<p>My son is seriously considering RIT so it would be nice to know more about what to expect for first year housing. Can freshmen get into special interest housing or are too few slots available? Will it be harder to get a good room if he waits until mid April to decide? </p>
<p>My D was not interested in special interest housing, but as I understand it’s kind of aimed at integrating Freshmen. It is competitive admission, but even if you don’t live on the floor you can be an “off floor” member and do activities with the group. My D lives in Kate Gleason (the dorm with the big clock) and likes it a lot. It is very cramped for kids not used to sharing space though. She has learned to be neat(er). </p>
<p>RIT Grad here: I lived in special interest housing my first 2 years. Some houses are more competitive than others. Its def nice for meeting people and typically the floors are like a family/club. We’d have events and go to other events on campus together. Typically the special interest houses try to have a certain percentage of “upper classmen” return so the whole floor isnt freshman year to year, but most upper classmen aren’t fighting to stay either (there are several on campus apt communities and new–built within the last 3 years) so slots arent the problem as much as the amount of incoming freshman who might apply to them. Either way if he doesn’t get into the special interest housing he will be placed somewhere. And just as an FYI the special interest houses arent by any means the best dorms to live in conditions wise. The building i was in had no ac no elevator and no laundry.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input! @jqc8504 I’d be interested to know which special interest house you were in. And I saw that you applied to do a masters at MIT – did you get accepted after the initial snafu?</p>