<p>Ive heard about the education quality, so i'm interested in applying
However, i don't know much about the university so i havent made up my mind yet.
can anyone tell me why you like UR?
or anything particular, interesting about UR?
thanks in advance :)
by the way its too far to visit *</p>
<p>I’m a Rochester parent so I know alot about the university but not everything. The Rochester curriculum is wonderful especially for a student with varied interests. The campus is fairly small - no need for a bicycle IMO. The campus is also quite pretty, somewhat isolated, and doesn’t have city traffic right in the middle of campus. That said it is easy to get off campus. The city is a mile or two away and there is a path into the city next to the river. The campus in served by several bus routes. Zip cars are also available to students 19 and older. Rochester International Airport is just a couple miles away.</p>
<p>Rochester is a vibrant city but not huge. The university is easily accessible from the New York State Thruway. There is always alot going on in the city and at the university. For example movies are shown on campus every Friday and Saturday night. The Saturday movie is different from the Friday movie. There are also ALOT of clubs including music (instrumental, vocal, and dance), religion, foreign language etc.</p>
<p>Academically, the faculty and staff seem genuinely interested in the student body and their success. The library is fabulous. Each department has their own librarian who is a wonderful resource when researching. The medical center is across the street. Another great resource for students.</p>
<p>I would encourage you to spend some time looking at the university’s website. If I had to tell you one thing D loves about Rochester it would be the curriculum (major in one area and cluster in the other two) so definitely research that if you haven’t already. </p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>I’m also a UR parent and I say “ditto” to everything that meezermom2 said above. The campus is beautiful and next to a park that my son rides his bike through 3 seasons of the year. I like the fact that my nerdy, science-minded son has been exposed to classes in other fields. I like that Eastman is part of UR and he takes advantage of seeing performances there. I like the academic advising system; he has a real relationship with his adviser, unlike what I experienced at a large state school. The on-campus housing he’s lived in has been much nicer than what we saw at other schools we visited. He even likes the tunnels and hasn’t minded the weather so much, although he does own a ski mask for the first time in his life (for the winter wind). Rochester is reachable through Amtrak, which is a good option for us.</p>
<p>Another Rochester parent here. I concur with what both meezermom and cleveland have said about UR. I also want to add that there are plentiful opportunities to do research for undergrads (if that’s your interest.) The Rochester curriculum makes it easier to double major if one chooses too.</p>
<p>D says the autumns in upstate NY are beautiful (even if she isn’t terribly in love with Rochester winters) and she can watch the wild geese fly along the river from her dorm window. Also, she says the local milk tastes better than anything she’s ever gotten at home. </p>
<p>Plenty of activities sponsored by the school. There’s always something to do–even if you’re not into the frat party scene. And UR runs free buses on weekends for the students that go to the local mall, movie theaters and other places students might typically like to go. Including to and from the airport on all major breaks–which will great if you live far away and have to fly home like D does. Having a car on campus is nice, but certainly not essential. </p>
<p>And something I haven’t seen anywhere else–some of the local restaurants will accept ‘declining dollars’ (a meal plan option) as payment.</p>
<p>One other unique thing (from another UR parent) - the Take Five program. As a senior, you write a proposal for a fifth year. It cannot be to finish a major or any other reason that you couldn’t graduate in 4 years; you must be on track for graduation. The proposal may involve a project, extra classes, both, or something else. If accepted, you attend Rochester for your fifth year tuition-free.</p>
<p>The thing my child likes best about Rochester, though, are the students - smart but non-competitive, friendly, funny (humor plays a big part at that school). She loves Rochester.</p>
<p>Hi. I am an Admissions Counselor at Rochester. Because my opinion is so strongly biased, given my position with the University, I would be more than happy to put you in touch with a current student who can give you the low down… Let me know if this is something you’d be interested in.</p>
<p>I’m a Rochester parent too. I have found UR staff friendly and helpful whenever my daughter or I have called about admissions and other questions which was alot because D is only one to go to college in our family. I have even received e-mails to my questions. UR is extremely organized and efficient. After D applied online, a day later she received a phone call for an interview which was held a week later. Other colleges D applied to took much longer to schedule interviews and identify if all paperwork was received. We also didn’t know too much about UR until we checked out the website and did the virtual tour and did not visit UR until D was accepted as it is quite a distance but we loved the campus as soon as we saw it; it has been beautiful every time we have visited; however, be prepared for alot of snow in the winter.</p>
<p>I also like the curriculum in that there isn’t a strict core curriculum yet there are clusters of classes required. Its also easier to double major or major in one subject and minor in one or two other subjects than it is at other universities. Because you’re taking classes you want to take instead of having to take makes your time more worthwhile, interesting and meaningful in your quest for a college degree.</p>
<p>My daughter’s financial aid was miscalculated by all of her schools because of a misinterpretation of an asset that never existed (long story). Only UR was willing to re-calculate and as a result, she was able to attend her first choice school, and has loved her time at UR since day 1.</p>
<p>Obviously, we think the financial aid folks are pretty sharp folks!</p>
<p>I’m a Rochester graduate and I have to say that I was very impressed by my time at the UofR for one big reason: Flexibility. </p>
<p>Rochester truly cares about giving each student the experience that he or she wants. If you want to overload on classes (take more than what is suggested), take a class at Eastman School of Music, create your own major, study abroad at a place that hasn’t been attempted before, or extend your degree into a 5 year BS/MS (depending on your degree) that is 100% OK with the university. As someone else mentioned, Take-5 is also a fantastic choice, although when I graduated on 07, that program seemed to be on the decline a bit. On the more practical end of things, they are also flexible - if you want a new roommate mid-semester, or want to change majors about 8 times (I’m guilty of that one, personally) you can do that too.</p>
<p>The major downsides of Rochester are the city and the weather. I didn’t realize until I moved to Rochester that I really hate the snow…and, it snows for the majority of the year. If you hate snow, you will probably not feel at home at UofR. Similarly, Rochester is a very economically depressed city. While I lived there, I watched Kodak implode buildings on a fairly regular basis due to creeping bankruptcy. I absolutely do not miss that city. Fortunately, the school is very self-contained and you never have to leave if you don’t want to.</p>
<p>The best thing about U of R is the research opportunities. Being a top research institution trickles down to the undergraduate level in almost every area of study. The ability to perform research as an undergraduate will definitely enhance your learning experience and advance your career (especially if you plan on attending graduate school!). Other nice factors are a beautiful and safe campus, a flexible curriculum, and a pretty decent social environment IMO. Also, if you want to take control of your curriculum and tailor it to your own interests (through majors, minors, and clusters, with no general education requirements), U of R is very accommodating.</p>
<p>The major downsides are cost of attendance (its absurd, really) and weather. If you are used to cold snowy winters and receive a decent financial aid package, you have no good reasons not to apply to U of R. Another common complaint is with the on-campus dining options. However, in recent years the school has done a good job of improving the quality, and this is becoming less of a concern.</p>
<p>The school’s academic strengths are in the sciences, engineering (due largely to the school’s research-oriented nature) - and music (Eastman School), but I have plenty of classmates who are happy with the liberal arts programs at U of R. The study abroad and Take 5 programs are great options.</p>
<p>Hopefully this helps someone. I am a senior at U of R and as much debt as it has put me in, I am still happy with my decision to attend.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to offend any of the above parents who have kids attending UR, but if you want to get a more objective picture of any school’s (not just UR) culture/life/what it’s like to go there, you need to talk to people who have actually graduated of have attended that college for at least a year or two. </p>
<p>Parents don’t live/study on campus and often have distorted images in their heads of what it’s really like to study at a particular school from the few times they visited, from the marketing hype the school puts out that attracted the students in the first place, or from the selective information that their son/daughter are relaying.</p>
<p>Anyways, here’s why I like UR:</p>
<p>1) I’m getting a very good return on investment (ie I got a very good financial deal in terms of scholarships, so that the amount I had to put into my education proportional to what I am getting out of it is great!) </p>
<p>If I had to pay even a little more to go here, I wouldn’t attend because I would have to borrow money and a diploma from UR versus from a very good state school (like SUNY Stony Brook) does not justify me getting burdened by undergraduate loans. </p>
<p>Please understand and consider in your decision to attend any college that significant academic loans, especially for undergrad, do not justify attending a private college or a college that gives you little money over a decent state school or a college that provides more help but is “less reputable.”</p>
<p>2) The student culture fits with my personality/way of life. I would characterize UR culture as academically-serious-but-very-relaxed. That is, people take academics seriously and the library is usually busy with students studying even on Saturdays, but most students aren’t so serious about academics that they forget that life is not all about school. </p>
<p>Typically, this realization comes a bit later for many who come in with the self-instilled notion that there are no other pathways of study besides pre-med, but even pre-meds (like me) soon realize that they need to chill out a little.</p>
<p>3) In 4 years, I have met so many people from so many different cultures that I think it would have taken me at least a decade of traveling the world to be exposed to the same level of cultural diversity.</p>
<p>4) I like the flexibility and availability of studying so many different subjects. This is largely due to the fact that UR does not impose on their students a list of useless* classes that they must take to become “fully-rounded,” whatever the hell that means. If I don’t feel like reading The Great Gatsby and analyzing it in great detail, guess what, I don’t have to here.</p>
<ul>
<li>Useless as used here is a relative term. What I consider useless for me may be the most important/interesting class for you. For me, useless courses are ones that I am not interested in but because I am required to take them, they hinder my ability to take something I am actually genuinely interested in.</li>
</ul>
<p>5) I like that UR is small. Both in terms of physical size (so that it doesn’t take you 40 minutes to walk across campus) and in terms of student body size (so that most upper-level courses have student numbers that are actually manageable for professors to teach to). </p>
<p>Now, please understand that most, if not all, of your intro econ, psych, BCS, math, chem, physics, bio, and many other majors, will be big. Like 150 people big. </p>
<p>6) I like the fact that this is a research school. Starting my freshman year, I wanted to do research. I emailed a bunch of scientists (mostly in the medical research building at the med school) and most of them replied. About half gave me an interview. Two hired me to do crap-work around the lab (this is usually what you need to expect, doing b***h work around the lab is usually where you start). </p>
<p>In a year, I was running my own research project. I loved every minute of it, learned a lot, and ultimately, discovered that bench-side research was not for me. Now, there’s just no way I’d be able to do this in a non-research school.</p>
<p>That’s all for now. Will write more if I think of more.</p>
<p>I am BOTH the parent of a HS senior who is applying and an alum of the UR (as is my husband). I was raised in NYC but have lived in Rochester since graduation - we love the city of Rochester! (but yes it does help to like the snow). The large corporate headquaters of Kodak, Xerox, Bausch & lomb draw a very respectable amount of culture: music, theater, art, etc and yet the city is affordable and manageable.</p>
<p>Having researched Financial Aid extensively I believe the UR offers fantastic opportunities. Your application is reviewed by the financial aid office for need based aid - (while not a guarantee like the IVY’s they have a track record of filling the need gap). Application is ALSO reviewed for merit aid by the admissions office. You can end up with some very attractive packages. (The school has an impressive endowment) </p>
<p>New since my time is the Rochester Curriculum which allows you to take only classes that are of interest to you. You don’t like math - don’t take it. Don’t like foreign language - take something else. </p>
<p>I agree with content of other posts. If you have specific questions - feel free to ask.</p>
<p>This is a very informative thread. Thanks to all who posted. Our son has applied because UR seems like a very solid school and he had a very good interview with an admissions representative. (I think colleges sometimes do not fully appreciate how influential such interviews can be; our older son is at his school in no small part because he liked his interview with that school’s admissions counselor so much.)</p>
<p>That said, we have not yet been able to visit Rochester, and it is not terribly well known here in the midwest. So threads like these are very helpful.</p>
<p>Although I’m sure the Rochester student body is diverse, is it describable in any general way? Our son is a very unpretentious kid who is strictly a sweatshirt and jeans guy. A self described “geek” but in the intellectual and interests sense, not the pocket protector sense. Despite having the credentials, he didn’t apply to any Ivy schools in large part because it just seemed like he would be a fish out of water culturally. Better fit at UR?</p>
<p>Weather will be an issue only in relation to what it’s like at the other schools he’s applied to, if he’s admitted to them all. We’re from Wisconsin. It certainly snows more in Rochester because of the lake effect, but we are quite familiar with the stuff, and as for the cold, it’s gotta be in the single digits here before we switch from jacket to parka. ;)</p>
<p>Kind of a nerdy school. Just read somewhere that 80% of their kids take calculus at some point. D’s freshman year, spring semester course registration had to be delayed a day because 40% of the class had a big gen. chem exam. Lots of stressed out pre-med majors. That said, D (math major) has had very good experiences in her “cluster” courses. </p>
<p>D is a junior, and we live in Massachusetts. She has never had more snow than we’ve had at home, but complains more about the cold wind.</p>
<p>IMO U of R is geeky/nerdy in the intellectual sense not the pocket protector sense. D, who I consider very normal, went to a math/science magnet high school and considers herself the “freaky math girl” among her dormmates at U of R. There is more snow in Rochester than the midwest but Rochester is generally a bit warmer. For example as I type this it is snowing at U of R and in the mid 20’s but clear and in the single digits at our home in the midwest.</p>
<p>My daughter described the culture as this: “Everyone here is smart. They all know they’re smart. So no one has to prove they’re smart.” Academics are important, studying is important, but it’s a relaxed atmosphere where no one talks about grades, and even the pre-meds help each other out.</p>
<p>my personal experience goes back a ways, but my husband is a current part time lecturer and we have friends’ kids on campus, so my thoughts:
Yes it is snowing here now and expected to get single digit cold tonight. That said, the campus is EXTREMELY manageable. Dorms are AT MOST a 10 minute walk from classes and the majority of campus is connected by an elaborate tunnel system. IMO the campus is beautiful in all seasons. The “Phase” dorms (mostly jr & sr) do have a windy walk across a small bridge.
As for student body: students are intelligent and focused but the majority are mainstream type kids. Yes there are students with money on campus but they blend in nicely with those that don’t have money. It is not a pretentious school and does not have the entitlement type attitude I have felt at some of the IVYs.
Hope this helps a little.
If visiting is a possibility at all, out airport is relatively small and user friendly and campus is only a short cab ride away. I’m pretty sure the school can arrange an overnight stay with a student (if not - let me know)</p>
<p>As skier29 mentioned, the airport is only about 6 miles from campus. USAir has nonstops from NYC and Boston, for those in the northeast.</p>
<p>Anyone know how expensive are the foods at the university?</p>
<p>All dorm students are required to purchase a UR meal plan. Which meal plan options you have is determined by which housing location you live in. </p>
<p>UR meal plans:</p>
<p>[Welcome</a> to CampusDish at Rochester!](<a href=“http://www.campusdish.com/en-US/CSNE/Rochester/MealPlans/MealPlans.htm]Welcome”>http://www.campusdish.com/en-US/CSNE/Rochester/MealPlans/MealPlans.htm)</p>
<p>BTW, even commuter students (anyone who lives off campus) are required to purchase a meal plan.</p>