University of Rochester | Student Reviews | Best College

Student Profile

ben

Class: Sophomore
Major:
Gender: M

High School: wilton high school (public)
Transfer Student: N

Big Picture

Overall, i am very pleased with my first year at rochester. it is just the right size (around 4500 or so i believe): its easy to get around without being overwhelmed and i am constantly meeting new people, but its also easy to get settled down and find a niche. the best thing about rochester is the people. the average rochester student is generally friendly and not not ***y/egotistical or too shy. there isn't a whole lot of geographic diversity (most people are from new york and the northeast), but there are many different kinds of people to meet from various socioeconomic backgrounds, and they make living on campus a great experience. the school is also very "middle-of-the-road." by this i mean that its not really known for having just one characterization, the students aren't over the top in regard to personality/appearance/ideologies/etc, and the academics are great but the school isn't that well known outside of the state. the city of rochester isn't much of a college town, but there are some nice areas to live off campus and there are plenty of night time hot spots, but a lot goes on on campus and many upperclassmen choose to live on campus all 4 years. there might not be a whole lot of "school pride" as its normally thought of in terms of loud sporting events, but generally everyone at school is very proud of where they are and it shows with other events on campus.

Academic Life

there is a great variety of large, medium, and small class sizes. i've taken some typical college intro classes in large lecture halls with 200 or so people, and i've also taken smaller lecture/discussion based classes with 30 people. both of them suit their purposes. while rochester is definitely known for the sciences, i am not a science major and have taken some great classes. my favorite class was a european history course; the professor was incredible, gave great lectures, assigned interesting readings, and kept the class captivated for the entire semester. there are some lacking departments (apparently our economics department is ranked highly, but the professors that i've had are very below average). i do really like the academic freedom at rochester, which you will probably hear about over and over if you are interested in rochester. when i came on to campus, i really didn't know what i wanted to study, and the great variety of classes and minimal requirements gave me the ability to try out many different subjects to see what i liked. depending on what major people have, they may be very driven and focused on getting a job (pre-med, engineers), but not everyone is like that at all.

Student Body

there are plenty of student groups that represent different backgrounds and interests, but to be honest, i have not been involved in them so i can't really comment much, except for the fact that many of them are well-known/respected on campus. again, as i mentioned before, the student body is very "middle-of-the-road" : there is plenty of diversity on campus but many groups don't socialize with others (i am caucasian and have never been to an asian/black/hispanic group social event); there is a lot of financial diversity... the student body is not all snobby/rich like other schools, and you aren't able to tell who is or isn't because no one really acts like it.