Since I was in high school, I knew I wanted to study design or something like design ...until I came to RIT.
When I was looking for art colleges, RIT definitely was a great option for me. RIT has one of the top industrial design programs, they have the second best photography major in the US, and all other art/design majors are in good rankings as well. Besdies looking at rankings, I also looked at the campus life at RIT like the student life, clubs, and student community. Althought I was also accepted by other art schools like Pratt and California College of Arts, I figured RIT has the most diversity of out all these art shcools. The institute has a variety of majors which attract people from all backgrounds. I would be able to take classes that are not from my major and meet people from different programs with different backgrounds. This is was something other art colleges could not offer.
RIT is an academic institute that has a lot more to offer from academic support to social life to student affairs, and athletic events. After my first year in industrial design, I found out that I was no longer passionate about Industrial Design. The resources at RIT gave me opportunities to explore different majors. I talked to career advisors, academic counselors, Deans from different colleges. There is also an individualized study program that allows students engage in several different fields. Changing my major was not difficult at all. Considering I was in College of Imaging Arts and Sciences, I thought I would have to take lots of additional classes if I change my major. In reality, I did not need to take any extra classes and all my credits from my first year classes were transferred to my new program.
The other reason I chose RIT is that it is a high tech campus. The WiFi on campus is fast and covers every inch. ITS is always helpful to trouble shoot and fix technology issues. The labs are nicely equipped with large screen Macs and some labs even have hardware and tools for students to use like the industrial design labs and workshops. Beyond the standard labs, RIT is also a leader in printing technology. We have 3D printers in the hub in the SAU (Student Alumni Union) and all across our campus. There's much more technology stuff related to certain majors that I don’t know about, but the general ideas is that RIT has advanced technology and facilities open for students.
Since I changed my major to packaging science, cooperative education has become a big part in my current major. For those who don’t know, the cooperative education program at RIT is full-time, paid employment directly related to your field of study. The length of a co-op can be a single term or 2 consecutive terms. Co-op gives you the opportunity to gain work experience, helps you further realize your career path and the value of what you are learning in the classroom. RIT office of career services and cooperative education organizes a huge career fair each semester that gives students opportunities to search for coops and network with future employers. This makes finding a co-op much easier and the Office of Career Services and Cooperative Education is always open to counseling and help. I was lucky enough to get a co-op with Ocean Spray this coming summer and fall through the co-op office.
All of these reasons and more are why RIT is a great fit for me!