Academics
This western New York academic stalwart boasts one of the country’s oldest (and largest) co-op programs and regularly turns out job-ready students from its business, computing, and engineering programs alike. Rochester Institute of Technology is laser-focused on “creating students that are more than prepared to enter the job force,” and faculty “bring the material to life” by keeping lectures work-related and placing emphasis on “how you would use what we are learning on the job site.” “Professors work with the students and see them as equals,” says one mechanical engineering major. “When I’m in the classroom, I feel like I’m learning and that I have a voice.”
The workload is legendarily daunting and “you will have to reach out and form study groups and pull all-nighters,” but professors are “more than happy to help their students” and “truly take pride in helping their students become successful.” While the material may be difficult, faculty “are willing to stay after hours, meet with the student, and hold group study/review sessions to help their students understand the material.” The easy A is “not very common, especially in engineering classes,” but “if you work hard, you will be recognized and grades will reflect that.”
The opportunity for students to dip their toes into real-world experience abounds throughout the college, and the paid co-op program (mandatory for most majors) is considered by many to be “the best thing anyone could ever choose to go through if you are a careerdriven individual.” Additionally, there are “plenty of materials and machines students can use for free where in other schools you still have to pay.”
Student Body
RIT is a place “where diversity is highlighted [and] academics are prominent,” and the population is “as unique and diverse as they come.” This environment “allows for a good [facsimile] of the real world.” The school’s internationally recognized National Technical Institute for the Deaf means there are “amazing accommodations for deaf and hard of hearing students that attend the university,” including “note-taking, interpreters, [and C Print® technology],” and a vibrant LGBT+ community also exists on campus. “Video games are a way of life” and students tend to have a nerdy streak (“We are geeky and we love it”). Large groups and clubs for “anime, World of Warcraft, [and] chain mail” happily thrive among students that are all “very accepting of each other’s interests.” “This is where students are able to create what their minds generate. It’s like teenager’s dream,” says one.
Campus Life
While schoolwork takes up the majority of students’ time, outside the classroom they “are constantly doing something to keep busy,” whether that’s joining one of the 300-plus clubs or chilling at the lab. “RIT has a culture for everybody,” so if you are interested in a broad topic like computing, “there are a dozen different clubs/societies that you can join to learn more about whatever niche topic interests you.”
Students cop to their being “a large gamer population” at RIT, and both electronic and tabletop gaming clubs and tournaments are wildly popular, as is anime. Hockey is a huge part of RIT and “it is very common to see a large number of students at the games.” People also “go to the free on-campus movies, see guest speakers, listen to comedians, and attend events hosted by the College Activities Board.”
The atmosphere and layout of the campus are beautifully balanced in that “it is not very spread out but not very small at the same time.” More than half of the growing population of students live in on-campus, meaning housing “is not always available for everyone who applies” and dorms can be crowded. While one student notes that “the existing infrastructure is okay at best,” the school is currently adding a new 120,000-square-foot maker space, a performing arts center, and upgrading its athletic facilities.
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