<p>I have recently been looking into schools for a computer science major. I keep hearing carnegie mellon and cornell and such from everyone, but i really have taken a liking to Rochester Institute of Technology. There are several reasons why i like it, but i want to know what some of you think. I am a little concerned on how the reputation of the school will reflect on applying for a job or if i decide to go on to graduate school which i most likely will. I know it isnt considered to be an "elite" school, but i think it has a very good program and if i do very well there will i still have a chance at getting into a top grad school? Also, i hope to get into the honors program there, will that give me any advantages for grad school? Anything on RIT and how it compares to some other schools would be greatly appreciated. Other schools i plan on applying to are CMU, Cornell, RPI, Syracuse, and some others, but those are my main choices right now. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Interestingly, I was looking at both RIT and CMU for my daughter too. RIT is basically a similar but lessor version, and less expensive version of Carnegie Mellon, without the drama school. It does provide a very good technical education in engineering, computers as well as having a very strong visual arts department. Thus, in that way there is both artsy types and computer types, just like CMU.</p>
<p>Right now, Carnegie Mellon has the better reputation in computers. No question. However, RIT is definitely rising. Also, RIT has one of the strongest co-op programs in the country that are fully paid too! This leads to a lot of job opportunities and actual real world experience. </p>
<p>The benefits of RIT are: GREAT co-op experience with good job offer possibilities, about $10,000 cheaper per year than CMU. (CMU tuition is over $31K while RIT is $21,400)</p>
<p>Lots of majors to choose from, and it is easier to switch majors and departments than that of CMU. This is a major difference between RIT and CMU. Surprisingly, many people do switch majors. It is more difficult to do this at CMU than that of RIT since you have to be accepted to each school at CMU.</p>
<p>Most courses are taught by professors and class size is small by tech school standards. Not a lot of snootiness at RIT, and it has better food ( if student comments are correct)</p>
<p>Also, RIT has about 150 points lower, on the average, combined SATs.(CMU median is about 1360, RIT is about 1210 as a median) Thus, if you are a very good student, you stand a better shot of getting into the honors program and getting a merit based award at RIT than that of CMU, which accentuates the price differential. Also, with the co-op program, RIT is even cheaper than noted. You don't pay tuition while working in the co-op, and the pay can be quite good per hour. You can earn almost a whole quarter tuition from one quarter of co-op.</p>
<p>Finally, for the most part, RIT offers mostly undergraduate degrees with a few masters programs. Its emphasis is on undergraduate education.</p>
<p>Benefits of CMU: Better overall reputation, especially good in computer science and Robotics. SATs are about 150 points more as a combined average for the median student. CMU has a semester system vs. RIT quarter system ( however, quarter system does have its pros and cons, but it is especially good for internships).
Both schools are about equally computer wired. RIT,however is about twice the size in terms of number of students than that of CMU.
At CMU, you also get a bit more diversity such as having more international students. Also, CMU was rated by U.S. News ( I think it was they) as a top school for getting jobs. Thus, these kids don't seem to suffer a lack of job offers. However, it is my opinion that having a co-op program does give an edge over schools that don't have a strong co-op or internship program.</p>
<p>RIT emphasizes job skills and job connections. I get the feeling that CMU for science is more research oriented.Not that RIt doesn't have a lot of research going on,but I feel that there is more of an emphasis on research at CMU.Dorms are supposedly better at RIT.</p>
<p>Also CMU is about 60% male and 40% femaile. RIt is about 66% male and 33% female. RIT is a totally dry campus in dorms. No drinking is allowed in RIT dorms,but you can drink at campus bars.</p>
<p>As you can see, I spent a lot of time examining both schools.This should give you a good overview. Check out each school and see how much money each gives you.</p>
<p>One more fact that I forgot to mention. College prowler got some information on average salaries for individual majors for both CMU and RIT. One would think that CMU graduates, with the much higher SATs and harder studying environment, and emphasis on research, would make a lot more money than that of RIT grads. This would be especially necessary considering the great tuition differential. Surprisingly, however, average starting salary is about $2,000-$3000 per year more for CMU for the respective majors, which raises the question of "whether the big tuition differential is warranted?" You can check out these statistics by going to <a href="http://www.collegeprowler.com%5B/url%5D">www.collegeprowler.com</a> and getting both the CMU book and RIT book.</p>
<p>I should note that I do not know how accurate College Prowler is regarding their information. You may want to ask the schools and check out the information yourself.</p>
<p>Also, as for RPI, it has a great reputation,but not as good, in my opinion, as CMU,but slightly better than RIt. RPI is in Troy, however. Check out its location. Also, they have a horrible male/felmale ratio.</p>
<p>Syracuse has, in my opinion, the least reputation for the sciences of those mentioned. It has about the same SATs as RIT. Syracuse has a lot of liquor violations. It is reknown as a "fun party school." My daughter, however, went there for a pre-college art program and love it. Thus, you need to check it out.</p>
<p>I really don't think you can really compare CMU and RIT next to each other since they are both two totally different types of schools. Whereas CMU is a PhD research institution, RIT emphasizes on undergraduates (as it's highest is masters and their masters program is new). You can still do research at RIT, but as both schools are totally different, its hard to compare them....</p>
<p>RIT has a good CS program. Another CS school to consider is Northeastern Universtity in Boston. It has the #1 internship progam in the country, an amazing campus, and a new $110 million dollar. Computer Science facility. Check it out: <a href="http://www.ccs.neu.edu/buildingh/%5B/url%5D">http://www.ccs.neu.edu/buildingh/</a></p>
<p>Plus Boston is the mecca of college towns. The entire city caters to college students. Other schools to consider are Boston U, and Tufts.</p>
<p>I don't know if Northeastern is better or worse than RIT in CS. I would doubt that Northeastern is better than RIT considering RIT is a technical school and has a strong technical orientation. However, I do know that RIT is about $5,000-$6,000 cheaper in tuition per year than Northeastern and has a very strong co- op program akin to Northeastern. Also, I think that room and board in Rochester is a lot cheaper than that of Boston, especially for off campus housing. Of course, Northeastern is in Boston while RIt is in Rochester.</p>
<p>Um, Northeastern has the #1 rated co-op/internship program in the WORLD! RIT's program might be decent, but definately not better than NEU. The top CS companies actively recruit at NEU, like Microsoft, Sun, EMC, Cisco, etc.</p>
<p>Boston >> Rochester
NEU Campus/Facilities >> RIT Campus/Facilities
NEU Co-op program >> RIT Co-op program
24,000 students competing for 2800 spots at NEU versus 70% Acceptance rate at RIT</p>
<p>Nuff said.</p>
<p>Both RIT and Northeastern have good CS and co-op programs. The question is whether you want to be in Boston or Rochester. I prefer Boston but that's just me. Some people may prefer Rochester (closer to home less expensive etc).</p>
<p>Hi everyone!!</p>
<p>I go to RPI and I can say that the CS program is great up here. However, you'll be a minority sort of since 60% of the school is engineering majors. CS and physics are the next most common thing, but engineering is what RPI is all about. It's our strong point.</p>