<p>I’m sorry to those of you that have recieved bad news… </p>
<p>I have to say that it is never the case that a student is overqualified. If my job was to admit students with the highest combination of GPA and SAT scores, and the students with the most AP or IB classes, my job would be easy, and all of our decisions would be made within in a few weeks.</p>
<p>As a counselor, however, I also have to consider “fit” - how much a student expresses an interest in Rochester; to what extent a student demonstrates a clear understanding of the programs Rochester offers; to what extent I believe Rochester has the ability to meet the needs of a specific student; whether or not a student embodies the spirit of Rochester; etc. This is of course in addition to GPA, SAT/ACT, AP/IB, etc., etc., etc.</p>
<p>This is difficult to do, but Rochester has a 97-98% retention rate, which is very rare among colleges and universities throughout the US, and to some degree is a reflection of our selection process and our efforts to find the students that are the best “fit” for Rochester.</p>
<p>Now - there are many qualified students that may be a good fit for Rochester that we have to make difficult decisions about. This year we recieved over 12,600 applications and will admit only 30-40% of those students. I personally have met students that I feel very strongly about that are recieving bad news because we can only enroll a freshman class of approximately 1,100. Given those numbers, it would be hard to consider Rochester a safety school for any student.</p>
<p>I hope that this information helps to make our selection process more clear. It goes without saying that it is all pretty comprehensive, but I really hope that you continue to ask me questions if you would like more clarification or would like to be better understand how we do what we do.</p>