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In Review

COLLEGE CLASS OF 2022‘Full Circle’ Nearly 19 years later, triplets born prematurely at Strong Memorial Hospital join the Class of 2022. By Jim Mandelaro
gelbALL TOGETHER: Matthew, Nicole, and Robert Gelb have attended school together every year since kindergarten and are now first-year students at the University. The triplets were born 11 weeks premature at Strong Memorial Hospital in 1999, weighing a combined 6.3 pounds. (Photo: J. Adam Fenster)

By the Numbers

1,397 Number of students enrolled

50/50 Ratio of female and male students in the class

20,216 Number of applications for the class (the first time applications were above 20,000)

465 Number of students admitted through the early decision program

29.4% The percentage of students who were offered admission (the lowest percentage ever)

33.5% The percentage of students from outside the United States

25.8% The percentage of students from New York state

3.8 Average high school GPA

1389 Average two-score equivalent SAT/ACT score

22% Percentage of students who are the first in their families to go to college

21.6% Percentage of students who are members of underrepresented minority groups (the highest percentage ever)

46 Number of states represented by students in the class (with additional students from Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico)

90 Number of countries represented by students in the class

Jay and Sandra Gelb ’89 became parents the morning of November 12, 1999.

And again, four hours later.

And again, five minutes after that.

The triplets were born at 29 weeks gestation—11 weeks premature—and weighed a combined 6.3 pounds.

“They were so small you could hold one in your hand,” Jay says.

Doctors at Strong Memorial Hospital cautioned the parents not to name the babies, who were given less than a 50 percent chance of survival. The bereavement for “named” infants would be longer and more painful, so they were called Baby A, Baby B, and Baby C.

“It was a very scary time,” Sandra says.

The triplets spent three months at Strong’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Sandra took the day shift, and Jay stayed nights. “Finally,” Jay says, “we got to take our babies home.”

This past August, nearly 19 years later, Matthew, Nicole, and Robert enrolled at Rochester as members of the Class of 2022—just across the street from where they were born.

“It feels like we’ve come full circle,” Nicole says. “We’re NICU graduates.”

The Gelbs joined about 1,400 of their fellow members of the College Class of 2022 this fall, a group that represents one of the most selectively drawn cohorts in Rochester’s history. Out of a record 20,243 applications, only 29.6 percent were admitted, also the lowest percentage ever (see page 21).

Matthew and Robert are enrolled in the Barry Florescue Undergraduate Business Program, aspiring to follow their father into the banking business. Nicole plans to become a special education teacher. All three have been avid swimmers since age five and are members of Rochester’s varsity team.

The triplets attended the Harley School, an independent, college preparatory school in ĚÇĐÄlogo from kindergarten through senior year. They’ve been heavily involved in the community. “We enjoy giving back,” Nicole says. “We realize how fortunate we are.”

They also continue a deep family connection to the University. In addition to their mother, who earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology, their late maternal great-grandmother, Anne Wolk ’58, graduated from Rochester. And their grandfather, Allan Wolk, who died in 2012, was a professor at the Simon Business School for 41 years.

“He’d be very happy we are continuing the family tradition at ĚÇĐÄlogo” Sandra says. “He always loved the University.”

The triplets attended numerous summer sports camps and summer precollege programs at Rochester over the years.

“We looked at other places,” Nicole says, “but nothing could compare.”

It was their choice to attend the same college.

“We always do everything together,” Robert says.

Jay sees a symmetry in how his children’s lives have evolved.

“When they were in kindergarten, they were in a play dressed as bumblebees,” he says. “Who would’ve thought that bumblebees really grow up to become Yellowjackets?”