Yes, it is a tight-knit community where everyone seems to find their way into a group of close friends with common interests.
U of R us a top-tier program in poli-sci (US News ranks it number 17)
U of R is also known for having a very high faculty-to-student ratio. So professors are VERY available.
There is plenty to do as far as cultural events in Rochester. Most people take advantage of this during the summer (festivals). Lots of people stay the summer for internships, research, or summer session classes. It’s up to you if you want to leave campus and explore. Truthfully college life is busy and there’s so much around campus that a lot of people do not leave campus often.
No problem. I’m curious to know where the “only known for medicine” reputation comes from, since I’ve heard people say similar things. While the Strong Health system is huge and there is a good medical school there, UofR has highly ranked programs in Business, Engineering, Chemistry, Psych, Computer Science, Economics, Physics, Poli-Sci, Statistics just to name a few, while the University itself ranks at #32 according to U.S. News Rankings.
My son just committed to F & M. To answer your questions F&M is considered very rigorous possibly even more so than UR (at least for premed). Research is available since there are no grad students to compete with and the close relationship between teachers and students really seems to exist. Graduates have been in upper level positions in both Democrat and Republican administrations and with the school name of the diplomats I have to believe they are good in poli-sci
My son is sophomore at F&M. Son says - profs awesome, and small classes a HUGE value add. We have a big family and this semester my mom (son’s grandma) and a dear aunt died, weeks apart. The logistics of travel back and forth to Boston was a grind, and mid semester, the travel days are precious. My son said his profs were understanding and accommodating. He was actually emailing a prof about a policy memo at my aunts collation (funeral after party). Of course I was annoyed, but I was struck by the accessibility of the prof.
College is so crazy expensive, I think having access to your professor is such a plus.
In terms of internship/research, my son has a tremendous opportunity this summer from F&M prof (turning it down due to a sports injury repair).
My family is impressed with F&M for sure. Only con is the ridiculous 1 credit class system. Classes transfer in at .75 credit - even if the class is taken at another tier 1 school. Huge bummer. My husband works at Tufts - also 1 credit per class and tier 1, but they are changing to 3 credit classes, and they transfer in full credit.
