2011 Grad. Bored at work. Will answer questions.

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Rochester
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<p>Hi guys. </p>

<p>So I went to UR and majored in PSC and ENG Lit. I graduated in 2011 and got a job at a big big law firm in NYC as a paralegal. I hated it so now I work at a smaller firm and don't have a lot of work. As a result, I've spent most of my time lurking this threads to help my little sister get into college. I will be starting law school (ranked in the top 5) in the fall, so basically I'm just killing time in this silly job until then (and getting paid).</p>

<p>Ask away!...Anything about the schools, parties, the city of rochester, professors, majors...sororities...</p>

<p>Don't ask me to chance you though, I'm no admissions expert, just went to the school.</p>

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<p>Which law school? I went to Michigan. </p>

<p>My kid loves UR. I hope you enjoyed it.</p>

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<p>I’ll also take suggestions about how to kill time on the internet.
Nothing too childish though.
I pretty much read the entirety of the NY Times every day.
Sigh. This is real life.</p>

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<p>Did you read about the programmer who outsourced his work to China and spent his days looking at cat videos? He got paid, paid others to do his work cheaply, and kept the rest. They discovered him when they saw logins from China. He’d physically sent them his login credentials.</p>

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<p>Potatoman, could you address the stereotypes about the city of Rochester and what it’s really like? On a Brandeis thread, there is a suggestion that Rochester (the city) is not a plus at all.</p>

<p>And what is your opinion of UR overall, and in comparison to similar schools?</p>

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<p>I live not that far from Brandeis (closer to Boston). And I’ve spent a lot of time in Rochester.</p>

<p>Rochester has much more to offer than Waltham, MA. You can get into Boston, which is obviously nicer than Rochester, but Brandeis is out near 128 in the suburbs. </p>

<p>An oddity is both schools have a similar issue: there isn’t much right around them. Brandeis is in its campus area, completely removed from Waltham. Rochester has the river and the huge cemetery that separate it from most of the city. There are some things right near school - and will be more when the College Town development is built but that will take a while - but not as much as if you were in the middle of the city. Neither school has a true “college town” street next door like Brown has. To get to Brandeis, you drive down a street and turn into an entrance and the campus is up the hill by itself. </p>

<p>The barriers of course makes the river campus at Rochester safer.</p>

<p>That said, it’s much easier and faster to get into Rochester. It’s a place where things are 10 minutes away. Waltham has some nice ethnic restaurants but it isn’t a favorite suburb of mine by a long shot. </p>

<p>My 2 cents.</p>

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<p>LOL I DID read about that programmer. I couldn’t believe it. It was too funny</p>

<p>finalchild, I like that you called me potatoman, I’m gonna keep that. </p>

<p>Well, I have mixed feelings about the city of Rochester. Look, the school, the quality of education, the facilities, libraries and professors are all top-notch. They are amazing, and you can tell. BUT this is probably true at Brandeis as well.
The college IS separated from the rest of Rochester by a cemetery on one side and a river on the other. However, they ARE building a college town across the river (there’s a little foot bridge you can use to get there) and apparently it’s going to be nice. Also, the new riverview apartments for juniors and seniors are basically the ****. This is a HUGE, two bedroom apartment with your own bathroom, FULL kitchen and living room and view of the forest or river. I don’t know if Brandeis has this. Lived there senior year, still miss it.
Also, I used to cross the cemetery to go to this diner/restaurant place called the distillery, and it was like a 10-15 minute walk. Keep in mind this can only be done when it’s not snowing, which is like…three or four months, lol. So if you’re not creeped out by cemeteries this is a cool / fun thing to do.
The big bad thing is that UR is basically in the slums, think like…the Harlem of NYC. It’s right next to this area called the 19th ward that has a bunch of projects and crime and it’s really sketchy.
On the other side the security at UR is insane, there are CONSTANTLY security cars with big UR letter driving around campus all day and all night, every day. Every few blocks within the campus there are this blue phones you can use to call security, and you can ask them to pick you up and take you home if it’s really late and you don’t want to walk.
That said, I used to walk the lenght of campus (from like way over the far dorms to Riverview, like a 20 minute walk) all the time and felt really safe, never sketched out.
Sighh, I miss that place.
Oh, ok, so mid-Junior year my SO got a car. AND if you have a car and a little dough, there are plenty of cool things to be done in Pittsford and Eastview Mall (like a 15 minute drive) You can’t, however, take a cab to these places, the fares are rape.
The school makes a giant effort to have fun things to do on campus, there’s always school sponsored actitivies, meetings, ice cream and pizza parties, and other things going on. And there’s always frat parties too, which however get pretty old after a while.
Truth is, college is what you make it, if you make good friends (preferably some that own cars) you’ll have a great time here. Same is true in any college, though.</p>

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<p>To add about cars, a number of kids have them and there are also zip cars. My kid never seems to lack a ride. UR also runs shuttle buses, both to the malls and grocery stores south (10 minutes) or to Eastman (10 minutes). The one to Eastman will drop you on Park Ave, which has a bunch of shops and restaurants and is one of the nice parts of the city. The area in between is mostly South Wedge. Some students live there. It’s cheap, mostly safe, has a number of restaurants. </p>

<p>With any kind of transport, you can be in Brighton center in 10 minutes. That’s an example. Brighton is a nice suburb that nestles into Rochester. It essentially borders UR; it’s on the other side of the street The Distillery, CVS, etc. are on. A very good high school, nice area. </p>

<p>The area across the river - the 19th Ward - is sketchy. Most students who live there are right next to school. The actual dangerous parts of that district are north and west away from school, not near UR. The really bad part of town is on the other side of downtown way off to the northwest. </p>

<p>I often wonder how much or how little a place matters because most kids have lives that revolve around school and campus. One good thing, I suppose, is that UR is so important in the area - which has 1 million people - that it’s relatively easy to get internships and the like.</p>

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<p>True about the internships. I got offered all sorts of internships and jobs during / after school, but always declined for NYC. Lergnom, I’m going to Columbia.
Another thing is, if you are interested in business, medicine, or teaching, UR has all three, and they are all some of the best grad schools in their field. The way I saw it you are basically guaranteed entry if you come from the UG (a friend of mine who played beer pong all day and can’t have had a GPA higher than 3.3 went to the business school).
I had friends go to all three grad schools, and those that did teaching got pretty sweet jobs as teachers now that they’re graduated.
Medicine is no walk in the park, though, some of the brightest kids and hardest courses.</p>

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<p>D never had a car during her 4 yrs, UR bus system got her everywhere. She also lived at Riverview and loved it–apartments were gorgeous. She always felt safe.</p>

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<p>My current freshman son and his friends have already discovered the free bus routes and have been to the malls, the farmer’s market, a concert (maybe two) and cute “typical” college places to eat. He showed us a bunch of pics over winter break. They don’t seem to have a problem having things to do (or knowing how to get there). I asked him about safety and he said he feels fine, though they are cautioned against going across the river alone at night. It’s not something he’d ever planned on doing anyway.</p>

<p>He loves UR.</p>

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<p>Creekland, what does your son love about UR? What schools was he choosing among in the end?</p>

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<p>My guy is pre-med and will be either neuro or brain & cognitive science for his major. Then he is planning on American Sign Language and perhaps Spanish as double majors or minors.</p>

<p>He looked at a LOT of schools. We axed all without merit aid, so he didn’t apply to those even though we looked at some.</p>

<p>His final application list included Pitt (his 2nd choice), U Alabama (safety with his stats, but of course, he couldn’t do neuro there), Furman (his LAC option if he decided upon that), and Baylor (not enough neuro). He also ended up waitlisted at WUSTL, but I don’t think it would have beat out UR if he’d been accepted.</p>

<p>Places he almost applied to included Case Western (not enough neuro for him and too urban), Emory (disliked needing additional SAT 2 tests when no other school he was considering wanted them), Franklin & Marshall (dropped when we found out they no longer offered merit aid), and a couple of others that will probably come to mind right after I hit submit, but my time is short, so I can’t wait for my brain to clear to think of them.</p>

<p>What sold him on Rochester? The oodles of research options and the fact that when he went there other students were both talking about their classes/research, etc + other things they were involved in (musical or acting, etc). They took him along to these things. He loved it. When he visited other schools (esp Pitt and Alabama) everyone was focused on Div 1 sports. He isn’t. Few even wanted to talk about their classes. It was definitely a fit thing for him.</p>

<p>He still enjoys it there, got a 4.0 his first semester taking the basics for pre-med (Bio, Chem, Calc, and a BCS class), has a work study job, is involved with the chess club, archery club and a Christian club + goes to quite a few student acting and/or singing events. He’s been invited to apply for research jobs in the Psych dept (maybe BCS too). He has a group of friends (very diverse in many ways if that interests you) that he enjoys. He loves his professors. He just feels he’s found his niche. He tells us he has absolutely no regrets.</p>

<p>This school isn’t for everyone (esp those who love Div 1 sports or who aren’t so top at academics), but it’s great for a guy like him. So far he doesn’t even mind the snow (he made a 6 inch or so snowman with the first snow they had there and has plans to buy ice skates). They have tunnels…</p>

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<p>True there is a tunnel systems connecting all of the classrooms so you don’t have to trek through the snow when you’re going from one class to another.
Sports do suck so def. don’t come here if you want to be a Division 1 sportsman or whatever they call them.
Forgot to mention, there is a starbucks on campus!</p>

<p>For someone interested in Medicine / Neuro / basically any science, there are probably few better places than Rochester. This is because the school OWNS every surrounding hospital, research facility and lab. The city of rochester is basically owned by UR, so its students have access to research and projects within hospitals that I presume most other students at most other schools do not have.</p>

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<p>Yes, it’s a giant Starbucks and they take declining, which are dollars that come with your meal plan.</p>

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<p>potatopancakes, I wondered if you found the career center helpful when you were seeking internships? I can see on their site they offer seminars and have a internship/job listing board.</p>

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<p>finalchild - my son is also a freshman at UR. The closest comparison I believe is Case Western. We only threw in UR because we were visiting RIT, but also saw Pitt, Case, Lehigh, Villanova in that trip. </p>

<p>In the end what did it for him, and us, was how you just enrolled in the university, you didn’t have to choose a major and get accepted into that school. And it’s a good thing because about a month in he realized he didn’t like engineering! </p>

<p>It’s also a matter of fit. Everything about the school fit him when we went on the tour. It’s a school of intellectually curious kids. They certainly have fun, but it’s a place where my son can hang out in the dorms and just talk to like minded kids. </p>

<p>I also really like the dorm set up, with the lounges that they actually use, separate kitchens, study areas, etc. When it’s in the single digits it’s nice to not have to leave.</p>

<p>He hasn’t felt like he had a clunker of a class yet. In fact we talked last night as he gushed about his classes and professors. The curriculum let’s you stick to classes that interest you instead of having to take all these pre-req’s. You are definitely involved in your education.</p>

<p>I will say however, you really should have an idea of your major right off the bat or else you could find yourself in trouble with your schedule.</p>

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<p>Yes, just to be clear, I am a huge UR fan. I caught on to UR too late in the process for my first kid, but since then I have highly recommended the school to several very strong students and it is now at the top of my “final child’s” list as we await results. I think the location is actually a backwards plus, as some kids have a chance to get in who might not if UR was more on everyone’s radar. I don’t think it is a school that immediately comes to mind when you live in New England or even the Northeast and are identifying upper tier schools. In other words, a lot of people don’t know about it and/or don’t know how good it is. We spent a long weekend there in the fall and I really liked the city. It’s obviously not NYC or Boston, but I tend to prefer comfortable over hectic. For my money, the combination of the size of UR (bigger than the usual LACs) with access to a small, convenient city is pretty ideal.</p>

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<p>Btw, eyemamom, there seems to be at least two different overlap clusters for UR – the type you mentioned with Case, Pitt, Lehigh, etc, (maybe the more engineering/tech group) and Wash U, NYU, Brandeis, maybe Northeastern, and maybe a strong LAC or two (the more arts&sciences focus). We are coming at UR more from the latter. I am guessing (hoping?) that UR is a little less conservative than some of the schools you referenced.</p>

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<p>I agree totally. This is exactly what appealed to my guy that he just didn’t “feel” at other schools he visited. We did visit other top schools, but this one was just “different” for him - AND had more research opportunities for students in his opinion (kids were actually doing impressive research as opposed to talking about merely what opportunities were there if you wanted to go for them).</p>

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<p>I think this is true too - or that many who do “know” about it just write it off because of Rochester and their notorious winter. My guy ALMOST wrote it off due to the weather himself even though the school looked perfect for him on paper. He applied last minute (for merit aid) and we didn’t even visit until Feb when he had his acceptance in hand. From that visit he was pretty much sold, but we did a return visit in April where he spent the night. Then he was definitely sold on the place. Between his older brother and himself he’s been to quite a few schools and URoc is definitely “THE” place for him.</p>

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<p>I wouldn’t call the school conservative… I might call it apolitical. Few students my guy knows care all that much about politics (though there were election parties the night of the election and many voted). Most are liberal if you are talking social issues. There is a big diversity on campus (racial, religious, somewhat geographical with many international students though for the US, many are from NY) and pretty much all get along well with each other. </p>

<p>There are parties for those who want them and non-party groups for those who don’t. The non-party group my guy belongs to isn’t religious at all. They just prefer other things for fun. A few go Greek. Most don’t. They still all get along and enjoy the academic camaraderie. Study groups are common - esp before tests - and my guy hasn’t seen anything he’d call cut-throat. His group(s) all root for each other.</p>

<p>Oh, he likes the Starbucks too. ;)</p>