<p>We visited FIT last year--my son is interested in it and I wanted a trip to Florida so all was good. He loved the school. </p>
<p>He is a pretty good student and has been accepted at several other schools in addition to FIT --when we ask advice on decision time FIT always seems to be the lowest in peoples opionions. Any reason? </p>
<p>My son is leaning to RIT (ROcehster NY) but I have to admit , I thought FIT was prettier and had nicer dorms. But I am a mom. He needs the best education I guess, not pretty dorms.</p>
<p>I’m not a student, I’ve just grown up in town near FIT and locally it has an excellent reputation. If your son is interested in working for NASA or a local corporation like Harris, he might want to give FIT a second look. I would think that this school would be ideal for engineering majors, given the opportunity for internships with Harris, Rockwell Collins, Northrop Grumman, General Electric and other local corporations in such a relatively small town with a lower level of competition for interships. </p>
<p>I would imagine that while FIT has a great reputation locally, people are turned off to it because it is relatively unknown nationally. It’s only been around for 50 years, and it’s in a relatively small city in Florida. I don’t think that they spend much money promoting the university on a national scale. </p>
<p>Also, your son should be aware that aside from going to the beach in the fall and summer, there is nothing interesting to do in town.</p>
<p>Orlando and its theme parks 1-2 hours away. With a very inexpensive florida resident annual pass, this is a day trip for those that like ride, Disney or Universal or . . .</p>
<p>I am both a graduate and current student (MS Operations Research) at FIT and I would say the school is one of those good schools that no one has ever heard of yet. It is rapidly building and an exceptional reputation and as an up and coming school it maybe among the best times to be a part of it as during these times new academic programs are developing and evolving which makes the possiblities for mixing and matching disparate courses or creating specializations that are specifically tailored to your interest unparalleled. This is no way disparaging RIT who is a well established institution with an outstanding reputation as well but in the end it about what a curriculum will do for you as an individual and what you want to do with your career when the time comes. I would also consider the possibilities of dual degree programs, joint BS/MS programs or transitional dual credit programs where upper level bachelors course count for graduate credit that can be a significant time and money saver should that of concern to a family or a student who would like to finish college with minimal debt. Best of Luck with your decision and your future endeavors.</p>
<p>student4ever, this info is still accurate. I agree with pretty much everything that’s been said.</p>
<p>I came to FIT because I want to work at NASA. I heard they hire a lot of FIT grads and a lot of people from NASA go to FIT to continue their education. Even I don’t make it to NASA, there are a lot of other good companies around here too.</p>
<p>There are only 5,000 students on the main campus. Most of people discuss things through an email list called fitforum. Too bad it’s not open to the public.</p>