<p>Like Chevda, I do not have all the answers. I have two sons at UR now and both my husband and I were grad students at the URMC decades ago. So some of these opinions and heresays may help some.</p>
<p> How dominating an influence is engineering/natural science on campus?</p>
<p>According to my sons (a junior and a freshman at UR), it will depend on your major. My ds1 doesn't feel the engineering/natural science influence much; he is looking at linguistics, math and philosophy as his final majors. He is also living off campus this year. My ds2 is in optics and loves his hallmates. His has a good mix of majors and a fair number of engineering/natural science majors in his hall and doesn't seem to talk about those being dominating. He has been noting more of the other (i.e., non-major) interests or classes of his hallmates.</p>
<p> How flexible are clusters? Is it easy to create ones that would let me use most or all of my transfer credits to fulfill clusters?</p>
<p>You may want to check out the currently available clusters on the UR web page. They may give you an idea how easy it would be to have your credit at Case accepted.
Clusters:</a> Listed By Department
My ds2 took classes at a local university as a highschooler and his credits were accepted after he was able to give UR the syllabi and the textbooks lists.</p>
<p> How do the libraries rate as far as quality, volume, and diversity of collection? Is there 24/7 access during the school year? Is there anything else important about the libraries to note?</p>
<p>The libraries are very good but I do not know all their hours. I was particularly pleased to find out that each course on campus has a librarian assigned to it. The librarian would be able to help with finding resources and understanding what a particular professor is like in terms of the academic expectations.</p>
<p> How ubiquitous is wifi access? What is the quality/stability of the wired network in dorms and around campus?</p>
<p>I have heard no complaints.</p>
<p> How easy is it to create a new club and receive funding? Are there any non-obvious restrictions that one should be abreast of?</p>
<p>My ds2 is starting a new club. The school requires that there are at least 5 students interested. No faculty advisor is needed. The paperwork is not overwhelming but since he is starting a club sports he has to go through the sport committee (or some such) instead of just the student activities office. Finding a good meeting place is another story. In summary, starting a club is not hard but you have to be patient. On the other hand, they do not make it super easy; they want to make sure that the students really want it and will persist with it (not a "here today, gone tomorrow" variety).</p>
<p> Can anybody elaborate on the parties there?</p>
<p>Neither of my sons are partiers but they hear enough of them. On my ds2's hall only two of them are into the frat party scene (2 out of 20-25 kids?). There are also other groups that host parties. Whatever you are interested in you will probably find it on campus. My ds1 second year suite mates were into computer and video games. My ds2 have fun with his hallmates by having standing long jump competition in the hallway, checking out racquet ball courts, wall climbing, etc. </p>
<p> What else is there to do on campus? Off campus?</p>
<p>What are your interests? You can catch a bus to go shopping, attend concerts at Eastman Theater, go to the Memorial Art Galleries, etc, if you get tired of what's on campus. My sons go/have gone to concerts on campus and at Eastman, seen movies on campus. However, my more social ds2 have found that drumming for an African dance class, attending fencing club twice a week, working out at the gym, playing racquet ball with his hallmates, starting a taichi club, attending campus plays that his friend is in, seeing a movie once a week is quite enough for him. He is content to spend weekends sleeping in, hanging out and doing some homework and studying.</p>
<p> How helpful is the school with aiding in the location of summer internships? Is there research in the social sciences available during the year? If so, how easy is it to become involved with it?</p>
<p>Ds1 got himself a research assistant job this year. He said he got thro' an email sent out to linguistics majors who are willing to help out with a computer science grad student project. So I imagine that you just have to get to know some folks and start asking.</p>
<p> How does the lack of a law school hurt JD preparation if at all? Is there still a focused effort on providing a good pre-law background for those interested?</p>
<p>What is required for a good pre-law background? Poli-sci? The poli-sci program at UR is strong, as are its psychology & econ programs (outside of its perceived tilt towards the hard sciences and pre-med). There is also a international relations dept. I do not think the lack of a law school hurts JD prep at UR.</p>
<p> How do the winters stack up compared to Canadian ones? </p>
<p>How far north into Canada do you want to go? Toronto is colder but with less snow since it is on the other side of Lake Onario. Winters in Rochster is about one month longer than needed. Perhaps it is only spring that arrives one month later than it should. In Feb there is unsually a 2-3 weeks of really cold days (teens). Public schools have been closed for cold weather as well as snow (with 10-12 inches of snow or more). Snow is common and the UR and the city know how to handle the stuff. Rochester does not get as much as Buffalo or Syracuse. It has to do with the geography of the cities and the lakes. However, since UR is a residential school, it usually stays open for classes unless it is a major snow storm. There a tunnels under the academic buildings to make going to classes easier once you get from the dorms to one of the academic buildings.</p>