Rochester vs. Georgetown!

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Rochester
1

<p>Please help!!</p>

<p>Out of all the schools I have been accepted to, my top two choices are Georgetown University and University of Rochester (majoring in biology). Regarding grade inflation/deflation and overall medical acceptance rates, which school do you think would be easiest to excel in and make use of the wide array of opportunities available but, still get into top notch medical schools, preferably ivies? Although Georgetown is well-known for its Foreign Service program (I chose the College) and area in which it resides (D.C.), I am not sure if it's better than Rochester for premeds. Rochester has a great music school nearby (Eastman School of Music) and highly ranked medical school but, its acceptance rates are rather high compared to most top ranked schools (accepted 48%, 19% enroll) and is not as "prestigious" as "one of the hardest to get into" Georgetown (accepted rates 22%, 47% enroll). The other main difference is the type of curriculum each school offers. Georgetown has a structured liberal arts curriculum (general education requirements) and at Rochester, you pursue a major from 3 divisions and you take at least a cluster in each of the other two areas outside your major. Both schools offer the option of having majors with minors and certificates. Which school do you think will give a better chance of getting accepted into a top quality medical school (main goal)? </p>

<p>Everyday my decision seems to fluctuate and therefore, I am trying to get the perspective from anyone knowledgeable about these topics.</p>

<p>Anyyy advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. :)</p>

2

<p>Here is what I got from Georgetown university NHS(Nurse and Health Studies) FAQ:</p>

<p>Can I be “Pre-Med” in NHS? </p>

<p>Of course...and 30% of NHS students are Pre-Med. "Pre-Med" at Georgetown is not a major. It is simply a concentration of classes you take as prerequisites for medical school (Biology, Chemistry, Calculus, Organic Chemistry, Physics). This means you could be a Spanish major and be Pre-Med OR you can be a Chemistry major and be Pre-Med OR you can be a Human Science major and be Pre-Med, etc. </p>

<p>One nice perk about having Georgetown's Medical School next door is that they have an Early Assurance program which allows Georgetown sophomores to apply to Georgetown Medical School as a sophomore and without taking the MCATs. Last year 2 Human Science sophomores and 1 International Health sophomore were accepted to Georgetown Medical School. The overall Georgetown rate of acceptance to Medical Schools is approximately 70%.</p>

<p>Please note all Pre-Med courses must be taken at Georgetown. AP credits are not accepted towards the Pre-Med requirements.</p>

<p>But NHS offers many Pre-Health Professional options. The Healthcare Management and Policy major focuses on the business/administration side of health. The Human Science major focuses on the public health and research side of health. The International Health major focuses on the global issues surrounding health. And the Nursing major focuses on the clinical aspects of health. In addition to Medical school, many students go onto graduate degrees in Public Health, Epidemiology, International Health, Physical Therapy, Physician Assistance, and many others. </p>

<p>URochester:</p>

<p>UofR is seen as a heaven for premeds which is great. Of people who have had over 3.6 GPA last year, I think 88% were accepted to medical school. (URochester has a recognized medical center next door!)</p>

<p>My answer is totally honest! :)
Hope those help!</p>

3

<p>Actually, URochester has some programs also.</p>

<ol>
<li>8 year REMS program of course (guaranteed seat in med school)</li>
<li>Early Assurance Program (after sophomore year, you can apply to this program and can be guaranteed a seat in either SUNY Upstate or Buffalo.</li>
</ol>

4

<p>wrstiav, do you have a site to the early assurance program?</p>

5

<p>hey determinedone
I understand how you feel now as you're fluctuating between two colleges that are both respectable institutions so I'm gonna try to help you by telling you a bit about Rochester. ( sorry I don't know much about georgetown except that its a great college too lol)</p>

<p>Rochester has a reputation for not being so tough on grades (unlike places like Cornell where they go by the bel-curve to eliminate students ...as well as as Case Western - where students suffer from grade deflation) while still requiring people to work for their grades- so you won't find much deflation/inflation at Rochester. (though I get the feeling itll lean slightly to grade inflation)</p>

<p>URochester has some very high med school acceptance rates - as some people have reported above. I dont have exact numbers but I should know by the time I come back from my visit on the 18th-19th. URochester has an exceptional University Medical Center just outside of campus which includes their med school and the Strong Hospital - one of the best hospitals in the nation.</p>

<p>Rochester is also known for being a very liberal-artsy college for emphasizing a broad education. You're encouraged to explore other disciplines and they give you the freedom to do so through their unique "Rochester Curriculum" that lets you guide your own education. At the same time, Rochester is a very science oriented school - It ranked #15 nationwide according to the National Science Foundation for Spending The Most In Research/Science - so it receives alot more funding than most other universities (I think MIT is only a few spots above UR). Rochester is considered a research university - so there are tons of opportunities in the sciences there, especially in the area of life science - which is where most of their money goes. <a href="http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf05...les/table31.xls%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf05...les/table31.xls&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Infact, if you were to look it up - Rochester's Medical Center discovered the first vaccine for Cervical Cancer and they've got a working treatment for the Avian Flu - still being perfected at the moment.</p>

<p>As for location, Rochester's considered pretty urban - the city has its active parts as well as its sleepy parts - and there's always stuff to do with the #1 Music School linked to UR xD (the Eastman School of Music) Weather is kinda dreary but apparently campus life more than makes up for it. </p>

<p>The Reason why UR has such high admit rates and low yield rates (few ppl enroll) is because all the Ivy-league quality students have apparently taken on a liking for URochester too - and so they use it as their safety. What happens is, those students DO wind up at the ives sooo....URochester's enrollment falls short. </p>

<p>One of the Valedictorian candidates at my HS got into MIT Early Decision. If it werent for something as big as that (XD), she would have gone to URochester (i would know, she was the one who told me about it). She said she loved the atmosphere and the academics there. But hey, MIT ED - cant beat that lol.</p>

<p>In order to compensate, every year, Rochester admits a large body of students in order to make up for the people who choose to go to the ivies - but It hasnt gotten any less selective because of it. USNews ranks it as MOST selective, so does Princeton Review, and the College's President has been continuously emphasizing the admittance of better and better students. </p>

<p>All in all, URochester is a top university in the academic world - other universities, professors, professionals, and researchers alike have all heard of URochester and its great programs - and so far Ive failed to find any negative comments about the school besides the fact that it is kinda cold XD. It doesnt bother me that the typical joeshmoe hasnt heard of UR, cuz the adcoms at the Med Schools i'll be applying to will have heard of UR and tahts all that matters =P</p>

<p>oh and for a few of Rochester's Claim to Fames, see:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=2162971#post2162971%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=2162971#post2162971&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Sorry for such a biased post, but u are in the UR section afterall xD. See what the georgetown ppl ahve to say and you should really consider visiting each college and SPEAKING with PEOPLE there. Its the people that matter (the students and the professors), not so much prestige. Because everything else falls into place for your career.</p>

<p>As for me, I'm URochester2010 =)
Gettin kinda tired of trying to spread the word about hte school though...heh. I really should work for admissions =P</p>

6

<p>I don't have the link for it, but when I went to the pre-medical advising session during the Open Campus thing, they gave me several handouts and one talked about the Early Assurance Program.</p>

7

<p>Actually Rochester has grade deflation...</p>

8

<p>thank you to those who have responded~</p>

<p>behappy99: do you have the link that shows the percentage of students that got into medical school? I would like to see how rochester compares with other schools, although I know the medical school is highly ranked for research and primary care. </p>

<p>wrxstiav: is it true that only 10 students get accepted into the REMS program each year? is it still possible to get into REMS once you have been admitted as just a regular applicant (I doubt it, but don't know for sure)?</p>

<p>awakien: do you know what the average pre-med (preferably biology) student's gpa is? You said something about "Rochester has a reputation for not being so tough on grades." Did you find this information from current students attending Rochester? hopkinslax seems to differ saying that it has "grade deflation"? </p>

<p>hopkinslax: Where did you find out that Rochester has grade deflation? just curious and trying to find out whether it is in fact inflated/deflated</p>

<p>Also, could any pre-med students (preferably biology students) currently attending Rochester comment on the difficulty of their chosen curriculum, average pre-med gpa, and what schools they chose to decline to attend Rochester (was it the right choice and why)? </p>

<p>any opinions or information would again, be greatly appreciated :)
thanks!</p>

9

<p>Sorry, I don't have the link for Rochester. ( You know, their website is very crappy! By the way, for anyone who is going to SOC, could you guys talk to them about it? If I could go, I would definitely ask them to add more information about the school!!)</p>

<p>As for Georgetown, here is the link:
<a href="http://snhs.georgetown.edu/academics/faqs.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://snhs.georgetown.edu/academics/faqs.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

10

<p>I am a student there and have experienced it first hand...
For example you can get a 93% on a test (which happened to one of my friends) and come out with the grade letter of a 'B'. There is also a website about grade deflation (I'll try to find it) and it says that Rochester deflates big time...</p>

<p>The website is not crappy... What are you looking for because that question is EXTREMELY broad...</p>

11

<p>hopkinslax, do you like URochester? any regret for making this decision (choosing URochester over others that you got accepted to) ?</p>

12

<p>I looked at an extensive list... hehe, i'll tell you the schools first so you can see if you were looking for the same thing or not.
-Lehigh
-Lafayette
-The College of New Jersey
-Bucknell
-Case Western
-Washington Univ.- St. Louis
-Tulane
-Rensselaer
-RIT
-Rutgers (State Safety)
-Penn State (Another safety)</p>

<p>I am a BME major (also a Political Science major, but I didn't even know I would be one until when I came here)</p>

<p>I have no regret about going here (although I do wish I looked at Dartmouth). I will be honest and say that the math professors are bad (I have no clue how they developed the acclaimed WebWork system though being that they are not the greatest teachers), but every other professor I have had so far is really good. Many go out of their way to help students and many develop good relationships with their students. Although the introductory level courses can be large (250 students), I find that to be no hinderance. Although the courseload is more than high school, I expected it. However many of my friends have not yet adapted to it and thus suffer. I also really like the cirriculum (or lack there of). It is one of the reasons why I am doing a dual-degree and one of the reasons why you can do a double major/dual-degree. Things that they can make better are housing (the selection for first year housing is bad as they don't ask you many questions and thus I am roomed with someone that I absolutely hate... additionally it is possible to get stuck getting a room in GLC (although the rooms are nice) which you need a bus to get to campus from... however freshman housing is very good (except for the roommate part)) and food (it is not the best in the world...).</p>

13

<p>hopkinslax, thanks you for the exquisite comment. But, I saw you had concern about the new president last year. What do you think now? Do you agree that URochester is an up-and-coming institution?</p>

14

<p>The transition went very smoothly and he looks like he has a lot of potential...</p>

<p>I do indeed believe that UR is up-and-coming... We are really trying to rid ourselves of the "Ivy-Safety" stereotype because we are more than that. We get massive government funding for projects all over- one such example would be the Laboratory for Laser Energetics... The government gave us billions of dollars to research in fusion reactions. The real neat thing is that we were up against some of the best schools including MIT, Harvard, Princeton.
This summer they are renovating lots of classrooms to go beyond 21st century.
This winter they will be finished with a new BME/Optics building.
Lots of new research is coming out of UR... Did you know that drinking cranberry juice reduces cavities?
The faculty is up there with Harvard and Yale faculty (but a lot more accessible :)). Editor in Chief of Inorganic Chemistry, awards given from academic socities to the faculty.
Just so much stuff and unfortunately a lot of it does not get the proper recognition that it should.</p>

15

<p>Did you ever find if rochester has grade inflation or deflation?</p>

16

<p>i have friends at UR, the intro courses like bio chem and all are curved at something (a B or B-, i think), and there is no grade inflation.</p>

17

<p>Do most students attending Rochester pursue dual majors alongside a minor or two? Is the coursework much more difficult if this is done? If i attend Rochester, I wanted to possibly pursue a dual major in biology/psychology and minor in music/brain and cognitive science. Is this feasible to do while still having a pretty good social life or is this uncommon? I was also wondering if it is pretty easy or competitive to get an internship or to volunteer at the hospital and medical school? Also, any more current students willing to respond as to what colleges they turned down to go to Rochester and why (and if they made the right choice)?
it's taking me so long to decide but, I definitely will have a decision by Sunday! thanks again to those who responded :)</p>

18

<p>I heard some UR students have triple majors.</p>

19

<p>Me: Biomedical Engineering when I came in... Because of the cluster system, I took a class that seemed interesting (Polisci 101). Took the class and now I have decided to do a dual degree (I will be graduating with two pieces of paper- a BS and a BA) in Biomedical Engineering and Political Science...
The highlight of this is that I am an engineering major but because I came here I am able to do a dual-degree.</p>

20

<p>"Do most students attending Rochester pursue dual majors alongside a minor or two? Is the coursework much more difficult if this is done?"
Answer: Yes, the students at UR seem to love doing dual majors - but only because they were able to overlap their major's requirements (UR has a reputation for being very lenient at this) and so their courswork isnt THAT much difficult. </p>

<p>"If i attend Rochester, I wanted to possibly pursue a dual major in biology/psychology and minor in music/brain and cognitive science. Is this feasible to do while still having a pretty good social life or is this uncommon?"
Answer: A dual major is fairly common on campus, Bio-BCS and Psych-BCS i know are very common. I dont know about music. Everyone maintains their work pretty well and they all appear to be having a good time while they're at it. I didnt meet anyone who seemed really overloaded by their work, infact they were kinda laidback xD.</p>

<p>" I was also wondering if it is pretty easy or competitive to get an internship or to volunteer at the hospital and medical school?"
Answer: Getting an internship can be relatively competitive because you have to appear QUALIFIED for it - the lab ppl wont take slackers - and this is true wherever you go, not just Rochester. Volunteering at the Hospital or the URMedical Center is always always available.</p>

<p>" Also, any more current students willing to respond as to what colleges they turned down to go to Rochester and why (and if they made the right choice)?"
Answer:Most of the students I talked to did Early Decision. When I asked why, they said that out of the campuses they visited, UR's atmosphere was the most friendly and the most welcome - and also because MANY of UR's departments are very well known for being some of the best in the nation, while other colleges they looked at were too focused on one subject area while lacking in everything else.</p>