Waffling on this school

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rochester Institute of Technology
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<p>My son has applied RD for the Game Design program and haven't heard back but his GPA and ACT are above the mean so he should probably be accepted.</p>

<p>I am so conflicted on this school. I am from western NY so I am very familiar with RIT although no one out here in Chicago seems to have heard of it. One day I love the school and the next I am dead-set against my son going. I would love everyone's opinions.</p>

<p>Pros:
Top 4 Game Design program in the country
Cheaper than other schools we are looking at by $10K
The presence of the deaf institute may provide a unique experience for my son given he has a profound hearing loss in the right ear and has always felt like an outsider because of it
Co-op (great for the experience)
The new MAGIC Media/Game Studio
My brother lives 30 minutes away so my son can visit him on weekends</p>

<p>Cons:
The Game Design faculty have very little real-world experience (worked at an actual game developer)
The weather (now this is more "my issue" than my sons but he has never lived in such a grey, cold atmosphere before. Even here in Chicago the weather is much better... ignoring the polar vortex we just had)
Will he even be able to play intramural tennis when the weather is always bad?
Co-op means 5 years although may be able to do them during the Summers
Have to find your own Co-op, school has resources but most of it is up to you
Boring campus although the new MAGIC studio is unique
No real school spirit
Campus food
Dorms/Living situation isn't great</p>

<p>Other schools we are looking at:</p>

<p>USC: His stats are in-line with their averages but with a 3-10% acceptance rate into their Game Design program, it is a reach. He may be a match for their Viterbi CS with a Game Design minor which he put down as his second choice.
RPI: High match/match
WPI: Accepted with a good but not great scholarship. Waiting to hear about FA.
Drexel: Accepted with a good scholarship but too many negatives. Declining.
DePaul: Accepted. This was his safety. Great scholarship but declining.</p>

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<p>Can’t speak to the game design major, but my D is extraordinarily happy. She has a nice group of friends from diverse majors (one is game design, but I don’t know anything beyond that), enjoys the classwork, and even likes the weather. We’re from the South, so I was quite worried about the weather! She has gone to hockey games, concerts, drama productions, and improv. She’s learning sign language. It’s amazing how many people here in SW Virginia know about RIT (mostly the GE engineering crowd), and it seems to have a very positive reputation among them. I can’t imagine her anywhere else.</p>

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<p>Thank you for the great feedback!</p>

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<p>Hi GG27-been reading your posts over on the WPI threads. My S was also accepted there with a slightly lower merit award, loves the school but we’re also waiting on RPI and RIT. As for RIT, we visited in early Sept. when the weather was great but my S likes cold and snow so no big deal for him. I really thought their facilities were excellent (S is applying for engineering) and it had a real clean and modern appearance. Not that I prefer that look over the traditional eastern college styles of gothic and ivy but it didn’t turn either of us off either. The campus is unique among those we’ve been considering in this regard. Sounds like you observed the same and although I know nothing about Game Design it was obvious to us that it is a big program there with digital media/arts and such. Judging from your pro/con points, it would seem to be a top choice for you based upon program reputation and cost factors unless something out of the ordinary occurs or he would just prefer to attend college in a different geographic location. Also don’t under estimate the value of having a close relative nearby when your son goes off to a distant school. The opportunity to occasionally have a home cooked dinner to look forward to along with caring relatives (in my case, an uncle/aunt and cousins) was wonderful for me when I attended college in Boston back in the late 70’s and only went home a few times each year. Finally, if you are very pro co-op (and it certainly can enhance your employability) then RIT makes further sense.</p>

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<p>Gamer- good post. My son applied game design to rit and we’re waiting on the decision. Haven’t visited there yet, so applied site unseen, but we plan to go up if accepted. He also applied to Drexel, Becker, quinnipiac, George mason, Champlain, and northeastern. All schools with fame design programs. He loves Drexel and that’s his first choice and was accepted with a scholarship. Curious as to the negatives you mention for Drexel. Assuming cost is one. He also got accepted to Becker, quinnipiac, and George mason. Waiting on northeastern, which I think is a long shot for him, but we’ll see.</p>

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<p>Well, as a fellow GDD applicant and someone who’s researched deeply into it, allow me to give my opinion. Though the RIT professors have little industry experience, you really have to look at the credentials needed to become a professor. Most of these professors have graduate degrees, whether MS or Doctorates. In that time span, there would usually be time spent gaining industry experience. RIT’s GDD program is top rated due to the challenging curriculum that actually prepares you for a career in game development. Unlike most Game Design programs, the course isn’t light with many “filler” classes. It’s heavy on programming, and stands equally against RIT’s CS and SE programs.</p>

<p>Students wishing to enter the industry have the duty of networking. This means attending local gamedev meetups, going to festivals and conferences, etc. This is a great way to prepare for finding a co-op, making these connections. RIT’s community seemed very close-knit to me and all the school spirit seems to be around their Div. I Hockey team. People often complain about the campus food, but many have said it is not that bad and there are many choices of places to eat besides Gracie’s, the place majority of the students complain about.</p>

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<p>Thank you everyone for such well-thought out responses. One thing I should have mentioned is that I am actually “in” the gaming industry albeit as a support service: I own a market research company that works with game devs and publishers. So I have been researching colleges and asked for insider industry advice before we even started on this path.</p>

<p>I was advised that the #1 criteria for selecting a school (not counting cost) was faculty experience in the gaming industry. This is especially important with the major shift the industry has been going through. Also a program leaning towards CS is better as programmers are always in demand. Lastly being located within the industry makes it easier for internships. This is why USC is our first choice. My son prefers the USC Game Design major while I prefer the USC CS program with minors in Game Design and Sound Design.</p>

<p>When we were at a RIT Open House I asked directly about actual faculty experience and was told they had little other than some consulting for a dev. Still there are a lot of things going for it including their relationships with well known companies such as Microsoft. I figure co-ops can make up for lack of faculty experience. This issue is not unique to RIT. It is funny, though, that many programs have that one old dude who actually has lots of experience. I saw that at RPI. WPI has a couple of guys with some experience although it is mostly on the animation side.</p>

<p>On Drexel, the financial gap is big despite a $17k scholarship but the bigger issue is its urban setting and having to pay tuition during the mandatory co-op which basically forces you to pay for a fifth year.</p>

<p>On Becker, we visited this school and never in a million years will I send my son there. Although they must be doing something right given their rankings for Game Design, it is located in a very poor neighborhood and the classes are in old houses that they bought. If they can’t maintain the houses how can they provide the kind of technical hardware and software needed? My guess is they must have an awesome leader of the program. But this still doesn’t help overcome all the many downsides.</p>

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<p>Jrossi- we actually walked out of the Northeastern open house and booked our way to visit WPI which we loved (same day). I felt the NE program was too new and too unbalanced towards CS. We ended up late at the WPI open house so they placed us at a lunch table with three of the Game Design faculty. How lucky was that? I could create a pros and cons posting for WPI and there would be a lot of pros to it. The biggest con will be cost. I just wish that FA letter would get here.</p>

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<p>The NE program was originally in ther comp sci area, but we wound up finding and applying to a GD program in their college of arts and media. Becker was definitely a safety. Price is nice, but I didn’t get a good feeling there. Too salesy, and when a school tries that hard you need to question what’s behind the curtain. Drexel has a new policy where no tuition is paid during the quarters a kid is in co-op. We got a 12k merit scholly, but it’s still expensive. I think my S would apply to schools out west if we were willing to pony up for his commute back and forth to the east coast, but that’s not something wer’e considering at this point.</p>

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<p>Good to hear about the Drexel change to tuition during the co-op. That was a huge disadvantage for them. For us, their urban location is actually more of a drawback than the FA gap. They gave my son a $17k scholarship which was very nice. It is the only school we did not visit and is more if a safety. </p>

<p>I think I am going to try to not think about the pros and cons of all these programs until all the acceptances and FA letters come out. After all, some of the colleges may reject him making it easier (?) to make a decision.</p>

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<p>I was wondering where all the GD students and parents were… I was surprised there was very little discussion given it’s such a popular major this year. Our top 3 are RIT, RPI & WPI we also applied to drexel & champlain as safety schools. All 3 had pros and cons, living in CT we are familiar with RPi & WPI & know alum & recent grads (engineering mostly). To us the most important consideration was value, we wanted a good quality education at a reasonable cost with employability after graduation. WPI is very close to home, many of the kids in my s high school end up there, and the student body seems happy & focused. RPI is the most reputable, 1 1/2 hours from home all the alums we know are very successful, there are decent amount of clubs & academically challenging (which is something we needed), they have decent alum relationships in GD & like WPI has a small campus which is a good fit for our s. We loved it. But the weather isn’t great there, the recent grads we know are unemployed & not enough Internship opportunities IMO. We were surprised in the end that RIT was our clear 1st choice, I mean it’s over 5 hours away and the weather! But when we visited we were impressed that they really understood the major (at least the way we see it) lean towards the programming side which I believe will open up more job opportunities upon graduation, and of course the co-op which I believe is invaluable. The dean is excited about the major (rightfully so with so many of the brightest and talented kids interested in the industry there is bound to be rapid tech advances in the field) & it seems they are putting a lot off money and resources into the program. Consideration is taken into where the industry is going in future not just where it is now. Where the other schools have the major, for RIT it is a serious focus of the college. All said my s would have been happy at any of the 3 but likely RIT bound pending our FA award letter. :)</p>

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<p>So nice to see other GD kids and parents. Looks like we all had some similar needs: solid broad based education with a top GD school.</p>

<p>I hear what you are saying about issues with internships at schools like RPI. When I asked about this when we were there in October the old dude with all the experience talked about Vicarious Visions which is in Troy and how he uses his network to help obtain internships. Still it really seems limited. </p>

<p>I don’t think it is just RPI grads that are struggling to find a job, the entire industry is in transition. Just this past year THQ went bankrupt… There goes another one!</p>

<p>I like colleges that provide options if the student changes their mind.</p>

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<p>I don’t know much about the game design program, but my D is a senior photography major who is hard-of-hearing and she has loved her time at RIT. She was always mainstreamed in school and we never felt the hearing loss posed a great obstacle for her. She always compensated so well. However, after attending the Explore Your Future summer program, there was nowhere else she wanted to attend. She found a comfort level both socially and academically that we never realized was lacking. She has made many friends, both hearing and deaf, and she has been able to use support services in class such as closed captioning and note takers. She learned sign language her freshman year as well. It has been a wonderful experience for her.</p>

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<p>My son has a profound hearing loss in the right ear and had accommodations since he was 5. It would be great to not have to train a professor about the importance of using visuals, handouts, etc. I am sure RIT profs are sensitive and trained on this issue.</p>

<p>After visiting RIT my son said he plans to start wearing his hearing aid again. He actually started wearing it two weeks ago, shocked the heck out of me.</p>

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<p>I didn’t mean to minimize my daughters difficulties. She always had accommodations as well. She had stopped using her FM trainer in middle and high school, because she disliked having to give it to each teacher in each class. She has always worn her hearing aids, though. She just finally felt more comfortable at RIT. When I asked her what she liked so much about being with all the other hard-of-hearing students, she replied “they just get it, Mom!” The professors do seem to be very aware, and the whole community/city is very “deaf-friendly”. This has made her academic transition much easier overall.</p>

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<p>Ah yes, the FM system. He refused it in high school. We have some funny stories about it though. Teachers should remember better that they have a microphone on.</p>

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<p>Great thread. My son is a game programmer and will be applying in the next cycle. I agree with you GamerGal that programming is where it’s at in terms of industry demand - at least that is our understanding.</p>

<p>I realize this is an RIT thread but I have some experience with the other schools so allow me to comment on several.</p>

<p>RIT - my son will apply there. We will probably hold off visiting together (I have been there for work several years ago) until after his acceptances are in, it’s 10 hours from us. I have heard (third-hand) that the professors are not very accessible. Coop: on the website for the game development program, it states that coop is two summers - so I think the game development major is intended as a 4-year program. That’s important to us, or at least to me. I think there’s a lot to like about RIT. </p>

<p>USC - my daughter attends now, not majoring in anything related to games or computer science. Fabulous weather, gorgeous campus. The culture is completely different from these other schools. I can’t see my son fitting in there too easily. I’m sure there are nerds on campus, I just have never seen one. It’s 3000 miles from us, and, frankly, he doesn’t care about weather as much as I do – he spends most of his time at a computer screen writing games. My D has had issues with the distance and although she loves USC, I’m not going to push my son to apply.</p>

<p>Drexel - my ex attended. Yes it’s urban, in a different way than USC, but lots for a young person to do. Not much of a campus. Can’t see my son in that environment, he needs a quieter place.</p>

<p>NEU - we will visit, the comments here are interesting. Not sure the urban campus will interest my son although it is the most close and convenient to us of all these colleges.</p>

<p>WPI - I think this will be high on his list. We will visit in a couple of months. I too am worried about financial aid. </p>

<p>Becker - not even considering it, the academics look substandard. </p>

<p>Champlain - visited last year, we all loved it. He will apply.</p>

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<p>You are not considering RPI? I really like Ben Chang that runs the program and I heard they are generous with merit and need based aid.</p>

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<p>^ Forgot about RPI - yes, have been considering but am waffling on it. I think it is going to be too intense for my son academically. We haven’t visited so that’s just a feeling based on what I know about it. He needs warm fuzzies. We got that feeling at Champlain and that’s what I hear about WPI. His stats would seem to put him in the upper tier of accepted students at RIT. He’ll be happier doing very well at a less demanding school or with “regular” kids than competing in a highly pressurized environment, I think.</p>

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<p>RITs motto is “easy to get in but hard to stay in.” It is supposed to be very intense.</p>