From: admit
To: Sonia
Subject: RE: attn undergrad admissions
Date: 2 Jun 1997 09:27:58 -0500
Thanks for the email regarding the University of Rochester. I would be happy to discuss these questions personally via telephone. Please feel free to call me at 716-275-8595. You can also send me you number and I will call you to save you a dime or two. I'll look forward to your call.
Sincerely,
Stephen Robson
Asst. Director of Admissions
Dujari: What is campus life like at Rochester?
Robson: Well, it's the type of question that each student is going to answer individually. But overall, I think that students come here with the intent of working hard, but at the same time, I they know when to put their books down and relax. So you see a lot of activity on campus that is just academically related, but by no means do I think that this is the type of place that the pressure is so bad that you're just not having fun anymore.
Dujari: What sets this college apart from the rest of the pack?
Robson: What definetely sets it apart nationally we are a Division I research institute, and we are the smallest of this sort. So we're competing against schools like Michigan and Ohio State that have fifty to sixty thousand students.
Dujari: 'Division I' meaning what?
Robson: There's a type of university out there that's called a Carnegie Research Instutition, and Division I meaning that is it that type of premiere institution. Being that we have 4,000 students on this campus and yet were rated as one of the top research institutions basically means that the research that we offer students and the facilities for that are incredible. I think another thing that sets it apart is the faculty. There's one faculty here -- that's the undergraduate and the graduate faculty. They are not separated. The same people who are teaching Ph.D candidates are also teaching freshman pyschology. And they make themselves very available to the students on this campus. So it's not uncommon to see them in the cafeteria, in the gym, or walking around on campus. It's very easy for them to be approached. They always have office hours, and that's for students who need extra help or if students just want to meet the professors on a personal level . . . I think there's at least four hours a week that they can be found in their office, minimum of course.
Dujari: That's very impressive. What's your policy on non-Asian minorities?
Robson: Non-Asian minorities meaning black, Hispanic, and Native American?
Dujari: Yes.
Robson: Well, we don't necessarily have affirmative action, meaning that these students are not being given or guarenteed a spot because of ethnicity. It is a factor that we consider in the fact that they are bringing their diversity to campus, and therefore that is something that they are adding to the school community. But they need to set the standards in order to be admitted. So we don't look at it as a 'handout,' so to speak, but it is considered as a supplemental part of their application, that's all.
Dujari: So do they get special consideration?
Robson: They get special consideration. In some universities there is a certain number of spots that are reserved . . . we do not have any quotas at all.
Dujari: I see. Including a cap on Asians?
Robson: There is no cap on anyone.
Dujari: There is much criteria that it takes to get into a top-notch University such as yours. Do you have any kind of ranking order for this criteria?
Robson: First and foremost would be the high school transcript. And basically we use the term 'transcript,' to include a lot of things -- the type of classes the student has taken, the grades that the student has accomplished, and with all that comes things like class rank . . . The second criteria that we're looking at would probably be the extracurricular activities combined with a a few other things; basically, the information that's letting you tell us who you are, and how you're differentiating yourself from others. We want to see students that are going to be participating in the Rochester community: the community being Rochester, the University of, and well as the greater community of Rochester. So it's impressive to us to see students who have done well in school while they have been participating in activities that have taken extra time or effort or leadership . . . Third would come the recommendations, the college essay, the SAT, the ACT -- those types of exams -- and other things. But we're not one of the schools that uses the SAT as its primary guide. It is a piece of information that we require, and that we do use, but it cannot keep a student from being admitted here. If you have good grades and you're taking good classes and you're doing well in everything, and the one part of information that would be lacking would the SAT score, that would not keep you out. At the same time, to have a 1600 and a C- average would not necessarily guarentee admission, either -- because we've seen that.
Dujari: What about participation in sports?
Robson: Yes, that would count as your extracurriculars; we do not weigh sports any heavier thaan we would Student Government, Debate Team and things like that. Sports is a student's way of showing commitment.