General Questions and Chance

Hey, I was looking around at colleges and I stumbled upon University of Rochester somehow. It looks like a great college and seems as if the academics are great here, I want to study molecular biology or something related to that in my undergrad and Rochester seems to have a thriving program. I’m a rising senior from Virginia and will most likely apply to be Class of 2022, but had a few concerns.

First of all, how important is demonstrated interest. I heard it’s very significant for applications here and, unfortunately, I will not be able to travel up to New York before November 1st (early decision). Is there any other way I can demonstrate interest, I heard that you can reach out to the admission officers but I’m not sure how that works.
Next, does anybody know how National Merit Scholar will help with tuition. The website was very vague about the process and I’ve heard mixed answers from threads in CC. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. I’m OOS and money is a big issue so this part is very important for me.
Last of all, how are intramural sports here. I love to run, but can’t see myself going too professional in college. Is intramural sports a big part of the atmosphere, I just want to run with other people and have fun in the process.

If possible, can you see if I have a good chance of making it in ED.
GPA: 3.32 UW, 3.87 W, took 9 AP’s and taking even more in senior year.
Test Scores: 1570 SAT, 33 ACT, only took once of each. National AP Scholar and probably National Merit (not sure if it matters for college applications anyway).
EC: Lots of volunteer and currently an intern at a very big lab related to molecular biology (hidden for privacy ).

Thank you and I look forward to applying come November.

Do not apply ED to a school you can’t visit ahead of time. Period. ED is binding, and you are stuck if the in person vibe doesn’t work for you.

Interest is irrelevant if you apply ED. The reason schools care about interest is trying to manage their yield – will you say yes if they accept you? ED takes that question off the table.

@intparent Thanks for the advice, I’m still trying my best to schedule a visit before then and I’ll probably wait until then to choose to ED.

Alum here. I would second what @intparent said. I think it’s very important to visit a place before deciding to spend the next 4 years there. As far as demonstrating interest, there are other ways. You may be able to set up a phone interview, or an interview with a local alumnus. I would say call admissions and ask them if either is possible.

For Microbiology and research opportunities, you’re looking in the right place. U of R has more opportunities for undergrads to get into research than most Universities in the country (which is huge on a resume for grad school/jobs/internships) - and is probably the school’s biggest selling point.

I don’t know a whole lot specifically about National Merit Scholar, but I can attest to U of R giving out some of the most generous financial aid packages I’ve seen (merit and need based). I’m pretty sure that U of R typically awards merit scholarships that don’t require any sort of particular application, although specific scholarships might. Being OOS shouldn’t have any impact on your financial aid.

U of R has pretty solid club and intramural sports - I don’t think you’ll have a problem finding what you’re looking for there. There are leagues for pretty much every sport that run both semesters. There’s also a club for pretty much anything you can think of. There is an activities fair at the beginning of every year, so you can get involved easily.

D was a National Merit scholar and UR bundled the small NM award with a much larger Rush Rhees merit scholarship. This, along with some need-based aid, made UR no more expensive for her than our state flagship. She had 4 great years there.