Any thoughts on University of Rochester. Seems like a nice place. I want to study business just dont really know about the reputation or if its well known. I have a 3.65 GPA with most likely a 30 on ACt.
As an exercise, think about this mathematically, @Jsan81. If your own current ACT score would place you slightly below average at UR, wouldn’t the school, by inference, appear to be of high academic quality and concomitantly desirable to applicants very similar to yourself?
Well one thing to be aware of is that the 4-year graduation rate is kind of low at 74%.
With respect to graduation rate in general, UR tends to be stronger than its peers:
Over-performance/Under-performance (USNWR)
UChicago: -2
WUStL: -4
Emory: -4
Carnergie Mellon: -3
UROCHESTER: -1
Brandeis: -3
NYU: -2
CWRU: -6
I think it’s a pretty good school with plenty of quality programs. I think probably its academic peer group includes other good private schools like Brandeis, NYU, Boston U, Tulane, Lehigh, Case Western, Boston College, Tufts and Wake Forest.
In terms of selectivity, 3.65 is below average and 30 is probably pretty close to average among admits. So, given its admit rate, it is probably a high match or a low reach. If you were accepted, and you could afford it and other fit variables were solid, you would have reason to be elated.
Historically, Rochester has had notably impressive company:
Thanks merc81, that looks like an interesting report. Do you have a link?
I’m not really getting it though.
For example let’s compare U of R to one of the other colleges on that list, say chicago.
Here are the stats from collegedata:
Univ of rochester
Freshman retention rate: 96
4 year graduation rate: 74.2
6 year graduation rate: 88
…
Univ of chicago
Freshman retention rate 99.5
4 year grad rate 85.6
6 year grad rate 92
So of the face of it, i think the story is…
Both colleges do a fantastic job of retaining freshmen.
Univ of rochester’s slightly lower freshman retention rate explains its slightly lower 6 year graduation rate- ie at both colleges about 92% of returning sophomore’s eventually graduate.
But u of r’s 4 year grad rate is much worse. To me that is an important statistic and i think it should be to prospective college students as well.
@statsnerd : I used USNWR’s (current) printed college guide for #3. Should you not be particularly familiar with the basis for the figures, the briefest way to summarize the statistic would be “deviation from expected,” which considers apparent rates in combination with underlying factors.
About wake forest @prezbucky , if i really liked boston college but its going to be stretch to get int there and i really liked villanova, is wake forest similar? Ive heard it is.
I wonder if they are counting Take Five students in their 4 year graduation rate or if they can’t because they technically haven’t graduated yet (though they could have in order to be accepted into the program).
I think Wake Forest and Villanova are alike in that they are private universities, but they’re otherwise quite different.
I think Wake has the better academic rep (not to impugn Villanova…), it’s rural and relatively conservative, the campus is quite lush, and it is southern.
Villanova is urban and obviously has a more northern/Philly culture.
Wake might be a little bit easier to get into than BC. Before applying anywhere, though:
- Run the NPC to make reasonably sure you can afford to attend
and
- Make sure they have majors you think you might like, grad requirements and curricular style you can accept, a social vibe and physical environment you like, and dorms and food that are acceptable.
Do you know any other schools similar to Villanova?
Fordham would appear to share attributes with Villanova.
Regarding the topic of this thread, if, for whatever reason, you find you prefer Villanova to the University of Rochester, there’d be little reason to pursue the more selective UR. As a generality, adding a high match or reach to your list provides little utility in any case where you would prefer a less selective alternative.
@merc81 although Villanova seems as if its almost harder to get into after visiting and researching
That could be true for applicants at certain divisions within these schools. The basis for my own post (#13) relied on USNWR’s selectivity rank, in which Rochester and Villanova list at 35 and 54, respectively.
Thanks for pointing that out Creekland. It looks like the program includes about 40 students per year?
https://www.rochester.edu/college/CCAS/students/opportunities/takefive/
out of a freshman class of 1405 that would be 2.8%. So looks like it may be a factor but not the whole explanation.
But even so, it really does beg the question: why do kids at U of R have a harder time graduating in 4 years that at peer institutions? To me the Take5 program is a symptom of that not a cause.
For example of the list posted in #3 here are the 4 year grad rates at the first 3 schools from #3 above
UChicago: 85.6%
WUStL: 86.4%
Emory: 82.9%
…
University of Rochester 74.2%
I usually find, whenever there is a mystery of this sort, the answer is usually connected to some sort of financial explanation…
@statsnerd Why is Take 5 a symptom of needing more time to graduate??? My son is in his Take 5 year. The program is designed to give students who love learning a chance to study something just for curiosity’s sake. It can’t be related to their major(s) in any way. His majors are Brain and Cognitive Science and Biology. He’s also getting minors in American Sign Language and Psychology (and is one class short of a Chem minor). His Take 5 subject is something like The Effect of Western Globalization on Success in Africa - totally different than anything else in his degree. Tuition is free (a nice draw). One has to make a proposal and get accepted into the program and part of that is proving that one can graduate in 4 years if not accepted. This means if my son had not been accepted, he’d have graduated last year - counting as one of their “within 4 years” graduates - with the same majors/minors he is getting.
I’m really missing how this can be considered any sort of symptom rather than a potential cause in the numbers being different.
I’d propose another possible cause in that most students I know (of) tend to have 2, or even 3, majors. 'Tis always possible the desire to get those requires an extra semester - but not for a “bad” reason. How many folks opt to double major at those other schools?
A few drop out - to be sure. Some don’t like the weather. Some decide they want a major that isn’t really a biggie at URoc (plant pathology was one I know about). Some have other issues going on in their lives (health, etc). Undoubtedly money can be a factor for some. But those don’t have to be the only explanations.
ps His class started with 1230 students (I looked it up). I’m not sure how many applied for or were accepted into Take 5.
@Creekland
Thanks that’s very helpful.
I think the double major thing may be a factor. But that seems to be a common trend in a lot of college students everywhere these days (keeping their options open i guess) so i’m not sure that would explain why U of R is different in terms of its 4 year grad rate.
I don’t think it is a lot of kids dropping out. U of R’s 6 year graduation rate is fine at 88%. So about 12% drop out overall, which is fairly typical.
I don’t know what is going on at U of R. You are much closer to it I guess. Maybe your son might know?
I have heard that at state schools a lot of kids often take more than 4 years to graduate because it is hard to sign up for the classes they need to graduate- i.e. the colleges are underfunded and do not offer enough sections of classes that are requirements etc. I’d be surprised if that was the case at U of R.
Again we can look at some similar schools that are right next to U of R in the US News and World report ranking:
Boston College, William and Mary, Brandeis.
Boston College: 4 year grad rate 88.9%, 6 year 92%
William and Mary: 4 year grad rate 81.9%, 6 year 90%
Brandeis: 4 year grad rate 80%, 6 year 87%
U of R: 4 year grad rate 74.2%, 6 year 88%.