<p>Can anyone give me any information they have on this school through personal experience or just from research?</p>
<p>I want to know what the feel for the school is like since I won't be visiting before I apply and how their academics stand with other schools.</p>
<p>Would this be a strong school for political science? It seems like a lot of schools are fit for this major these days so I am not sure.</p>
<p>I visited the school last summer because the school recently hired my dad. There were no students, but the impression that I got is that it was trying to be an Ivy, but just didn’t quite reach that mark. Rochester is not an exciting town, but it is a decent size, so there are things to do. I didn’t really like the school too much, but don’t let that affect you–I think I might take another look when the school year starts to get a better feel for the school</p>
<p>Thanks for the input. I’ve also heard that the town/social life wasn’t as good.</p>
<p>Any info on the schools academic part would be also appreciated.</p>
<p>Rochester is an excellent school with an exceptionally strong Political Science department. UR often gets discounted by students because of its location and the weather. The school attracts students who are serious students but who enjoy other activities as well. If you are into music you will also have access to a huge number of concerts at the Eastman School of Music. The campus is lovely.</p>
<p>Thank you for clearing things up.</p>
<p>If one had to chose solely based on academics and a political science major, Rochester or Wisconsin - Madison?</p>
<p>Political science, I would probably go Rochester. Chemistry, UW. The schools have different strengths, but are both very strong academically; however, they have two completely different feels and you would probably know after you visit the two which one you would prefer</p>
<p>And although I don’t attend UW, I have lived in Madison for 17 years and I would be happy to answer any questions about the city</p>
<p>Can you give me a overview of the social life I could expect at Madison?</p>
<p>From all the things I’ve heard, it was that Madison has one of the best college town atmospheres.</p>
<p>Madison is definitely one of the best college towns. Football Sundays are crazy, and after the third quarter when they play jump around, Camp Randall actually shakes from the student section jumping. There are tons of parties (if that’s your thing), but there are also substance free dorms (for freshman year) and plenty of kids who would rather have a relaxing Saturday night (it is a top 40 college after all, there have to be kids who would prefer to study). It is right on a gorgeous Lake and during the spring and summer there is music nearly every night on the terrace right outside the student union. Right off campus is State St, which is the main strip with shopping, food, and plenty of night clubs. It is a huge hangout spot for college kids and whenever you are bored you can always head down there or the union. I’m not sure about frat life, but there are many frats and I don’t think they are dominating, but again, I’m not sure. Is there anything else you would like to know?</p>
<p>Thanks for all the input!</p>
<p>There are better schools out there for poli sci than UR.
Something about this school put us off…it’s hard to define what it was. They make a big deal about their “cluster” idea…really not so different than many other schools. Also, if aid is important to you, be careful. They make you jump through hoops to get an extra 1k or so. </p>
<p>Oh, I remember. They wanted parents to write an essay about their kid. No other school did that. I guess they thought it was cutting-edge. We thought it was gimmicky.</p>
<p>I’d go with Wisconsin.</p>
<p>Also something to think about is that when you read about UR’s highly ranked poli sci program - that’s graduate, not undergrad. My memory is foggy, but I thing Wisconsin has a well-regarded undergrad poli sci program. UR’s rep is for the sciences. What you should do is research the programs yourself carefully. Never trust info from a message board!</p>
<p>Okay bonniemom,
I get your personal non preference towards Rochester. That is expected, not everybody likes every school.</p>
<p>What I don’t get is you rational that somehow Wisconsin, which has just an equal reputation as Rochester for Graduate Study Political Science does a better job for undergraduate teaching of Political Science. Please provide me that source that rated/ evaluated Wisconsin so high for undergraduate teaching of political science and then Rochester low for the same.</p>
<p>Just like in Wisconsin, those same graduate study teachers that make the Political Science a great department, also teach the undergraduates in Rochester. Now when it comes to teaching, Rochester might have a slight advantage because of our smaller school/ teacher to faculty ratio/ classer sizes compared to Wisconsin</p>
<p>Yes I agree with your advice for not trusting message board info and that the OP should do research on his own. Now when he does do this research he will actually find that Rochester is quite excellent in the social sciences, not just the sciences. In addition to the political science department, the Economics is also well regarded, and so is the Psychology and other areas.</p>
<p>Then about the aid, your statement is very wrong and actually not at all a good one to give to anybody. Financial aid is different for everybody and not all sizes fit all in any school. More 1/3 of students in our school have merit aid. I know a lot of people who got into more well regarded schools but are here because of Rochester’s generosity.</p>
<p>This same thing holds the same for need based aid. Myself personally, one of the biggest reasons I am in Rochester is because of the aid that I got from the school. I could have easily gone to UIUC, a school that is very similar to UW, but it was going to cost me 3 times as much as Rochester. Now given this experience and how much alike/ mission of UIUC is to Wisconsin, I can reasonably infer that Wisconsin’s aid will have been just as bad or close to UIUC (this is if I was instate for Wisconsin).</p>
<p>I don’t see how you will automatically assume that Rochester’s aid will be worse than Wisconsin when you know nothing of the OP’s situation.</p>
<p>Now for the parent essay. I remember this very much when I was applying to the school. My parents never wrote anything to the school and I am here. I am certain that this is not required. If the OP does not want to do it then he should be fine. This just like how an interview and visiting are just ways that the school wants to get to know an applicant more and see their interest in the school. None of them are required! So what is your problem? Other school do other things too.</p>
<p>Then for the cluster, of course the school will make a big deal out of it. It is what sets them apart. And believe it or not, it does allow for much freedom. Over 20% of the students graduate with double degrees or majors.</p>
<p>Finally for the OP,
This is my advice and one I always give many prospective students. Make your decision with money in mind. This is only your undergraduate degree and no matter how highly regarded Wisconsin and Rochester are in political science, there are many more schools that are very excellent in this discipline. No school is worth too much debt most of the time. Apply to both schools and see what happens at the end of the day.</p>
<p>Also realize that the culture of the schools are different. Wisconsin is a big ten school and will have a better social life. Madison, I heard is also quite a nice college town. These are things to consider.</p>
<p>My nephew attended UR undegrad & liked it so much that he stayed all the way through getting his Phd. My D has it in her top three schools & liked it much better than Colgate after visiting both. Yes the weather isn’t great but I wouldn’t call it “not exciting”. It is regarded as one of the top cities for minor league sports in the country with professional baseball, hockey, soccer, & basketball. The Auditorium Theatre hosts 4-5 traveling broadway shows a year. Geva & Downstairs theatres have smaller shows in the downtown area that also is close to museums, etc. I guess it depends on what you are accustomed to.</p>
<p>OP, make sure you read the Rochester forum to get more opinions. [University</a> of Rochester - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-rochester/]University”>University of Rochester - College Confidential Forums)</p>
<p>My (rising senior) daughter first got interested in Rochester when she learned they offer significant National Merit aid. Then a close friend of hers visited, and fell in love with the school. It does seem to be a school where people have a strong reaction, often positive, after visiting. A lot of high stats kids on CC who are pursuing tippy-top schools use Rochester as a safety/low match, especially since Rochester can be very generous with merit aid. </p>
<p>Are you going to apply to both schools, or are you trying to decide between applying to one or the other? Check out internship opportunities at both. Madison has the advantage of being the state capitol. I’ve not been to Rochester (D1 will visit in a few weeks, and we’ll see what HER reaction is :)), but I’d expect the two schools to feel very different (smaller private university versus big state flagship with serious sports).</p>
<p>we visited rochester - we were impressed with the atmosphere, commitment to teaching, variety of offerings - good balance of tech and liberal arts. and my DD wanted the smallish size. </p>
<p>They offer well performing kids a fifth year free, which is nice for the kinds of kids pursuing minors, etc.</p>
<p>Before you go to Rochester be sure to check out the weather.</p>
<p>The sun is out from May to Mid October and Rochester can be very attractive particularly in early Fall.</p>
<p>After October, the sun literally disappears behind grey dingy clouds which do not go away from late October to April. Many students suffer from seasonal depressive disorder as the winters are dark, cold and can have significant amounts of snow.</p>
<p>Rochester offers a first class education. </p>
<p>However there are many other comparable colleges located in superior locations</p>
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<p>That was not really our experience at all.
My S got 15K in merit aid w/o even applying for FA.
(he’s going elsewhere, but the Rochester offer was nice to have)</p>
<p>They gave my S the option of applying for an extra $1,000 (maybe it was $3,000–it’s been a while now) by writing a research proposal. This they would supposedly evaluate to grant the extra money. Just my opinion, but I thought this was silly and, again, gimmicky. If they want the kid just give the money already! The overall amt. of aid was about equal to what he got at other schools. </p>
<p>Another nit-pick: they consistently posted admitted students’ SAT scores, not accepted students’ scores, on their website, thereby inflating their scores at first glance. I just personally found this really annoying. And the website was an abomination in my eyes. Very confusing but I guess they think it’s cutting-edge.</p>
<p>We actually liked the campus a lot. Our tour guide was an obviously bright and very appealing young man. The proximity of a lot of musical experiences, the free lessons etc. were pluses in my S’s eyes, as was, oddly, the cold and snow. Ultimately, he decided to attend elsewhere also (not Wisconsin, though he was accepted there).</p>
<p>UofR and UWisc are tied at 15 for graduate poli sci programs. I can’t remember exactly, but I believe at the time my S researched programs, Wisconsin appeared to have a stronger undergrad poli sci program.</p>
<p>At the time we were looking (a couple of years ago) UofR had a pretty poor (79% or something like that) graduation rate for a school of its size–maybe due to the weather, maybe not. Don’t know if that has improved since we looked. Guess we’ll find out in the upcoming USNWR.</p>
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<p>Sorry, but what’s the difference between and “admitted” and an “accepted” student?</p>