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University of Rochester, Bachelors in Computer Science and Mathematics
Reviewed on Jan 24, 2025(Enrolled 2022)What Students Say
Likes
- Very flexible course selection - you're able to drop/add courses for 3 weeks into the semester
- Decent food with a fairly good variety as well - Asian, American, Italian
- Very good research opportunities - research is quite accessible and it allows for valuable practical experience
Dislikes
- Credit limit (24) can be a bit restrictive at times, as even getting 24 credits requires an entire application process (and they rarely accept)
- CS department is not the largest, and most of the CS professors leave a lot to be desired (but there are a few gems for sure!). I've had a fairly good experience with non-CS professors (math, physics, creative writing) though.
- Indian food is not very easy to find, and quite subpar in quality.
Required Exams for Admission
Course Curriculum
8
- The CS and Math curriculums are fairly diverse, but they do seem a bit too much on the theoretical side at times.
- Almost every course, barring a few project-based ones, have exams. However, with the relatively easily accessible research opportunities, I was able to obtain more practical experience! It's also possible to reach out to professors for independent study (for credit), to obtain the same practical experience.
Admission Experience
- Universities I Applied to:
- Worcester Polytechnic – Accepted
- Indian University (Bloomington) – Accepted
- Rochester Institute of Technology – Accepted
- University of Rochester – Accepted
- Drexel University – Accepted
- Purdue University – Accepted
- Cornell – Rejected
- Georgia Tech – Waitlisted
- University of North Carolina – Rejected
- Case Western University – Rejected
- I think my academics were very good, but my profile was not very holistic. I didn't have many co-curriculars I was consistent with, and I think that was the main reason I wasn't accepted by some of the universities.
- University of Rochester was the best ranked university, overall and for CS, that I was accepted into! While this was the main factor, I also knew someone who had gone to that university and they highly recommended it as well. I also liked the fact that it was liberal arts (over the other technical colleges I had gotten into) as it would allow me to explore all my diverse interests!
- Regarding the admission process, it's test-optional so doesn't require SAT score but I did submit mine. It does require a letter of recommendation, and transcripts. While it is test-optional it does require some English proficiency test for non-native English speakers. For the TOEFL, a 100 is recommended. For IELTS, 7.5 is recommended.
- There weren't any challenges or highlights in particular! I did have the help of my friend at UofR who wrote a recommendation letter, but otherwise the process was pretty straightforward - test-optional and no interviews. It's one of the last universities I had applied to (March 2022), and I also heard back from them pretty quickly.
- I applied for Regular Decision (Fall 2022). It was one of the last colleges I applied to, so I sent out the application towards the end of February/ first week of March. UofR took about a month to revert back, and I heard of my acceptance in the first week of April. I believe the turn-around is usually quite fast, especially since no interview is required. It had a pretty high rated CS program, in addition to a beautiful campus - which were the predominant reasons I applied.
Class Schedule
8
- Usually, I had a maximum of 2-3 classes a day (each of which were 75 minutes long).
- There are a few 9 am classes, especially for first-years, but otherwise most classes take place between 10 am - 4 pm, at fairly reasonable times.
- Not many Indian students are enrolled in my course. For instance, for the class of 2026, 24% are international - but there was a rise in Indian students enrolled from the previous year.
- I've seen more Indian students at the graduate level, than at the undergraduate level.
Faculty
6
- The faculty-to-student ratio is 9:1, and I think it's a fairly good ratio! Classes seem fairly personal and focussed, barring the huge classes for first-years.
- Most of the professors for CS are not particularly to my liking - they're all tenured, and some of them aren't very interested in teaching.
- There are some gems however, who try very hard to make the course engaging and keep improving on it from semester to semester! George Ferguson and Adam Purtee, from the CS Department, are perfect examples of this.
- Unfortunately, faculty don't really assist students in finding part-time or full-time jobs.
Campus Life
8
- 2 Campus:
- River Campus and
- Eastman School of Music.
- River Campus is the main campus with a football field, gym, swimming pool, baseball field, tennis courts, basketball courts etcetera. Dandelion Day and Meliora Weekend are two exciting times with guest speakers, food trucks, games on the quad etcetera.
- There are a few cultural student organizations such as the Hindu Student Association, Muslim Student Association, among others - which allow the opportunity to meet other Indians!
Part Time Jobs
- There are several TA positions available on campus (limit of 1 per department). It's also fairly easy to find research opportunities! The pay range, however, is usually minimum wage ($15.20 per hour). It's pretty easy to reach out and apply for TA/RA positions!
- Other on-campus jobs include building managers, IT Helpdesk workers, and working at dining services (such as coffee shops on campus). All of these have the same minimum wage page, however. The maximum hours allowed to work per week is 20!
- Overall, it's not that hard to secure part time jobs as there's an online portal with a list of all jobs you can apply too and TA/RA position openings are made known via department emails.
- Again, it's pretty easy to get a part-time job on campus. The typical pay is $15.20 (minimum wage), and the usual process is looking for opening online (portal), getting a response, followed by a single round interview.
- The application process does involve submitting a resume, and a short personal statement focussed on how we aim to make the university "ever better" (UofR's motto).
Placement
8
- 95% of graduates secure employment within 6 months. For Computer Science, 70% were able to find a job last year.
- The average, according to research, for CS students is about $82000.
- Unfortunately, campus recruitment is not that big for CS (only for pre-med and engineering), so applying online and networking is the best way to do so.
- Internships and research experience help a lot as well.
- Many people use LinkedIn and Handshake to help with the job search. Some have been placed as SWEs at Dell, Microsoft, and other companies - so outcomes are fairly positive.
Accommodation
Off Campus
8
- I opted for living on-campus, and it costs roughly $11000 per academic year.
- There were no challenges faced, and it's pretty easy to get a single after the first year! In my third year, I have a single which is quite spacious and even has a sink.
- One can find accommodation in college town (off-campus) as well, but then financial aid gets lower too - so I think for international students staying on campus would be the best idea.
Exams
- Only TOEFL/IELTS are required for non-native speakers, with a minimum score of 100 for TOEFL, and 7.5 for IELTS.
- Supplemental questions are required, and 1 LOR is needed too.
- I applied via CommonApp so I also had to complete the essay question, which is required by most universities - including UofR.
- There was no interview as part of the application process.
Fees
- Currently, the rough breakdown follows for annual charges.
- Tuition $65000
- Housing $11000
- Meal Plan $4000
- Health Insurance $2000
- Fees are charged semester-wise (for the Fall and Spring semesters separately).
- In addition to this, monthly fees are probably $300-350 for eating from outside occasionally, taking Ubers, and other miscellaneous activities.
Scholarship
- While applying, I did not find any scholarships one could specifically apply for - especially international students. However, I learnt that they automatically consider you for scholarships with the college application itself! The scholarships are called Dean's Scholarship and Rochester National Grant.
- They amount to about $30,000 per academic year, in addition to a waiver of the health insurance fee.
- Most of my batch mates, especially international students, received roughly the same amount of aid as me.
- According to USNews, the average aid given overall is roughly $58,000 but this number greatly varies for international students.
- I'm not totally sure what the average is for international students, but I know a few people from India who have received a similar amount as me ($30,000 per academic year), so I assume that's about the average.
