The Rochester Institute of Technology

Date: Mar 18 2010
Major: Fine Arts - Painting/Sculpture/Photography/etc (This Major's Salary over time)
i was a freshman at RIT in the ad. photo program this year, and just took a leave of absence, most likely for good. There were a lot of different reasons as to why i didnt finish out the school year, but basically i was miserable and was planning on leaving after this quarter ended.

rit isnt a party campus. for me that was alright at first, but after the first few weeks you'll find yourself asking "now what?". 90% of the students there are some type of computer or engineering major, so they all like to sit in their rooms and play dungeons and dragons or world of warcraft… like, to the point where ive walked in on strategy meetings in some of the lounges and was kicked out incase i was a spy… yeahhh… so for the other 10% there really isnt a whole lot to do, which is why they go and get high out in the woods or apartment buildings. don't get me wrong, i have friends that like to smoke and theyre a lot of fun to hang out with, but thats not my scene every night of the week.

this school is also known for the amount of stress the students face, mostly because of the quarter system and how the course work is so condensed. this is prolly one of the biggest reasons as to why there is a good amount of drugs at the school, but also a fair suicidal rate. the night i came home i got a phone call at 1 in the morning about a possibly armed suicidal student who was tasered in front of my old dorm building. not cool. the school isnt going to go out and tell you about these kinds of things, but its in the fine print when they tell you the students are usually under a lot of pressure.

another thing that they try to make seem all wonderful and perfect is NTID (school for the deaf and hearing impared). i think it's great that these resources are offered to people who have trouble hearing, but to say that the campus isnt segregated is completely not true. my first dorm room in the first quarter was on a hearing/deaf floor. there was nothing going on and so it was hard to meet people, or i would hear loud noises and crashes at 3 in the morning from the deaf neighbors who didnt know they were being really loud. also, for the most part the deaf students dont really try to socialize with the hearing students after awhile because they get impatient with the communication barrier.

i moved to photo house after my first quarter because of the lack of social life, trying to give rit another chance in that matter, and it was a great choice. photo house has its issues with some drama, but hey, we're artists what do you expect? i loved how most of us had the same classes and could learn from each other and help with projects. what i realized though was that after my freshman year was over, there would be new incoming freshman and this social situation wasn't going to last for the next 4 years.

and im the kind of person who loves to go out and just find something to do with ppl, whether that be seeing a movie, partying, going to the hookah lounge, seeing a concert, whatever. but rit pretty much didnt let me get to experience any of those things, the things that youre supposed to in college. this was because of the lack of ways to get from there to some other place. unless you had a car, or a friend who would drive you anytime you wanted, it was impossible to go anywhere besides barnes and noble or the local strip mall. the bus transportation sucks, and so youre stranded on campus, especially in the winter. for photo majors you're required to take shots off of the campus, which obviously is nearly impossible.

the photo department has a high reputation for helpful staff, which it does, and its equipment, which is amazing. as long as you have a camera and tripod youre good to go pretty much. it definatly helps to have an apple laptlop and harddrive as well. what i didnt like was 1) how your first year doesnt focus on core classes like 2d design, drawing, etc like most other schools do, so its hard to transfer credits now, and 2) how technical the teaching style is; it's important to learn the basics of your craft, but i never felt like they were trying to help me develope as an artist and further explore my style as an individual, but instead told me what to shoot and how to shoot it if i wanted an A.

lastly, im a girl. there aren't many there, so all the boys take the chance to hit on a girl whenever they get the chance and think they're hot shit. that's false. theyre mostly socially awkward dudes, which if youre into that then great, youll find your man here. i however, have a high school sweetheart, and he wasnt exactly crazy about the idea of tons of odd guys hitting on me at "parties". my first dorm (with the deaf kids) i was one of 3 hearing girls, the other 2 ive never seen. all of my friends that i hung out with from there were 9 guys, who im still really close friends with and i love them to death, but im lucky that they all ended up being like my older brothers and not a bunch of guys looking for a little somethinsomethin. my advice as a girl would be to make some really close guy friends, because i know that if i ever was in trouble mine would have my back, and i know my bf was glad that i had them too. so basically if youre a person who keeps to themselves, loves to work hard, and is ok with not much to do other than computer games and smoke/drink with a few people, then this is youre place to go. :)