University of Rochester
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: History
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: Hispanic Heterosexual Female
Summary
I am on the club soccer team. I am also part of WRUR radio station.
Background
Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Hispanic
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
High School Experience: I went to a public school in Westchester, NY and there were about 130 people in my class
Major: History
Minor: None
Extracurricular Activities: I am on the club soccer team and we do something called Grassroots Soccer where we coach local girls on the weekend and we go to local high schools and teach about sexual health. I am also part of WRUR radio station.
Academic Experience
What was your weekly coursework for the humanities courses you took last year?
Mostly reading and essays. We had nightly reading and about three essays a semester.
Is there anything that you feel the History department does especially well or especially poorly?
It’s a pretty close-knit community. I know a lot of my professors and I know a lot of other people in the department, so it’s easy to make connections and find research.
Can you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It’s collaborative rather than competitive. If there’s a big exam coming up, a lot of students will put together a study guide so we all have the same notes.
Reasons to Attend
1) The tight-knit academic community, depending on your major. You’re going to know your professors and the fellow people in your major.
2) The city is relatively nice. You can go out, you can go get food in the city.
3) I personally think the community and the people there are such nice people. Everyone is very chill and very accepting. It’s not a very high-strung school.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) If you can’t handle the cold, don’t come.
2) If you’re expecting a huge crazy party scene, it’s not going to be that.
3) If you want a big city, like New York City or Boston, you’re not going to be in the city.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: I lived in Gilbert Hall, which is on the freshman quad, and I had one roommate. We had a pretty big room, we got lucky.
Sophomore: Wilder Hall in a suite. There are six people in my suite but I have a single room.
How was transitioning from living outside of New York City to Rochester, NY?
It’s different, but not as different as I thought it would be. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. There’s more in Rochester than people would expect. It’s gentrifying a little bit, there are a lot of little hipster areas. Freshmen aren’t allowed to have cars, so it’s a little bit harder to get around. If you know an upperclassman or if you know how to bus places it’s pretty easy.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
On campus has been extremely safe. I’m a late-night person, so I’ll walk back to my dorm at like 4:00 AM and I have never felt unsafe. It’s a city, so you can’t be stupid. You’re not going to be walking around at 3:00 AM in a dark alley. If you’re going to go off campus late at night, just be smart about it.
What is your favorite off-campus restaurant?
Macarollin
What is your favorite place to get away from campus?
Genesee Valley Park. It’s really pretty and it’s walkable from campus. It’s nice to just go there and hang out.
Social Opportunities
What kind of nightlife do you like to participate in?
I go to frat parties. I usually will go out to a frat on Friday and Saturday night. Sometimes on the weekends we’ll go to a nightclub in Rochester, but not often.
What have been some of your favorite days and nights at Rochester?
Hallow-weekend is really fun. Syllabus week is fun. Then D-Day, or Dandelion Day, is like our big party weekend.
Can you describe a typical night going out freshman year?
The first semester I went out more, but I went to more general frat parties. There’s a website called the Campus Community Connection and a frat can put up that they’re having an open party. First semester I’d go to a lot of those open parties. Then second semester I went to a lot more mixers than I did frat parties. Mixers are closed events and you need to have an invite. You get the invite usually through a club you’re a part of, or you know someone in the frat, or you know someone in a sorority that’s going and you can tag along.
How happy are you with the nightlife at Rochester? If you could change anything, what would you change?
No, I am pretty happy with it. I’m not a huge partier, and there are not any crazy parties here. They’re pretty calm, but I’ve had fun at them.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
My closest friend was my roommate, and we met at an accepted student’s event and then requested each other. The majority of the rest of my closest friends were on my hall, or I did clubs with them.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Rochester?
It’s really nice. Everyone’s very kind. I would say almost everyone has a friend group or a friend. There are not that many loners, and even the loners have friends.
To what extent do students of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I have friends of all different races and sexual orientations, so I would say pretty well. There’s a little bit of a barrier between international students and domestic students. That is more of a divide just because they have a different orientation than us, so they find their friends a little differently. Like, I have an international friend and I feel like she had to make a choice between being friends with international students or domestic students.
In terms of sexual orientation, everyone is extremely open. It’s crazy. It’s really great. One of the [most popular places to go out] is a gay nightclub and everyone goes. In terms of race, I think it’s good. I’m White-Latino but I don’t speak Spanish and the Latino’s have been very accepting of me and the White people have been very accepting of me.
Do you think that people are happy with their choice of Rochester by senior year?
Yes, I do. People love Rochester.
Careers
What have you used the career office for?
They actually reached out to me. It was hard to get in touch with them as a freshman until grades came out, and then after grades came out and they saw I had higher grades it was a lot easier to get in touch with them, which was kind of annoying. I used them to look at summer internships I could get. I also used the campus career office to look at on-campus jobs for this upcoming semester.