Out of the 3, Rensselaer is by far the most “nerd” friendly. See: https://sites.google.com/site/rpigenericon/ Every year the students put on a weekend which feature a wide variety of attractions that run the gamut of geeky hobbies, including science fiction, gaming of all forms, and anime. And Troy actually is a lovely little town. We spent 3 days exploring the city when we took our Daughter for accepted students day and my husband I and I were very impressed (He is originally from NYC and we both live in San Francisco now.) A degree from any of the 3 schools will open many doors. Good Luck in your decision.