The State University of New York Institute of Technology Utica Rome

Date: Mar 26 2007
Major: Computer Science (This Major's Salary over time)
After getting my associate's degree in computer information systems from a community college in southern New York, I decided I wanted to transfer to another college and get my BS degree in computer science. Due to financial reasons, I could realistically only attend a SUNY school. I looked at a number of colleges but ended up choosing SUNYIT for one reason or another. I have an apartment off campus and commute to class, so my views may differ a little from other people who lived on campus.

My feelings about the school are generally positive. The campus itself is very nice and well kept. It's nice during the warmer months to simply walk around the school. The buildings are kept up fairly well and the library is actually really pleasant to spend time in. Parking usually isn't a problem. The various people you will deal with here are always very friendly and eager to help (except for one lady in the financial aid office).

Most of my time here has been spent with the computer science faculty. Out of all the professors I've dealt with, there has been only one that was really lousy at being a teacher. Class sizes are usually kept to a minimum (around 12-15, with the exception of a class or two), so getting individual attention isn't hard. Asking questions during class, after class or through emails is encouraged and never a problem. If you're having difficulty with a subject, it won't be too hard to find help.

The surrounding area isn't so bad. There are plenty of restaurants, shopping areas and such to occupy your time. Utica itself has some interesting things to offer, but you're probably not going to hang around the downtown area too much. All in all, the area around the school isn't going to blow you away with activities and events, but there is stuff to do.

I've mentioned that I live off campus, but I have spent some time in the dorms. I've seen my share of dorms before (most at other SUNY schools) and I must say that the dorms here are really nice. Just my 2 cents on that.

This all sounds nice, right? I've been mostly content during my time here, but there has been some things that genuinely bugged me. The first and most obvious is the weather. The Utica area gets some horrible winters. We get pummeled with lake effect snow in between snow storms, so the winter is long and cold (although this past winter wasn't too bad at all). These long months of frigid weather can really make you depressed. Some people like snow, but I'm not one of them. During the spring/summer, the weather is quite nice though.

Another issue I have with the school is a little harder to pin down. The student body itself can be a bit of a problem sometimes. While there is a large number of students who are dedicated, involved and friendly, there are a lot of students who do nothing but complain and talk poorly about SUNYIT any chance they find. These students will moan about ANYTHING at all. For example, a semester or two ago they installed new projector systems in a number of the rooms. The professor had obviously not used the new system yet and was having difficulty finding the right input for his notebook computer (which delayed the class for about 10 seconds). Most of the class was quiet, but you could clearly hear the group of complaining students laughing and saying to one another

college of technology…yeah right!

This wasn't an isolated case. Any normal hiccup in any class is met with this same reaction. I really got tired of listening to students complain about the smallest thing after a while. These same students wear sweatshirts with logos from other colleges, like they're ashamed to be going to a SUNY. This leads to a feeling of partial discontentedness among the students. Students also generally complain a lot about the Utica/Rome area, probably because most of them are from here and just tired of home. While I find their reasoning to be so critical and unhappy about things to be unfounded, I can't deny that I've sometimes felt bummed out just being around these people.

I'll be finished here in just one semester. Do I regret coming here? Not really. Aside from some minor annoyances, I felt I learned a lot here and grew as a person. This college is still very young in relation to other colleges and is still developing. It was only a few years ago that they started admitting freshmen. They're not instantly going to get everything right and complaining nonstop about little things only makes everyone miserable. The college is genuinely trying to grow and trying to make more of a name for itself. I look forward to seeing how this college will turn out in a few years as attendance increases, the programs expand and it makes the transition from an upper division college to a four year college.

Overall, if you're currently looking for a SUNY school that is small in size with a strong computer science/computer information systems department, SUNYIT is worth a look.