<p>Opinions about UR seem to be more divided than many other schools. researching some other sites, some students are strident critics of an indifferent administration, a polluted Genovese river, muggings by the river, and general isolation from a city that closes at 8pm. Harsh.</p>
<p>Others praise the school as friendly, maintaining a challenging academic environment, supportive, and environmentally friendly ie, conducive to hiking, biking, and winter activities.</p>
<p>Recognizing that individual experiences are entirely subjective, I'd be interested in hearing from some CCers who visited UR - or from any UR students themselves.</p>
<p>We have visited twice, first with S who is now a sophomore at Wash U (applied ED, got in, never applied to Rochester) and D who was admitted yesterday. S loved it, and it was in fact his second choice. Had he been denied at Wash U he would have applied to Rochester. First impressions for both kids were that they really liked the campus, but were concerned about the distance from the "town areas". Neither kid was a math/science type, so they were also both concerned about the humanities at a school renowned for science. After talking to some profs and students the latter concern was put to rest but the former still existed. I think my S would have overlooked it, but it is probably my D's biggest concern with the school. The campus is nice, the kids are very friendly and the academics are top notch, but the commercial environment is lacking in her opinion. We'll see though.</p>
<p>I am a UR grad and have two sons in college search mode so I spent some time getting reacquainted with my alma mater over the last year or so. I can say that a lot of the mixed messages you receive about UR are because of an indifferent administration during the 90s -something that has really changed in the last few years. In fact they call my generation (class of '84) the lost alumni because they paid little attention to us until recently. The new administration is great. I have met the new dean of arts and sciences who comes from NYU. It is a great college atmosphere and kids shouldn't be turned off by the city of Rochester. There is so much to do on campus that until you are an upperclassman you don't even think about venturing off campus. As to the humanities, the funny thing about UR is everyone thinks about it as a math/science school because of its strong pre-med and engineering programs. But the reality is that its english, history, psychology and other departments are equally strong. In fact, although a large portion of the class starts out as math/science, a good number of those students switch to humanities over time as they get to explore all of these areas of study that they were not exposed to in high school. The one issue the university has always had is that it is a safety school for a lot of ivy league hopefuls so you do find that there is a portion of the class that feels like they "deserved better". Hope this helps.</p>
<p>I live near Rochester and in my opinion there's not really that much to do around the U of R campus (yes the Genesee river is dirty). I would think the campus is safe but there are some areas around the campus that you really wouldn't want to go because there is nothing there but closed shops and such. I'm not a huge fan of the city of Rochester in general though.</p>
<p>refer to the thread entitled "rochester-- the inside scoop" that I originally posted (I bumped it so it now appears on the top of the list). I think it'll help answer some of the questions you may have :)</p>
<p>TheOldProf-
As a resident of Rochester, I have to say that the U of R has a fine campus, but you don't stray far off campus! While the school is considered an urban campus, you can't get anywhere easily from the campus. The greater Rochester area has many excellent opportunities to enjoy, but I wouldn't want my child wandering off the immediate campus.</p>
<p>It is interesting to note, the U of R is now the largest employer in Rochester, replacing Kodak (no surprise) and Xerox. Wegmans, an incredible grocery store.........REALLY, is growing rapidly in size too! For folks living here, I think we tend to see U of R more as a business than an academic institution.</p>
<p>My brother went to U of R and really loved it. While the social life does revolve a lot around the campus, he still went to a lot of bars and clubs. It's weird because certain parts of Rochester are dangerous, while other parts are really nice. He did tell me that a lot of kids were the ones that didn't get into the ivies. However, when he returned to visit some friends still in U of R this past year, they said that had changed a lot in just a year and that it became more of a top choice school. As a result the freshman class was a lot bigger than admissions had predicted and they had to find room to put all the kids.</p>
<p>My impression is that the campus is wedged in by the river, the medical center, and a cemetery. We approached from the east (I think) and that neighborhood didn't look too bad.</p>