<p>I'm making my college decision and I'm down to these three schools, and I'm having a hard time choosing. I'm a female and am majoring in as either biomedical engineering or chemical engineering, and I want a good program as well as a good social life. I'm not really a drinker, so what is there to do at these schools besides party? I might go to some parties though. I am also not super nerdy. Please list both pros and cons about these schools, be as honest as possible. Thanks.</p>
<p>The people who post here are almost all parents. I think there was a thread in which Villanova came up recently, but I doubt people here can talk much about it or RPI. </p>
<p>As for UR, all I can say is my kid loves the place. It’s sort of a normal nerd school, meaning the kids are normal but smart, interested in the work and in working hard but normal. As for social life, I can’t say I know exactly what my kid does except that it includes a lot of “clubs” or groups and different bunches of friends. So for example, life has revolved around dance, political work and a bunch of other things. </p>
<p>One strength of UR is that it is a small research university, so it has the resources and diversity of a university but isn’t so large you are socially intimidated by the size. I also happen to like that athletics is not a big deal because that doesn’t isolate athletes from the rest of the school and from other friendships. I like that the school is large enough that you don’t feel strangled and yet small enough that this group touches that group. When circles intersect, it makes the social world easier to navigate.</p>
<p>The biggest weakness of UR is there isn’t much around it that isn’t a bus or car or bike ride away. It’s in Rochester but it sits on the river away from the city. Though the places you want to go are maybe 10 minutes away - and there are shuttles, etc. - it’s not the same as walking and in walking distance there isn’t much. A strength of Rochester the city is that it has a lot and that it’s easy to use because you can get around so easily, but it isn’t a walkable city from campus. </p>
<p>The other drawback is sort of shared by all 3: the weather is what it is. Rochester tends to be cloudy and snowy. Not much difference to Troy or PA. </p>
<p>A final point is that you should look up the Rochester Curriculum. You may already know what it is but I think it works. My kid has enjoyed clusters instead of distribution requirements. I was going to say it’s easy to double major but engineering has so many classes required (at every school), I think I’ll pass on that statement. If you look back in the threads, WOWM has posted a bunch of useful information for people in both engineering and biomed.</p>
<p>Applelover, 3 very good choices. My bias would be UR out of these 3, but here are a few thoughts.</p>
<p>RPI and UR likely to have more of a “nerdy” feel than Nova, although the distinction may be less noticeable if you are in chem engineering at Nova where I would assume there is a healthy “nerd” factor.</p>
<p>UR is far more even gender wise than RPI, which you must know, and I would assume UR has broader and more diverse social offerings…in part because UR has healthy dose of liberal arts/humanities/social sciences orientation to offset the “science-y” emphasis.</p>
<p>I don’t know a lot about Nova but my gut tells me UR would have more options for social life for non-drinkers as Nova strikes me as a more traditional party culture with a frat/sorority kind of feel and with a lot of fairly “preppy” and/or business students (more like the scene at BC, Providence, etc).</p>
<p>I would add that RPI does not have language courses which may or may not be of importance to you. However, it also means no other students you associate with will be taking languages either. </p>
<p>Troy has very little happening for students as I understand it. Most students go to Albany to have more away from school offerings but it takes 20 min by car and I think 40 by bus so students only go there on the weekend. </p>
<p>I know nothing about Villanova. My son goes to UR which Lergnom described well. </p>
<p>What I will say about RPI as I learned that is similar to UR, they both are schools that have high intelligence and low competitiveness. They really want students to learn and pass their courses so help is readily available.</p>
<p>Socially, well you would be a girl going to a school with a 70/30 ratio of guys to girls. It is 50/50 at UR.</p>
<p>Because of coops, most RIT programs are 5 years, vs. 4 yrs at Nova and UR</p>
<p>This thread is about RPI not RIT. No mandatory Coop. A lot of companies do like hiring from RPI and come to their college fairs.</p>
<p>OOOPS!!! Sorry Lakemom!!</p>
<p>Been reading too many posts lately comparing RIT to school A, school B, etc.</p>
<p>No problem, people mix them up all the time :)</p>