Hi guys! So, I was accepted at these colleges and I would like some insight. I’m thinking about going into Computer Science and I would really appreciate you sharing what you know abt their CS programs, esp abt job and research opportunities, clubs/organizations that involve CS, and also the campus life. With the scholarships, I think UMN is gonna cost 37-38k and the others are around 33k so cost isnt that much of a factor. Another input would be helpful!
Personally in my experience RIT is a bit of a standout in terms of CS, but these are all more or less in a similar ballpark, maybe with Buffalo slightly lower. What school do you prefer in terms of camps environment? Have you visited any? I would first look purely at fit and narrow down to RIT + 1-2 of the best fits - if RIT is the best fit you have your answer. If it’s not, you can decide depending on how close they are in your personal pros/cons.
Unfornately, I can’t afford to visit US and tour all these schools. If I could, that would make it alot easier to make a decision. Some ppl I know have also been saying RIT’s CS is great but I’m just hesitating bc Rochester doesn’t offer that many fun activities compared to the other cities (and I’ve heard some ppl say there isn’t alot going on on campus at RIT). I really like UMN since it’s highly ranked and all but I’d have to travel really far when I want to go on a trip (the others will give me better access to NYC, Boston, Toronto, etc). For Drexel, I dont like the fact that the buildings seem to be scattered thoughout the city and I also don’t really want to Philly. In terms of social activities, Buffalo seems great as there seems to be many events going on but then again, as you said, it might not match up to the others in terms of academics and job prospects. So right now, I’m going back and forth between RIT, UMN and Buffalo lol. And btw, @PengsPhils are you a student at RIT?
I’m a student at Northeastern so I understand the want for activities to do near a college.
Frankly, none of these cities are that exciting where the con of Rochester should be a big player. I’d say Buffalo is just as sleepy of a town/city. While Minnesota is a bit larger, it’s still not a hub like the bigger cities you just listed are. I don’t know where you’re coming from, but cities in the US are not like European and Asian cities and tend to be much smaller. There are only a few big ones that even compete at the same scale.
Buffalo/Rochester are about 250K people, Twin Cities close to a million combined in the actual city areas (though more spread out), and Philly is the largest with 1.5 million. Just for reference, Istanbul has 15 million people, London has 8M, and Seoul has 10M. So all of these places are a tiny fraction of most other cities. While Philly is by far the largest and most known, it sounds like that’s not an option based on fit.
I’d still recommend RIT here - I don’t think there will be that much social difference in the end, though I would try and talk to students at RIT and UMN and decide between the two on social factors.
What kind of fun activities are you hoping for?
RIT seems more suburban than U Buffalo does to me. Buffalo has 2 campuses and one of them (south)
is more “city” while the other more “suburban” (north). Most/all of your classes would be on North, but you could live on south and/or easily travel on their continuous buses between north/south campuses. From what I’ve read on reddit, people who like cities more tend to like living on south campus, enjoying the shopping and restaurants there, easier city access, and they use the UB buses to get to north campus for classes.
RIT does have some shopping and restaurants nearby but I think they are mostly chains and strip malls, I’m not sure they would be the city things you would be looking for.
Neither of these schools have particularly easy access to NYC/Boston area. You would be able to fly in to those cities or take a 5-7 hour train/bus ride. Buffalo would be closer to Toronto and probably easier to access, although crossing back and forth over the border often could be a real pain.
I don’t really want big city things on an everyday basis. It’s just that compared to Rochester, Buffalo seems to be more fun, for instance, they have spring/fall festivals, the Niagara Falls, the ice skating thing and more events at the canalside, arts/theatre venues, at least more than Rochester does, and the public transportation seems to be more accessible at UB. Also, students seem to be more involved in clubs/organizations there. But I guess I can go visit Buffalo on weekends as I don’t want to give up on a better education just for socials. One strong aspect about RIT is their co-op program; the ppl I have talked to said that their friends were hired by Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc. Do you know if I can achieve these at the other schools? I’ve been trying to talk with CS students from UB and UMN but I don’t really know anyone so if you guys know anything, please share 
Well, let’s say mostbAmerican people don’t think “fun”’ when they hear Buffalo. They think “lake effect”, “snow”, “cold”, “deindustrialized”…
Rochester is actually slightly better than Buffalo on all accounts and you’ll be able to ice skate at all your choices.
I think your best choices are RIT and UMinnesota.
So the choice is: do you want a very large public university in a large thriving city or do you want a private university with better learning conditions and excellent co-ops?
For CS, RIT might be your best bet. But the environment in and around RIT differs drastically from the city schools, so keep this in mind. The urban environment will offer practically endless activities and is very lively (Particularly Philadephia, as it is the largest city out of all of your options). But, I’ve heard great things about RIT too. It has many new buildings and student centers. RIT, Northeastern and Drexel all of great co-ops, but Drexel definitely has a reputation for having the best co-op compared to those other schools.
Actually, I live just outside of Rochester and have family in Buffalo. There is very little to no real difference in weather. Not by a shred of a chance enough that I would ever let weather convince me one is better than the other. Some winters they get more snow (a couple of winters ago, there was a 7” snowstorm in parts of Buffalo!) but this winter, we got more here in the Rochester area.
You are definitely right that the city of Buffalo is more accessible to that city than RIT is to Rochester. It’s also an hour and and fifteen minutes to an hour and a half between Rochester and Buffalo, it’s unlikely you would visit Buffalo much if at all on weekends. Maybe if you have a car and friends there, I guess?
I know RIT has a great coop reputation. I know lots of people (many of the teachers I know with kids in CS) rave about it. My understanding is that it also means it’s very likely you would take longer to graduate. UB definitely highly encourages internships and other experiential learning but most is usually during schools breaks. There are opportunities for internships, clubs and research at UB. When we toured the engineering department, every single engineering department mentioned all of those types of opportunities. I do remember in the computer software and engineering that the two students both talked about internships. They said those internships pay very well too (I remember because I looked at my daughter and asked if she was sure she didn’t want to switch from chemical engineering!). One of the girls was saying she had an internship last summer for Target at their headquarters. We toured in February and she is a senior and said she already had a job lined up with Capital One. I remember that one because someone asked where (assuming local) and she said she thought it was funny because it was in a Washington DC… the Capital lol. The students said that it’s not very common to get internships between freshman and sophomore year but that it’s very common between sophomore and junior and almost everyone they knew seemed to have something between junior and senior years. The other student in that department, IIRC, was going on to grad school. They also talked some about experiences in clubs and as teaching assistants. We heard from students and professors to always be on the lookout for research opportunities.
Really, my own opinion would be you can do very well with either school. It’s too bad that you can’t visit them both. Look at their course flowsheets online for the program you are interested in to see how similar or different they really might be.
FWIW Buffalo is something like 17% international students (17% of 30000). That makes it very cosmopolitan: big international markets, cultural groups, restaurants, religious organizations.
Toronto is only 60 miles away. You can get whatever you need in Buffalo and whatever you want in Toronto.
The Drexel campus is in no way scattered throughout the city. The University City campus is a cohesive campus sitting right beside UPenn. Drexel has 2 other campuses - Center City where the Medical School/School of Nursing and Queen Lane which has other Health related fields. As a CS major you’d only be at the University City campus. Drexel has a great Co-op program and CS majors can get great Co-ops at top firms like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, etc. I think it’s an underrated CS program but I might be a little biased 
Philadelphia is the 5th largest city in the USA with a rich, diverse and varied social life. All 4 major sports teams and MLS. Major Orchestra, Opera, Ballet, Theater, etc. No it’s not NYC but plenty of choices. I’m not sure where you are from but there is probably an immigrant population in the city from the same place or similar including restaurants and/or grocery. International flights will probably be cheapest from Philly as you can also easily get to Newark International via train. You can also get to NYC via the Bolt/Megabus (pick up right beside Drexel) for cheap $10 - $20 Round Trip if you plan ahead. Megabus also goes to Washington D.C cheap.
@suthit28 A few thoughts: I am an RIT graduate from many years ago, a resident of the Rochester area (after being away for years), and the father of a UB Honors student beginning this fall. My wife and I loved our time at RIT. We were biotech majors not CS. However, I can safely say back then RIT was cutting edge in CS based on comments from friends I had. However, in recent years I think many universities have caught up to them in CS and they are not leading the pack so much any more. Interestingly, acceptance rates have gone up quite a bit since I attended - not sure if that means anything or not. However, you would have great facilities as you might expect from a tech school. It’s important you like the looks of red brick since every building on campus is made of them. They call it Brick City after all. Some people love it, some people hate it. RIT is in a very suburban, somewhat secluded area. They built a shopping/entertainment/residential complex on campus so that helps the social scene but it would really help to have a car on campus or be friends with somebody who does! Rochester is a great little city full of weekend festivals in spring and summer. However, people tend to stay indoors in the winter (which is still continuing even today). In general, I would say RIT is fairly separated from the rest of the community. It is a very self-sufficient campus - having a car gives you entertainment variety but really helps out during those long winter months where getting off-campus boosts the spirits.
Based on my own interactions, tours, and talking with parents I would say UB is likely equal to RIT in educational quality for CS. The facilities might not be as new or fancy but the actual education you receive would be very similar. In general, I would say UB is probably a better value but as an international student I am guessing costs are very similar between both. The big difference is the social scene and opportunities at UB. There is a lot more around the UB North campus and they have shuttles you can take into the city. There are new trendy neighborhoods opening up and more to do in general then Rochester. Many in Rochester talk about the “Buffalo model” for revitalization and making use of the waterfront. They have done a great job in Buffalo with that. If you like sports, Buffalo is a DI school and has football and nationally-ranked basketball teams. They have a separate school of music with many performance opportunities and concerts (RIT does not). As was pointed out above, Toronto - one of the most metropolitan cities in North America - is a little more than an hour away.
I did a co-op at RIT and it was a very valuable experience. It did mean I graduated a semester late but half the school does it this way. UB leaves it more to the individual - maybe others have further details. While it pains me a bit to say, I think UB might be a bit better then RIT taking everything into consideration. Looking at academics alone, it’s likely a tie or perhaps a slight advantage to RIT for newer facilities. I will say I am not a CS expert as my son has decided to stay in life science. Best of luck in whatever you choose.
@choguy1 I’m glad you seem to be saying much the same as I was!
For anyone else reading, RIT does seem to have the edge for those into gaming (there’s a major for that!) or for those who might prefer a suburban campus and don’t really care for city activities anyway. I also would not knock RIT for people that it fits best for.
Also @suthit28, I was poking around on UB’s site looking up the internships and saw some videos of STEM internship fairs and such. I think I’ve seen things on the UB engineering fb page as well.
Wow, all this information has been really helpful. All the schools seem great so I guess it’s probably up for me now to figure out what I want. I think I’m gonna try to reach international student ambassadors and ask about their experiences as internationals (esp the job opportunities)… Thank you to all of you for giving this so much thought and time, I really appreciate it.