An international college student has gone viral after uploading a TikTok video poking fun at herself for applying to the wrong college.
Valerie Do, 19, told Insider that she had aspirations to enjoy the sun and time on the beaches in between her classes when she applied to Miami University in 2021. Because she is an international student from Vietnam, she was not able to visit the school, so she applied sight unseen.
It was when she got her acceptance letter that she realized that the school was not in Florida but in Oxford, Ohio. She has accidentally mistaken Miami University for the Univesity of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.
Miami University got its name from the Great Miami River in Southwestern Ohio when it was founded in 1809.
Do tells the news outlet that she was a little disappointed to realize that instead of beaches, her view would be of cornfields. After a little research, though, she discovered that the university had a good business school and decided to accept the offer and move from Vietnam to Ohio.
Do is now a campus tour guide and often tells students the story of how she ended up in the middle of nowhere in Midwest America. Other students found the story funny and encouraged Do to upload a video on TikTok. Do uploaded the video with the trending song “I’m Already There” by Lonestar. Captioning the video with “When someone says ‘go to hell,’ but I am studying abroad at Miami University. I thought it was Miami, Florida, and did not realize. There are no beaches here it’s just a cornfield and in the middle of nowhere.”
The video went viral with 1.5 million views, prompting Do to post a follow-up video answering why she chose to attend the wrong school.
In the video, Do says that it was the financial aid she was awarded, the safety of the school, and the business program that made her choose Miami University.
She told Insider that money is a big part of choosing a school for international students; the school offered her a lot of money, and her parents could afford the tuition.
Do says that she did not expect the video to go viral as it did and has received some criticism from viewers who said she didn’t do her research before applying. Do told Insider that she is not bothered by the comments. She is happy she chose to live in Ohio instead of Florida. She said that she visited Miami during spring break of her freshman year and was forced to switch her Airbnb in the middle of the night for safety reasons.
She tells Insider that she loves her school and that it was a great mistake to make.
