<p>And my son a very happy junior!</p>
<p>I’m making a correction here. From an earlier post:
I dk WashU, but UR is not central at all to the city of Rochester. The campus is on a river/channel on one side and a cemetery on the other. Kids can take a bus to get into the “city”, but rarely do (at least my son never when he was a student. Said there wasn’t anything there.)</p>
<p>In terms of academics: my H was amazed at all the choices and how the requirements were structured. My son always says his best teacher was the professor who taught his Economics class. (~150 students). and that’s why he became an Economics major. My son loved the tunnels, but had a terrible time with all those gray days. Complained about the food, complained there wasn’t any place to “hang out” to meet kids. Transferred after one year.</p>
<p>The OP here again posting about our trip to UR.</p>
<p>We were greeted in the auditorium by an a cappella group performing for us (finally we actually see a cappella singers, it was a running joke at all these college visits, without fail a mention was made of how many groups there were on campus!). The dean spoke not about student orientation or activities but the commitment to be a research university and provide that opportunity to the students, and the commitment to the unique Rochester curriculum in which students choose classes because they want to not because they have to.
As an example when they abolished the foreign language requirement, they have more students actually taking foreign languages. We were then led out of the auditorium to a serenade from a brass quintet.</p>
<p>The campus is beautiful, happy kids walking together from classes, friendly and smiling. The dorms were fine, not spectacular but certainly typical. Lots of nice places on campus to park yourself to study or hangout. Great tour of the science building.</p>
<p>Everyone mentioned that the food is now much better than it used to be, when we ate there it was very good with a variety of choices, many fresh vegetables and salads, also a grill and carving station. All the people we ran into, from the workers to the students were relaxed and friendly. When asked what the worst part of the school was, everyone mentioned the parking situation. </p>
<p>Many times it was mentioned that the proximity of the medical center was such an asset to the students as far as research and volunteer opportunities, as well as the excellent advising.</p>
<p>So which one did she choose???</p>
<p>Now, no fair keeping us guessing, Lassie3!</p>
<p>I’m just teasing you! Will post later.</p>
<p>The main factor is the $. How would paying that extra $15K a year feel to your family? Also, check out the fine print on the scholarship offer–what would happen if she didn’t keep the minimum required GPA? Definitely ask about that ahead of time. </p>
<p>I’d pick Wash U. (I love St. Louis) if I had the $. But Rochester sounds fine, too, for significantly less.</p>
<p>Can someone speak to the U of Rochester’s physical plant? Does it feel more urban or more suburban?</p>
<p>^^ Standard college plan. Medium sized buildings situated around grassy quads within a pretty well defined boundary.</p>
<p>Is it located in the city or in a more suburban area?</p>
<p>Grew up in St. Louis and lived in Rochester (as an adult) for four years. I found Rochester to be both “Midwestern” and “Eastern” but not nearly as “East Coast” as NYC, Boston, Philly etc.</p>
<p>Both campuses are beautiful and both schools are integral parts of their communities. There is more to do within walking distance of Wash U than there is in Rochester.</p>
<p>Rochester does not get as cold as St. Louis can get in the winter due to the lack effect. But it is cloudly from October to May. They know how to do snow removal much, much better than St. Louis.</p>
<p>My brother went to Wash U for a year and transferred to UVa. His daughter went there for a year and transferred to Sarah Lawrence (where she had been waitlisted before.) She had a horrible roommate situation at WashU–drunk every night and brought stray boys back to the dorm room. She still loves the area around the campus and visits when she comes to see her grandmother, but loved her three year at Sarah Lawrence.</p>
<p>I’ll be eager to hear the final outcome of this post.</p>
<p>We had just finished the info session and tour at UR and were going into another presentation at 11:00, DD turned to me and said, “I’ve made my decision, I’m coming here.”</p>
<p>I said, “Are you sure?” with a little sinking feeling because it was so early in the day and I secretly wanted her closer to home. Yes. It’s University of Rochester!</p>
<p>When I asked her why she made her choice, she said it was her viscera that told her. I asked if the $15,000 made a difference in her decision, and she said she would’ve paid full price to go there because she knew it was the right place for her. Like so many people have said, she loved the down to earth feeling of the school with smart, engaged students.
Funny now, how I described WashU as Disney and movie set perfect, but that is not what she was looking for. The happiness and relief in her was instant, we bought a UR tshirt and hoodie, and she spent the ride home immersed in the course catalogue planning her classes.</p>
<p>To make this ending even more perfect, she came home to an email from UR raising her merit aid to $22,000 a year because of her NMF status!</p>
<p>I want to thank all of you for your thoughtful responses and help for this wild ride. I hope I can return the favor some day. I’m not leaving too soon though, two more DD’s coming down the wire!</p>
<p>Congratulations to you and your DD!!! Welcome to Ra-cha-cha!</p>
<p>Feel free to IM me at any time with questions, etc. - my office is across the street from Eastman (don’t know if you had a chance to head downtown on your visit). Anything I can do to help with the transition, which I am sure will be a smooth one.</p>
<p>Your D had two great choices - I am sure she will do great here!</p>
<p>
That’s about how my daughter reacted! I still made her go to one more overnight; she texted me during that overnight that she wanted to go to Rochester! And she couldn’t be happier.</p>
<p>Someone asked about the physical campus: When we were there, people commented, “Now this is what Harvard is supposed to look like!”</p>
<p>My youngest child has also decided to go to UR. After all the info was in, she recently admitted it was her first choice all along.</p>
<p>D2 had the same experience. She went to UR for a weekend (without me), came home and told me that was where she was going. I dragged her to a few other colleges (including one I was secretly rooting for), but she was adamant. Rochester was her school. So long story short–she’s there and she loves it.</p>
<p>Great thread. Congrats to the Lassie3 puppy! Sounds like there were plenty of intangibles other than the NMF that sealed the deal, but wow, what a nice bonus.</p>
<p>Just started following this thread and enjoyed following your experiences, even if you put us on pins and needles at the end. We told DS not to consider finances and go with his first choice, luckily we had saved enough to be able to afford where ever he most wanted to go. He did comment, however, that the significant merit $ offered by Rochester made him feel “wanted.” As others on this thread have stated, he never regretted his choice. He even would have liked to have settled down in Rochester permanently, if the economy had been more favorable there. Good luck to your daughter and to everyone else whose child has decided on UR (actually to everyone else who has a child starting college this fall).</p>
<p>I have the same general impressions as Consolation. My son was very interested in UR but didn’t get into its med pgm so he went elsewhere. He really liked the TakeFive pgm (free tuition 5th yr). My son was interested in using it as a way to study a totally unrelated area, not to “catch up” with missed classes. I didn’t get the impression it was difficult to get classes and without a core, there’s lots of freedom when scheduling. I will say that the people we met in the Admissions dept, FA dept and the REMS pgm were extremely welcoming, attentive and helpful thoughout the entire process. I have suggested UR to my youngest and I hope to get her up there to visit when track season ends.</p>
<p>My older DD graduated in May from RIT (not UR) so we’re familiar with Rochester weather. It didn’t seem much colder or snowier than here in northwest NJ but my DD has commented on the wind and overcast skies and seemingly never ending winter blahs. Then again, this year her friends have had better weather in Rochester than we’ve had here in NJ. Go figure. She just headed off to Rochester for a weekend with some friends who are still in that area.</p>
<p>Rochester airport is close by and very easy to deal with. Buffalo is relatively easy also. My DD enjoyed the surrounding area, getting to Canada quite a bit (Toronto, Niagara Falls), the state parks (beaches at Lake Ontario, hiking at Letchworth SP and Watkins Glen SP gorges) and wine tasting tours nearby.</p>
<p>Funny how kids are different. Your DD isn’t sure about going somewhere “on her own”. I’m starting this process with kid #3 and none of mine wanted to go where other classmates were (that whole grade 13 stigma). </p>
<p>My youngest has started getting all that WashU mail. My oldest wouldn’t apply because it was too far. My son wouldn’t apply because he hated the whole marketing thing that WashU does. So far, I can’t read #3’s take and I’m staying neutral in case she has interest. </p>
<p>I think both schools will offer a good education. Which is a better fit? Perhaps a visit (preferably an overnight visit) will provide a better feel. I’m not sure I would pay an extra $60,000.</p>
<p>Thanks for this thread OP. It was interesting to read and I can’t wait to attend UR.</p>