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

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rochester Institute of Technology
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<p>I thought that folks might want to see this thread as it addresses current questions about housing and foods.</p>

<p>Also, I forgot to address one possibly imporant issue at RIT: AP credits.</p>

<p>It is true, as my original post noted, that RIT is very liberal in awarding AP credit. However, they do so in a rather funky way that somewhat shafts the students. </p>

<p>My daughter took one year of history at a junior college when she was in high school. Thus, she had 6 credits of history. RIT didn't look at this as one year of history,which would have produced 9 quarter hours. Instead, they treated each course separately for their gen ed requirements and gave 4 quarter hours for every thress semester hours. Thus,she got only 8 quarter hours for her 6 semester hours of credits. This wasn't true for some other schools on a quarterly system such as Cincinnati. Be aware of this.</p>

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<p>My d is now a 3rd yr as are many of her friends. Sometimes she wishes she was at another school but it's never the curriculum she complains about. Rochester is a tough place to be weather wise - and yet, it's not that much colder or snowier than here at home. It's dreary. Yes, students should know that is gets cold, but living there, cold and gloomy month after month, is more than many envisioned. Kids we know at URochester ALSO complain about the never ending winter. My son was offered a nice scholarship at UR and my DD warned him about the weather, not the area itself. </p>

<p>RIT, like many coop schools, is a tough place to be socially with kids coming and going all the time. It's actually toughest on the kids who leave and come back, to recognize that life went on WITHOUT them and they have to play catchup. Some of this is avoided by keeping in touch via Facebook, etc or simply being strong/independent enough to just jump back in. Best advice is to have a large circle of friends and to get involved in activities on/off campus. Be flexible and open to an ever changing social group. Unfortunately, there seems to be a higher than normal amount of non social kids who have trouble - but I think they come to RIT that way. I'm not sure if they'd be happy socially anywhere.</p>

<p>Qtr schools are fast paced (no slacking off allowed). Ten weeks fly by. Kids see their friends having more down time at semester schools and drool. The kids that make it at RIT, and enjoy it, seem to be the indepedent, self motivated kids who know what they want and take advantage of all that a coop school offers. These same problems exist at other coop/qtr system schools. Added to the crummy weather and it's easy to get depressed and wish you were "anywhere" but in Rochester. So, it's easy to see why some choose to leave and go somewhere else.</p>

<p>My dd knows kids who left to go to less demanding environments and/or cheaper schools. Some simply can't cut it. The workload is too difficult or too demanding or they change to a liberal arts major. She also knows kids who left the design school to go to an art school because RIT's academic environment wasn't a good fit. She also knows kids who transferred into RIT from art schools. That happens. As for engineering majors, they go on coop as soon as 2nd yr. Some have been offered jobs and choose to leave school to take the full time job (with the end goal, earning a living while the boss pays for the student to complete their education). Not a bad deal.</p>

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<p>I'm a first year student, so I haven't had a full experience yet, but here are my 2 cents, maybe more like 1 now with the economy as it is.</p>

<p>Ok, so as I was saying, I am a first year student (note I say first year, because most people don't graduate in four years so it isn't usually considered freshman-senior) in the computer science (CS) program,about to start my spring quarter. There are a few things that I have noticed while I've been here so far.</p>

<p>First I would like to address how easy it is to get into RIT. I had a 3.0 unweighted GPA in high school and I got in with a $9000 per year scholarship. I also got about a 1300 on the SAT, out of 1600. First quarter in RIT I got a 4.0, mostly due to reintroduction to topics I knew. Second quarter I did much worse because I ended up doing less work in much harder classes, for reasons that I will soon explain. I know that I can definitely succeed in my major, but I should warn you that if you got similar grades to me in high school because that was all you were capable of, then you are going to have a very hard time doing well. If you were an underachiever but are capable, you can probably succeed here, just realize that you will definitely have to stay on top of things, because if you don't, work piles up very quickly. For example: last quarter I ended up leaving a computer science project until the last weekend that I had on it (feeding frenzy if you are familiar to CS2 at RIT), and because of that I ended up pulling 3 all nighters catching up the next week. Again, it is deceivingly easy to get into, but as long as you are capable of more than you did in high school you can pull through.</p>

<p>Secondly, the female presence at RIT, especially for the technical majors, is extremely underwhelming. This year there were in the range of 10-25 female entering CS majors, and 200+ entering male CS majors. This is not as bad in the art majors, where there is a female majority. The overall breakdown is about 70% male 30% female.</p>

<p>Third, we have Greek life. Greek life plays an interesting role on our campus, because of, but definitely not limited to, the "dry" campus, limited social opportunities, and a very inhospitable winter. The school seems to be very cliquey, because if you are not involved in Greek life, then there is not a lot in the way of parties. This brings me to my next point, if you are not involved in Greek life, then the male to female ratio is even worse then expected because most of the cute girls join sororities, and the sororities usually will only go to parties with the fraternities or sports teams (which they don't want guys not on the team or in the frat going to).</p>

<p>Fourthly, (Greek life aside) the parties are underwhelming. There not a lot of parties, the ones that there are aren't very good. It is not very easy to go to parties there, because a lot of people don't want to go to parties or don't have the social skills, especially in the technical majors. The one thing I need to mention is that you definitely need to talk to people a lot in the first few weeks and go to parties and get numbers during orientation week for future party hookups, and some friends to go to parties with. Those were the best parties that I went to all year. Another problem with getting to parties is the weather and distance you need to go (as a freshman). In order to get to any parties, regardless of quality, you need to make a 15-20 minute walk or find someone to drive you, which is especially crucial in the winter. Parties at RIT usually consist of a $5 entrance fee, cases of keystone light, and most importantly about a 20:1 male:female ratio. On top of this, parties usually end by 12-1, because they run out of beer or someone steals it. High school parties were much better than these.</p>

<p>Fifth there is the quarter system. I like the system for the ability to have a large variety of classes. It is very challenging and moves very quickly, so it is easy to get behind. The credits do not transfer very well either, because if you are going to a semester school single quarter classes only count as 2/3s of a class, so if it is a requirement you may need to retake it. The other problem is that the breaks are different from all of the semester schools, so if you are going home you will only be able to hang out with the commuters.</p>

<p>I'll finish this up a little later (and continue to end on a positive note), but you can probably start to see why there is a poor retention rate despite good academics.</p>

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<p>MHolman, I like the first part of your analysis. Please read the first two posts noted in this thread. It may address some of your points or you may want to clarify and update some points.</p>

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<p>I’m sorry, but RIT is nowhere near as good of a school as yall’s make it out to be. It is definatly no “next carnegie mellon”- it lacks the selictivity of such a top school, and more importantly, does little to no important research. RIT also hasn’t really been expanding that much,so I can’t see where yall’s get the opinion that it will be the next CMU. RIT is actually a rather below average school in my opinion, even in its “strength” of engineering. Most half decent public flagships schools have far superior engineering departments.
In short, go to a flagship state school rather than RIT. Save some money, get some more better educations.
I feel kinda bad for bashing the school, so I’ll say this in RIT’s defense. Any graduate of an engineering program with a reasonably high GPA,no matter what school they went to, is most likley an excellent engineer. </p>

<p>If you’re interested in a school that actually is a “next carnegie mellon”, I’d reccomend looking at RPI. RPI has been expanding its research dramatically, and is more and more selective in the students it admits every year.</p>

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<p>SpacePope- I’m curious as to what is the basis for your negative opinion of RIT?
I see from your previous posts that you will be a high school senior in the fall and are a resident of Massachusetts.</p>

<p>Where are you getting your information? </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>My DD just graduated from RIT with a BFA in Graphic Design and a minor in Communications. With merit awards and FA, it cost her less than attending our state U. And the important thing - she graduated with two job offers (she took the one offered by one of her internship employers). Coop/internship experience proved very valuable in her interviews.</p>

<p>Being a female at RIT (with a 30:70 ratio), her experience is definitely different from the male student who posted. Her social life was busy and got better each year. She has never played video/computer games, so she quickly sought out friends with similar interests. She made a good friend in her freshman dorm and they lived together in an on campus townhouse for the remaining three years. That apt (which was huge) saved her a couple thousand dollars (cheaper than the dorm room) per year. Cooking saved her even more money. </p>

<p>As another poster stated, most parties are in the apts. I really don’t think there were huge parties like at some colleges (maybe some of the athletes’ parties) but mostly there were smaller parties/gatherings amongst friends. I know she hosted several dinner parties for the “girls/girlfriends”. It is true that guys aren’t invited to most athlete (or frat) parties but that’s true at most schools (according to her friends) and it probably depends on the sport. She wasn’t sure how big the greek parties were because she never went to a frat party and she decided not to join a sorority. The sororities were VERY active and had many parties (dressy and informal). The sororoties also had lots of other activities, like community service and campus functions. </p>

<p>There are ALL types of kids at RIT, but it may not seem so at first. My DD had friends from her major, from other RIT colleges (her bf was an engineering major), her housing, her learning community, her on campus jobs and some she met at orientation. Some friends were athletes; some were in sororities. Some were international students, but many of her friends were from upstate NY and Canada. She regretted that she didn’t have time for a sorority (she was given two bids? if that’s the right term), but she just couldn’t find the time. She would have liked to be included but there was no option to join on a small scale. She had a few on campus jobs and she took her classes seriously (she took about 200 credits). She DID miss out on some social activities because she didn’t go greek, but it was her choice. Many of her friends (girls and guys) were RIT athletes or had part time jobs. EVERYONE she knew was busy. RIT is demanding. The quarter system pace is fierce. There is no down time. That seemed to be a normal complaint for 4 years - so much work, so little time. All nighters were not uncommon. RIT may be easy to get in, but it’s not an easy school. Students work for top grades.</p>

<p>She did complain of the constant overcast weather which was depressing. Not sure Rochester had more snow than here at home - definitely more wind though. Dreary skies. Sunny spring weather was definitely celebrated.</p>

<p>Although a dry campus, there were still plenty of parties around. She socialized mostly within her circle of friends (not huge campus parties like at her friends’ large state schools) - but that’s more suitable to her personality anyway. There are plenty of places to go within a reasonable distance. She made trips to Toronto, Niagara Falls, Cornell, Watkins Glen, Lake Ontario beaches/state parks. Letchworth State Park is a favored state park for camping/hiking. </p>

<p>Socially it did get better once she turned 21 and could go downtown to clubs, wine tasting tours and TC Rileys. Graduation weekend was the first time I saw the new restaurants/bars/stores and it’s a definite improvement. More options. Finally there is a place to gather after games or for happy hour within walking distance (or a short drive). My DD met up with friends and teachers at TC Rileys, for meals and/or drinks. Although the bar side is restricted to 21+, the restaurant side is open to everyone. Hopefully RIT is on the path to adding more opportunities to socialize.</p>

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<p>I’m also curious as to why Space thinks so low of RIT. (I’m actually attending for Software Engineering this fall, and I had an option of about 9 schools to choose from…so this is a bit alarming. RIT gave me a great amount of money…cheaper than Public Uni for me). The facilities seemed top notch when I visited. It seemed clean, and as a great environment to study and live in. I believe the co-op option was what definitely lured me; I am more concerned about a job-- I want security. </p>

<p>The placement rate for jobs was incredibly high–or at least, that is what I was told. This is what I was really interested in, as well. </p>

<p>The presentation they gave the Accepted Open House kids were exceptionally professional, where they truly believed they were an excellent school. To take an example, Umass Amherst (University of Massachusetts- Amherst) outright told us that there were tons and tons of better schools, but they were trying to improve.</p>

<p>I do hope I have made a good choice. But…when I visited the school-- it definitely impressed me. More so than when I visited MIT. And as I understand, it’s very highly thought off within employers. And RIT Dubai–it has always been a small dream of mine to some day visit the Emirates. Hardly anyone gets in there…it would be simply amazing to get a co-op there. Who knows…maybe even the opportunity to live there for awhile.</p>

<p>Well, that was my input on the school. Not much I can give until I actually start in the fall–but simply the perspective of one who sent them the admissions deposit :-).</p>

<p>(Btw…the Admissions staff has been incredibly helpful. Throughout the whole process, they quickly answered any of my questions. I’ve asked many schools as well, and R.I.T definitely gave me the most attention. Even after I sent in my deposit when I was waltzing majors.)</p>

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<p>SpacePope didn’t offer any reasons for his views, so I wouldn’t worry about them. In fact, some of his statements don’t even make sense. RIT is expanding. They are about to expand their PHD programs enough that it is likely their classification will change from a Master’s college to a National university. And, obviously, expanding PHD programs means more research.</p>

<p>RIT is known for its rigor and its co-op program. It is highly regarded among its peers and among employers.</p>

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<p>I confused RIT with Wentworth Institute of Tecnology, a far worse school. I Still wouldn’t go to RIT, however, because I’m not interested in co-ops and I feel like there aren’t much research opertunities. Even if RIT plans to expand PhD programs, that doesn’t somehow instantly make it a national research center: it takes years to establish that kind of capacity and reputation. If you’re intrested in grad school, I would still recomend flagship state school (unless you live in like, maine) because there would be more research opertunities, but if you just want a job, I guess go where it is cheaper.</p>

<p>The reason I dislike RIT’s co-ops is because I feel that there is no point for an engineering student to do a co-op, as summer internships provide enough experience to get a very good job, and don’t requiere you to graduate late. I feel that RIT is much too industry focused.</p>

<p>Also, Scandi- if Umass Amherst is in-state, I wouldn’t ignore it as an option. While it is true that the average Department of Umass is kinda crappy(giving Umass a low reputation), its engineering/CS programs are far better than all their other programs. It is a decent Engineering school, and I recommend at least considering it if its in-state if Engineering is your intrest (and I assume it is because you’re intrested in RIT).</p>

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<p>So much misinformation here. People and companies use internships and coops to mean varying things. In general, internships are unpaid and students earn college credit. Coops, in general, are paid and do not provide college credit. BUT, this varies by major, employer and region of the country. My dd earned college credits and was paid in her 10 week internship. In the other, she was paid but she didn’t bother applying for college credit because she didn’t need the credits to graduate.</p>

<p>Coops can be done during the summer since RIT is on the qtr system (all four qtrs are the same length of time) and engineering students CAN graduate in 4 years if they so wish - probably depends on the major and the willingness to take courses or coop over the summer. My DD’s bf just graduated with an engineering degree from RIT (with honors). He completed his required 3 coops (was highly paid), played a sport at RIT, and STILL graduated in 4 years. My DD completed 2 paid internships/coops, took many additional classes since the additional credits were free, did study abroad, and graduated in 4 years. RIT has established coop relationships already in place which makes it easier for students to find work. But students can coop anywhere Some even do international coops. My DD did one in Rochester and one at home (to save rent expenses). Her major did not require internships/coops but she chose to do them anyway. During her 3rd year, she randomly called a couple headhunters who specialized in her field and asked them about job requirements (to be considered for interviews). Each one told her it helped to have 3 internships on a resume to get noticed so she made a point of having a couple. She planned to do a 3rd one upon graduation (and had one lined up) but was hired back by a previous employer. RIT hosts numerous job fairs throughout the spring and employers mention how beneficial it is to have coop experience - entry level workers are ready to work from day 1 because they are already familiar with the work environmentand are productive immediately. It’s true that RIT is job focused (but that fits the list of majors offered at RIT). I just don’t see how having work experience is detrimental for an engineering major, or any of the technical majors, at RIT. It also gives students a chance to see what “real” jobs are like and see if they are interested in that type of work.</p>

<p>OTOH, if you’re interested in a more liberal arts education, that’s a different story. LACs are great learning envionments for certain students. My son attends a school where the focus is learning for learning sake - but most kids go on to graduate school as he plans to do. I believe his school offers a comp sci major and engineering majors. I’m curious if they offer coops. He’s a neuroscience major who has done research for a pediatric neurosurgeon these two [ast twp summers - not really sure how that differs from a coop. He does not receive college credit and he is paid. I imagine most students try to get work related jobs, whether formal coops or not, during the summers.</p>

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<p>I never implied that co-ops are detrimental, Just that they are less wise than internships in my opinion. Of course work experience is incredibly valuable, but engineering majors should have no problem getting work experience through summer internships as opposed to co-ops. A student with several internships will look as good to an employer as a student with a co-op, and will have spent less time away from school. Also, engineers can easily get payed internships. Additionally companies that provide internships often hire highly from those that interned under them, even with far less experience. I know several people who only did one summer internship, and then got great jobs at the companies that they interned under. </p>

<p>If a student does a co-op, they will have less opertunities to do other things during their summers - like reasearch. Research is incredibly important to anybody considering grad school. So, if you are interested in grad school, don’t do a co-op, and don’t go to RIT. The reason I wouldn’t recomend RIT is because most students don’t know weather or not they would like grad school before going to college, as they haven’t been exposed to their major nearly enough. Thus, somebody could go to RIT, realize that they want to go to grad school, and feel frustrated because their school didn’t offer the opertunities to get the nececary amount of research to continue their education at a top-end school.</p>

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<p>How are they less wise than an internship? That makes little to no sense to me. Can’t you even call a paid internship almost as a co-op? Some programs won’t even require you do a co- op, rather have it optional. How much do you really know about this school? </p>

<p>Co-ops have many many many advantages. I have had people tell me that it made all the difference. They could apply what they did to what they were actually learning in school. I do not feel qualified to extend my point here, as I have not even started yet. Nor have I experienced it. But I get a strong feel that this is not something that is ignorable. It makes RIT stand out. </p>

<p>The new RIT Dubai is said to open soon for undergrad. RIT has itself announced in its newsletter that it hopes to make study aboard and CO-OP abroad in the Emirates possible. There are people who would JUMP for such an opportunity. There are perhaps…2 or 3 schools that have such a contract with the UAE government–RIT being one of them.</p>

<p>You then ask: Why RIT? Emirates are starting to invest in Microelectronics industry, and RIT is the school that is the top for this. So Emirates went to RIT. </p>

<p>RIT is indeed known. It a fantastic school for what I gather. Your other point of “research” is also somewhat gray to me. While you do make the point that RIT is and has focused on undergrad (which I think is a plus…), and have not really established Phd programs–research is still available here. It is an University. In fact, I know some “research” involve finding “innovative solutions” to current business problems-- and I know that might not appeal to you. But they certainly have research opportunities. (Ie, Chemistry Research Scholars Program- Intended for students to engage in serious undergraduate research in chemistry, the program features a significant research experience for students to design and execute their own research under the direction of a faculty mentor. Participants take part in discussions and lectures, earn opportunities to travel to conferences, and present their findings.)</p>

<p>I would look into it deeper, if research is an important factor. However, you might be correct saying that schools with an established Phd program have more extensive research opportunities. But you are incorrect in saying that going to RIT means no grad school. RIT DOES HAVE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES! </p>

<p>Point of my post is that it seems you are misinformed about this school. I am quite sure that you can get into a good grad school via RIT. I remember seeing a list of schools recent undergrads attended for grad school–and they were impressive. Stanford being one on this list, for example.</p>

<p>And additionally, the placement rate of RIT is high. I would argue that this shows that Co-op do help students secure jobs upon graduation.</p>

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<p>SpacePope: What do you think the difference is between a Co-Op and an internship?</p>

<p>Coming from my 4 years at RIT (and the fact that I am currently taking my 4th co-op) I can tell you that the only difference between the two that I see is that a co-op is a paid internship.</p>

<p>In fact, when I talk to companies, they see no difference between the two (often calling it an internship).</p>

<p>Regarding my program (Computer Science), the only requirements for my 4 quarters of co-op are that I do 10 weeks of paid work in a field related to my major.</p>

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<p>I know this is an old post, but I wanted to address it in case it concerned anyone. I transfered from a community college and RIT was very generous in granting transfer credits, much more so than other schools I applied to. I had a year of calc (calc I and II in a semester system) and was granted a year of calc credits at RIT (calc I, II, and III in their quarter system). I had the same thing with a year of A & P and some other classes, like Eng 101 and 102, where they transferred as a years worth of classes.</p>

<p>I also found that the department I am transferring into (Software Engineering) was very flexible in how they applied those transfer credits. For instance, I’ll be going in with my “Liberal Arts Concentration” completed. This is surprising because the LA Concentration is supposed to be upper division classes, and obviously my community college classes aren’t. The same is true of the general education science requirement. The same is true for my science core. Once I get to RIT I need only take one quarter of physics to complete the science core, and my year and a half of bio completes the rest. Again, typically some of these classes would be upper division, but they are accepting my lower division classes in place of them.</p>

<p>What I think it comes down to is how closely the classes and the previous institution match the classes at RIT. If Calc I and II at my old school didn’t match up with Calc I, II, and III at RIT then I would not have received those credits.</p>

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<p>I’m a high school senior, and RIT is my top choice right now. I’m a photo major, so I was wondering if I could get some first hand accounts of the program from anyone who has or is currently involved in the photography program?</p>

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<p>^ ditto…</p>

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<p>can we bump this to hear about any other visits or recent observations?</p>

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<p>RIT is switching to a semester system (from the quarter system) so comments about the rapid pace of the 10 week quarters will no longer be relevant. Not sure how this change will impact particular majors.</p>

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<p>Speaking as a recent graduate, there are a few changes going on at RIT.</p>

<p>First, and perhaps most interesting, is that RIT is switching to the Semester system in 2013. They chose to do this against the student vote, and claim that it will make internships and classes easier.</p>

<p>Also, they will likely introduce +/- grades at the same time as the semester switch. Currently, when grades are submitted at the end of the quarter, you get an A, B, C, D, or F. In 2013, they will likely allow A+ and A- etc. grades to be submitted.</p>