The Rochester Institute of Technology

Date: Jun 12 2004
Major: Computer Engineering (This Major's Salary over time)
When I came here I had been told about the male/female ratio and about the dry campus, but I didn't think about it much. I choose RIT for its US News&WorldReport rating, and because the dorm rooms and facilities were clean and newly renovated. I considered transfering after the first week of classes, and I wish I had. I didn't know where else to go, and I decided to wait and see if it got better.

RIT is not for everybody, this I think is reiterated many times here. The stereotypes used to describe those that will have fun and those that will not are a little too general. Engineering students at any school usually have below average social skills, this includes RIT and myself infact. Computer Science AKA Programmers also have this problem however they are quite different. Several CS major friends of mine have left because they didn't fit in with the 'CS Culture'. The best I can do is say that they can be kinda wierd people. Some CS students are into anime, and SciFi, and wearing black and the like. None of those things bother me really, but I know many people who hate that. There are also some elitests, though they are often very talented. How you'll feel about them depends on you.

Counter-Strike: Very popular when I was a freshman and still is. We left a super-bowl party to play a LAN game. The students who spend too much time playing games may be doing so only because that is what they did in highschool. The people they would likely want to be friends with are unfortunatly in thier rooms playing games as well. Basicly if your not a social person to begin with you'll have trouble. The more social people don't accept others as much as they do at other schools, in my (limited) experience.

If you consider yourself an above average socilizer or better you'll probibly have no problem finding parties and people to hangout with. And there are things to do in rochester, but its not a big or glitzy city. If you consider yourself an intelectual frats and frat parties will probibly not be your thing. In fact theres a good chance you won't like the parties no matter who you are.

Girls: The ratio is bad. Whats worse, most of the girls are in art. This pretty much goes for any school I suppose. Expect a ratio of 20 to 1 in engineering courses. Mechanical and Industrial have slightly more women than others. One big shock as a freshman that was a part of wanting to transfer was the first day of chemistry for engineers. Class size was 220 and there were 6 maybe 8 girls. I don't remember but it was definitly less than 10.

Networking with other students is a must if you want to have any contact with women. This isn't just for dating purposes, I think it is important to have women around as friends. There is a phenomena that many men have noticed when they go home or otherwise leave campus, complete amazmenet at the number of girls, and they will all seem gorgious(at least baltimore girls do). You'll also notice that girls who would date the hottest RIT guy, are dating guys that are much less attractive. You may notice having more difficulty talking to girls because you havn't done so in a long time. This is the problem with having limited interaction with the opposite sex. Its like living in a wierd culture where women are highly sought after and quite scarce. Girls act act differently too. Girls who had always been average will find themselves very popular and it can go to their heads. Ladies, dont' think your enrolling into some utopic school. Many of the guys will be nerdy. I have heard many girls complain that although the ratio is very much in their favor , when you take away the "un-datable ones" the ratio become basicly equal. (kinda harsh, unless your picky) You'll get lots of attention, plenty of help with your homework, but you may be disapointed with the quality of the guys. (hint you won't like: nerdy guys are probibly the nicest and sweetest guys there are but are not the life of the party.)

As upperclassmen engineers, you will begin to really know and interact with your classmates. This is often the only way to get projects and assignments done, and the easiest way to get questions answered. Faculty in my department tend to have dificulty explaing things even though they have a mastery of the topic.

Finally: Quarter system is very stressfull, seems rushed. Hard to cover all material. I feel that cramming a course in 10 weeks makes it hard to retain that info after the class is over. The ambitious will do well at RIT. Know what type of person you are before coming here.