The University of Rochester

“I volunteered quite a bit during high school, wasMay 05 2004Public Health
I volunteered quite a bit during high school, was active in club activities, and went to a highly selective New York City high school that you will soon find that an awful lot of people here seem to have gone to. I also had an SAT score in the high 1400's, and wrote a somewhat well worked on essay for my application. I took several SAT II's and back then they still allowed you to release only the scores you wanted released so I showed the scores that were above 700.
However, I did NOT do so well average-wise in high school, doing so poorly junior year that my average both semesters was in the 70's. As you may have heard many times, junior year is "the most important year". Judging by some of my rejections (from colleges which were previously safeties), this might in fact be true. Nonetheless, UR seemed to be willing to forgive this fault of mine and accept me as I had improved my grades back to their previous status by senior year. Don't take this to mean that I'm happy with this school because they were the only ones to accept me-they weren't. I had the choice of another Tier one university along with all the Universities in the State University of New York system. But it does show that their acceptance process is willing to look at your academic career as a whole, and the things you've done outside of school, along with your essay and decide based on you as a whole. And I for one appreciated that they were one of the universities who could deal with a person having made mistakes academically.
SAT: 1480 Male

“I applied not through the common application, but throughApr 08 2004Public Health
I applied not through the common application, but through the application provided on their web site. I took the SATs and 3 SAT IIs (though I don't think they're required), and sent in an essay. I would recommend that any interested student visits for more than 2 days, and possibly more than one time- the weather is great in the fall and spring (which hasn't yet started- it's April), but the campus is completely different in winter.
SAT: 1280 Female

“Write an outstandingSep 27 2003English
Write an outstanding essay. UR looks for intellectual curiosity and courage in students, and encourages a great deal of academic exploration in the time they spend at UR. Show them you are up for the challenge.
ACT: 33 SAT: 1470 Female

“Personally I was really worried about not getting inDec 17 2002Psychology
Personally I was really worried about not getting in. I'm from a small school and a small town and I didn't have many of the opportunties that other students did. My best advice is get one or two REALLY GOOD recommendations and be honest in your essay. You need to have above average grades, at least 3.0 GPA or better, but the school is really wants diversity so if they think you're unique and are decently smart, you have a good chance. The financial aid package is really good, so even if you don't think you can afford it go ahead and apply. They'll even waive the application fee.
ACT: 29 SAT: 1260 Female