Free course choice, supportive staff, and the usual problems
Quite frankly, one of the biggest draws of the University of Rochester is our open curriculum. Don't want to take math ever again? Well, then you probably won't need to. Think required gym was stupid? Good, you don't need that either, but if you do decide to take one, that's fine too. What happens is that all the classes are split into 3 different categories: Humanities, Natural Science and Social Science. Your major, once declared, will fall into one of the three categories. The remaining two categories require the completion of two clusters, one in each remaining category. The clusters are 3 related classes and there are a ton of choices. So many that I see multiple classes I would love to take, but simply don't have room for.
A large majority of the teachers really want to see you do well, and there are a ton of options if you are struggling. I have teachers who know every person's name in a 100 person lecture hall. We're a small school, and I wouldn't change it as it's a small town feel with the option of the big city right there. Seriously, take the Red Line of our busing options and there's the city!
You will get people who go "Oh, Rochester, RIT right?" when you tell them where you are going. I know I did in my hometown. However, the University has a name and a reputation so while the average person on the street in my hometown thought RIT, my primary care doctor, and the nursing staff knew exactly where I was going and were thrilled for me.
Dealing with the financial aid offices can be frustrating at times, but I see that at almost every school that my friends go to and my brother went to. Sometimes people are not as responsive via email as I would like, or the email goes into the spam box, but these are both fixable problems. There is a price tag, and that was, and still is, the biggest drawback. College is expensive, but I cannot see myself anywhere but here at the University of Rochester.