I haven't been this happy in 5 years.

C

Corey Bit Spank

Active member
So as a handful of you know I began to apply to UR in late November. I finished my application on December 3rd.



I received my acceptance letter to UB yesterday. It was nice, but I wasn't wowed. Not like "gold star," "blue ribbon", etc.



I opened my mailbox today and, SCOOP!, I see a white envelope. I pulled out the mail and looked at it.



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So that kind of takes away the suspense of opening the white envelope, but the letter made me happy nonetheless...



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So as many of you know I went to NCCC. I kind of had some issues in junior year which prevented me from going to a 4 year school. 920 on SAT (I had just gotten out of the hospital the preceding Friday, eep). I had good grades before then, and my HALF senior year I got good grades. It finally feels like I'm putting that **** up to rest. I really do like NCCC. I love my professors.



I'm so happy. They're #11 in primary care schools in the nation (as per US weekly). I really don't think I would have ended up at Rochester out of high school anyway, I probably would have gone to UB. My parents have a long time family friend that's an oncologist at UB/VA and she thinks it's a better decision for me than UB undergrad.



Still waiting on Cornell, but I think Rochester is more realistic.



Future plans? I want to become a doctor of osteopathy. So interesting. Of course I have a few back ups, but I need to focus on my salad (OH MARTHA!)



I'm so happy.





cross posted from nyspeed.com
 
HEY! Welcome to ROCHESTER! :D :D :D



Another Autopian to the Rochester area~! May I suggest a garbage plate!?! If you need anything, let me know! I'm about 5 min to RIT and 10 to UR. Even if its just a garage to detail.



Congrats! CHOOSE ROCHESTER! Ithaca is pfft (Cornell). Being closer to home will be nicer for you too. I went to Niagara University. Its just far away enough to be independent, but close enough to stay close.
 
My dad and brother went to Niagara. :)



I really need to decide if Rochester is worth it over UB. The price difference is going to be HUGE. Rochester may end up putting me $75,000 in debt. UB would put me at about $6,000. I don't know. It's a little discouraging. Well a lot discouraging. Everything looks so great in theory, then you put it in the real world and you see the ugly warts.
 
Awesome! My younger son knows his grades in high school have so far been rather unspectacular. He is hoping the rest of his junior year, his senior year and a couple years at a community college will be enough to get him into TCU for his junior and senior years of college.



Seems like you took a similar route. Any advice for my son?
 
Congratulations!! I'm on the faculty at UR in the medical center across the street from the River Campus where you'll be located. You'll be arriving as things are changing. It's a small college, but very dynamic. We have a new president who is making good things happen. The University is growing, and there's generally a good feeling around here. Good luck.
 
Scottwax said:
Awesome! My younger son knows his grades in high school have so far been rather unspectacular. He is hoping the rest of his junior year, his senior year and a couple years at a community college will be enough to get him into TCU for his junior and senior years of college.



Seems like you took a similar route. Any advice for my son?
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Hm. Well of course hard work. I think possibly doing well on the SAT may help (although some schools don't look at it for transfers). It certainly doesn't hurt.



One of the main things is finding good professors that you can ask for advice and small talk with. I have two. One I met in my first semester of college. The second I met my second semester, but she also teaches organic chemistry, so now I have her again. They're both supportive. It's hard to write a glowing letter of recommendation for somebody you don't know.



Getting involved in at least one club is great (a sport is good too, two clubs or one sport and one club would look great). If he has the opportunity to join Phi Theta Kappa (honors society) it is worth the money and effort! My brother gets $2,000 a year. Rochester offers $5,000 a year. I pays off! It looks great. Being an officer would look great. It would also make him feel good, because you're really dealing with some good people that join.



You know, you meet people at community college that are just interesting. Single mothers. Veterans. People that have had some not so good pasts. They're much more genuine than some of the people at other schools that are very fortunate (much more genuine than myself). I'm fortunate to have met these people. It's really a "community" college. Hindsight is 20/20, if I would have gone to University of Buffalo I probably wouldn't have branched out of my comfort zone.



There's the bad points. There are certainly people that are there for no reason whatsoever. You just avoid them. My goal in high school was to have a 90 average. My goal in college is to have a 4.0. It makes a big difference to set your goals as high as possible. Choosing courses you want to take are a big thing. There are a lot of people going to school to "make good money." That's fine, but they tend to also be the people that 1) don't learn the material and 2) cheat by placing index cards in their calculators. It's terrible. It happens. You have to choose something you're going to love.



So: get two or three professors and just get advice and keep them updated with your career goals. Having at least one in your intended major is good practice. I hate to say this, but if they have a PhD behind their name it probably adds some oomph.



Join a club or two. Play a sport. Show that you have a interest other than course work.



Learn to write well. The essay just has to be genuine and free from glaring errors. I didn't get touchy feely, nor did I use every ten cent word in my vocabulary.



Take courses that interest you. Don't be motivated by an "effort pays off" attitude. One does best when they are intrinsically motivated to do well (interest!). Just look at the people that detail here. Of course people do it for money, but they're all very very very interested in it. They do very good work. Better than the dealer that's out to make a profit? Of course. You're going to take some boring courses and courses you really don't want to take (art 100? hahaha). You detail some cars that you'd rather not detail, but you want the money. It happens, but an entire degree shouldn't be that way.



You just have to be dedicated I guess.





I don't really care to indulge in my 11th grade debacle here. I don't mind talking about it in private at all, but I don't want to talk about it here. :)
 
Pamlico said:
Congratulations!! I'm on the faculty at UR in the medical center across the street from the River Campus where you'll be located. You'll be arriving as things are changing. It's a small college, but very dynamic. We have a new president who is making good things happen. The University is growing, and there's generally a good feeling around here. Good luck.
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:) That's so good to hear. I love the campus. I think the school has a lot to offer. With that said, I think any school has a lot to offer if the student is willing. "Chance favors the prepared mind," I suppose.



I need to visit one last time before I make a decision. :)
 
Corey Bit Spank said:
:) That's so good to hear. I love the campus. I think the school has a lot to offer. With that said, I think any school has a lot to offer if the student is willing. "Chance favors the prepared mind," I suppose.



I need to visit one last time before I make a decision. :)
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Even though my daughter was accepted to UR, she decided to go to UB. However during her first semester there she realized that UB was not the place for her (too big and impersonal). She was able to reactivate her UR admission and transferred there at the end of her first year. She was much happier and had a better experience at UR.



Yes, any school has a lot to offer the willing student, but if the experiences outside the classroom are continously negative the willingness may decline.



Good luck with your decision.
 
Hm. I can't really fathom a way to pay for this. I'd love to go there, but the price premium is too high. Especially considering that I don't want to just end at my bachelors. My parents really can't afford it, and they're scared I'm going to end up in too much debt. Decisions.
 
Corey- That's great news :xyxthumbs



Despite the expense, I'd go for all the education you can get now, especially since you're in "student mindset mode". IMO it'll be a lot better to do your undergrad/grad work now rather than trying to go back part-time once you're working. Yeah, it'll cost real money, but it'll also open the doors to the careers that *pay* real money. Just my $0.02...
 
Well, I'd do it all at a cheaper school. There's no question that I want to get a professor or graduate degree. I'm going to go on. I don't know, this is a huge decision. I'm not used to making huge decisions. I guess that's why they're huge. :P
 
Good to hear that someone got into UR, I got rejected by them about a year ago this time. I ended up going to a fairly pricey private college (Florida Tech), and I don't regret the decision at all. It's going to cost me an extra 60-100,000 over state school, but in my major I'm looking at a possible 10-15,000 a year premium for having gone to the "better name" school. Over the course of your lifetime, the connections that you'll make at a more prestigous school will almost certianly cover the cost.
 
The choice is up to you in the end. UR is growing here, they are the number 1 Rochester employee. They surpassed Eastman Kodak. (I believe it was announced the first of the year or so..)



I went to St. John Fisher for one year. I commuted, and was in the pre-pharmacy program. I absolutely hated it. All because I commuted. I didn't feel like part of the college community. I did make friends on campus, but still felt..out of place. I found it much harder to study at home as well. I transferred to Niagara from SJFC and didn't regret one minute of it. I graduated with a CIS degree, now I have my own house (with my fiancee) and dog. I don't work in my graduated field, in part because the computer industry is sort of declining.



A little more into the detail of the UR area. UR is right next to Strong Hospital (internship?!) and we also offer Rochester General which is on the north side of the city, which is renowned for its heart program.



Social life, is...so-so. Its not exactly the best. There are clubs/social things to do in the area, but not the best. UR is located just south of Rochester on the border of Henrietta and Brighton. There is a ton of shopping in the area. Restaurants are a plenty. Not sure what type of shopping you're into, but all electronic stores are about 5 minutes away. For more upscale shopping, you can always jump on the Thruway to Eastview Mall in Victor.



Anyway, enough jabbering...PM if you want more details regarding the area.
 
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