Admissions

One of the best ways to meet friends and get a jump on your classes is to join a learning community. You will be automatically registered for your classes and you will be with other students for your major.

If you end up with a roommate you just can't live with, don't panic! Just talk to housing and you'll be able to move by the end of the week. (It was one of the best decisions of my life!)

Everybody likes to complain about the food at Gracie's but I think it's delicious! Always eat at Mongo's!

Can't find the energy to wake up for lunch? No problem! Ask your professor if you can eat in his/her class. I saved tons of time by enjoying my food while learning.

If you're having a tough time with your math homework, there is free tutoring always available. A writing lab will also help review your papers and essays as well.

Didn't get the professor you wanted? Just email them! Most professors are willing to overfill their classrooms so that you don't have to suffer through a quarter with a poor teacher.

If you need anything else, just ask your RA, your academic adviser or even President Destler. All of these resources are bound to know how to answer your inquiries.

Finally, stay organized! RIT's quarter system moves fast and if you fall behind, you'll get buried with work in no time. Make friends and work together to get through your classes with A's! (But don't overwork yourself. There is plenty of time for relaxing and spending time doing whatever you want.)

Make sure you a prepared to work as this school is not for the faint of heart. If you're in an engineering program it's going to be tough, but completely worth it and you should get a job coming right out of college.

Tips, Tip number one. Talk to your academic advisor and see what you can do to make it so you’re in a learning community. It makes the first couple weeks a lot more bearable and throughout the year it’s very comforting to know and useful to have people you can talk to about work close by. It’s a big help too with last minute work, you tend to run into a lot of that with these quarter systems because everything winds up flying by so fast.

Tip number two. Keep up with homework, it is all very important and is all on the very large tests you get at the end of each unit. Also, do well on your tests and actually study for them. If you have like three of four of them and you know how you’ve done on each then you pretty much know how you’re doing in that class.

Tip number three. Keep in touch with your academic advisor and up to date on everything academically, financially, look to the future and anticipate things. Even talk to your FYE instructor and other teachers out of the class room on more than one occasion, they know what they’re talking about and have lots of advice to share.

Tip number three. Have fun :) The year is challenging but RIT does such an awesome job of arranging activities for you! I know I had a great time at Brick City and the many hockey games I attended. Those were my favorite, find some time to get out and support the team! Barbeques and fraternity pool parties, blow-up wrestling on the quarter mile and special dinners at Gracies are some of the things I enjoyed my first quarter and it just keeps coming!

Don't be afraid to talk to the teachers. I actually friended one on Facebook! Your teachers don't have to be your enemies. If you are sick, can't make a class, or have personal problems that interfere with a project, just talk to them and they'll understand.

Join clubs also; it's always great to meet new people and try new things. I joined a club called No Voice Zone, and I learned a few signs, so I can have small conversations with the deaf and hard-of-hearing people. Also, don't be afraid to talk to them, even if you don't know ASL, they will be patient and teach you!

Make sure to get the 10 meal plan. I didn't understand in the beginning, but it's 5 meals at Gracie's and 5 meals anywhere else on campus. If you get the 12 or 14 meal plan, it's 5 meals anywhere else and all the rest at Gracie's. Trust me- you will get sick of Gracie's- get the 10 meal plan.

DO NOT PROCRASTINATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Doing a project the day before it's due only works so many times, and trust me, all-nighters 3 times a week is no fun. Don't be like me- 12 straight hours on a project due the next day- get your work done ahead of time.

If your have any problems with your roommate, classes, or anything really, you can always talk to your RA and they can help, or at least point you in the right direction.

Make sure to bring warm clothes too!

Be aware: RIT is on a quarter system, each one 10 weeks long (plus a week of finals): fall, winter, spring, and summer (although we're not expected to go to classes during the summer, we can). What that means is that if your major requires a co-op, there's opportunity to do that in the summer. It also means that we have a very fast paced, rigorous curriculum - we're squeezing a semester's amount of work into 10 weeks. However, classes are over with faster, it's changing before you get too bored, and because there's so much packed in, you're more or less employable by the end of your second year (depending on your major).

Come and take a tour! Yes, there's a lot (A LOT) of bricks, but check out what will be your building for classes, and the dorms.

Once you're here, get out of the dorms! Go to events, meet the people from your major - those are the people you'll be having class with. Become friends with someone with a car and get off campus (Buffalo Wild Wings - or B Dubs, Chipotle, The Marketplace Mall, Tilt Night Club, Barnes and Noble... they're all right down the street! Take advantage!)

Get a laptop - the entire campus is wireless! You can sit outside your classroom, in the tunnels below the dorms (that's where the laundry rooms, the post office, and a couple convenience stores are), in one of the quads, in class, in your dorm, probably even one of the elevators, and you will have a connection.

Cell phones are also a must. Texting mostly.

Make sure that this is the school for you!
In other words, make sure that if you go here, that you would be dedicated to staying and giving it your all.
You need to dedicate yourself to RIT; if you don't, you won't get much out of it.

Don't be afraid to ask questions or to see a professor during office hours for extra help. In my experience, the professors like the students who ask questions. It shows that the students truly wants to learn.

Get involved! It is easy to feel lost at this school unless you have something to occupy yourself with on the weekends.

Take advantage of the facilities your tuition money helps pay for! The gym, library, and student union are gorgeous.

Go to class and do your homework. On the fast-paced quarter system, it is easy to fall behind.

Make friends in your major - their knowledge is invaluable.

Work hard to earn the best grades and test scores as possible as it will put more money in your pocket and eliminate some courses you will otherwise have to take.
Be ready and willing to open up to learning more about people and life. College is a big deal. It opens up so many doors and is truly worth your time.

Try to see the school in the fall or spring. there are more students out and about, during the winter- most of the students use the tunnel system below campus to get around so they don't have to go above ground in the weather- which can be really cold.

Definitely consider the school if you're slightly interested in anything technology, design, fine arts, engineering, or even business. There is an increasing presence in the medical field (PA program top ranked, and perhaps newly created biomedical programs).

If you want college to be academically focused, and want a prospective career after graduation, then come here. We have gone up in rankings very quickly in the last 5 years, and we're getting even better.