeable essay coaches as you craft your University of Miami supplement, we encourage you to  get a quote  today.

• College Essay

Andrew Belasco

A licensed counselor and published researcher, Andrew's experience in the field of college admissions and transition spans two decades. He has previously served as a high school counselor, consultant and author for Kaplan Test Prep, and advisor to U.S. Congress, reporting on issues related to college admissions and financial aid.

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University of Miami (UMiami) Supplemental Essay Guide: 2021-2022

Not sure how to approach the University of Miami essay prompts? With tips from an Ivy League graduate, CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the University of Miami supplemental essays will show you how to write strong University of Miami supplemental essays and increase your chances in the University of Miami admissions process.  For more CollegeAdvisor.com resources on the University of Miami and University of Miami supplemental essays, click here . Want help crafting your University of Miami supplemental essays? Create your free account or schedule a free consultation by calling (844) 343-6272.

University of Miami Essay Guide Quick Facts

• The University of Miami acceptance rate is 33%— U.S. News ranks University of Miami as a highly competitive school. 
• We recommend answering all University of Miami supplemental essays with detail and care.

What is the acceptance rate for the University of Miami?

The UMiami acceptance rate is 33%, according to U.S. News . Compared to the UMiami acceptance rate, the national average for college acceptance rates is 68% . 

What does the UMiami acceptance rate mean? Well, a few things. First, when you build your college list, you should keep the UMiami acceptance rate in mind. It’s important to apply to a combination of “reach,” “target,” and “safety” schools. UMiami would likely fall in either the “target” or “reach” category, based on the UMiami acceptance rate. 

Want to learn more about how to use data like the UMiami acceptance rate to build a college list? Check out our blog articles on acceptance rates , college rankings , and building a college list .  

Demonstrated Interest

Another way to use the UMiami acceptance rate? Think of it as an incentive to write the best University of Miami supplemental essays possible. When schools have low acceptance rates (i.e. lower than the national average) then demonstrated interest (DI) becomes even more important. Colleges use DI to determine how much a student wants to attend their school. If an admissions officer is looking at two similar students (similar GPAs, test scores, extracurricular profile, etc.), often the decision comes down to which student shows greater DI. And, while there are many ways to show DI, one of the strongest is through your supplemental essays. This makes the UMiami supplemental essays even more important. To read more about DI and how it relates to the admissions process, check out this article in Forbes . 

Given the UMiami acceptance rate, you should pay attention to the University of Miami supplemental essays. The UMiami application process is competitive. While the UMiami acceptance rate is lower than the national average, it shouldn’t discourage you from applying. Strong University of Miami supplemental essays will set you apart from applicants with weaker answers to the University of Miami essay prompts.  

Does the University of Miami require a supplemental essay?

Yes. In addition to the Common App Personal Statement, there is an additional University of Miami essay. Some colleges have more than one essay prompt, but you will not find multiple UMiami supplemental essays. 

Given the UMiami acceptance rate, and since there are not multiple University of Miami supplemental essays, we recommend that you compose a thoughtful University of Miami application essay.  

Need tips on writing your Common App essay? Then, check out our blog article .  

How many essays are required for Miami?

There is only one short supplemental essay for the University of Miami. It may seem easy to tackle the University of Miami essay quickly. However, you should get an early start on the University of Miami application essay. Even though there are not multiple UMiami supplemental essays, you should not leave the University of Miami essay to the last second. This could decrease the quality of your University of Miami application essay and weaken your application. 

This also means that the Com m on App Personal Statement will play a large role in your admissions results. So, you should ensure you have a strong response to that prompt as well. UMiami will want to know that you are a strong writer, and they’ll also want to see how you have grown throughout high school. Both the Common App essay and the supplemental University of Miami essay let you show those things. Your University of Miami supplemental essay should highlight what makes you unique and how you would enrich the UMiami campus. No two University of Miami supplemental essays will be the same!

The essay matters

Since there are not multiple University of Miami essay prompts, you should approach the University of Miami application essay carefully—especially given the low UMiami acceptance rate. With just one University of Miami essay to write, you don’t have much space to impress your readers. A strong University of Miami application essay can boost your chances against the low UMiami acceptance rate. 

Last year, over 40,000 students applied to UMiami. That means that your readers are evaluating 40,000 University of Miami supplemental essays. With so many essays to wade through, the admissions team will be looking for strong writers who clearly and concisely answer the University of Miami essay prompt. The best University of Miami supplemental essays will draw the reader in with a strong opening anecdote and leave the reader wanting to know more about the student.

What are the University of Miami essay prompts?

In this guide, we will discuss how to respond to the University of Miami essay prompts. As noted, there is only one essay for UMiami, not multiple UMiami supplemental essays. This means that you should put extra effort into your one short UMiami essay. 

You can view the University of Miami application essay question here , on the UMiami website. You can also view it on the Common App website . 

Below, we will tell you the University of Miami essay question. We’ll also break down how to write the best University of Miami essay possible in order to boost your chances against the UMiami acceptance rate. You want your essay to stand out from other University of Miami supplemental essays by capturing your unique outlook and personality. Although there are not multiple University of Miami supplemental essays, you should spend a good amount of time writing your University of Miami application essay.  

For tips to make your University of Miami application essay stand out against other University of Miami supplemental essays, read on. Remember, admissions officers read thousands of University of Miami supplemental essays each year. This means you should try to set your essay apart from other applicants’ UMiami supplemental essays. 

University of Miami Supplemental Essays – Question 1

The University of Miami’s official mascot is the ibis. Folklore maintains that the native marsh bird is the last to take shelter before a hurricane hits and the first to emerge once the storm passes, making it an apt symbol of courage and resilience. Considering your ability to control your own motivation and behavior, how have past experiences helped build your courage and resilience to persist in the face of academic and life challenges so that, once these storms pass, you can emerge in continued pursuit of your goals? (Maximum 250 words).

How do I write the Miami supplemental essay? 

The University of Miami essay is a key part of your application. A strong response to the University of Miami essay prompt will boost your chances against the low UMiami acceptance rate. 

Basically, this University of Miami application essay asks you what challenges you have overcome. College can be a stressful place, so UMiami wants to see how you’ll handle the social, academic, and emotional pressures of university life. 

Focus on structure

Start your University of Miami application essay by thinking about structure. With only 250 words, you should structure your essay carefully. The best University of Miami supplemental essays will have three parts: what challenge you faced, how you dealt with it, and how the challenge helped you grow.

First, you must choose a challenge to discuss. Don’t choose something too common or too small, like getting a C on a test. However, you should also avoid choosing a problem too complex to fully address. You only have 250 words for this University of Miami essay question, so try to maximize the impact of each sentence. 

Narrow your focus

The prompt refers to your “past experiences,” so you could choose to discuss more than one experience in this University of Miami application essay. However, you want to make sure you have enough space to address the full prompt. Don’t spend the whole essay discussing many setbacks you have had in your life—instead, keep a narrow focus. 

This essay should discuss a time when you faced a setback but did not let that setback beat you. Admissions officers want to see your resourcefulness, creativity, and problem-solving skills in this University of Miami essay. The prompt wants to see that you “emerge in continued pursuit of your goals.” Make sure you focus on the how and not just the what . 

After you describe your chosen challenge, explain how you overcame it. Focus on your skills, ideas, and actions. Describe how—in specific terms—you beat the challenge and came out stronger on the other side. You’ll want to show how you learned and grew from your experience. Colleges love to see growth, and UMiami is no exception. 

The long-term effect

The best University of Miami supplemental essays will also reflect on how this challenge affected you long-term. How did this challenge change you? What did you gain from the experience? Think about any skills or traits that you developed from your challenge. Then, in your essay, discuss how you will carry those skills with you in the future. Try to gesture toward your goals; admissions officers want to see that you’re forward-thinking in your response to the University of Miami essay prompt. 

Admissions officers also want to see your creativity and problem-solving. As you start your University of Miami application essay, then, reflect on how you solve problems. How do you address a challenge? Why did this challenge matter to you? What was at stake? Most of all, this essay lets you show what has made you into the person you will be on the UMiami campus. Again, a solid University of Miami essay will boost your chances against the UMiami acceptance rate. 

University of Miami  Supplemental Essays—Final Thoughts

The University of Miami supplemental essay can seem daunting, especially given the UMiami acceptance rate. However, don’t let that discourage you from applying. The University of Miami supplemental essays are a great opportunity to show your readers who you are. 

Want to hear more from UMiami’s undergraduate admissions team on approaching the University of Miami supplemental essay? Check out this video from the Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions below.

Given the low UMiami acceptance rate, strong responses to the University of Miami essay prompts can help you succeed if you have a lower than average GPA or SAT score . Use this guide as a step-by-step aid to the University of Miami supplemental essays, and start earlier than you think you should. Strong UMiami supplemental essays will help you stand out against other applicants’ responses to the University of Miami essay prompts. Don’t be afraid to ask for edits from someone; it is helpful to have another set of eyes checking your UMiami supplemental essays for grammar, tone, and clarity, especially given the UMiami acceptance rate. Good luck!

This 2021-2022 essay guide on UMiami was written by Laura Frustaci , Harvard, ’21. This guide to the University of Miami supplemental essays shows you how to write engaging University of Miami essays and maximize your chances against the UMiami acceptance rate. For more CollegeAdvisor.com resources on writing strong UMiami supplemental essays, and on UMiami, click here .

Want help crafting your University of Miami supplemental essays? Create your free account or schedule a free advising consultation by calling (844) 343-6272.

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2 Magnificent University of Miami Essay Examples

Located in sunny Miami, the University of Miami consistently ranks as one of the top 50 colleges in the country. With over 180 degree programs to choose from, more than 300 student organizations, and a prime location in one of the most vibrant cities in the U.S., there is something for everyone at UMiami—especially those that love the sun!

Given how much UMiami has to offer, getting in isn’t easy: you’ll need more than just strong grades and test scores. Your essays will play a large role in your admissions decision, so they need to be good. In this post, we will share two essays that got students accepted into UMiami We will also go over what each essay did well and where there is room for improvement.

Please note: Looking at examples of real essays students have submitted to colleges can be very beneficial to get inspiration for your essays. You should never copy or plagiarize from these examples when writing your own essays. Colleges can tell when an essay isn’t genuine and will not view students favorably if they plagiarized. 

Read our UMiami essay breakdown to get a comprehensive overview of this year’s supplemental prompts.

Essay Example #1 – Perspective

I had been dreaming of my high school experience since my six-year-old self watched High School Musical. I saw this dream shatter, as I was tasked with watching my baby sister after school until 5:30 due to my mom’s struggles with her birth. Although months had passed since the birth, she continuously struggled with c-section recovery. After one of my mom’s surgeries, my sister and I went to the hospital to visit her. Seeing her in such a fragile and vulnerable state shocked me into reality. 

One day I would be the person carrying on the family name. I worked hard academically to make the family proud, but failed to embody the mindset and values my mother taught me. All her positivity, love for new experiences and family were clouded by my disappointment and frustration. Watching my sister wasn’t the fun, new experience I hoped for, but it was the one I was given and I needed to embrace it with the same happiness and excitement as the other.  

In the previous years, I had failed myself before I even started with my pessimistic mindset. This period in life showed me the importance mindsets hold. When I began to embrace and enjoy my time watching my sister, I realized I still lived out my dream. I cheered her on in games peek-a-boo and created our own, personal coloring club. Now when things are not going to plan, I take on the challenge of remaining positive with a smile.

What the Essay Did Well

This is a classic “ Overcoming Challenges ” prompt, so the key to writing a strong response is to focus not just on the challenge itself, but also your thoughts and feelings to demonstrate how you grew as a result of experiencing the challenge. This essay does just that.

The shift from context to self-reflection occurs at the end of the first paragraph with the sentence “ Seeing her in such a fragile and vulnerable state shocked me into reality. ” What follows is a description of the student’s thoughts, which shows readers what being shocked into reality meant for them, and why that shock caused them to change their mindset.

We see the student start to see their unexpected high school experience not as a burden, but a responsibility and perhaps even an honor: “ One day I would be the person carrying on the family name.” They also show humility by explaining how they “ failed to embody the mindset and values ” of their mom, and then telling us what those values were by describing her “ love for new experiences and family. ” 

Additionally, opening the essay with the lighthearted, fun image of High School Musical is a savvy choice, as the contrast between the “ fun, new experience [they] hoped for ,” and the serious, mature position they actually found themself in emphasizes the emotional weight of the student’s situation.

It’s also nice that this essay finishes by showing us what the student’s new mindset looks like: “ I cheered her on in games peek-a-boo and created our own, personal coloring club. ” Since the “Overcoming Challenges” essay is usually about a heavy topic, readers will appreciate things ending on an uplifting note.

Although a lot of the focus should be your thoughts and emotions in this type of essay, getting to see how those internal factors affected your choices and actions takes the story out of your head, and proves that this experience changed not just your mindset, but also how you conduct yourself out in the world.

What Could Be Improved

While the first paragraph does a nice job providing context, it could be rewritten to be more engaging by telling the story like it’s currently happening rather than reflecting. This might look something like replacing the line “I saw this dream shatter, as I was tasked with watching my baby sister after school until 5:30 due to my mom’s struggles with her birth” with “Instead of bursting into song and dance at the drop of a hat, however, every day after school I found myself cleaning mushy peas off the floor, dozing off during educational TV shows, and trying anything to keep my baby sister from kicking her socks off.”

The part of this essay that needs the most attention, however, is the last paragraph. As it’s written, the student is telling us in a general sense that this experience was good for them: “ This period in life showed me the importance mindsets hold…Now when things are not going to plan, I take on the challenge of remaining positive with a smile. ” 

While this is a valuable realization, it also comes across as generic, as many people have this realization at some point in their lives. In this kind of essay, it’s okay to have your big takeaway be something familiar, since lots of teenagers learn similar lessons as they’re growing up. But to keep your essay from sounding like a Hallmark card, you want to include enough details that your reader can concretely see how this lesson has impacted your life. The writer could have accomplished this by reworking the last paragraph to something like:

“I’d always considered myself pessimistic, but suddenly I found myself smiling even on my worst days. I replaced counting down the minutes left watching my sister with a giggle-infused countdown that ended in “Ready or not, here I come!” My boredom-induced pencil doodles gave way to an invite-only sisters coloring club with glitter gel pens. Maybe my experience doesn’t look like High School Musical, but with a positive outlook, I’ve enjoyed myself just as much as Troy and Gabriella. ”

Essay Example #2 – Perseverance

Content warning: This essay includes graphic depictions of mental health struggles. If this topic is triggering for you, please read with caution. If you’re thinking about covering similar topics in your essay, we recommend reading our post Should You Talk About Mental Health in College Essays?

For the past two years, I’ve been more familiar with toilet bowls than dinner bowls.

Given my lengthy hours vomiting in the bathroom weekly, seeing liquid reiterations of each meal is commonplace. When people discuss mental health, they neglect to mention its physical manifestations.

It starts with an intense stomach ache that cements me to the bed. Then, the dry heaving ensues. For the rest of the day, I alternate between the bedroom and the bathroom as I endure body pains, fevers, and chills that persist even after I’ve finished vomiting. Major Depressive Disorder is more than a mental illness— it’s a physical issue that has affected my attendance for years.

However, despite my class absences, I’ve managed to juggle health, extracurriculars, and grades. From staying after school to complete make-up tests, to receiving study guides and class agendas from friends, diligence and community are the key ingredients of perseverance. At first, adapting to my limitations was difficult, but today, I work with my condition, not against it. When I launched a POC writers space for marginalized creatives and took on heavy social justice work, I learned setting time boundaries and honoring my own needs was necessary for my health.

At UMiami, my approach to adversity will thrive. Whether my Public Affairs Internship is too demanding, or my slam competition with Speak What You Feel is anxiety-inducing, I’ll remember to prioritize my mental health so my academic commitments don’t suffer.

Most importantly, I hope UMiami’s toilet bowls are decent.

This essay is incredibly well-written. While their graphic descriptions of their struggles may initially be jarring for some people, their detailed imagery is what allows this student to elicit such a visceral reaction from their readers. 

For example, the image of being “ more familiar with toilet bowls than dinner bowls ” is a shocking way to start an essay, but the reader can’t help but immediately be invested. Although we might not like the thought of “ liquid reiterations ” of food, the creative phrasing paints a crystal clear picture in our heads, and that clarity helps us feel like we’re right beside the writer, rather than watching her struggle from a distance.

The student’s descriptions of the physical manifestations of their mental illness, including, “ an intense stomach ache that cements me to the bed ,” “ the dry heaving ensue s,” and “ I alternate between the bedroom and the bathroom ” continue to build our sympathy towards them, as these lines are described so well that we feel like we’re experiencing some of their pain ourselves.

However, this essay’s strength isn’t just in the imagery. This student also provides details that show us how they have overcome their challenge. For example, the line “ From staying after school to complete make-up tests, to receiving study guides and class agendas from friends, diligence and community are the key ingredients of perseverance” shows the student can weather a storm, which is exactly what admissions officers want to see in your response to this kind of prompt.

They also show us how they were able to “ [launch] a POC writers space for marginalized creatives and [take] on heavy social justice work ” by “ setting time boundaries and honoring my own needs. ” This sentence shows that they have not only persevered through their struggles, but actually used the lessons they learned as motivation in other areas of their life.

Another positive aspect of this essay is how the student ties in UMiami in the second to last paragraph. Just because you aren’t writing a “Why School?” essay doesn’t mean you can’t talk about resources at the college that align with your interests—in fact, colleges will be even more impressed if you weave school opportunities into a different essay topic.

That being said, you don’t want the connection to the school to feel forced, so if you aren’t able to figure out how to do it in a way that’s natural, it’s completely fine to just focus on responding to the prompt you actually have.

Finally, the ending is a nice tie back to the opening of the essay, which reminds the reader one last time about the challenges this student has had to overcome. Bringing back the image of a toilet bowl might be a bit of a shock, but it ensures that this essay is memorable.

While this essay doesn’t necessarily need to change anything, one thing to keep in mind is how to approach difficult or possibly triggering topics in a college essay. Although, on the whole, this essay handles the topic of mental health with tact, you never know who your reader is and what perspective they are bringing to the table. It’s important to not be excessive with your depictions of mental health, and to make sure the focus is primarily on how your illness has impacted your personal growth.

Where to Get Feedback on Your Essay

Do you want feedback on your University of Miami essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

University of Miami 2023-24 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide  

Regular Decision Deadline: Jan 1

You Have: 

University of Miami 2023-24 Application Essay Question Explanations

The Requirements: 1 essay of 250 words

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Diversity

Located within one of the most dynamic cities in the world, the University of Miami is a distinctive community with a variety of cultures, traditions, histories, languages, and backgrounds. The University of Miami is a values-based and purpose-driven postsecondary institution that embraces diversity and inclusivity in all its forms and strives to create a culture of belonging, where every person feels valued and has an opportunity to contribute.

Please describe how your unique experiences, challenges overcome, or skills acquired would contribute to our distinctive university community..

Odds are that this isn’t the first “ diversity ” essay prompt you’ve come across this year—even if the prompt doesn’t explicitly use the word. If it is, however, please read on. UMiami wants to accept students from a range of backgrounds who will contribute to a “distinctive” University community, so tell admissions about what makes you you and how you will be a meaningful addition to the UMiami student body. Think about times when people have been intrigued by or curious about your identity, skillset, or background. Maybe you began practicing meditation and Buddhism during your sophomore year and you hope to spread some wisdom and mindfulness on campus next fall. Perhaps you were raised on a farm and have a very special relationship to all living things (plants, animals, people, etc.) around you. What do you hope to share with others about your lived experience? How will you incorporate this element of your identity into your college experience? Show admissions that you’re eager to make your mark in their community. Bonus points if you can reference a specific component of the UMiami experience (think clubs, classes, volunteer opportunities, etc.) to demonstrate interest and fit.

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First-Year Admission Requirements

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1. Complete the Common Application

Complete and submit the  Common Application . Upon submitting, you will be asked to pay a $70 nonrefundable application fee.  Be sure you use the same email address for every part of the application process, including registering for standardized tests.

If applying for Spring or Fall 2024, you will be required to submit a supplemental essay of 250 words.

Supplemental essay prompt: 

Located within one of the most dynamic cities in the world, the University of Miami is a distinctive community with a variety of cultures, traditions, histories, languages, and backgrounds. The University of Miami is a values-based and purpose-driven postsecondary institution that embraces diversity and inclusivity in all its forms and strives to create a culture of belonging, where every person feels valued and has an opportunity to contribute.

Please describe how your unique experiences, challenges overcome, or skills acquired would contribute to our distinctive University community.

In addition, students will be asked to respond to one of seven prompts in a personal statement of 650 words or less. 

These portions of the Common Application give you the opportunity to demonstrate your ability to develop your thoughts, to communicate them clearly, and to write them concisely conveying your unique voice. Please include a list of your extracurricular activities; these activities will be evaluated as part of the admission process.

2. Send Official High School Transcripts

If you attended high school in the United States, s ubmit your   official   high school transcripts directly from your high school. A school official may submit them electronically via the Common Application, Slate.org, SCOIR, or Parchment. They can also be emailed directly from your school official to [email protected] .

If electronic submission is not possible, these documents can be mailed to one of the following addresses:

Mailing Address University of Miami Office of Undergraduate Admission P.O. Box 249117 Coral Gables, FL 33124-9117   

If sending via FedEx, DHL, UPS, or courier University of Miami Office of Undergraduate Admission 1306 Stanford Drive University Center, Suite 2275 Coral Gables, FL 33146   

If you attended a secondary school outside of the United States, please refer to the International Evaluation Requirements page .

If you are a homeschooled applicant, please refer to the Homeschool Transcript Requirements page .

3. Submitting Test Scores

No change announced from current test optional policy for students who are applying for admission for the Spring or Fall 2024 term.

Students who choose to submit an ACT and/or SAT score may:

• Request that official scores be sent to the University directly from the testing agency.
• Self-report their scores on the Common Application. You will not need to Superscore your own results or recalculate your scores. Simply enter your scores exactly as you receive them. Students self-reporting scores will be required to submit official score reports only if they are admitted and choose to enroll.

All students whose native language is not English are required to submit official results of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), or  Duolingo English Test (DET) . For information on scores, visit the  English Proficiency Requirements  page. 

Architecture applicants not submitting test scores must instead submit a portfolio. All Music applicants complete an audition as part of the evaluation process.

Note:  You may update your decision to have your application reviewed with or without test scores even after you have submitted your application. Early Decision I and Early Action applicants have until November 15, while Early Decision II and Regular Decision applicants have until January 15 to update their file. 

Here are some examples of testing-specific updates applicants can make:

• Submit test scores for the Admission Committee’s consideration
• Update your test scores
• Update your choice to be test optional or not

To make these and other changes, applicants must complete the  Test Score Updates  form in the  Applicant Portal .

Submit your application by the stated deadline: November 1 for Early Decision I and Early Action or January 1 for Early Decision II and Regular Decision. The deadline for opting in or out of having your test scores considered as part of your application and for self-reporting your test scores is November 15 for Early Decision I and Early Action, and January 15 for Early Decision II and Regular Decision.

Test Codes for UM:

• TOEFL Code: C730
• IELTS Code: 4861
• ACT Code: 0760 
• SAT Code: 5815
• DET Code: select “University of Miami Undergraduate Admissions” from the options

4. Complete the School Report

The School Report should be completed by your high school guidance counselor and can be found on the  Common Application . It is often submitted along with your high school transcript and information about your high school. 

5. Submit a Letter of Recommendation

You are required to submit one letter of recommendation/evaluation, which can be from either a school counselor or a teacher. The most expedient way to submit your letter electronically is through the Common Application, Slate.org, Scoir, or Parchment.

6. Additional Requirements for Special Programs

• Bachelor of Architecture - Portfolio required if not submitting ACT/SAT scores
• Frost School of Music* - Supplemental Application, Prescreen, and Audition Required  
• Theatre Arts B.F.A.*   - Supplemental application and audition required

*Not available for Spring applicants

Supplemental applications are available in the Applicant Portal. Beginning mid-September, access to the portal will be granted 48-72 hours after  your admission application is received .  Please submit any additional documentation as soon as possible. We will accept documents  up to seven  days after the admission plan deadline.

Applicants to the Frost School of Music and the Theatre Arts B.F.A. program who are not admitted to the major of choice and did not indicate a second-choice major on their application will not be considered for admission to any other academic program at the University of Miami. Applicants may not add a second choice major after submitting their application to the University of Miami.

7. Submit Educational Activities

If you have a time gap of three months or more during your educational career or from the time you graduated high school to the date of your intended University of Miami enrollment, you must submit an Educational Activities statement in the Common Application explaining the reason for the gap(s) and include the dates.

If you are unable to provide this information within your Common Application, you can submit it through the applicant portal under the "Materials Upload" section, or by emailing it to  [email protected] . If emailing, be sure to include “Educational Activities” in the subject line and your full name and date of birth on all correspondence. This information is required to complete your application file.

8. Complete the Financial Certification Form (International applicants only)

All prospective first-year international students who apply for admission to UM must submit an International Financial Certification Form, which can be accessed via the Applicant Portal after you have submitted your application.

International applicants who are applying for need-based financial aid must also submit the CSS Profile.

9. Submit Financial Aid Documents

If you are applying for financial aid, review the checklist on our  Applying for Aid  page. There you will find the dates and required documents that must be submitted in order to be considered for need-based financial aid.

10. Send Conduct Updates

If there is any update to your academic achievement or personal   conduct, you must notify the Office of Undergraduate Admission immediately by uploading the documentation to your Applicant Portal in the "Materials Upload" section or by emailing the update to  [email protected] . 

Be sure to include your name and date of birth on all documents.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, university of miami supplemental essay examples.

I'm applying to the University of Miami and I'd appreciate if someone could share their supplemental essay examples or any advice on writing these. I know it's important to be authentic, but examples might help me understand what they're looking for. Thanks!

Hey there! I'm glad you're looking for some guidance on writing your University of Miami supplemental essays. CollegeVine has an article with two University of Miami essays submitted by real students, along with feedback on what works and what could be improved upon: https://blog.collegevine.com/university-of-miami-essay-examples

Now for some quick advice—make sure to thoroughly read and understand the prompt, and figure out what aspects of your life, experiences, and personality you'd like to highlight. Are there specific programs or opportunities at the University of Miami that really resonate with you? Make sure to include those!

When writing your essay, remember to be genuine and let your own voice shine through. Admissions officers want to get to know you as a person, so stay true to yourself and your unique experiences. Avoid clichéd topics, overly complex language, or trying too hard to impress.

Finally, always revise your essay multiple times, ask for feedback from others, and double-check your spelling and grammar.

Check out CollegeVine's guide to writing the current University of Miami supplementals: https://blog.collegevine.com/how-to-write-the-university-of-miami-essays

Good luck with your application!

About CollegeVine’s Expert FAQ

CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.

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Taking the Bar/Florida Bar

Most states require applicants to have completed all requirements for graduation before sitting for the Bar Examination. In Florida, for instance, if one takes the Bar Examination without having received the required degree, the score is impounded and eventually invalidated, and the test-taker may be called for an investigative hearing for violating the rules governing admission to the Bar.

The Parts of the Bar

Bar exams normally consist of multiple parts of the test. Passing each part is often required to successfully pass the exam as a whole, but some jurisdictions (like Florida) permit passing with an “overall” passing score that is the average of certain portions of the exam.

There are five main bar exam portions, though not all jurisdictions use all five:

• a state portion of the exam, which might be administered with the rest of the exam or could be offered separately in an open-book online exam
• the Multistate Bar Exam (the MBE), a 200-question multiple-choice exam
• the Multistate Essay Exam (MEE), a 6-essay exam
• the Multistate Performance Test (MPT), an exam that tests your ability to analyze the law using sample cases, statutes, and legal documents such as affidavits, police reports, depositions, etc., and
• the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE), an exam that tests knowledge of standards governing professional conduct.

The MBE, MEE, and MPT together comprise the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE). You can read about each of these components at  https://www.ncbex.org/exams/ .

The Florida Bar consists of Part A (the Florida, state-specific portion of the exam), Part B (the MBE), and the MPRE. All three must be passed within 25-months of each other.

In most jurisdictions, the Bar Examination is given on the last Tuesday and Wednesday in both February and July. The Bar Examination is given in some jurisdictions on Wednesday and Thursday, thereby making it possible for one to take two bar examinations concurrently. One should consult the website of each jurisdiction to see if concurrent testing is possible. If one sits for the Bar Examination concurrently in two different jurisdictions, the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE—Wednesday portion of the examination) may count toward admission in both states.

Florida Bar Exam & Logistics

First review the  Florida Bar Exam Virtual Tour . The Florida Bar Examination is administered at the Tampa Convention Center. Most test-takers choose to stay in a hotel within walking or a short driving distance of the Convention Center. The Florida Bar of Board Examiners' website,  under FAQ , describes what you may bring into the examination room. The site also includes other test-taking information, such as details on using ExamSoft to take the examination.

Tampa Hotel Accommodations

Students should make their hotel reservations no later than the end of your second year at Miami Law. It is imperative that a student has reservations for accommodations for the Bar Examination well in advance of the event, whether for February or July. A complete listing of Tampa Bay area accommodations is readily available. The hotels are listed from closest to farthest from the Tampa Convention Center. There are many other good accommodations within easy commuting distance at perhaps significantly reduced prices. In order to compare rates, it is suggested that one contacts the hotel directly, tries using the hotel website or 800-number, or attempts to use other travel web sites in order to secure the best rate possible. 

Getting To the Exam Location in Tampa

Any student taking the Bar exam should be walking through the turnstiles at the Tampa Convention Center by 8:30 a.m in a relaxed state. That means having already checked in downstairs at the street level, deposited any contraband in the check room, and used the rest room by 8:30 a.m.

Luncheon in Tampa

The School provides a buffet luncheon for Miami Law students on both Tuesday and Wednesday in a Ballroom on the street level of the Tampa Convention Center (down the escalator from the Examination Hall). The buffet consists of cold cuts—meats and cheeses, salads, rolls, desserts, tea, coffee and water.

Reciprocity

Some states offer reciprocity with other states. Florida does not grant reciprocity with any other state, so it is not possible to be admitted in Florida based on passing another jurisdiction’s bar exam. However, individuals who previously took the MBE in another jurisdiction can often transfer that portion of the exam into Florida to avoid having to retake the MBE. To do so, you must have scored at least a scaled score of 136 on the MBE (the passing score for Florida) and transfer it within the 25-month time limit.

Information on Other State Bar Exams

The  National Conference of Bar Examiners’ website  has links to each state’s Bar Admissions Offices, Admissions Procedures and Rules, Multistate Test Dates and Information, Character and Fitness, and Bar Exam Statistics.

The bar exam changes from time to time. Currently, the authors of the UBE are drafting a new exam, and it is tentatively scheduled to be offered starting in 2025 or 2026. It is not yet known which jurisdictions will use this exam.

For Questions

Lastly, remember to be diligent, then confident and relaxed on the day of the Bar Exam. For any questions along the way, please contact Director Steven Maxwell at  [email protected] , or our Associate Directors, Rodney P. Rawls at  [email protected]  or Brian Sites at  [email protected] .

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A Latina Harvard grad advised women to marry older men. The internet had thoughts.

When she was 20 years old and a junior at Harvard College, Grazie Sophia Christie had an epiphany. She could study hard and diligently pursue her “ideal existence” though years of work and effort.

Or she “could just marry it early.”

Christie chose the latter. 

In a column for New York magazine’s The Cut, the Cuban American editor and writer extolled the value of marrying an older, wealthier man as a shortcut to the life she desired. Christie’s March 27 story went viral, topping the magazine’s “most popular” list and inspiring hundreds of overwhelmingly negative comments online and on social media. As Miami New Times described it , “The essay hit the internet with a virtual thud heard round the world.”

Readers were taken aback by myriad aspects of Christie’s florid essay, which runs nearly 4,000 words. Though she was an undergraduate, Christie lugged “a heavy suitcase of books each Saturday to the Harvard Business School,” which she felt offered the best options for a suitable mate. “I had high breasts, most of my eggs, plausible deniability when it came to purity, a flush ponytail, a pep in my step that had yet to run out," she wrote. "Older men still desired those things.” 

She crashed an event at the Harvard Business School and met her future husband when she was 20, and they married four years later.

Many readers were struck by the fact that Christie had the benefit of an elite education — she also completed a fellowship at Oxford University — yet chose to enter into an unequal marriage. “My husband isn’t my partner. He’s my mentor, my lover, and, only in certain contexts, my friend,” she writes. “I’ll never forget it, how he showed me around our first place like he was introducing me to myself. This is the wine you’ll drink, where you’ll keep your clothes, we vacation here; this is the other language we’ll speak, you’ll learn it and I did.”

Christie, now 27, writes that she enjoys time “to read, to walk central London and Miami and think in delicious circles.”

There is, Christie writes, a downside to her monied existence: “I live in an apartment whose rent he pays and that shapes the freedom with which I can ever be angry with him. He doesn’t have to hold it over my head, it just floats there, complicating usual shorthands to explain dissatisfaction.”

By marrying so young — although as many social media users pointed out, her husband is only 10 years older — Christie was able to leave a “lucrative but deadening spreadsheet job to write full-time, without having to live like a writer.”

A recurring theme in the viral response to Christie’s article, ostensibly about age-gap relationships, is that it should have been titled “The Case for Marrying a Rich Man.”

Christie’s transactional approach to marriage and relationships resonated — negatively — with readers. An online parody of her original piece has already been posted by the literary magazine McSweeney’s. Her words have been dissected by a columnist at Slate, who called it “bad advice for most human beings, at least if what most human beings seek are meaningful and happy lives.”

Online, people who commented on Christie’s essay called it “an insult to women of any age,” “a sad piece of writing,” and “pitiful in so many ways.”  Some readers wondered if the article was a satire or a joke. One of the kinder comments on New York magazine’s website said: “This is one of the most embarrassing things I have ever read. I am truly mortified for the writer.”

Christie has so far not responded to media requests for interviews, and several attempts by NBC News to contact her were unsuccessful. Her Instagram account was recently switched from public to private.

According to her personal website , Christie is editor-in-chief of a new publication, The Miami Native, “a serious magazine about an unserious city.” Her website’s bio page, which appears to have been disabled, previously stated that she was “writing a novel between Miami, London, sometimes France.”

Christie grew up in Miami. Her parents,  Miami New Times has reported , are prominent in Florida’s conservative Catholic community. Her mother was appointed to the state Board of Education in March 2022. A senior fellow for The Catholic Association, she hosts a radio show , “Conversations with Consequences,” on the Eternal Word Television Network. Her father is a physician and an anti-abortion activist who, according to his website , lectures regularly on Catholic social issues, particularly marriage, family, and the dignity of life.”

For more from NBC Latino,  sign up for our weekly newsletter .

Raul A. Reyes, a lawyer, is a member of the USA Today Board of Contributors. He has written for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Christian Science Monitor, Texas Monthly and the Huffington Post.