<p>Does anyone mind listing several pros/cons of U Rochester?
I'm still in the process of narrowing down schools, haha.
Thank you!</p>
<p>Pros:
--strong academics with excellent research opportunities (arts as well as sciences)
--great size: small enough to get noticed in your classes, but not so small that you see the same people day after day
-- great libraries and the library staff is wonderfully helpful
--excellent access to professors/instructors
--Rochester in the fall is beautiful
--students aren't clique-y or cut-throat
--medical/dental school & hospital is right across the street from the main campus (lots of volunteer opportunities for pre-meds)
--excellent speaker series
--lots of opportunities to see musical performances (both through Eastman and through a student sponsored concert series. Free concert tickets to see "name" indie bands on tour.)
--tunnels connecting buildings on library quad (nice in the winter!)
--no early morning classes (earliest starts at 9 am)</p>
<p>Cons:
--terrible parking
--Rochester winters (lots of gray skies and cold, windy, sloppy wet weather--D says it's an incentive to study alot)
--getting around Rochester without a car
--not much in the way of sports spirit
--housing can be overcrowded (forced triples for freshman)
--2 year on-campus residency requirement
--meal plan is expensive, mandatory and assigned by dorm
--weekends on campus can be dull </p>
<p>Can be a plus or minus--about 1/3 of the student body pledges a frat/sorority--so active Greek scene.</p>
<p>"getting around Rochester without a car"</p>
<p>How do those without a car get around then?</p>
<p>can you explain more about the student sponsored concerts, speaker series, and weekends on campus being dull?</p>
<p>Buses and shuttles. (Rides are free with student ID)</p>
<p>Shuttle</a> Schedules: UR Parking and Transportation Services</p>
<p>But they don't go everywhere, and they (like most public transit) have limited hours and run on fixed schedules (which may or may not be convenient--or on time).</p>
<p>I would imagine the public transportation system, which isn't great, but isn't a failure, either. (I'm not applying to U of R, I just...live near Rochester, and a lot of people from my school got to U of R for free because their parents are employed there or at Strong Hospital.)</p>
<p>The winters are definitely a con...Rochesterians are actually pretty proud of being one of the snowiest cities in the US. The city spends over a billion dollars a year on snow removal. But hey, living through a winter here can prepare you for just about anything...and it makes spring that much better when it finally shows up in April or so.</p>
<p>The cultural stuff is decent--the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Eastman House, Eastman Theatre, lots of other stuff if you're a fan of Eastman-Kodak, Memorial Art Gallery, Highland Park, Blue Cross Arena, the Little Theatre (independent/foreign films)...Rochester is called the "Flower City" and the Lilac Festival every spring is a great time, and it's followed by several other arts festivals (Jazz Festival, Park Ave, Corn Hill) in the spring and summer. Rochester is also home to the Wegmans mothership...Wegmans is more than a supermarket, it's like a piece of heaven. You have not grocery-shopped until you've shopped at the original Weggies.</p>
<p>Pro: A truly cozy urban campus, more reminiscent of a n.e. liberal arts college than a major research university. <code>Sports spirit'' is similar to many other D3 colleges nationwide; athletics tend to be something that students</code>do,'' rather than ``watch.'' When students attend games, it's often to watch their friends play. If you are seeking a vibrant sports-spectator environment, it's better to look at D1 schools (Wisconsin-Madison, to name one school, is much like UR in many ways -- including the weather -- but far bigger and with a social life that revolves around football, basketball and hockey games).</p>
<p>Weekends aren't dull exactly, but you do need to be a self starter. There is always something going on on campus--movies, speakers, plays, frat parties. But UR is a fairly small campus and you're just not going to get a blow-out weekend of tailgating, parties and football like you would at a Big 10 campus.</p>
<p>Speaker series: There are both academic and non-academic events. Most departments sponsor weekly or monthly colloquia with speakers from inside and outside the university. (Math, physics, bio, gender studies, economics, poli sci--all sponsor colloquia. Probably others too.)</p>
<p>This fall University/student government brought in BJ Novak for Yellowjacket Weekend (orientation); Anderson Cooper, Stephen Colbert, Dave Brubeck (jazz legend), Steven Chu (Noble Prize winner) and author Jonathan Franzen for Meliora Weekend (homecoming/Parents' weekend). Students got free Cake tickets in October; Carlos Mencia tickets in November. D said students were asked to choose from a list of bands under consideration for spring concerts. (Can't remember them all, but Spoon was on the list. I think she said 2 concerts were planned.)</p>
<p>D has also seen performances by world famous acapella groups from several countries and classical music performances (both student and professional) at Eastman. But you have to plan ahead and request/buy tickets.</p>
<p>So stuff to do--but you have to make it happen.</p>
<p>My daughter is a freshman and says the best thing about UR is how nice the people are. She started writing for the campus paper the first month of school and was welcomed into a dance group (there are many to choose from). People are serious about their studies here, so as the semester progresses, the partying dies down to a trickle. She did not find it difficult to get off campus without a car to go to the movies, grocery shopping, and dinner out a few times. They used the shuttles or shared a taxi.</p>
<p>D does not have a car on campus, but the shuttles (university owned) and the city buses get her downtown and to shopping, movies, etc. in Henrietta, Pittsford, and Chili. She has no difficulty getting off campus when she wants to/needs to.</p>
<p>The two year residency requirement can be waived upon request.</p>
<p>a lot of really great bands come to the water street music hall and tickets are never super expensive.. its awesome
also getting around without a car is fine.. to be quite honest there isnt a need to go off campus that often and when you do theres the buses, taxis, and friends with cars
the weather kinda sucks but if youre from the north its not that different than what youre used to, and even though academics are taken seriously theres always reason to stop working on friday and saturday nights to go party</p>
<p>No one has mentioned a huge pro:</p>
<p>UofR easily allows double majors and the open curriculum.</p>
<p>Two pros that I mentioned in my app: Take Five (optional free fifth year!) and Clusters.</p>
<p>What are "Clusters" exactly?</p>
<p>From Clusters</a> : Center for Academic Support</p>
<p>"Clusters are sets of related courses. Each Cluster contains a minimum of twelve credits of coursework, which is equivalent, in most cases, to three courses. Each Cluster falls within one of the three academic divisions: Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences and Engineering. In each of these three divisions, students will be expected to complete a formal set of coursework: a major, a minor, or a Cluster."</p>