Help Decide Please

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Rochester
1

<p>Hi, I know posting here might get some biased responses but I thought I should try.</p>

<p>I'm majoring in biological sciences hoping to get into med school. My top 2 choices right now are U of R and UCSD. UCSD wins in every single aspect (weather, renown for bio, research opportunities, etc) except the fact that the competition there (esp bio majors) is crazy and grade deflation of the UC system as well so I'll most likely get a much lower GPA there. </p>

<p>Can someone with insight as to Rochester's rigor/difficulty help me here?</p>

2

<p>I’ve been to UCSD myself, and while I can’t really argue against the weather, I can at least let you know that the weather in Rochester isn’t as bad as people may think. Check out my weather post: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-rochester/900613-rochesters-weather.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-rochester/900613-rochesters-weather.html&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>Notice in the post how I make it obvious that Rochester, NY isn’t San Diego, CA weather-wise. I agree that Charlotte Beach on Lake Ontario isn’t as glorious as Mission Beach in SD, but I will say that Lake Ontario is warmer in the summer!</p>

<p>The University of Rochester has an excellent science curriculum. I have friends from my class and in this current senior class at Rochester who are getting into Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Duke, Mt. Sinai and the U of R Med Schools just to name a few. Our students are highly competitive on the national scale in that regard.</p>

<p>U of R students have a 64% admittance rate into medical school (national average is 46%). This reflects 2 things: 1, U of R admits students who score well on standardized exams (high SAT typically translates to high MCAT, in general). 2, our science program is preparing people well for a medical career. (if that is their goal).</p>

<p>Research Opportunities: I’m not sure about research at UCSD, but the U of R is renowned for its research opportunities. If you want to do research, then the U of R is perfect for you. We have an unbelievable amount of research happening on campus in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. All you have to do is talk with a professor who teaches in your field of interest. They will help you reach you goals. Thanks to the 9:1 student to faculty ratio, anyone who wants to do one on one research with a professor is able to do so. </p>

<p>Also, the U of R curriculum only requires 1 course (freshman writing), so the rest is up to you. If you decide to study in an area that you’re truly passionate about, it will translate to a very high GPA. If you learn what you love, then you’ll love what you learn. This is what separates Rochester from almost all other universities. </p>

<p>The professors know that they are teaching students who have hand-selected their course. All U of R professors that I have ever come into contact with are more than willing to meet with students. They are friendly, (although if you do poorly on a test you might think of them as unfriendly!). U of R professors in general are amazing, and many of them are at the top of their field holding the highest degree.</p>

<p>Yes, Rochester is rigorous. It’s a great university and that should be expected. But what’s important to note is that U of R students are NOT cut-throat in their approach to academics. In my 4 years at Rochester (as a Pre-Med student), I never came across a cut-throat person that you might find at, say, Ivy League schools. U of R students study together and help each other. I’m not saying these evil people don’t exist at all at Rochester, I can only verify this from my own personal experience in tough science courses. I always found people to work with, and I never felt that anyone was “out to beat me” academically. </p>

<p>So… If you want a High of 75 & sun nearly everyday… Choose UCSD.</p>

<p>If you want to choose all of your own courses and define yourself academically… Choose Rochester.</p>

<p>Both are excellent schools. I hope you had the opportunity to visit both of them to see which campus you like more. Ultimately, you have to be happy at the university you attend.</p>

3

<p>Rochester is a rigorous institution as well, and a high GPA doesn’t come easily. I do want to add though that the goal of Rochester students is to learn and prepare for med school, and the focus is less so on GPA. Because the curriculum here is so flexible, students immerse themselves in the coursework that is most appealing to them. It seems, at least for those students I have spoken with at length, that a strong GPA is the product of having the freedom to pursue a specific passion, rather than getting tied down by other course requirements.</p>

<p>Also, Rochester is one of the smallest research Universities in the country, but still maintains a sizeable annual budget for the purpose of research. As a result, more than 70% of our students participate in or conduct individual research as an undergraduate. In fact, we have one of the largest hospitals in the region, at which there are more research opportunities than we have students to fill. I can confidently say that any student seeking those types of opportunities is going to have access to them.</p>

<p>Also, for what its worth - Rochester students maintaining a 3.60 GPA or higher have somewhere around a 95% acceptance rate into med schools in the continental US.</p>

4

<p>You should understand that getting into medical school is grades and MCAT and if you scored well enough to get into UR then you should be able to score well enough on the MCAT. You can go anywhere and go to medical school as long as you can manage the grades / scores. UR will obviously provide an excellent education. I don’t know anything about UCSD. I find it hard to believe that research opportunities for undergrads at UCSD, which has about 24k undergrads, are anything near what they are at UR. UR gets fewer total research dollars but look at the size difference and it’s not in scale; UR gets like 40% of UCSD but is 1/6th the size.</p>

<p>I suggest that your concern should be more where you want to be.</p>

5

<p>Thank you guys deeply, I will keep all this in mind as I make my final decision.</p>

6

<p>I’m a parent of a UR student. D is majoring in physics, minoring in optics. She studies 7 days a week and has a very intense college schedule. I’ve heard science and engineering majors at most top schools, definitely Rochester, have little free time. You need to ask yourself if being in a tough program and having to be so focused all the time and living in beautiful warm weather most of the year is going to work for you. If it were me, I could not focus on my studies if the weather was always so beautiful outside, but that’s me. Hopefully you’re alot more focused than me, but it is something to think about in comparing the two schools. I also agree with Lergmom in that I don’t think the research opportunities would be as good there as at U of R. Good luck in your decision.</p>