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The Rochester Institute of Technology

How this student rated the school
Educational QualityB+ Faculty AccessibilityB
Useful SchoolworkB- Excess CompetitionB+
Academic SuccessB- Creativity/ InnovationA
Individual ValueB University Resource UseC-
Campus Aesthetics/ BeautyC FriendlinessA-
Campus MaintenanceA Social LifeB+
Surrounding CityA- Extra CurricularsB
SafetyA
Describes the student body as:
Friendly, Afraid, Arrogant, Approachable

Describes the faculty as:
Friendly, Helpful

Male
ACT:28
id='quarter' class='snapshot' style='color: #977500; line-height:80px';float:left;
SAT1280
Bright
Lowest Rating
University Resource Use
C-
Highest Rating
Creativity/ Innovation
A
He cares more about University Resource Use than the average student.
Date: Mar 15 2009
Major: Other (This Major's Salary over time)
My RIT experience has been a mixed one. I have been through all the negative aspects of this school, as well as having a really good time. I started out as an MET student. It was awful, the people were boring rednecks, and the coursework was difficult. Albeit I am not the smartest or hardest working.

I switched to packaging, which is great. It is interesting, easy and we make a lot of money. I like the combination of traditional lectures and hands on experience that we get. The professors all have industry experience, and know what they are talking about. Because the economy is currently in shambles, it is not quite as easy to find a job, but compared to other majors it is easy to find work. The head of packaging, is very nice and even knows who I am. The only downside is that packaging majors are often looked down upon by other students. In situations where I am given a hard time for my major I like to remind the provoker how much more money I will make then them.

RIT represents a good value for a university of its caliber. All college education is expensive, RIT provides a lot and good name for the amount they charge.

Academics as a whole are very strong at RIT. All of the facilities are first rate, and an RIT degree is never scoffed at. Although I have had a few sub par professors, the vast majority have been either adequate or great. The classes are not terribly hard, but you need to work to get B's, and A's are really hard to come by. I wasn't terribly fond of the MET department, but packaging is a close knit and supportive family, that I am happy to be a part of.

The campus as a whole is very clean and well maintained. Most of the buildings are relatively new, and the grounds are always perfectly manicured. The buildings themselves may lack charm, but I do not mind the brick. The buildings are always well heated, and cooled, so I never find myself uncomfortable. Free parking is a benefit of going to a school with a lot of flat land. RIT is one of the few universities with free parking, and is a great feature. Bring a car to RIT, you will need it!!! Although the buildings maybe a nice temperature, the winters in Rochester are tough, and the wind enhancing nature of the campus makes the cold worse. With a warm jacket, I only experience a few months where it is really unpleasant. Also there is not a whole lot of sunny days, but I prefer over cast anyways.

Living on campus has been OK. Although I now live off campus, and enjoy it immensely, the dorm situation was decent. The dorms, for the most part are air conditioned and reasonable in size. The food compared to other universities is actually OK. Its not great, but it could be so much worse. The worst part of the dorms is being constantly surrounded by a bunch of immature Neanderthals. It is not funny to run around screaming obscenities in the middle of the night, and drinking in the dorms doesn't make you cool. Of all the people in my hall, I actually like about 8 of them. I know I am going to hell for saying this but, deaf people are really annoying, especially when you have to go up 11 floors in an elevator with them to your room on a regular basis.

This is where I segway onto the social scene. It was only until the last year that I have been happy with my social life. I know all sorts of cool and interesting people that I routinely have great times with. However, it took me nearly two years to find these people. The vast majority of people I have met at RIT frankly kind of suck. There are a lot of quite nerds that don't know how to have a good time, as well as some of the most boring shallow people, who are perfectly content on watching house and getting wasted. After sifting through a lot of muck, I have found a great group of friends I am happy with.

Anybody that says there are no parties at RIT is lying. What they are really saying is that they haven't been invited to any parties. Unlike most colleges, there is no such thing as open parties at RIT. There are no crazy Frat parties that any student can attend. At first this was a major disappointment to me, but as time has gone on I have less and less desire to go to some stupid, loud, drunken event where you do not know anybody, or cannot hear anything. I would much rather attend a party where I know most people, and find it easy to branch out. I go to these types of parties on a near weekly basis, and enjoy them to a great degree.

The dry campus policy doesn't really change things either. For my freshmen year getting alcohol was hard due to my lack of over 21 connections. Since the fall of my second year alcohol has been readily available. The novelty of intoxication has long sense worn off, although I do indulge from time to time. Since there is an art school here, decent weed is easily available at very good prices. There are also some nice woods to smoke it in if you are into that kind of thing.

The surrounding city of Rochester is a common source of whining by the students here. It is true that Rochester is not glitzy or nearly as exciting as other cities such as NYC. However, there are all sorts of restaurants and clubs within driving distance to the school. There is also Wegmans, and just about every sort chain retailer you could ever think of. Rochester also has very affordable real estate, which allows me to rent a sizable town house for less then it costs to live on campus. The roads in Rochester are great. I have never been in a traffic jam, and it only takes ten minutes to get to the airport. Although I grew up literally ten minutes from NYC, I genuinely like Rochester and enjoy how easy it is to live around here. Rochester is also in relatively close proximity to other colleges such as Cornell, which makes for fun weekend trips.

I am currently 60% through my career at RIT. It is a good school that has a lot to offer. If you manage to make it through, you will have good degree, and will be competitive in the job market. I have found that it is harder to find fun and interesting people to associate with, but they are out there, and if you haven't found them yet you are not looking hard enough. Lastly, the local city is great, it has its own unique charm that has to be found by a person on their own. RIT is a school that will not deliver immediate satisfaction, you need to stick around, and develop your life here before it becomes great.

     
Responses
responseThank you SO much for this! This is probably the first review that I've read about this school that actually seems real. All the other ones make it seem like a hell hole and how if I end up going here I'm going to be miserable. I guess I'm still not sure how I feel about this school but it's still one of my top choices. Thanks again!
questionI'm not exactly sure what question I want to ask first. I'm a 21-year-old female looking at transferring to RIT for the international business program. I considered transferring a year ago but I was concerned with it being too much of a tech school, but now I have a completely different mindset about school and don't mind going somewhere like RIT. I've been to other schools before and now that I'm older I know more of what I want. What general type of person would you say RIT is for?
questionHi, don't mean to bother too much but I'm back again (the person that posted the question before). First, I remembered I wanted to know about the town houses you found. I'm all for saving money, but how big of a savings was it to not just pay room n board? Did you have a roommate? Was it a terrible inconvenience to live on campus or did it make attending RIT all the better? What's it like to go to school during the winter months when you're off campus? I grew up with snow (colorado, germany) but I've never driven in it nor with black ice). Are the neighborhoods good areas without a lot of incidents? Do you have any housing advice or recommendations? Secondly, I know you're not a business major, but your review on RIT shows that you're a real person, probably down-to-earth so I'm honestly interested in what you have to say. Like I said before, I've been there done that and would probably have a completely different view of RIT than most fresh out of HS first years, so I'm looking for a perspective from an older mind. From what you know, do you think RIT is worth it to an international business major? I'm very attracted to the co-ops and the discipline that I think RIT will give me in my field. I want to be prepared for my career and graduate school and I don't want to be at another school that doesn't fit me. What type of experience did you want in a college? What were your reasons for going to RIT, academics and beyond. What is life like in Rochester as far as feeling like you're a part of the community? Are the people friendly? welcoming? What would you change about RIT? Who would you recommend the school to? What do you think of the quarter system? Are their other things you don't like or that I should be aware of? Would you do it all again? I know these are a lot of questions, but I've done 4-year before, I've had my experiences, I didn't know enough before to be able to properly choose a college, but now I know a world more and I want to get it right this time. One last thing, this may seem strange because you don't attend these schools, and you don't know me but…Do you have any friends at surrounding schools like Ithaca and Nazareth (I don't live anywhere near there so I haven't visited yet)? What have they thought of their schools? Do you have an opinion of the schools or students that attend them?
responseI was a student at RIT and I hated every moment of it. The whole place is a complete joke. The campus is isolated in suburbia, the faculty suck (or are all really old), the campus is expensive, the tuition is outrageous. Don't bother, there are lots of great SUNY schools in the area and a TON of other good private schools. Everyone thinks RIT will buy you a great job because of their reputation, but their reputation is starting to suck. Ask anyone who has graduated in the last 2 or 3 years. The place blows.
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