"Evil UR"

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Rochester
1

<p>Ok, so apparently my previous thread violated CC's terms of use because I provided a link to a popular video-hosting website. However, I still have not received any opinions on what seems to me to be an important matter. </p>

<p>My question was about a video that was seemingly made by jresh55. In order to avoid further violations, in order to watch it, google "evil University of Rochester" and it should be the first result.</p>

<p>Here's a copy of the original message I sent to jresh55 after viewing it, to which he has yet to respond-</p>

<p>
[quote]
jersh55,</p>

<p>I'm seriously considering attending UR this fall. Recently typing in 'University of Rochester' into [popular video-hosting site], I accidentally stumbled across a video you made, which gave a seemingly overwhelmingly negative review of the university. At first, I assumed a great deal to be sarcasm, but by the end, I was really unable to tell. All of the comments on the video seem to agree with your evaluation and validate your criticisms. However, here on CC, you seem to post mainly positive reviews and encourage people to apply and attend. Since picking the correct college is a pretty significant decision, I really need to know that I'm making the right choice. If UR is genuinely as you portrayed it in the video, maybe I need to reevaluate my college priorities. I know it seems ridiculous that I'm even taking the video this seriously, but I live in the midwest (where UR is virtually unknown) and it's rare for me to get an accurate first-person review. Was I too dense to catch the sarcasm? Or did you just have a change of heart? Or, perhaps, is it really just that awful?</p>

<p>Thanks,
sammyjankis

[/quote]
</p>

<p>What are your opinions?</p>

2

<p>I watched the clip and laughed personally,</p>

<p>Every school and every student has their ups and downs with their relationship to their educational institution, Currently I love my high school, however I have wished I wasn’t part of it’s community at some times. I think that the video was made as either a ridiculous parody of UR life or at a major low point of the authors educational career with UR.</p>

<p>Also compare UR to one of your schools (even if the author was serious), there have always been kids at one of my schools that hated that specific school with a fiery passion, sometimes places just don’t make a good fit for some people.</p>

<p>I hope that made sense I am delirious.</p>

3

<p>Even if he was upset with the university, that doesn’t mean that his arguments were invalid. I hope I’m reading too much into this…</p>

4

<p>Oh boy…</p>

<p>1) I did not make the video, it was made by someone who has graduated in 2006 (as far as I know). I uploaded it to the said popular video sharing site since it wasn’t up there already (and since I believe it needs to be up there).</p>

<p>2) I’m sorry you were too obtuse to catch the implied sarcasm. While the video definitely has elements of truth to it (otherwise it would not be funny), these things are relatively trivial and have no major bearing on your overall education here. </p>

<p>3) Every place of employment/education/community has its own quirks that everyone knows of, but cannot really do anything about. These are the type of things the video exploits. </p>

<p>Things that are true:</p>

<p>a) UR parking is an absolute dictatorship that everyone must obey, lest they will get a car boot and parking violation tickets. They have a little parking van running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I am not exaggerating. Sometimes you can get lucky and not get caught, sometimes they’ll catch you if you park in the “wrong spot” for just 5 mins. They also overcharge the students (~$370/two semesters for students vs ~$200/whole year for staff). Also freshmen cannot park here.</p>

<p>b) The orientation volunteers do help you move your crap in.</p>

<p>c) The food (as well as the dinning $ plan) are absolutely terrible and I do not foresee any changes in the future as long as Aramark is still in charge of UR’s food. </p>

<p>d) Bookstore items are unnecessarily overpriced. But, this is true for ANY campus bookstore. Save yourself some money and get your books online. </p>

<p>e) You are not allowed to drink if you are underaged (duhhhh). True for every school. But, as we all know, college kids are clever enough (most of the time). So, try not to get caught by security.</p>

<p>f) Kids from the city steal bikes (ALL OF THE TIME). I had my $500 bike stolen last semester. Not because it wasn’t locked - I had I thick cable lock on it - but because I used the wrong type of a security device to lock up my bike. They use bolt cutters to cut through cable locks like butter. If you will have a bike, you need to buy a U-Lock (made of hardened steel). These take 40mins to cut through. When I reported my bike stolen, security told me that they receive, on average, 1-2 bike theft reports EVERY WEEK. Seriously, lock up your bike. With a thick, hardened steel, U-lock. </p>

<p>g) I have personally found the 24-7 McDonalds refusing to serve me after 1am. Some service.</p>

<p>h) From what I heard from fellow students, most freshman academic advisers are useless. Most are just regular professors. So, if you’re a Bio major, but your adviser teaches English, that’s pretty useless. My adviser, however, was pretty helpful for the most part. After you officially declare your major, however, you get an adviser from your major, so you’ll be ok - I promise. </p>

<p>Things that are not true:</p>

<p>a) There are not tornadoes in Rochester.
b) The volunteer move-in staff does not throw your stuff around (on purpose).
c) Dining staff do not throw your food on the floor (on purpose).
d) People’s heads do not explode.
e) “Angry minorities” do not invade the campus and burn the place down.
f) No one poops in no one’s face.
g) Career center is not useless. It is actually a pretty useful place to find on campus jobs.</p>

<p>Hope this helps.</p>

5

<p>If a school is a really bad place you will see that reflected in the freshman retention and graduation rates. U of R’s stats look pretty good in those areas.</p>

6

<p>Here is a perfect example of what I was talking about: [Campus</a> Times - The unheard laments of the student body](<a href=“http://www.campustimes.org/opinions/the-unheard-laments-of-the-student-body-1.1728987]Campus”>http://www.campustimes.org/opinions/the-unheard-laments-of-the-student-body-1.1728987)</p>

<p>The article nicely covers two of the issues the video has in it - parking, and UR dining.</p>

7

<p>Not gonna lie…I googled that video and I find it pretty hilarious (even though I’m not a Rochester student)…and no that will not impact my decision whatsoever (still stuck between UMD-CP and UROCH) but whatever haha :P</p>