The Rochester Institute of Technology

You will receive a great education at RIT. The school is very challenging, and very fair. This is by no means a party school, but you will learn a lot and grow as a professional. The coop program is also very good.

That being said, I would recommend anyone who does not get a very large amount of financial aid (Not federal loans) or doesn't have very rich parents (who will pay for your education) not to go here. I made the mistake of trying pay for RIT on my own (as my parents could not help me and were were considered too wealth for financial aid), and even though I have a good job (which I got right out of college), I am swamped in debt which I will be paying off for at least 20 years. The education is great, but you aren't going to be making MIT money for going here. It is NOT worth the costs.

5th Year Male -- Class 2013

Perceived Campus Safety: A+, Surrounding City: F

Each person that goes here can have a completely different experience than any other given person. My roommate and myself, for instance. He's very happy being here. He met lots of people in his church group early in the year, and makes friends very easy, and he also got several of the better professors. And I hear similar things from a few other people, which is why I'm giving a neutral review instead of negative. He always talks about how much he loves his classes. On the other hand, I'm having a nearly opposite experience. I find that people here tend to be unapproachable, mostly because the nerds have a superiority complex, and most of the other people just think they're better, and often rude because of it. I found that clubs and groups tend to be unapproachable unless you know someone in there already very well. Parties are sausage fests. Everything is a sausage fest, actually. As for classes, I find that many of my professors don't care at all for their students. We are simply a product to be sent through the system. Most can't be bothered to learn your name. In the Computer Security major, at least, you become creatively stifled. Everything is just procedure after procedure, with no room to think for yourself. You develop as a machine, knowing exactly what to do and how to do it, and learn these technical skills very well, but you never develop as person, forming thoughts and opinions for yourself. Classes like to let you figure things out for yourself, which is good and should work like that, but they very often do not give the tools to do that as well as they expect, and you just end up struggling and confused. As for more subjective things, the campus is ugly to me. At first, it's really nice looking and very pretty. But as winter comes, it becomes overwhelming and depressing. Speaking of winter, get used to it. The skies turn grey around November, and then you get to see the sun again in April. Combined with the campus, it messes with the head, and generally creates a depressing atmosphere. Also, the chilling cold does not help to solve this atmosphere. Food here is generally good compared to other campus foods. Lots of variety to choose from. The local towns of Henrietta and the actual city of Rochester do have some things to do, but it's not worth going to unless you have a car, because the campus is so far isolated from the rest of the world. I can't speak for parties. If you want to go to one, you either have to know somebody that throws parties very well, or you have to have breasts. Speaking of these, the ratio is off putting. There's a lot of guys here. And not all these guys like to stay hygienic. Definitely aim for a co-ed floor. If you're a girl, you're going to get stares. Generally, I would have to say that I cannot recommend RIT based on my own experiences. However, there are people that have had much better experiences than me, and they can recommend it. It all comes down to how you deal with these problems that I've experienced.

1st Year Male -- Class 2016

Perceived Campus Safety: A, Innovation: F

I'm in my second year at RIT and I recently switched my program from biomedical engineering to biology. I found that the curriculum for biomedical engineering wasn't really what I was interested in. A lot of math and physics, and the sciences were engineered based. It just wasn't working for me. I like my classes better in my new program but they are still hard. It has also been hard trying to make the transition. Because of the quarter system, I had to start in the middle of a sequence rather than from the beginning. Next year that shouldn't be an issue though since we're switching to semesters. I have had a very difficult time here academically. But I am at fault in this situation, not just RIT. Sure, some professors are not good teachers and the assigned work doesn't always help you understand or prepare for exams. But I've generally found that there are a lot of professors willing to help you individually if you ask, and there are lots of places on campus to go when you need help. It's just what are you willing to do to help yourself.

1st Year Female -- Class 2016

Friendliness: A, Surrounding City: F