mdinan

Double Degree Plus Double Major

UR's open curriculum gave me time to pursue 3 majors on 2 degrees in my 4 years there. (BS: Math BA: Economics, Religion) I went in as a Math major and just discovered I had time to take more than one.

The Math department is very collaborative. Some professors are great, others are horrible, but almost all of them encourage collaboration on homework and the like. The classes are generally small, save for Calculus. The more honors and upper level courses you take, the more theoretical the coursework is, which can be a big change in mindset for many people.

The religion department is nothing but a diversion and a grade booster. The courses taught are all skewed in a very secular/progressive fashion, often at the expense of actually reporting history with any degree of accuracy. Some classes will require 2 papers per week, others will require 200+ pages of reading per week, but it's not a very challenging major overall.

The Economics department is very impersonal. The sheer number of students who take economics makes most of the classes fairly large, so it's hard to get to know professors unless you make a concerted effort. Some of them are absolutely brilliant, fascinating lecturers, but most of the TA's and less-decorated instructors do not speak English well at all.

Nerdy School's Libraries Are Better Than Social Areas

Most of the campus is very beautiful, though some spaces are underutilized. Wilson Commons is not really the hub of campus life. Whereas most other colleges have a well-used student union, Wilson Commons is mostly just hallways and staircases connecting places to eat and for clubs to meet.

Rush Rhees and Carlson libraries are awesome. Lots of students spend quite a bit of time in the libraries. There's plenty of quiet space, and plenty of collaborative space.

Goergen athletic center was just renovated about 7 years ago, and it's generally sufficient for the student body. It all depends on the time of day how crowded it is. The best times to go to the gym are between classes.

There If You Want It

Most people on campus drink at least sometimes, and probably half smoke weed. Cigarettes are actually far less common than at most colleges. It all depends where you live, where you hang out, and what you do. There's drunken debauchery on the frat quad, but it's by no means all-encompassing. There's not much "classy drinking" so to speak...the vast majority of people drink whatever is the cheapest. The school has cracked down on lots of the fun activities, so more binge drinking happens in dorm rooms rather than at more social events.