So today was our first official college visit! We saw University of Rochester. The short story is that it was a positive visit, super cold but very helpful.
For those interested in a longer version:
We went to a prospective student admissions day. I know there are plenty of people on CC who say it’s better not to go to these type of events, that they are more like cattle calls, that smaller, more personal ones are better. My opinion so far is that will really depend on the student. My d19 is an introvert and was comforted by the large number of other prospective students. It made her feel much more comfortable than she would have as the only “tourist” at college.
Parking was not on the main campus, but further away near the medical center campus. From my reading, it would be a roughly 20 minute walk to campus from there. However, they have shuttles which made it a short 5 minute ride. We were emailed and told where the parking garage was and given a code to access the garage for both coming and going, in staff parking. When we got there, I saw signs which was nice for making sure I was in the right place. They had a staff person manning the gate, pushing the button to make sure prospective students/parents had no trouble getting into the garage. We parked and caught the bus with no wait. The bus was exactly like Disney buses we’ve ridden when visiting WDW, which made d feel at home. We were dropped off within sight of the starting point of the day, a large auditorium.
Inside the auditorium was a large table set up with pastries (muffins, danishes and more), fresh fruit, hot beverages, canned juices and bottled water. There were tables with folders prepared for each student. Each folder had their names and hometowns on the front. Inside was a pen, notepad, dining ticket for the whole family, a paper listing this semesters classes that are available to have students sit in on including location and time, itinerary, a reminder of the engineering tour we were signed up for, and a couple of papers we must not have had interest in because I don’t remember what they were. The backside of the folder had a campus map. I loved that because we didn’t have to keep pulling a map out all day. We listened to the admissions presentation. Pretty standard type thing, they did try to make sure to emphasize what makes UR stand out from other places. Next we were signed up to see hear the financial aid and application presentations but d wasn’t interested, it’s probably still early for them anyway, and there was a class she was interested in sitting in on. So, we did that instead.
She chose to sit in on a large lecture hall general chemistry class. We got to the building early and did a little people watching. We happened to see the older sister of one of d’s friends walk by. We chatted with her for a few minutes and then went to school. Miraculously, the world didn’t end when I stepped into a science class! I counted and there were roughly 150 students in the class. Since it’s a Friday and the first super cold day this season, I’m betting there were some who are in the class but didn’t show up today. It was a 50 minute class and the most shocking thing to me was there were students who actually arrived up to 20 minutes into class! Maybe it’s the old lady in me, but I kept thinking “no one did that when I was in college!” The professor was very personable. I was very impressed that at the end of the class when he gave the students an opportunity to ask questions, he would respond to them by first saying their names. I was surprised that even in such a large into class, the professor would take the time to learn names. D was happy she chose a class she was familiar with because she understood the concepts (she is currently in AP chem) and it made the whole idea of college seem less overwhelming. It was a very positive experience. Definitely worth blowing off the boring presentations.
Next we went to lunch. We had a choice between 2 dining halls. I looked them up and saw menus and we picked the one that had tacos for lunch today. We are not really foodies and are not sophisticated eaters, so others may not agree with our assessment, but we really enjoyed it. There were lots of options. I tried as many as I could fit in my belly. I had fries, rice with beans and pico (I’m vegetarian so I skipped the meat and decided I didn’t want the taco shell), spinach ricotta pizza, salad, tofu with rice, ice cream, cake, and about 4 flavors of Diet Pepsi since they had sort of mini coke freestyle like machines. The only food I wouldn’t eat again was the tofu. D agreed that I do a better job with it. D had a buffalo chicken sandwich and thought it was really good. They had loads of other food. Kosher items, baked eggplant, fish, meatball subs, made to order pasta, pad Thai… probably much more I’m not thinking of. They also had many types of seating. Large booths, different size tables and also counters that surrounded some of the different prep areas. It might feel large and chaotic with many different food stations through the area, but I’m sure students get used to it quickly. I really liked that it was a place you could come and eat with a group of friends or stop by and eat by yourself if your classes don’t line up with friends and either way you can be comfortable. I say this as someone who clearly remembers a semester where I didn’t have a Tuesday/Thursday lunch that ever lined up with friends and eating alone in a crowded dining hall with only large table seating was awkward. We didn’t know how nice that variety would be until we saw it, but now we are hoping it’s something we will see at more colleges we visit.
After lunch we listened to a student panel. It was nice to hear their perspectives. They were nice and helpful. D liked hearing about the study abroad opportunities and the admissions counselor said they are especially trying to financially encourage engineering majors to study abroad.
Next we did a general tour. There were maybe 8 students who introduced themselves and let us pick who to go with. D chose an engineering major who mentioned an interest in sign language (guide thinks she will have enough credits for a minor) and d liked the sound of that combo. She did a great job. We saw study areas in one of the libraries, saw a real freshman dorm room (not a model), athletic center, student union. We then went to the engineering tour and had the same tour guide. We saw all of the engineering departments and saw many of the features. We saw some of the 3 d printed items, a couple of different projects, etc.
In the end, d felt she could see herself there. She knows that it may end up being out of our price range and says that her heart isn’t set on it either. She thinks she will be good with whatever college has her major and is in our price range and isn’t too concerned. The visit helped her to imagine herself at college in general and not feel so overwhelmed by the idea. She also thinks that architecture isn’t going to matter to her because it doesn’t look much different to her than other colleges she has briefly seen for school events (she never toured them, would only go into one building and one room so I don’t know if she saw enough to determine that). Of course, since it was windy with temps in the low 20’s and feels like temps in the low teens, we had our heads down the whole time outside and probably weren’t checking the architecture out as closely as we would in nicer weather.
So, in the end, the only negative to the day was that I ended up with chapped lips.
