Rochester is a heavily research-oriented university which has been proclaimed a new ivy league institution for its highly-rated degree programmes Sited in upstate New York, the University of Rochester is one of America’s oldest (estb.1850) and most distinguished institutions, offering highly-rated degree programmes in over 55 disciplines, with students given the freedom to club differing subjects and design their own curriculums. Its four massive campuses host a comprehensive Medical Centre, the world-renowned Eastman School of Music and several other faculties of global reputation, and its 96,000 alumni include Pulitzer prize winners, highly accomplished scholars and researchers, talented artists and musicians. The 2007 Kaplan/Newsweek How to Get into College Guide has proclaimed Rochester New Ivy League institution whose academic programmes and students rival those of traditional Ivy League colleges. “For more than 150 years, the faculty, students, alumni, and staff of Rochester have been challenging themselves as a community of scholars to advance knowledge, to break new intellectual ground, and to improve the lives of those around them, in Rochester and around the world. The talented, diverse, and dedicated group of people who make Rochester what it is, share a nationally recognised record of achievement that will grow in the future,” says Joel Seligman, president of the university. Rochester is a heavily research-oriented university where every member of its 1,258-strong faculty is also a researcher who studies subjects first-hand and tests his research output in the classroom. Though it offers both undergraduate and posgtrad programmes, it is essentially an undergrad institution with an enrollment of 4,608 students and an enviable teacher-pupil ratio of 1:12. Moreover its $1.52 billion and growing endowment corpus enables it to provide generous financial aid to deserving students. In 2005-06, it gave away $45 million in scholarships. Rochester. Located on the southern shore of Lake Ontario in the Finger Lakes area of upstate New York, Rochester (pop. 1.2 million) is the third largest city in New York state. Popularly christened The World’s Image Centre, as it hosts the head offices of several leading hi-tech corporates such as Eastman Kodak, Xerox Corporation, and Bausch & Lomb, it also boasts a large number of small, hi-tech companies which offer graduate students many employment options in business and industry. Moreover Rochester offers students exciting off-campus diversions which include a vibrant night life, shopping centres, the Seneca Park Zoo, Barge Canal, Finger Lakes, GeVa theatre, Memorial Art Gallery, and many outdoor recreation options such as boating and skiing. The city’s climate is to a great extent determined by its proximity to Lake Ontario. Summers are warm and pleasant; winters are cold and snowy; and spring and fall usually pleasant. Campus facilities. Sited in a bend of the Genesee river, about two miles south of downtown Rochester, the eponymous university’s campuses are aesthetic blends of brick and stone buildings. The 85 acre River Campus is the university’s main activity centre where the majority of undergraduates live and learn. The hub and nerve of student life is Wilson Commons. Designed by globally renowned architect J.M. Pei,…
