The Rochester Institute of Technology

This school is great for academics and preparation for work in your chosen industry. The classes you are required to take all make sense and there is not much useless work. Everything aside from academics is either terrible or does not exist. People are generally mean or anti-social. There are constant safety alerts for robbery/vandalism. Parties are typically all male, as are classes and events. Also, there are TONS of deaf people who are mostly very rude. I'm not saying there are no nice and fun people, and I'm good friends with a few deaf people (learning sign language is a good idea), but what I've said is true for the majority. Good luck.

1st Year Male -- Class 2011

Education Quality: A, Campus Aesthetics: F

Do not form opinion of the quality of education an institution might provide you based upon rankings in a national magazine. Those rankings are based upon alumni contributions. Obviously, any alumni has a vested interest in prospective employers and everybody else believing that their education was superior, so they will be inclined to make contributions once they realize that is how their college rises in the ranks in said national magazines. Really all that system does is place all of the burden on alumni to create the illusion that said institution provides a quality education, rather than placing the burden where it is due...on the institution itself. I was very dissatisfied with the quality of education I received in my degree program. Unfortunately, when you prompt the Accreditation Board to provide their report cards for educational institution, they decline to do so. Apparently, if you want to see how your school scored, you need a subpoena. It doesn't seem right that you pay good money for an education, based upon inaccurate rankings in a national magazine, then once you discover the truth about the quality of education received, you can't even get access to the report cards generated by the Accreditation Board. No accountability! Poor quality faculty staff at time of attendance. Buyer beware!

Alumnus Male -- Class 2000

I realize it seems that I simply put F’s for nearly every category but I did put thought into those answers. Approaching graduation I am reflecting back on my experience. For $30K+ a year, I feel sick and disheartened.

I have encountered about three good professors here at RIT. Most of the other professors are not experts in their fields. At the same time, they're not good at presenting material. Some professors know the material but aren't adequate educators.

The best part of RIT was the friends I made. I learned more from/with my friends than I did from most of my classes. I do feel I was fortunate for meeting them during my freshman year.

Furthermore, academic advising leaves a lot to be desired. The curriculum is not very complicated but I expected the advisors to be the expert resources I could use to decide my future. The advisors were cold and unapproachable. I felt guilty asking too many questions. I had to have very specific questions to get any sort of answer from them. They weren't very useful for guidelines at all.

The curriculum for the CS program, flat out, sucks. The majority of the courses are useless. Until my last year I did not have a chance to take courses I enjoyed and were interested in. I did not experience any "wow" classes; nothing that pushed the boundaries of my skill or the boundaries of technology.

The CS classes were not challenging. Advanced math courses were more difficult and physics courses required me to do work. CS classes were easy and I hardly put forth any effort and still received A’s and B’s (while working 30 hours a week). Oh yeah, most courses consist of busy work (hence the F for that category).

I honestly paid for a piece of paper that claims I know anything.That’s just my experience. Happy college hunting!

5th Year Male -- Class 2008

Campus Maintenance: A, Education Quality: F