<p>To address the school spirit issue, I visited in October (not to visit the college, but to visit a friend of mine) and of all the people on her hall that I met (probably about 15), one had applied ED and was thrilled to be there. Every single other student mentioned which other schools they had applied to and then been rejected from. They all said U of R was great, they were having a great time, but they also seemed to be still bitter about not getting into Ivies and other prestigious schools.</p>
<p>Be careful with Rochester. It is said to have the so-called Tufts/Emory/Rochester syndrome. You will be waitlisted (and cut out of all scholarship consideration) or rejected if you are top notch and don't show enough interest. If they invite you to the campus with a free plain ticket, turning them down is the kiss of death. If you apply for early med school admission and you do not accept the free flight to the on-campus interview, you may be waitlisted (and cut out of all scholarship consideration). For URM's, Rochester will turn your name in to the Urban League for scholarship consideration. If you indicate other than Rochester as your first choice school on the Urban League scholarship application form, you may be waitlisted (and cut out of all scholarship consideration). They also hire a firm to poll some top-notch applicants, especially scholarship applicants, to determine the depth of interest in Rochester. The polling firm will not reveal what school it is polling for in the mail it sends you. But be assured it's Rochester. Your response to the poll will affect your chances for admission. So admission is not assured even if pre-application you are named a Rochester Kodak Scholar, Humanities Scholar, or Science Scholar</p>