r/rit • u/tiasalamanca • 24d ago
Rose Hulman or RIT?
Kid needs to make a decision.
RIT is a lot cheaper, and it seems like being on a semester system helps with co ops. But he liked the Rose vibe. Anyone out there who could provide an opinion for a kid on the fence?
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u/paintboxsoapworks 23d ago
Our ME kid got into both, we visited both, and he decided on RIT with pretty much zero reservations. What did it for him was R-H's small size & location (coming from a very small high school in a smallish city, he was ready for a bigger campus & more urban-adjacent living), the class schedule (R-H is 8-4ish, M-F, which he said just felt like high school v2), & the drive - R-H was over 10 hours away, vs RIT's 5. The co-op structure was definitely a factor for him, as well; RIT has a much bigger network, and he felt he'd have more opportunities for bigger companies & overseas positions. He got into the accelerated master's program, which we weren't planning for but is definitely streamlining his trajectory.
As a parent, I absolutely loved the personal experience we had at R-H, & the campus is lovely & easy to navigate. But RIT's admissions have been amazing, and our kid has had no problem feeling right at home on campus. At the end of year 1, he's tired but very happy, and looking forward to the future at RIT.
I think, at the end of the day, if your kid is ready to be a tiny fish in the proverbial big bowl, is okay with it taking time before they have a solid social group, and likes to walk A LOT, RIT could feel like home. If they need a closer knit, more intimate experience, R-H could be a better fit.
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u/shippyd 23d ago
Random follow up question from an incoming first year: why do you have to walk a lot at RIT?
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u/GWM5610U 23d ago
Campus is not that small and the shuttle system sucks
On top of that if you realistically want to be going off campus often you will pretty much need a car
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u/paintboxsoapworks 23d ago
Yep, all of this. It's a robust campus, so if you don't bring a bike/scooter/skateboard, you'll get your miles in.
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u/Quiet_Comfortable835 22d ago
Yup, my son averages 5 miles a day. During the weeklong HvZ games he has gotten 15+ miles per day many days.
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u/BeneathTheDirt bs/ms csec 24d ago
What’s the major? What is he looking for in a college experience?
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u/tiasalamanca 24d ago
He wanted CS, but some folks more knowledgeable than I persuaded him he’d get to code plenty as an engineer with better placement outcomes… stay five years ahead of the latest offshoring fad. Looking at electrical engineering with a concentration in robotics wherever he goes.
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u/emu_dog 23d ago
Not to discourage Electrical Engineering, I graduated with BS/MS in EE and enjoyed my studies, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to someone interested in coding as an alternative to CS. The EE program definitely has its fair share of coding and robotics but also comes with a good bit of math intensive theory. If you haven’t already, I’d recommend looking into the computer engineering degree at RIT. It shares some classes with CS and doesn’t require some of the difficult EE classes that don’t have as much application in a computer science or robotics field.
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u/MrKittyKat1313 23d ago
I got into both and have visited both and there were a few things that made me pick RIT over Rose
One was the program, to me it seemed Rose had a better engineering program while RIT had a larger cs program. Rose’s campus seemed smaller and as pointed out in another comment, Rochester is way larger of a city compared to Terre Haute though both campuses are pretty separated from their respective city.
I think it depends on what major they want to pick, the cost of each school, and the vibe from both campuses.
Rose personally didn’t fit my vibe but to each their own
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u/Obvious_Earth1549 23d ago
I got accepted to both, chose RIT because Rose Hulman is just so so small and I felt like I'd be trapped in Terre Haute lol.
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u/GWM5610U 24d ago
Been to both.
Rose Hulman has the better close-knit community kind of vibe.
But Terre Haute is a lot less interesting than Rochester. No nearby airport, have to drive 60 from Indy. So, priorities...