My son is on Spring Break right now and his goal for Spring Break is to figure out where in the world he is choosing to go to college. Tensions are high!
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Some great options there! Best of luck with the decision! 
Thank you so much. It’s quite a task. Each school has something wonderful about it and also potential drawbacks, so it’s really challenging. RIT would possibly be perfect if he was able to begin his minor before his junior year. But he’d be pursuing the BS/MS degree and there will likely be little time to devote to a minor according to the 5 year Computer Science plan. Since he’d be choosing RIT for the Game Development opportunities, if he can’t really have them, then it doesn’t make sense to go there. It’s such a task! It really requires getting into the details, which is exciting but also exhausting. The only school that doesn’t seem to have clear drawbacks is Univ. of Utah, but it is extremely far away from home and also Salt Lake City is crazy expensive and on campus housing is hard to find. Other than that, the program seems (on paper) the least problematic for his interests. But RIT is so cool!
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We had the same reservations about RIT about not being able to start a minor until junior year. My son was also interested in Game Dev/Design, but got into the Software Engineering BS/MS program. My son eventually committed to another school for CS that will give him time before junior year to take classes towards a 2nd field of study in game design (he gets to pull together classes relating to game design and essentially create his own minor). It was very hard for us to walk away from the wonderful merit/aid and the BS/MS degree that RIT so generously offered my son. In the end, my son picked the best fit school for him all around. Good luck in your son’s decision!
We’re in about the same boat! UDayton probably checks the most boxes for us, and it is the least expensive, but likely the weakest engineering program (yet strongest business program) of the three. He is very interested in BS Engineering + 1 MBA, which only RIT and UDayton have. Rose-Hulman is unique and amazing, but it is also the most expensive and furthest away. It might be worth it though. RIT’s recent investment and commitment to performing arts is a plus for my son. RIT also has the most robust Co-Op program, which is another big advantage. As you said, the details are exciting but exhausting!
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Thank you for this information – it’s incredibly helpful to know we are not the only ones concerned about the lack of immersion (pardon the RIT play on words!) in the other area of interest until junior status. What’s wild is that without doing a deep dive on the details I wouldn’t even have known that was an issue. I’ve told my son to ask for special permission to start early in the “blank” areas he has AP credit in earlier years, but he hates asking for anything special, so I don’t anticipate he will. Which is a shame bc RIT sounds fantastic otherwise.
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Love it! Rose-Hulman is one of the closest ones for us (isn’t that funny?) and when you factor in we wouldn’t need to buy any plane tickets, with merit aid it’s pricey but not outrageous (especially considering their pretty otherworldly outcomes). It’s a fantastic place. My son decided it didn’t have enough Game Development focus so eliminated it. Good luck with your son’s decision, too! What an exciting, overwhelming time for us families!
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Could I ask what school it is that your son wound up committing to? It sounds like a nice opportunity to blend his interests. I guess it’s too late now for my son to apply (obviously, haha!) but good for me to keep in mind for my other son who has some similar interests.
I can’t even imagine having to buy plane tickets. Rose is just under 6 hours away from us, so it is either a REALLY long day in the car (but doable) or an overnight. My other son is in South Bend for at least one more semester, so at least Rose would be in the same general direction.
Best of luck to you and your son! We wrap this up and then start to look at law schools for the other one this summer. Thank goodness we only have two! 
Yes, it’s so important to take deep dives into a school’s curriculum! You would not have been able to see these issues otherwise.
I dont know if this helps but my son graduated with a BS in GDD and a minor in economics in 3 years from RIT. He turned his immersion into a minor by having to take 2 additional classes. What did help him was the AP credit that he got at RIT. He is currently working doing API and backend programming , but on the side working on his own game and one day maybe having his own company. He is gaining as much experience as he can. So in his case starting his immersion/minor before Junior year was doable.
My son selected the University of Pittsburgh!! My son did not want to major in Game Design and wanted the foundation of CS in undergrad to launch him into whatever his interest will evolve into. He’s interested in using game design/development to create 3D environments for Defense Contractors/NASA, etc…to use in simulation - for now, though he says his interests may evolve. He’s open to other applications and opportunities, and Pitt has enough game design, animation, immersive technology classes that he can put together his own 2nd of field of study or minor. We have heard that success in finding a job in CS is largely dependent on projects/side projects/internships. What my son loves about Pitt is that CS students seem to find time outside of their classes to do side projects as part of iServe (a club that encourages CS students to give back to the community through CS related projects), participate in hackathons, etc., and basically do their own side projects - Pitt has a game design club that my son is planning to join and he hopes to develop/design video games with them - and apply what they learn in the classroom to these projects. That was very important to my son!
Overall, Pitt combined all of the things he loves about each school he got accepted to (co-op and internship opportunities - Google & Apple offices are nearby!), urban/green space combo campus, and also being able to find time to take orchestra classes, photography classes, and take CS classes at Carnegie Mellon next door but paying Pitt tuition!
Sorry to go on and on but we are very grateful my son found the best fit school for him!
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Thank you for the info! Unfortunately GDD is one of the few minors that doesn’t offer and immersion, so my son would need to do an immersion AND a minor and the rules are such that he can’t do the minor until his junior year. That said, like you noted, they seem pretty good about AP credit - I wonder if he might be considered a “junior” earlier. But since my son hate asking for anything, he may never know and may miss this opportunity 
My husband is a Pitt graduate! He tried to convince my son to apply there, largely for the reasons you described (and bc he had such a great experience there), but when we walked around the campus it was too “urban” for my son (I was in heaven!). I will tell you that my husband had an incredible experience there, and he has his dream job, which started due to the opportunities he had at Pitt. Congratulations! It’s a wonderful place.
Thank you! Urban campuses are not for everyone for sure, but it’s good that your son recognized that - helps narrow decisions down! Pitt is ranked in the 50s? I think for computer science but we weren’t too focused on CS rankings, just a good fit. There are so many great schools for CS and finding that best fit takes some time!
I wish your son best of luck in his decision! He will end up where he’s meant to be!
Drexel
Stevens Institute of Technology
RIT
Wentworth Institute of Technology
Montana State
Go figure… Hard to tell at this point what the kid is thinking…
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Im still considering, mostly on a financial basis. top 3 (in order of preference) : Cornell, University at Buffalo, and RIT. Cornell is where I will be attending if financial aid comes through. Otherwise it’ll be between UB and RIT, I have an almost full ride merit at UB so that’s what draws me more towards it, but love the immersive co-op program at Rit and how it’s integrated into the curriculum!
All 3 for biomedical engineering with a heavy interest in research in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
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Just to close the loop on this, my son officially committed to Rose-Hulman over the weekend. It was a very tough decision, given that he had many fantastic opportunities including RIT. He will be in the Engineering Design program beginning in the fall.
Best of luck to everyone here in their future endeavors!