My S is very close to committing to the University of Rochester, but one thing that has us a little mystified is how little communication there is from the University. Other schools to which he was admitted have been sending a regular stream of email and snail mail communication, but the University of Rochester has been extremely quiet. I know that this is not a rah-rah sports oriented school and don’t expect it to be so, but their communications seem very serious, even dry, and don’t really communicate much school spirit or enthusiasm. The lack of communication is making my son feel a little unwanted, which is silly and I know is not the case. Once he commits, is there more energetic communication from the school? Perhaps I’m reading too much into this, but it just seems like the school is missing an opportunity to encourage the kids to be excited about coming to the University of Rochester. Hmm…
I don’t have experience with Rochester specifically but I will mention that kid 1 went to a school that was ra-rah from Day 1 of acceptance and stayed that way. And kid 2 is at a school that has stayed the opposite. It’s also been a bummer for me as a parent…literally the only time I hear from School 2 is when they need a donation.
I don’t know why schools don’t understand the importance of this.
I guess we’re just different. We appreciated that URoc didn’t clog our mailbox (snail mail and email). Other colleges seemed to be wanting to sway students by non-essential things (free t-shirt to making them feel like a ___ (whatever their mascot was)) and UR didn’t.
There’s plenty of school spirit (not sport) at the school. My lad loved it there and still hangs out with some of his clubs (like juggling) on campus when he has free time from med school. They have a 96% freshman retention rate, so there aren’t many who regret choosing it.
We got a similar vibe at the accepted students day on campus. I appreciated it as a more serious realistic approach to the decision, not dressing everything up as the best but openly and honestly giving the pros and cons to the university. Part of it I think is strategic in them trying to not have too large of a class as last year was much higher than expected. In the end my daughter still felt it was the best fit for her, and fit is really what this about.
There are several threads here on CC started by parents complaining about too much communication from colleges.
https://youtu.be/4iMrKJbebKE
That is a video of a move in day. While they do not send much in the mail, the students and staff when you get there are super excited to welcome you son on campus. People are quite passionate about the school and the new students coming in to make the world ever better. They do that not to annoy or families. But trust me there is a lot of excitement and appreciation for incoming students. Most of this will be seen when one comes on campus. Like although now incoming students do not get much merch, at freshman week (a unique thing that UR has) they will give out like 10 new t-shirts and water bottles, just free school stuff basically. Plus there will be a ton of school spirit. Hang in there. It all really will be an amazing experience. People, there have lots of passion for URochester!
Our son is finishing up his first year at UR. We did feel somewhat the same in regards to the communication that came from them as opposed to other schools. Please do not let that deter your son from committing to this fantastic school. Once he does choose UR, you will feel very much in the loop in regard to every thing. The university is easy to communicate with and any question you have will be answered. Our son initially had reservations as to whether or not he would find students like himself … and he immediately did once he settled in! He still hangs with the same bunch that he met at Orientation and plans to live with them next year. Academics at UR are strenuous but it is a wonderful university.
I wanted to post this 2012 U of R youtube that came out right before my son started school. It really generated a lot of excitement for those planning to attend.
Controversy not withstanding, Joel Seligman was President then & they do reference him.
Enjoy!
@Lakemom: Same here! We watched that video over and over and it helped open my son’s eyes to UR, which he’d never heard of until that time. It helped him see Rochester as young, fun, and creative and not stuffy like some ivy covered schools.
@Lakemom My lad (same year as yours - I recall our Parents of 2012/2016 thread) still shows prospectives that video too and loves it. He was telling us about some of the changes since then this past summer. The Ramblers should update the video IMO, but I’ll always love the original. It’s very well done.