Thinking About RIT
It is winter here at the Rochester Institute of Technology, and as you can imagine the weather is pretty intense. As I type this I can see a steady stream of snow falling on my campus. I thought it might be a good time to comment on some of the parts of RIT that may be different from other colleges, and some of the things I enjoy at my school.
Most people go to a maximum of two colleges (by my estimation), but so far I have only attended RIT. Therefore I cannot even imagine a winter without bitter, scathing wind that burns your face as you attempt to walk on the slush that used to be a walkway. The weather is really what gets the most negative attention around here. Growing up in Pittsburgh I am definitely used to harsh winters. The difference here is the aforementioned wind. Sure we might get a little more snow and ice in New York, but the wind of Rochester is what changes it from winter wonderland to icy torture chamber.
RIT is well-known for this fact, but the other glaring issue that differentiates it from “normal” colleges is its personnel. For one, I would venture that my college has more videogame t-shirts worn on a daily basis than any other school in the nation. Our ratio of males to females is two to one, but in my opinion more impressive is the ratio of nerds to athletes (approximately 10-1). Basically, if you throw a football like a girl, but have written Tetris in more than one computer language, you belong here.
The great thing about that is the people who were nerds in high school are now by comparison cool. Though I played basketball and ran track all four years of high school, I was one of the only students who could set up a web server: semi-nerd status. At RIT, I barely qualify as a nerd poser. Here we have assembled the geeks of all geeks. The kids who were so introverted you did not even know they attended your high school.
Perhaps most impressive about this is they have assembled the single strongest force on campus. Here, beating a videogame in a week is a laughable achievement. The true RIT student stayed up for three days straight beating it on extreme difficulty, and still finished his class project (minutes before deadline). There are elitist geeks who boldly declare this accomplishment, but also those who quietly help you do the same thing. I mention this because just as in the jocktatorship, the nerdocracy has the same groupings of jerks and helpful, friendly individuals.
In this way RIT is just like any other college. The only difference is that the kid who sits in the back programming his calculator is actually at the top of the social totem pole. Everyone has a little geek in them, but in the snowglobe campus sitting in Henrietta, NY, you can let it out. The idea of being yourself has never been as clear to me as it is on this campus. During my freshman year I tried to deny the part of me that was nerdy in nature. Now I am just Justin Cady, that geek who plays sports and loves Apple.
There is plenty more to love about RIT besides its weather and average number of computers per dorm room (five). I really do love this campus and its atmosphere, but I realize it is not the typical situation. I also may have a slightly different perspective than that of someone who is not enrolled in the computer science major. Would you like to see more writing on RIT? (I did enjoy writing this) How is your college different?
Note: I also would like to take this opportunity to congratulate RIT on the honor of being named one of the 20 ugliest colleges in the United States. Orange and brown (and brick) for life.
Image courtesy Matthew Woitaszek
December 5th, 2007 | 11:04 pm
Ways that the University of Pittsburgh differs from RIT 1. More females (and a higher percentage of good looking ones). 2. More rounded student population, but then again, it is a university, not a tech school. We still have plenty of nerds. I know this first hand. 3. Less snow, less wind, and more dirty slush. 4. More homeless people, more pigeons, more eateries, and less brick. 5. Pitt is 1/3 as expensive as RIT.
I would like to visit RIT, and more writing on RIT wouldn’t be bad either.
December 6th, 2007 | 12:24 am
I enjoyed the sociological analysis. It’s good to be who you are, you don’t get confused trying to remember! Carry on.
December 11th, 2007 | 5:29 pm
I saw that article on digg that listed RIT as one of the ugliest colleges. I have to wonder however, why he thinks brick is so ugly. I kind of like brick.
Anyway, Grove City. The private institution an hour north of Pittsburgh.
1. Male to female ratio is strictly 1 to 1. You may get 1.01 to 1 after the fall semester and going into spring, because of transfers, but when fall beings, its back to 1:1. 2. We have plenty of nerds, and plenty of athletes. Basically, Grove City is a school for the elite. Over 15% of the students finish 1 or 2 in their class, and 75% are in the top 10 in their graduating high school class. Not only that, Grover city was recently listed in the Princeton review as the #4 “Stone-cold Sober” school in the nation, and #8 on the list for male physical fitness, with women also being in the top 20.
3. The snow, slush, sleet, and cold are greater in the Grove that Pittsburgh, but I love the gray, overcast skies that are abundant during the school year. 4. Grove City boasts 0 homeless people, a quiet and safe community, no public roads through campus, lots of brick, and lots of beautiful architecture. While the dorms are mostly brick, the classroom buildings are gorgeous even from the outside.
5. Grove City tuition and room and board starts at 16,500, and with scholarships, most people usually pay about 10k a year. 6. While truly a school for the elite, the workload is incredible. It is not uncommon for students to drop out or transfer after their first semester. Those who carry on however, are rewarded with a 90% job placement rate for graduating students. 7. Come visit. You can find me in the Grove, hotter than a stove… 8. I’d also like to visit the RIT sometime.
PS. Grove City’s Technology department, who I proudly work for, gives out brand new HP laptops to all incoming students. This is built in to your tuition and is yours to keep when you graduate. Support for your laptop is free and is under warranty for all the years you take a class at Grove City. Specs for this years tablet/laptop: 2.16 Ghz Intel Duo Core, 2GB RAM, 120GB HD, external battery pack (10 hr life), fingerprint reader, integrated bluetooth, 4GB USB flash drive, HP printer/scanner/copier, plus all the software you need.
December 13th, 2007 | 3:19 am
Number seven on Xane’s comment is my favorite.
December 14th, 2007 | 12:02 pm
I’m gonna have to agree with you on this one. One time when Iw as walking through the college of science at night, I walked down one hallway and in about 4 of the 6 or 7 rooms in the halls, people had brought their PS2s and Guitar hero with wireless guitars and hooked them up to the classroom projectors. Each room was a separate group of friends, it wasn’t like one group of friends branched off, no no; These groups were all separate.
On another note….RIT doesn’t even have a football team. I sorta feel like I’m being rejected from the whole college football scene.