Toured RIT with my D26. We’re from the south, and it was 19 degrees with a wind chill of 4, with lots of snow and slush on the ground. It’s not the prettiest campus – kind of in the middle of an office park. I thought it looked kind of bleak, but my daughter thought it was interesting.
Our tour guide was a super nice guy but really awkward. But he was earnest and did a decent job of answering questions. He mentioned that he didn’t have any coding experience before coming to the school as a CS major, but that there were so many resources and so much support available that he was able to do it. That was really helpful info to know.
My D26 loved everything. She thought the student body seemed diverse, welcoming, quirky, passionate – and deeply nerdy, LOL. She felt really comfortable there. We looked at all the posters and flyers hanging up, and there is every kind of (nerdy) club imaginable. There is a week-long Nerf gun battle called Humans vs. Zombies that 5,000 students take part in. There is a group that makes swords out of cardboard and battles in the hallways.
We ate on campus at a little soup place (Nathan’s?) – and it was delicious and not too expensive. The dorms are all connected by underground tunnels with a dining hall attached to them. (Although no tunnels between the dorms and the academic buildings.)
We also talked to a bunch of female students to see what their experience was at a male-dominated tech school. (I think the ratio is 65/35.) Everyone said it was pretty chill, and that there are several organizations to support women on campus, especially in STEM majors.
There was a lot to like – we got tons of info about the co-op program (mandatory for many majors). Students have to take at least one “immersion” – which is like a minor but only three classes.
D26’s favorite thing is that there were at least six different possible majors that interested her (human-centered Computing, new media design, game design, etc). It’s usually hard to find even one major in something like this, even at tech schools. And they have really strong art and design programs – the intersection of art and tech is what she wants.
So RIT has currently moved to the top of her list!