U Rochester Kodak Leadership Scholarship ?

Parent Cafe
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<p>Does anyone know about these scholarships? S, a junior, got an easy to fill out application in the mail from Rochester.</p>

<p>The letter said that if S sends back the application, he can apply fee-waived for admission next fall and be considered for a $6 k a year scholarship. We don't know how Rochester found S, but S had PSATs in the commended range and SATs in the low 1400s plus holds several leadership positions, including some that are citywide. S is also African American with an unweighted 3.0. The scholarship program did not seem to focus on URMs. </p>

<p>From what I have heard on CC, Rochester could be a nice fit for S, who is in an IB program and has broad interests and prospective interests ranging from the liberal arts to the sciences. He is not a jock and does not want a party school. He would prefer to go to a teaching-centered college that has a nice reputation, diversity and is not in a rural area. He also would like a flexible curriculum. He is very open to any weather climate.</p>

<p>A $24 k offer over 4 years is nice, but S would probably need more merit aid for us to be able to comfortably send him to a $40 k school. Does anyone know whether that would be likely or if there's anything that S could do to get such an offer?</p>

<p>We aren't likely to qualify for much need-based aid. S also will qualify for full rides from our state publics (which are OK, but not fabulous. S wants the braodening experience of going to college out of state) and from HBCUs, which he doesn't want to attend because he wants more diversity.</p>

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<p>Rochester also has a scholarship for SATs 1350 or over. I'm not sure if it's automatic though so you may want to check on their website.</p>

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<p>Sounds like Rochester would be a good fit. There is more merit aid money available there (see their website---<a href="http://www"&gt;www&lt;/a>. rochester.edu for details). Rochester has very few distribution requirements and no core requirements. It has a broad range of majors and some very unique ones, i.e. optics. It has it's share of partiers but wouldn't be considered a party school like SUNY Albany. It has a multicultural/multiracial faculty and student body. It has underground tunnels connecting many of the buildings so you can avoid some of the Rochester winter. It would be worth a visit, but go in mid to late May when the lilacs are out.</p>

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<p>Rochester gives 10,000 / yr all four years to students over 1350 on the SAT. My guess is the Kodak would be in addition to this since it is a seperate application.</p>

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<p>May is nice at ROC but I'd visit NOW at places like Rochester, Wisconsin or Michigan so you get the real deal weather-wise.</p>

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<p>Northstarmom,
Rochester was a school on S's list until his EA acceptance to Chicago last month. We never visited because it was unfeasible on our October trip to get there (we started in Boston and went down to DC), but on paper, H and I fell in love with the school for S because of its size, proximity to Eastman School of Music, political science rep, underground tunnels to get from class to class without going outside, a wonderful abroad program, a fifth-year free program, lack of emphasis on partying and sports, excellent merit aid, etc... About the only criteria it lacked for our S was being in a big urban center and we worried a bit about him being in western New York in terms of making political connections such as internships or working on campaigns. </p>

<p>You can get them to send you a DVD of the school that is an excellent introduction. They also have some web-cams set up. The young man that my S interviewed with is now in grad school in Santa Barbara and he loved it there. I think he was a religious studies major.</p>

<p>And their merit aid is generous. The <1350 SAT = $10,000 per year plus the $6,000 you talked about would make it very attractive. Also, do check out that 5th year free option, especially if your S is not sure about what he wants to major in or if he just loves learning.</p>

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<p>I believe that Rochester caps merit aid at $11,000/year. At tleast that was the case when my son was accepted a few years ago. He got $6000 for one award and $5000 for another. Best to check with the school. Might be worth applying anyway...it's free and you can probably count on at least $10K in merit money. At other schools, it's not so automatic.</p>

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<p>Several of S's friends did get nice merit aid at Rochester. They were commended students. My friend's son who was a Presidential scholar got a nice award there as well. The one boy who went there like it and is now in medical school. Rensselaer also has some nice merit awards for kids at that range and is also in upstate NY. If he does not mind the cold, he should also check out Syracuse as it also has some automatic scholarsips. The sticker price for these schools is also slightly lower than some of the top private schools and off campus housing is cheap and available which means even more savings junior and senior years if your son goes that route. Also for some balmier weather look at Wash & Lee and Richmond. Both schools may well give full rides, and they are both excellent schools.</p>

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<p>Thank you for all of the input. I really appreciate the help!</p>

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<p>I think he should apply as he has nothing to loose by applying and giving a $ fee for application. The lower the school bill, better he can pursue his dreams in future.</p>

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<p>Dudedad: funny thing about that weather. S's best friend is at RIT. Apparently, they've had virtually no snow this year, while down here in NJ, we're mired in more than a foot, so visiting this year might not be an accurate gauge!</p>

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<p>Don't know about ROC right now, but here in DC the fluries are flying with a flourish!</p>

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<p>Sorry to have a student intrude here, but I just came back from Rochester this past weekend and had my visit the day before the snowstorm hit. </p>

<p>First off, the campus is beautiful, even in winter. It sits on the banks of the Geneose River and has a riverside trail that goes downtown to near the Eastman campus. The buildings are stately, but not overbearing; the chapel and the library are especially pretty. When I visited, there was snow all over the place but they did an excellent job keeping the roads plowed and the campus is so compact that there isn't a long way to walk to classes. A tunnel system connects all the academic buildings to each other and the student center. The Student Center has a cool, futuristic feel (IM Pei design I think) and as I said earlier the library is great both on the outside and the inside. </p>

<p>The admissions office is excellent; I would definitely suggest a visit and encourage you to talk to the admissions personnel. In fact, anything to show interest is a good idea since Rochester awards scholarships based in a large part on interest (Or so they told me). Definitely take a trip up there if you can. </p>

<p>You really can't get more open than the Rochester cirriculum. Outside of a required writing class (which sounds like a lot of fun...they come in different themes such as "Foreign Policy Writing" or "Writing about Physics", you just have to have a major and 3 "clusters" in different areas. As far as teaching goes, all professors are required to teach undergraduates and most seem to have office hours. In the sciences, optics and particular, the professors seem to be top-notch.</p>

<p>Now for not-so-good....
I got a strange feeling from the student body...everyone seemed introverted. At lunch in the student center, there were some groups of people but also many, many tables of people by themselves doing work. Much more than I've seen at other schools. The place also seemed to lack a sense of spirit; you could hardly tell these people were proud to go to Rochester in particular. Some of the humanities departments appeared to be full of politically correct, new-age professors who advocated a brand of "history" I had never thought of as history. The political science department was more into statistics and seemed kind of cold. </p>

<p>Overall, I thought Rochester was a great school that just seemed a little weak outside of the sciences and lacked school spirit. I'll wait and see what kind of scholarships they give me first. As far as the scholarships go, they have the $6k leadership, or science, or humanities awards, the 10k Rush Rhees award, the 2k National Merit Finalist award, and then the rare Renaissance full tuition 29k award. In addition, there appear to be a number of smaller scholarships that they also award. </p>

<p>Good luck to you and your son NSM...I would recommend you also check out the Campus Times newspaper as it is an excellent college paper to see more about what's happening in Rochester.</p>

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<p>Thanks, Vig, for the comprehensive report that I'll also share with S. Best of luck to you with your college plans.</p>

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<p>wow, vig for that report, i got a totally different impression. I'm currently in tough with a lot of UR students as i was accepted there, and they seem REALLY into the school and happy to be there. I guess we saw the two extremes.<br>
I really saw that there was this problem of an "aloof" attitude in the past years (like dating back to 2000 and before) and I saw that the administration or w/e was trying hard to fix that. For example they put in a big orientation program to get the students to be socially active, as well as sponsoring the many clubs and activities that are on campus right now. </p>

<p>I'm looking forward to visit for a second time in APril, and i'll see how things go.</p>

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<p>just out of curiousity guys, why do you guys use S when its just 2 more letters to complete?</p>

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<p>nsm:</p>

<p>I also have a jr, with high psat scores, but only a standard form intro letter, no app or money offers. S is not URM, but perhaps we are geograpically undesirable. LOL</p>

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<p>BlueBayou:</p>

<p>Don't worry if their letter didn't invite your S to apply for the scholarship(s), just go ahead and apply anyway. D2 applied for admission + scholarships in this fashion, and got $4500/yr as a Rochester National Grant + $10000/yr as a Rush Rhees Scholarship. Also, to quote from their Scholarship Reply Form '...National Merit awards (of any kind) will combine with University of Rochester scholarships, and total at least $50,000 over four years'.</p>

<p>D2 wound up choosing WUSTL instead, but this was a pretty nice $$$ offer.</p>

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<p>thanks O-Dad, it sound like the kind of offer that is hard to refuse. </p>

<p>vg: thanks for the info -- feel free to post informative items on parents forum.. </p>

<p>nsm: perhaps our sons might end up as roomies! :)</p>

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<p>I didnt apply for any scholarship and received merit scholarship from University of Rochester, if you need any information about the application process or the university, dont hesitate to holler.</p>