The Rochester Institute of Technology

Before coming to RIT I was kinda skeptical about whether or not I was going to like it, especially hearing and noticing some things that caused me to think it was going to be terrible. Though so far I've enjoyed my time at RIT and have had the time of my life. Its really all about who you meet and what you make of it.

At RIT you're there to get a degree which in the long run will land you with excellent job placement and salary. Academics are great and so are the professors who are always willing to give you advice on your career goals and help you with any problems you may have in regards to a class or RIT issue.

In terms of social life, RIT doesn't have the title of being a party school, but there are always parties going on every weekend. If you're not in the mood to party there is always other stuff going on at RIT and throughout the Rochester area. All in all, I know that after RIT I will be reaping the benefits of having gotten an excellent education making good money !

1st Year Male -- Class 2015

Education Quality: A+, Campus Aesthetics: B

I am a freshman here at RIT. I wasn't going to comment, but seeing as I used this website as a resource while selecting colleges (and should give something back), and also wanting to set the record straight after reading the negative comments, I decided to.

RIT is, first and foremost, a place to study. Secondary to work is fun. Tertiary is other stuff. If you notice the order, fun actually comes before 'other stuff'. The guy:girl ratio is not 50-50, but you will definitely see a lot of girls. If you need five girls around for every one you ask out, I am afraid this is not the college for you. The frats, from what I hear, suck. Go the special interest house way. SIH's are not only the party floors of dorm buildings, the people are very helpful and very fun (you might even get pranked/prank people in the first week). There are quite a few places to go to off-campus, but the choice is not overwhelming.

Also, most people who leave RIT are not bright enough to keep up with coursework. Do not go on the "quite bright"s and "super brilliant"s because the people select those themselves. No one would call themself dumb. They cannot work, they want to party 24/7, they think college is a joke. Hence they leave.

By the way, WoW? NO ONE in the computer science house itself plays such games. Let alone for long periods of time. For fun, we have parties, watch movies, go to restaurants and play games. It isn't so bad.Bottom line: If you are dull and want to party, go somewhere else. If you are reasonably intelligent, open-minded and are able to choose the right folks to hang out with, come to RIT.

1st Year Male -- Class 2012

Education Quality: A+, Campus Aesthetics: C

Reading the rest of the views, I have to say I really don't know what these people are talking about when they claim there is no social life. Personally, I can't remember one night spent sitting in my room doing nothing. Sure there were nights a group of us spent in my room (a large triple with 1 roommate missing), but thats by choice or because it was just a good place to drink.

The social aspect of RIT depends of you going out and making friends with A) the people on your floor or B) networking through classes or orientation your first week. My problem was that the people on my floor are whats known as 'cavemen' where they rarely left the room. There were 3 people on my floor (out of 12, it was a small floor) that I would associate with. The rest were people I had networked with on my own. My advice for you and the point of this? RIT's social life is what you make of it, if you go out of your room and meet people, you'll find some really great people, I sure did.

The faculty are amazing. I had one bad class my second quarter which was taught a professor who was disorganized. I complained to the department and it was looked into to my satisfaction, good enough for me. The rest of the faculty are amazing. They will stay after class, give you their personal screen names, and even pull all nighters with you in the labs while you work on projects. It dawned on me midway through my 2nd quarter that the teachers weren't just there because it was a job, they were there to teach and they even got frustrated when kids didn't show up to class because they were there to teach.

The campus itself isn't that bad looking. Sure it's brick, but in the fall and the spring, facilities management does a great job keeping the grass green and the trees blooming. The winter this year wasn't bad but obviously thats not normal so I can't really comment on that.

The surrounding area certainly isn't as great as NYC or Boston, but theres enough to do to keep you amused. A decent sized mall, a movie theater, Walmart and Wegmans(grocery store) are open 24/7, plenty of places to eat(I recommened Philips European Bakery if you like cakes), and downtown Buffalo and Rochester aren't very far. Honestly, who doesn't want to go to Canada occasionally, if you catch my drift.

The field house, while useless to many, provides great services to those who wish to use them. An olyimpic pool, a small lazy river, a 20 person hottub, and a large gym (which is usually crowded but you can find open time), also an indoor track, many basketball courts and other stuff. CAB also has events and people come to the school as well as movies every thursday night incase you and your friends can't think of anything.

The big concern a lot of people have with RIT is the girl to guy ratio. Plain and simple, 35% of the guys don't leave their room because they love their computers. That puts the ratio of guys to girls who leave their room just about on level. Theres plenty of good looking girls and guys so don't worry.

Parties, yes we have them every weekend, meet some upperclassmen, we'll tell you where they are.
The Bad stuff:

Trying to register for classes is a 6AM ordeal which can be very frustating, but apparently it's being fixed.

Gracies food isn't horrible, but its not great either. Luckily meal options and debit can save you.
The B-lot parking lot (the one for freshmen) is a 5-10 minute walk depending on where your dorm is, you get used to it, but when its cold...

Student Government has poor participation and seems useless, never really had to deal with them or thought they could be of much help.

Depending on how you look at it, the quarter mile is part of a great fitness plan, or a long pain in the ass to walk in the cold.

Conclusion:
RIT is what you make of it. I had a great year and couldn't imagine going to another school. The classes were great, some I skipped, but overall worth the money, the people who actually leave their rooms are dynamic and cool to hang out with. If your looking for a well known school and want to feel like you learned something, RIT might just be right for you. It helped me find a great Co-op just after one year, making double what I was the previous year.Any questions, comments, or want some more advice? Feel free to email me at (account for RITIRC and to prevent spam).

1st Year Male -- Class 2010

Faculty Accessibility: A, Innovation: B-