Overview of our visit to RIT (Rochester Institute of Tech)

Parents Forum
1

<p>We just had a tour of RIt (Rochester Institute of Technology). Our tour guide majored in New Media Design, which is what my daughter is interested in. </p>

<p>After reading a number of negative comments in Studentreviews.com and finding out that they have some of the lowest 6 year retention rates in the nation ( under 60% graduate within 6 years), I wanted to check out the school for myself.</p>

<li>Academics: As one professor noted, RIT is aiming to be the next Carnegie Mellon within 10-20 years. I can definitely see the similarities. RIT has seven schools and an institute for the deaf. They are:</li>
</ol>

<p>College Abbreviations<br>
CAST - Applied Science & Technology
CCIS - Computing & Information Sciences
CIAS - Imaging Arts & Sciences ( design, photography, printing, and immaging science studies)
CLA - Liberal Arts
COB - Business
COE - Engineering
COS - Science
NTID - Nat’l Technical Institute for the Deaf </p>

<p>There are a lot of deaf students on campus taking courses.</p>

<p>Average SATs are 1210, math 620 and verbal 590. I suspected that if you major in science and engineering, you would need a higher math score. I met a few engineering and computer science kids whose average math SAT were around 650-670. These interviews may not be statistically valid.</p>

<p>Overall, RIT academics is very underrated and underappreciated. They have some top professors. US News and World Reports gave them a 4.1 out of 5.0 in peer reviews. CMU has a 4.3 by the way. Student teacher ratio is around 13:1. This should be contrasted to that of CMU with a 9:1 student teacher ratio. </p>

<p>The school works their kids like dogs. In this way, it is similar to CMU. Make no mistake, these kids are expected to work hard and at a high level. However, that is part of the problem. The students are not quite up to the level ( at least on paper) as their CMU counterparts. </p>

<p>Most students that I met came to RIT because they didn’t get admitted to MIT, CMU, Cornell or were give great scholarship money or they lived in the area and didn’t want to attend school far away. This is not to say that the student body isn’t smart. However, they are a few notches under what is found in the top schools at least in engineering and science.</p>

<p>I should note that design students are very top notch. There is a large number of applications for a relatively small number of spots, making their school of immaging sciences very tough to get into.</p>

<p>RIT also has some interesting majors that you won’t find elsewhere such as printing, photographic sciences,New Media Design, New Media Printing etc. They are very tied in to Bausch and Lomb; thus, anything to do with photography is especially strong.</p>

<p>RIT also has a very strong co-op program where you get real world experience and get well paid for this work. Supposedly one-third of the students who particpate in co-op get full-time job offers. This is one factor that clearly distinguishes RIT from other institutions. </p>

<p>AP polciy is also very liberal. Generally, if you get a “3” or more on an exam, you get credit. I don’t know if they limit the total number of courses that they will accept AP credit. This should be compared to schools like CMU that requires 4’s and 5’s for many exams.</p>

<p>There are few doctoral programs offered. Thus, most professors are NOT TAs. 80% of the faculty have terminal degrees ( compared to that of CMU that has 96% with terminal degrees).</p>

<p>Although the work is very hard, I didn’t get the impression that it was of the same high level of CMU. I could be wrong on this though. I also didn’t see the same amount of interdiciplinary type of work that goes on at CMU.</p>

<p>Like CMU, RIT is very wired. There are a huge number of computer labs and wireless spots available on campus.
I should note that one big distinction is that RIT does NOT have a drama department.</p>

<p>Overall adademically I would give them a B+</p>

<li>Campus: The campus is huge. It is much bigger than that of CMU ( and they have double the students too). I thought it was pretty. However, almost every building consists of red brick, and I do mean almost every building. They don’t believe in diversity of architecture. However, there are nice big green grassy area for the kids to play sports and sit and study ( when the weather allows, which is rare).
They also have tunnels that go from the dorms to various buildings, which was very interestingly planned. Moreover, they have a new building that houses a great indoor running track, new workout facilities and swimming pool. </li>
</ol>

<p>I should note that the maintenance on the facilites was immaculate. There was no garbage, graffiti, or dirt found anywhere. They must have little gremlins cleaning up at night. The bathrooms were also nice and clean; however, I missed the little scented devices that I found at CMU.</p>

<p>There has been a number of complaints that there just isn’t anything to do in RIT other than study. RIT is taking this complaint seriously and is working on building a town for students which will consist of shopping, restaurants, fun area etc. This should be very exciting when finished, if it is ever finished.</p>

<p>Overall, I would currewntly give the Campus a C+ to a B-</p>

<p>3.Parking: Although parking is limited as with other schools, it was a lot better than what I found at Drexel and CMU. Since most kids live on Campus, they don’t need cars. I would give RIT a “C” to “C+” in parking.</p>

<p>4.Dorms: Sadly, I didn’t get to see any dorms due to security. However, based on speaking with students, they are nice, large and get cleaned daily. RIT does have appartments and lots of room for more housing. A number of dorms and new and modern. From what I can ascertain, I would give them a solid “B” in dorms</p>

<li><p>Food: WE at on campus, and all of us liked the food. It was varied and reasonably well cooked. They had a nice salid bar too. Overall, I would give them a “B” in food.</p></li>
<li><p>Problems: With all these good things, why do they have such dissatisfaction among students and comments. As far as I can tell there are three main problems:</p></li>
</ol>

<p>First,is the weather. AS one student noted, “Immagine how cold you think Rochester is and subtract 25 degrees.” It is very cold and blustery most of the year. Although, the school is very good at snow removal, this doesn’t detract from the blistery cold students experience going to class.</p>

<p>Second, There is no school spirit. At least in Syracuse, there are great sports teams and lots of things to do. Here, sports are limited due to the weather and, since it is so cold, no one wants to leave their dorms. </p>

<p>Third: This may be the clincher: RIT is a very hard school. Students are expected to work hard. Moreover, there is very little outlet for release. For example, the male-female ration is 70%-30%,with most females in the school of design. This means that in most science or engineering classes, it is more like 10:1 (male to female). Thus, social life is not that great. Moreover, RIT is VERY strict as to drinking. They have a complete no drinking policy on campus at any of its facilities, dorms or apartments. Personally, I like this policy,but many students don’t.</p>

<li>Tuition: Here there is a big surprise. RIT tuition is just under $22,000 per year. Moreover, room and board are also relatively cheap at about $8,000. From a pricing perspective, this school is a deal for a private school.</li>
</ol>

<p>Overall impressions: This is one of those schools that are hard to define. They have good science and good art and design. Whether it is up to the level of a CMU is hard to evaluate. However, there is clearly a lack of things to do other than work and have LAN parties. RIT is attempting to add more facilities for students’ enjoyment. Thus, if you want very good academics, great co-op experience at a very good price, this may well be the school for your kids. I really do believe that they will get better and might well acheive the goal espoused by a professor: equal in quality that of CMU! Frankly, I didn’t feel that they were that far away at least academically.</p>

<p>Obviously, my impressions may differ from yours. You should check out the school.</p>

<p>Note: This has been posted on the RIT site of " Alphabetical Listing of Schools" as well.</p>

2

<p>Taxguy, Thank you for your very informative posts on your college visits. I have found them interesting and helpful. I do have a question...you are rating "parking" for all schools. Just wondering why? DS goes to school in Boston where many residents AND college students do not have cars. Costs of parking are very high (I imagine you would give them a D or F). On the other hand, Boston has one of the BEST public transportation systems in the country and a car is actually not needed. Ditto for Phili, and DC.</p>

3

<p>The weather in Rochester is not great from January through March. We had an unusually bad winter last year - which is probably fresh in the students' minds, as it is in ours. The rest of the time it can be quite beautiful. We actually get LESS snow than Syracuse. RIT is probably very windy due to the fact that it seems quite exposed. Overall, I think our weather isn't really that much worse than many other places in the northeast. </p>

<p>Rochester is working on improving transportation for college kids, so that they can move between campuses and entertainment districts with ease. Hopefully that will happen soon.</p>

<p>I would note that in the summer RIT hosts several overnight sessions that are sort of an orientation to engineering and probably other topics as well. They seemed like a great way to learn what engineering actually is. Lots of kids attend.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the official RIT report. On paper it seems like it might be a good fit for my computer oriented son who doesn't notice the change in seasons anyway. He's at a LAN party right now. We'll see if it appeals when we visit.</p>

5

<p>Thumper1, I just include parking as one of my discussions in case kids want to take a car to campus. Many kids in their second year can have a car. If parking is a major problem, this limits their ability to drive up by themselves and to leave campus.</p>

6

<p>Whoops, noticed a couple of typos. I was running out to catch and plane and didn't proof it well enough. Sorry</p>

<p>Also, when I said that there was a "No drinking" policy, hopefully, you understood that I meant no liquor.</p>

<p>Also, with the high number of hearing impaired students on campus, it wouldn't hurt you to learn sign language. Also, they have a good deaf studies program, if you are interested in this type of major.</p>

<p>Yes, the weather isn't bad all year round; however, during Winter, whose effects can last 5 months, it is blistery cold. I guess during Spring, and Summer , it is very nice.</p>

7

<p>With someone like you to make the rounds, we can all save the aggrevations of a long distance trip and unhappy kids/parents. </p>

<p>15-20 years to be like CMU? RIT needs a better marketing person who should have said something that equates to something very soon and within our generation. </p>

<p>Why wait?</p>

8

<p>Taxguy, Just curious - did you get any sense of how the high number of hearing impaired students might impact the social scene at RIT? Is there much interaction between hearing impaired and hearing students or are they fairly segregated socially?</p>

9

<p>Carolyn, I didn't get "hard and fast" numbers. My guide noted that between 4-10% of the undergraduate population are hearing impaired. .However, unless a student understands signing, there is very little social interaction between the hearing impaired kids and the rest of the student population.</p>

<p>Itstoomuch, the professor said, "between 10-20 years." Also, I got the feeling that there were shooting for earlier. However, he knew as I did, that much of this time interval is needed to get the word out, beef up endowments etc. Right now, I believe that RIT isn't that far away academically. They simply need to substantially incease retention and the overall ratings should soar.</p>

<p>A problem that I didn't note is that I believe that many kids come to RIT with the wrong expectation. They feel that if they got rejected from MIT, RIT must be an "easier" school. That does not seem to be the case to both the surprise and detriment of many kids. This differening expectation also causes attrition. .The school needs to be more up front about the work load and academic expectations.</p>

10

<p>My S's best friend goes to RIT. He is your classic computer guy, and is there not because he didnd't get into MIT, but because he messed up his grades in humanities type classes in HS. He got more serious his last year, but bascially, he's lucky to be at RIT. As far as I've heard, he's happy and has a nice social life. I haven't heard too much about how he's handling the workload, but hopefully over Thanksgiving, we'll get more info--he's the world's most incommunicado kid--so S has heard almost nothing, but if anyone wants more details, hopefully I'll have them in a couple weeks.</p>

11

<p>I did a work project with an engineering class from RIT a couple of years ago. There was one deaf kid in a class of about 15 kids. He read lips very well, so the other kids and I communicated quite well with him. He had an interpreter with him in class (nearly every class will have someone signing). The kids all seemed to get along well, and as this particular kid happened to have an accident on the project, wihich required a little trip to emergency for some stitches, I was able to see that the other kids were very quick to step in and give him assistance. We have a pretty high deaf population in Rochester and they are lucky to find a lot of kids and adults who are able to sign. 9 times out of 10 when you are at a restaurant or bar that is freqented by youngsters you will see a group signing. Actually it's a pretty nice "multu-cultural" experience that you certainly wouldn't find anywhere else!</p>

12

<p>My d is a freshman graphic design major and I can add a little bit. The school has all types of students, the nerdy cs majors as well as regular-guy social types. What they have in common is that most students are focused - their schoolwork comes first. The work is demanding from day one and moves at a quick pace. There's time for a social life, but no one can afford to put their schoolwork off for long. There are slackers who skip class or don't do their work, but they don't last long (fail out). As a GD major (BFA degree), my d is in class this qtr 27 hrs/week with probably an equal # hours of homework per week. She gets her work done but she finds time for fun. I doubt she does much on Fridays or Saturdays because she has always lived for her weekends. Sundays are busy "catching up" days.</p>

<p>School spirit is lacking, but she attends all the hockey games and they are usually sold out. She has tried to attend bball games, but they often conflict with hockey games. We'll see what spring brings. She's hoping to see more kids just hanging around outside, not typical during the winter months... It's true that RIT is strict about drinking, so you won't normally see kids falling down drunk and throwing up outside the dorms, or in the hallways, like in some party schools. My d considers that a good thing. But there is partying going on, just not the big animal house type frat parties. Apt parties and off campus house parties are usually happening, as well as groups hanging out in their dorm rooms having a few while watching a movie, etc. There are plenty of people having fun. Kids go drinking/dancing at clubs in Rochester. Just like at any other school, there are plenty of restaurants, stores and movies to go to. MANY kids have cars on campus, since anyone can bring a car (even freshman) and parking is free. My d had a car there between Thanksgiving and Christmas and it made it easy to come home at break time. She'll probably bring a car back in spring. She commented that she should have had her car there all winter since Rochester got less snow than we had in northern NJ. Apparently, this year hasn't been that cold.</p>

<p>As for the deaf students, they probably do tend to hang out together since it's much easier to communicate - but my d works on campus and hasn't seen a problem interacting. There are ways to communicate. RIT is very supportive of the hearing-impaired community. If needed, RIT provides sign-language interpreters in class and notetakers so students who are watching the interpreter won't have to look away to write notes. Overall, it's been a great experience. My d was so impressed with a dance troupe that she wanted to join it, only to discover it was made up of all hearing impaired students - even more amazing.</p>

<p>When looking around the beautiful gym facilities, including 2 pools, it's obvious that not all RITstudents sit in their rooms playing video games. She does admit that lots of students complain there isn't enough to do, but those are usually the kids that never want to go do anything. She doesn't get it. She's loves the work she's doing and is glad she picked RIT. She just wishes she had more free time.</p>