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Why Rochester?

Hi all, it’s been a crazy few months as I’ve transitioned into my role as Midwest Regional Rep. Getting used to the new responsibility and a new city, Chicago, have been really crazy, but I finally feel like I’m getting a grasp on all the things happening at once. It is a good time for that to finally happen too, because our decisions have all been mailed and our admitted students are all making up their minds. It’s one of my favorite times of the year, but it’s extremely busy.

As a Rochester alumnus, I’m always excited to talk to students about why they might choose Rochester, and I figure readers might be interested in knowing why I chose Rochester. For me, it really came down to three things: Neat people, ridiculously good academics, and an awesome campus. I’ll go into some more detail so you have a better understanding of what grabbed my attention all those years ago.

Neat people
While it certainly has been a while since I applied to Rochester (nine years this fall!), the type of person who is attracted to Rochester hasn’t changed. Throughout the better part of the past decade, students with a real, honest desire to learn for learning's sake have found a happy home at Rochester. Whether you wake up in the morning excited about Russian history, genetics, political economy, or something else, you’ll be in good company on this campus. Something that I noticed was how excited everyone was to share a bit about their passions when I visited campus, something that really captured my attention and made me know Rochester would be a great fit. Rochester students certainly are nerdy, and I’ll be the first to admit that, but it should never be viewed as a possible negative quality.

Ridiculously good academics
Secondly, the curriculum and academic strength of the campus are fantastic. The quality of our professors, their strong research experience, and their willingness to connect and work with undergraduate students was invaluable to me leaving high school. I knew I wanted to continue in a strong academic environment after high school, and Rochester offered the rigor I sought. On top of the outstanding academics available at Rochester, the flexibility of the curriculum allowed me to explore and sample of a wide range of courses. I didn’t really know where my academic plans would lead me, but I knew that I wanted to try a variety of courses. When I finally graduated from Rochester, I walked away with such a rich variety of courses that I couldn’t possibly have done elsewhere. My transcript included things like History of the Old Testament, Polish, Spanish, American Sign Language, Russian, history, calculus, linguistics, brain and cognitive science, art history, and so much more.

An awesome campus
Finally, the campus is a special place. Bringing the first two items I spoke about together, quality academics and interesting classmates, in a beautiful setting along the Genesee River was great. Rochester really is a residential community, a global village of minds from around the United States and across the globe. The exposure to diversity of thought and experience that was afforded by the residential community aspect of Rochester was fabulous. I’ve made incredible friends and had fantastic experiences that I will continue to remember with a smile for many years to come.

Hopefully, the decision to attend Rochester is a little easier now. As always, I’m always available for questions here or via email at christopher.bierasinski@rochester.edu.

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