What is UoR’s reputation in academic fields and what does it teach well? Which academic programs is it known for? If I go what should I study to take full advantage of the UoR reputation?
I believe UR has great programs in the sciences and engineering (particularly optics), political science, economics and of course, music. It seems like lots of kids study ASL, so I imagine they have a good reputation with it. According to their own stats, they have good placement in law and medical schools, and have a great med school of their own.
But, IMO you should not choose to study a subject because UR has a good reputation in it. Instead, you should decide what you’d like to study and find the school that fits. But, if your mind is made up to study at UR, then the Rochester curriculum encourages you to explore varied subjects and combine them in ways that suit your tastes. That’s one of UR’s real strengths.
My current Brain and Cognitive Science junior just got a summer internship at Stanford - one of 13 they chose out of roughly 240 applicants. He also got invited to interview at Harvard for one of theirs, but is likely to turn down the interview as I believe Stanford’s was his first choice.
I know what he is studying/researching is an ongoing project in conjunction with several other US and worldwide universities.
It gives me the feeling that his major at UR is respected elsewhere.
I don’t know of any “bad” areas. I know that anything having to do with public health is well thought of.
I am asking because I am planning on going into optics and I know the school is very good on that, but I want to have a plan B. @Lergnom I wouldn’t say the humanities is strong at Rochester, or would I be wrong?
D minored in English and thought that her English professors were all first rate–loved her English classes.
I know someone who graduated with a degree in English and she has nothing but great things to say. Also due to Eastman, music is among the top 10 in the country.
I know religious studies is very good. A point about any school is having strength doesn’t mean other weakness. It can reflect allocation of resources but that’s probably less true among science versus non than between science departments and the like.
Educational quality should not be a concern.
@Lergnom I know Rochester is an excellent school but I am talking about perception of Rochester. What fields is Rochester known for doing very well. And which fields are not very well known. From What I glean from the few post about Rochester on the internet is that it has very well known medical, music and optical programs. My big anxiety is getting a degree from Rochester and it being overlooked by an employer who has never heard of Rochester. That might reflect more on my anxiety than it does about the school. But I also want to know more about the school and its reputation.
I suppose if you go to Arizona, the name recognition won’t be much but that’s true of most very good schools outside of their general region. Here are examples. Case Western is a very good school but very few people could identify it or know where it is. Can many people tell you what Carnegie-Mellon is, let alone where it is? Wash U is a very good school and most people probably think it’s in Washington DC or state, not St. Louis if they’ve heard of it at all. Some people will ask if Rochester is in Minnesota, but you don’t care about those people.
But when you move into employers, unless you plan on working for small, even local companies somewhere fairly obscure, then an employer who doesn’t know the better schools is not that smart. I can imagine conversations in, say, Missoula where the main question is “why did you move here?”. In other words, I think the concern is over-rated. I think we tend to assume really stupid employers who can’t look things up on the internet.
I often tell people that if they know they want to live in Arkansas then they should consider going to school in Arkansas because that’s where people who live in Arkansas tend to go to school. In law, for example, when you go to smaller cities, you’d find a law firm with some Ivy grads but in general the better firms would be locally educated because that reflects your roots.
If you’re going to grad school, don’t worry. They all know UR.
@travnat212 What we’ve found is that the people who gauge a good school based upon their sports teams have never heard of Rochester. They tend to just nod or have a blank stare after asking where middle son goes. Employers and the more highly educated “class” respond with, “Oh that’s a GOOD school!” Region might matter some, but we’ve had that same response in many states and in a couple of different countries. My current junior has even been approached by strangers while wearing his URoc sweatshirt… asking him if he goes there, then commenting very favorably.
Rochester is extremely strong in optics, engineering, and honestly anything medical related. It also has a very innovative International Relations and Political Science program. While it may not be the most well-known school amongst the general public, it’s extremely known and very impressive to any employer or person who has a clue about good universities. It is considered a new ivy, and is very well known for its research.
My opthamologist did post-grad work at UR. When my kids were younger, their pediatrician did his residency there. Those who matter know UR is top-notch. UR is one of the world’s top laser research institutions. The Eastman School regularly beats Julliard as best music school. Those who think UR is a public SUNY are showing their ignorance.
MIT and Johns Hopkins don’t play big-time football either–does that make them bad schools???