opinions

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Rochester
1

<p>I’m a junior interested in UR. I’m looking to major Psychology and English. I also like music, but not majoring in that [although Eastman is very cool, it would probably be too intense for me to keep up] How is being a student there? The worst thing about that school, I hear, is that the weather is brutal in the winter. But I can withstand that (and snow is nice :D) I’m visiting the campus in May. </p>

<p>I don’t know about my SAT scores or anything, because I just took them today but yeah, I really like that the school has an open curriculum. Only thing is my parents think it 1) makes more sense for me to go there for pre-med (which I’m not going for) and don’t like that 2) it’s 5 hours away from home in COLD upstate NY.</p>

<p>Then again.. I would feel more comfortable going to UR with a scholarship, because total cost of tuition, board, etc. is.. quite expensive. And I’m planning on going to grad school later anyways. Undergrad supposedly rounds you into more mature people, like the stepping stone from hs to grad (if going to grad) and everyone says that college is what you make of it, so I wonder if I need to attend a more prestigious private school like this one (my parents are only willing to pay for a ‘good’ private school) for undergrad or if I should just save up money for grad later? Money’s not a desperate issue—not that we are particularly rich but my parents won’t let me apply for financial aid—but I wonder if the experience is worth it.</p>

<p>Thanks for reading all this! I was very wordy xD</p>

2

<p>My d is majoring in Psych and English and loves it there. We’re just a bit further away from Rochester than you are. And the winters can be tough. But the kids, for the most part, are warm which makes up for the cold. We believe that it’s worth every penny for the intellectual and personal growth she’s had.</p>

<p>And there are a lot of music opportunities for non-Eastman students. There are vocal and instrumental groups for just UR students, and for mixed UR and Eastman students. After an audition, you can have private lessons with an Eastman graduate student. There’s music all over UR’s campus.</p>

<p>Whether it’s “worth” it is something that only you and your parents can determine.</p>

<p>Good luck in your search!</p>

3

<p>Hi there!</p>

<p>This upcoming school year I’m going to be a Sophomore at the U of R and I plan to major in Neuroscience. My first year was absolutely amazing! I met many friendly, interesting people from incredibly diverse backgrounds, and my academic acumen was most definitely put to the test. Within a single year I forged many solid friendships, honed in on subjects that made me excited to study, improved my musicianship by participating in various ensembles and lessons at Eastman, and I learned that my future is mine and mine alone to shape.</p>

<p>These are sentiments that, I feel, every college experience should elicit. Rochester, though, provided me personally with the atmosphere that I needed to bloom. The ubiquitous mantra “College is what you make of it” solidifies the notion that the Undergrad experience is truly subjective, and it is up to the individual to respond to situations by their own standards. For example, if you sit around in your room all day and refuse to branch out into the community, you shouldn’t blame the college for your lack of social life. College is meant to be a microcosm of the real world, teaching teenagers as they transition into true adulthood that they must be active and seek out their own destinies rather than wait for everything to come to them. This is a rather poetic way of viewing college, but it is the most important lesson that came out of my first year. </p>

<p>To touch on some things you are interested in, I can tell you that lessons at Eastman are indeed demanding. But they are open to any student of the University – even non music majors. First off, each student must audition to receive adequate placing into a lesson program. Usually Freshman have their first year with Graduate students as one on one instructors. The auditions serve to make sure that the entering student is intermediate to proficient in their playing skills. As a result, chances to use Eastman as a free way to develop skills in an entirely foreign instrument are rare. Competition to get a spot depends greatly on the popularity of your instrument. Violin and Piano students often face the most competition. Depending on the size of the instructor’s student body, the lesson schedule itself will range from very tight to flexible. Finally, at the end of each year, there will be juries wherein the student must play a solo in front of an assembled panel. Juries are very laid back, and serve more to assess an individual’s development and provide helpful input. There are many other music opportunities at the school, including Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, and myriad choral groups. The conductors are excellent and they usually pick great pieces for the concert repertoires. </p>

<p>Rochester winters are apparently famous. Coming from southeast New York, I heard warnings about the weather from everyone who I had told about my college choice. With all that hype I basically expected to become a human popsicle before surviving my first year. It is true that the effects of winter come early and leave late, but honestly I was really disappointed! Sure, the weather barred me from doing things outside and sometimes dissuaded me from leaving my dorm to go get food, but most of the time I found myself focussing more on my studies than the cold, rain, or snow. If anything, the weather fostered an intimate community among my hall mates since we all hung out indoors together. Also, it gave us nearly interminable access to epic snowball fights! Honestly, I think if I went to a school where the sun always shone through my window and warm air kept enticing me to play outside, I would have been distracted from doing more important things like homework. </p>

<p>For Grad school the college experience here is golden. Students need to work very hard to survive, regardless of their major. Fortunately, classes are often taught by great professors who are accessible and make considerable efforts to relate their teachings to the real world. When you’ve found a topic that ignites a passion for research you can find internships relatively easily. The strong academic opportunities here will prime the hard working students for Masters Degrees, Ph.Ds, MDs, JDs or any other advanced degree programs. </p>

<p>If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask. I hope this helps!</p>

4

<p>If you play for an ensemble on the River campus, the private lessons at the Eastman school are FREE. As an earlier poster mentioned, the auditions are informal and are to demonstrate you are at least an intermediate player. D does not consider herself to be an accomplished musician at all, yet she’s played with the wind symphony last two years and traveled downtown for the lessons. What’s nice is that as a freshman, she made connections with similar interests as a result of music.</p>

<p>Wind symphony is pretty laid back (1 rehearsal per week, about 3 concerts per year). The other two ensembles are more intense (2 rehearsals per week, more extensive travel).</p>

5

<p>One note regarding the free music lessons–the numbers of students who can be accommodated is limited. For example, my D is a saxophone player. Only 1 lesson slot for saxes (of all types, soprano through bari) were available last year–and 6 auditioned-- thus some students who were qualified for lessons didn’t get them.</p>

<p>Also if you’re a jazz player, Eastman really isn’t set up to handle jazz musicians as the program’s emphasis is on classical preparation. (There is jazz ensemble on River campus, however.)</p>

<p>As for winters…yeah, winters at UR are long and gray, but if my D who is used to the sunny Southwest can manage it, then anyone can…it’s not as bad as everyone says. Besides it’s only for 4 years…</p>

6

<p>Wayoutwest:</p>

<p>I guess that may be the case for ‘popular’ instruments like the sax–D plays bassoon,not quite as common…</p>

7

<p>MADad–</p>

<p>Probably true–I remember seeing the list of trumpet auditions—I think there 8 or 9 auditions for 2 spots.</p>

<p>I’m not sure how ‘unpopular’ the bassoon is–or maybe my experiences just skew my perspectives. I know 2 professional bassoonists. The D of friends is second chair w/ the Philadelphia Symphony and a friend of mine used to play w/Toronto. (She now plays with a chamber group and teaches and has several CDs out.) Small world…</p>

8

<p>My daughter is a senior and has primary voice lessons at Eastman with her teacher, an Eastman DMA student. As I understand from her experience, all freshman who pass the audition for lessons are assigned secondary lessons -less than an hour. At the end of freshman year, if you score high enough on your jury, you then move up to primary lessons-an hour. I don’t know if there are limits to the number of spots for primary students. She has a jury at the end of each semester to continue. She has been happy with both of the teachers she has had. As a freshman she had to switch teachers because her voice teacher had to decrease the number of his students because of his increased workload in his DMA program. Again, these grad students are high level and they are being evaluated as well as on how they perform as teachers. The lessons are fine although there is not much in the way of mentoring -suggestions on how to advance beyond lessons, what possibilities there are for summer festivals-very hard to evaluate on one’s own,etc. Also, U of R students are treated as second-class students at Eastman in terms of getting recording studio time-we had a very difficult experience with that. There needs to be a stronger liasion on the U of R campus to facilitate these needs. My d is a double major at the U of R-theatre concentration in the English Dept as well as music. Once you declare as a music major, you are assigned one of the better practice rooms in Strong, as opposed to the ones in the original gym building next to Sue B.</p>

9

<p>Wow, sorry I completely forgot that my topic was still viable since I’ve been spending a lot more time on Naviance and CommonApp. Now I’m applying to colleges and although I’m not applying Early Decision to any college, U of R is one of the 4 on my list. I happen to play the violin so jazz wouldn’t really be an issue in terms of Eastman being more classical in musical preparation. I suppose that would mean lots of competition, but that’s expected :slight_smile: Even so, as long as there are sizable ensembles to join then hopefully I will be able to take lessons regularly at Eastman. </p>

<p>I actually went to visit in late May and liked the feel of the campus. Although the buildings are all brick… [er, I’m on the romantic side I guess] the greenery was well-kept. I also loved the libraries!! I’m a bookish person so that was a plus. Personally, I love snow but I wonder if I’ll love it as much if it snows that often. Maybe xD It’s 5 hours away from home [the farthest school I’m applying to] and I’m very family oriented so that means less home visiting… but I need to be more independent in college.</p>

<p>Anyways, thank you all for your thorough comments. I’m glad you even bothered to read such a wordy blob.</p>