Questions for U of R students and prospects!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Rochester
1

<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>I'm a junior looking at University of Rochester in hopes to pursue a goal in the biology/neuroscience/psychology field. My UW GPA is around 3.6, W GPA is 4.1ish. I've taken the most rigorous course load offered at my school, excluding a few honors and AP social studies courses. Senior couseload will be: AP English language, AP Spanish, AP Calc BC, Honors Comp. Sci, Physics, Honors Psychology, and Music Theory. I have ECs- piano player for 9 years, guitar player 2 years, flute player 7 years, president of JSA chapter at my HS, Spanish Club exec. board member, kickboxer for 4 years, etc. I have a few awards, like Principal's Roll (highest honor roll at my HS), Mu Alpha Theta, Nat'l Merit Commended Scholar, and piano awards. I'm taking the SAT in June, hoping for a 2100+, and am taking my SAT IIs in Sept or Oct (forget which month they're offered..). Oh, and I'm an Indian female from Ohio =P </p>

<p>So- 1) With these stats, what do my chances for admissions look like?</p>

<p>And- 2) Because I know everyone hates chances threads, I thought I'd ask a few more questions. How easy is it to do undergrad research (generally)? What is the social vibe like around campus? Intellectual/nerdy (which really isn't a bad thing for me!), partying (ewww.), a mixture of both, perhaps? And what about the campus? I haven't yet made a visit, so how are the campus and dorms? And.. food? </p>

<p>Okay, that's it. Any replies are greatly appreciated =)</p>

2

<p>hey whats up, i m going to be a freshman at UR in September. Ah.. good time i remember posting my stats and stuff just a year ago wow.. anyway lol yea so ur stats look pretty good. If u really wanna go to UR though, I would suggest really showing interest by definietly visiting campus, and have an interview on campus!!! none of this alumni interviews bs. If u can make the trip make it, it will really show ur interest in the school And u need to show them what u can contribute to their student body, some kind of passion, so try to find something like that to make ur application stand out. SAT score is really good, definietly in the right range and so are ur awards. Undergrad research is EASY, not the material, i mean access to research and really passionate professors who are willing to take u under their wing and work with u if u show the interest and the potential to pull off a research project. The social vibe is unique in UR. Like there are the frat parties and stuff lik that which goes on on campus, but at the same time theres also a good amount of people who arent into that and prefer to do other things for fun. And by no means are u pressured into drinking or stuff lik that. All of this i ve hrd from various students i ve talked to who have experienced all of these situations. The dorms are really nice, the food is decent gets crappy after a while, but seriously its expected from a college . But theres a lot of takeout places in case u get bored. THats about it anything else u need to know PM me for my sn.! hope this helped :)</p>

3

<p>I am an incoming freshman as well. Can anyone explain to me how crappy UR food is?</p>

<p>TO OP:</p>

<p>You grades and SAT look awesome for UR. As long as you show them some sort of passion, you should be fine!</p>

4

<p>heyy...awesome another indian! lol...yeah, i'm going to be a freshman at UR this fall joining up with the rest of the indian gang...ok anywayz...your stats look great...and try to show some interest in the rochester area cause if you have really good stats and stuff but don't show any interest in the actual area, they may think you're using them as a safety...the campus is beautiful, spacious, clean, suburban...etc...
and, about the food, the food's not really crappy, it just gets repetitive after some time...so if you just balance out what you eat everyday and make sure you don't eat at the same place every day, you should be good, and if we have some ppl who cook, that spices things up...</p>

5

<p>Your ECs are amazing, GPA a tad on the low side - but no biggie and given your courseloud - understandable.
Just write an honest and straightfoward essay showing interest in UR - and ace that SAT! A 2100'll get you in, but im sure anything above 2000 will do too.
Most important of all though - SIGN UP FOR AN INTERVIEW. They place alot of emphasis on whether or not you had an interview and what you had to say about yourself. Best of Luck! =)</p>

6

<p>My unweighted GPA was the same as yours, and I got in. My SAT score was over 2100, and I had an interview in October.</p>

7

<p>Eh I don't know much about the interview. In my opinion, I think for more than 95% of the students, UR accepted based on the quality of their application, transcripts, etc (without considering the interview). I could be very wrong, but there was no way I could do an interview that easily considering my location. But your chances are really awesome, there's really no need to worry about it. So what I'm basically saying....only make the trip if Rochester is your number one choice...I'm sure you can get in w/o an interview.</p>

8

<p>I live in New York, and I didn't realize that interviews were offered (at the time I was applying) and didn't go to one....I got in anyways. I'm attending this fall too!</p>

9

<p>Hey, </p>

<p>Your resume looks excellent for the UR. I don't doubt your chances of getting in. </p>

<p>Just as a note of referance on the SAT's. From what I hear / read, UR is <em>not</em> looking at the writing section citing no real statistics and unsure of how "good" the section is. But 2100+ sounds good. </p>

<p>As suman mentioned, the food does get repetative, but at least there's variety so you can changing dining halls every so often. Plus there's always the meliora (the "fancy") restraunt during weekdays that have specials and is a good way to spend declining. </p>

<p>As for academic research, there's plenty in almost all fields ranging from economics to core sciences. On top of that, the medical school and research usually always has openings somewhere. As long as your willing to put the time and effort into learning and helping out (and maybe not getting paid the first year around [unless you have lab experiance already with someone else]) then there will always be opportunites. </p>

<p>As for stats on admissions, the class of 2010 is setting the precedence on low admission rate, but high acceptance rates. I don't know if that still applies to 2011 as there's no application data on that, but the general trend so far is that the UR is getting more students interested (which is great!) but there are so many dorms and so many professors, so admissions are getting a tad more selective (thanks to my class 2009 who had a recond high acceptance rate).</p>

<p>There are plenty of things to do on campus. If your not into the party (drinking) scene (which happens relatively frequently around campus), there are plenty of extracurricular things like orchestras, ballroom dancing (we have one of the only Vienesse balls in the nation every year! [heck we even had a "professional ball critic" come to ours this year and pretty much said if we put in wood floors he would come more often.]), martial arts (ranging from unarmed to kendo / iaido), various club sports (including water polo and fencing!), various ethnic / social groups, and well fun. </p>

<p>As for Rochester itself, it is a culturally alive and active city. Despite what people may say about how little there is to do, I think it just has a different flavor from other cities. We have several nice little coffee shops, a world class orchestra, heavy metal concerts almost monthly, dance groups, history (Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglas lived here), etc etc. </p>

<p>I hope this...probobly extra thurough / ranting sort of thing helped.</p>

<p>Btw, my name is Arthur, I am a D'lion at the UR. I have a dozens of other posts around this forum including one explaining what a D'lion is. But essnetially I am a sort of freshman student advisor that lives on freshman halls and sets up hall events and pep and what not. </p>

<p>I hope your search lands you at UR sometime! Good luck with your SATs and the remainder of your high school career.</p>

10

<p>One last thing...</p>

<p>Interviews only help never hurt. At least that's what UR, Georgetown, Harvard, and one other college's admissions say.</p>

11

<p>Rochester is very holistic when it comes to admissions, they look at the individual and not just the numbers. They are huge on diversity, I believe on of the short answer questions was how can you contribute to Rochester's diversity. Numbers are important as with all colleges, but are not the only thing looked at, as I said before they want the individual who will best take advantage of the resources made available to him or her. So they look at everything, your ecs, interview, essays (real huge), and the overall vibe they get from the application. So I suggest you show them what you are passionate about, and how you are actively involved with those interests. Your numbers are good, so I wouldn't worry too much about those. My SATs were way lower,but I also had balanced my transcript with lots of ecs,leadership, community service and school grades. Interviews are really important, and they really do put emphasis on it. So if you can visit and talk or have to do an off campus, i say go for it. My interview was awesome, we ended talking way more then the interviewer planned, but it was a great conversation, and I think it gave the college a good feel for who I am. </p>

<p>Good luck and you are on the right path. BTW its a little early but if you apply before december, you get priority on the scholarships, and if you iniate an online app before august ends, i think they waive the application fee.</p>

12

<p>Thanks for all the replies =)</p>

<p>I chose U of R to be the recepient of one of my Nat'l Merit Commendation letters. Since I don't live -too- far away (Ohio), I will be visiting sometime during July and possibly interviewing as well. I was browsing this board and saw some pics of the campus- it looks so pretty! I can't really seem to find anything to not like about this school so far... I guess if I'm admitted, the only problem will be paying.. hmm.</p>

13

<p>yeah, like some said already, interviews are not absolutely mandatory...i had lower sats and got in...of course through Early Decision II...like i was paired with this guy in princeton area like an hour and half away, and we couldn't meet, so he said he'd get someone from the philly area...but the philly guy never got back to me, cause by then, i had already received my acceptance package (overnight fedex and all!) lol...do they do interviews in july? just wondering...u should look into early decision...makes life a lot easier...</p>

14

<p>Yeah, the idea of ED seems great, but I really want to compare the financial aid packages I'll be getting from other schools. If U of R ends up being super expensive, I may have to decline. =( I'm a little afraid of this because although I know U of R gives merit scholarship, I don't know if my GPA and test scores will be high enough. I'll do a rain dance for the college gods before I send in my app. That should do it, haha.</p>

15

<p>i see...but they do give pretty good need-based aid...and ur still a junior so u can see if u can score higher on the sat maybe in the fall, that can help...</p>

16

<p>My daughter and I attended a U or R information session in New York City recently. The admissions guy said that the school is definitely putting more emphasis on interviews now. The reason is that kids who interview are more likely to attend U of R if accepted. So definitely show interest by visiting and interviewing.</p>

17

<p>Woo, I'll be visiting and interviewing the 2nd or 3rd week of July. I'm pumped! =)</p>

18

<p>What does U of R consider "diverse"? Is it a racial/ethnic thing, or could it be something else? I am wondering how my non-URM daughter would contribute to U of R's diversity. Any ideas?</p>

19

<p>U of R is diverse in many different contexts. Students are interested in all 3 major fields of study. That is Natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. </p>

<p>That plays a huge part for campus diversity. </p>

<p>At the same time we also have a very diverse racial/ethnic groups. Dominent ones are Chinese, Korean, Indian, South East asain, African American, and hispanic. </p>

<p>Even politically we're relatively diverse. Though we have a large liberal organization / support on campus, we have a well established Young Republican organization and various groups having support for Green issues to world health care. </p>

<p>In short, diversity is in the eye of the beholder and is universally relative between people. So unless extenuating circumstances were to arise in your daughters life / charector, almost anything can contribute to the university's diversity.</p>