Freethought & Rationalism Archive

12-29-2002, 01:19 PM

I've been applying to colleges this year and the two I'm looking into most are Stonybrook and RIT. Anyone have any expereicnes or know anyone that attends these schools? Specifically how you felt attending the school and what stood out to you.

Omega Glory · 12-29-2002, 04:13 PM

Well, I'm a third year biotech major at RIT, so I might be able to help. Obviously though your experience will mostly be based on the department that you're dealing with and not the university itself, so I don't know how useful this will be.

Overall, my experience has been pretty positive. Since RIT is on trimesters, you learn a lot of information in a short amount of time. A lot of businesses prefer RIT students for co-ops because we are taught a lot of practical things, such as lab techniques, very early on. Most of the other positive things are related to the science department, so I'll leave that out until I know what major you're interested in.

The trimester system can get kind of crazy at times though. Some classes really don't fit into ten week blocks very well, and if you get sick for more than a couple of days you're screwed. Also, changing classes every ten weeks equals three sets of finals per year. The campus is also overcrowded, which means you might get stuck with having one three hour lecture once a week instead of the usual one hour lecture three times a week, or a Saturday class. The amount of people also make it hard to find on campus housing after freshman year (and even then you could get stuck living in a converted lounge).

Hmm, thats about all I can think of right now, but I'll be happy to answer any specific questions if you have any.

debaser71 · 12-29-2002, 06:38 PM

I went to Stony Brook.

Stony Brook is a dump =(

There's graffitti on walls/buildings, there's garbage on the floors, junk in the parking lots, etc. I felt like I was going to school in the slums.

Also there are a lot of minorities there. Not that that's a bad thing. Just that as a white american male I didn't have too much in common with all the non english speaking asians.

This was about 10 years ago. I've read in newpapers how Stony Brook is trying to clean up a bit because they want their sports team to get into better divisions. I haven't ben there so I haven't seen the new stadium and stuff but I do hear about how the locals hate it because of all the noise.

Speaking of locals, the local hang out spots are dives. There's a few bars (some are closed down now) that were all pretty shitty. But if you can drive over to Port Jefferson (10 minute ride maybe) you can find some nice spots.

I had a greek friend who went to Stony Brook thinking he'd be in New York, close to the city. The city, ya know Manhattan (not queens) is almost 2 hours away.

Also if you plan on living at the dorms, realize that 90% of the students go home on the weekends (I did too) and Stony Brook is a ghost town.

I would not recommend Stony Brook to anyone unless you are asian and really like chemistry or physics. I had a physics teacher basically tell our class how american kids aren't as smart or dedicated as asian kids. I transferred out of that guy's class that very day.

The good thing about Stony Brook is that it's cheap (if you are a NY resisdent) because it's a SUNY school.

If you have any questions I'll be glad to answer them if I can.

Godless Dave · 12-29-2002, 10:02 PM

I didn't go to either school but I grew up in Rochester and just got back from there. It's turning into an OK city for college-age people. Lots of nice bars and a decent variety of restaurants, plus Rochester classics like Nick Tahoe's and Country Sweet, and lots and lots of family-owned pizza joints. There's several colleges and universities in the city. Your a short drive from boatloads of outdoor activities. Lots of good classical and jazz music but not as much original rock & roll. It's just small enough that many bands don't bother to tour there.

On the other hand it's cloudy pretty much 24/7. Winters are either very snowy or very rainy, usually the latter. There's only one daily newpaper and it sucks.

Shake · 12-30-2002, 10:23 AM

Howdy all!

I grew up in Rochester, too! (Whereabouts and when, Godless Dave?) Left for nearly 9 years in the military, then returned just after 9/11.

I can't speak so much for SUNY SB, but I do know that RIT is an excellent school! What are you going to major in? RIT I believe also partners with my alma mater, RPI, in its engineering programs. I am considering an MS program in either EE or some computer field, and RIT just added some computer programs. RIT's a nice campus, is not too far from the airport, and is right off of some of the major highways, so it's easy to get around the area. Feel free to PM me about more local info. Your profile says you're in NY also, himynameisPwn, but where?

Good luck with your decision!

Godless Dave · 12-30-2002, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Shake
Howdy all!

I grew up in Rochester, too! (Whereabouts and when, Godless Dave?)

In Brighton, right off of 590 and Highland Avenue, from 1973 until I graduated high school in 1988.

Omega Glory · 12-30-2002, 11:35 AM

Wow, I never realized that other people from the Rochester area were members of this forum.

Ok, other random things:

As Shake said, RIT has a very nice campus (lots of land and trees and animals like squirrels and deer). Before I visited I thought that it was located in the city, but its actually in the suburb of Henrietta.

RIT has a shuttle system that goes to the local movie theaters and stores so you can get off campus even if you don't own a car. The only problem is that most places in Henrietta close around 9 pm

Most of the liberal arts classes aren't very large, and I have only had one bad experience with a professor in the seven trimesters that I've been here.

I don't know how many other schools do this, but at RIT several teachers take attendance and will lower your grade or automatically fail you if you miss a certain number of classes w/o a valid excuse.

trunks2k · 12-30-2002, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Omega Glory
Well, I'm a third year biotech major at RIT, so I might be able to help. Obviously though your experience will mostly be based on the department that you're dealing with and not the university itself, so I don't know how useful this will be.

Overall, my experience has been pretty positive. Since RIT is on trimesters, you learn a lot of information in a short amount of time. A lot of businesses prefer RIT students for co-ops because we are taught a lot of practical things, such as lab techniques, very early on. Most of the other positive things are related to the science department, so I'll leave that out until I know what major you're interested in.

The trimester system can get kind of crazy at times though. Some classes really don't fit into ten week blocks very well, and if you get sick for more than a couple of days you're screwed. Also, changing classes every ten weeks equals three sets of finals per year. The campus is also overcrowded, which means you might get stuck with having one three hour lecture once a week instead of the usual one hour lecture three times a week, or a Saturday class. The amount of people also make it hard to find on campus housing after freshman year (and even then you could get stuck living in a converted lounge).

Hmm, thats about all I can think of right now, but I'll be happy to answer any specific questions if you have any.

Sounds like Drexel University!

12-30-2002, 06:48 PM

Well, I plan on a major in computer science. I always hoped to be a video game programmer when I was a kid, and now I'm just a big kid, so it seemed natural.

Anyways, I have relatives close by to RIT and RPI, with my grandma and grandpa living close to Utica and some second cousins I just met living less than an hour away from Rochester.

I also applied to RPI but I haven't yet seriously considered it, pending a review from a family friend whose currently attending.

I can tell you, the Stonybrook of 10 years ago is certainly not the Stonybrook of today, the campus is very nice from what I saw at the open house, although I hear it still is a ghost town on weekends and it has a high miority population(not a problem for me at all considering I live in Flushing, Queens).

Also a couple specific questions about RIT and RPI(if anyone knows about RPI):

Are freshman allowed to have cars?
Did you have trouble finding loans/scholarships?
I realize its about an 8 hour drive to the city, but how about by train or airplane(price of tickets?)?

Godless Dave · 12-30-2002, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by himynameisPwn

I realize its about an 8 hour drive to the city, but how about by train or airplane(price of tickets?)?

If you go to RIT, I wouldn't refer to NYC as "the" city. Doesn't go over well with upstaters.

12-29-2002, 01:19 PM	#1
himynameisPwn Guest Posts: n/a	SUNY Stonybrook or RIT? I've been applying to colleges this year and the two I'm looking into most are Stonybrook and RIT. Anyone have any expereicnes or know anyone that attends these schools? Specifically how you felt attending the school and what stood out to you.

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12-29-2002, 04:13 PM	#2
Omega Glory Regular Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: ny Posts: 148	Well, I'm a third year biotech major at RIT, so I might be able to help. Obviously though your experience will mostly be based on the department that you're dealing with and not the university itself, so I don't know how useful this will be. Overall, my experience has been pretty positive. Since RIT is on trimesters, you learn a lot of information in a short amount of time. A lot of businesses prefer RIT students for co-ops because we are taught a lot of practical things, such as lab techniques, very early on. Most of the other positive things are related to the science department, so I'll leave that out until I know what major you're interested in. The trimester system can get kind of crazy at times though. Some classes really don't fit into ten week blocks very well, and if you get sick for more than a couple of days you're screwed. Also, changing classes every ten weeks equals three sets of finals per year. The campus is also overcrowded, which means you might get stuck with having one three hour lecture once a week instead of the usual one hour lecture three times a week, or a Saturday class. The amount of people also make it hard to find on campus housing after freshman year (and even then you could get stuck living in a converted lounge). Hmm, thats about all I can think of right now, but I'll be happy to answer any specific questions if you have any.

12-29-2002, 06:38 PM	#3
debaser71 Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: NY Posts: 20	I went to Stony Brook. Stony Brook is a dump =( There's graffitti on walls/buildings, there's garbage on the floors, junk in the parking lots, etc. I felt like I was going to school in the slums. Also there are a lot of minorities there. Not that that's a bad thing. Just that as a white american male I didn't have too much in common with all the non english speaking asians. This was about 10 years ago. I've read in newpapers how Stony Brook is trying to clean up a bit because they want their sports team to get into better divisions. I haven't ben there so I haven't seen the new stadium and stuff but I do hear about how the locals hate it because of all the noise. Speaking of locals, the local hang out spots are dives. There's a few bars (some are closed down now) that were all pretty shitty. But if you can drive over to Port Jefferson (10 minute ride maybe) you can find some nice spots. I had a greek friend who went to Stony Brook thinking he'd be in New York, close to the city. The city, ya know Manhattan (not queens) is almost 2 hours away. Also if you plan on living at the dorms, realize that 90% of the students go home on the weekends (I did too) and Stony Brook is a ghost town. I would not recommend Stony Brook to anyone unless you are asian and really like chemistry or physics. I had a physics teacher basically tell our class how american kids aren't as smart or dedicated as asian kids. I transferred out of that guy's class that very day. The good thing about Stony Brook is that it's cheap (if you are a NY resisdent) because it's a SUNY school. If you have any questions I'll be glad to answer them if I can.

12-29-2002, 10:02 PM	#4
Godless Dave Contributor Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: With 10,000 lakes who needs a coast? Posts: 10,762	I didn't go to either school but I grew up in Rochester and just got back from there. It's turning into an OK city for college-age people. Lots of nice bars and a decent variety of restaurants, plus Rochester classics like Nick Tahoe's and Country Sweet, and lots and lots of family-owned pizza joints. There's several colleges and universities in the city. Your a short drive from boatloads of outdoor activities. Lots of good classical and jazz music but not as much original rock & roll. It's just small enough that many bands don't bother to tour there. On the other hand it's cloudy pretty much 24/7. Winters are either very snowy or very rainy, usually the latter. There's only one daily newpaper and it sucks.

12-30-2002, 10:23 AM	#5
Shake Contributor Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Folding@Home in upstate NY Posts: 14,394	Howdy all! I grew up in Rochester, too! (Whereabouts and when, Godless Dave?) Left for nearly 9 years in the military, then returned just after 9/11. I can't speak so much for SUNY SB, but I do know that RIT is an excellent school! What are you going to major in? RIT I believe also partners with my alma mater, RPI, in its engineering programs. I am considering an MS program in either EE or some computer field, and RIT just added some computer programs. RIT's a nice campus, is not too far from the airport, and is right off of some of the major highways, so it's easy to get around the area. Feel free to PM me about more local info. Your profile says you're in NY also, himynameisPwn, but where? Good luck with your decision!

12-30-2002, 11:35 AM	#7
Omega Glory Regular Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: ny Posts: 148	Wow, I never realized that other people from the Rochester area were members of this forum. Ok, other random things: As Shake said, RIT has a very nice campus (lots of land and trees and animals like squirrels and deer). Before I visited I thought that it was located in the city, but its actually in the suburb of Henrietta. RIT has a shuttle system that goes to the local movie theaters and stores so you can get off campus even if you don't own a car. The only problem is that most places in Henrietta close around 9 pm Most of the liberal arts classes aren't very large, and I have only had one bad experience with a professor in the seven trimesters that I've been here. I don't know how many other schools do this, but at RIT several teachers take attendance and will lower your grade or automatically fail you if you miss a certain number of classes w/o a valid excuse.

12-30-2002, 06:48 PM	#9
himynameisPwn Guest Posts: n/a	Well, I plan on a major in computer science. I always hoped to be a video game programmer when I was a kid, and now I'm just a big kid, so it seemed natural. Anyways, I have relatives close by to RIT and RPI, with my grandma and grandpa living close to Utica and some second cousins I just met living less than an hour away from Rochester. I also applied to RPI but I haven't yet seriously considered it, pending a review from a family friend whose currently attending. I can tell you, the Stonybrook of 10 years ago is certainly not the Stonybrook of today, the campus is very nice from what I saw at the open house, although I hear it still is a ghost town on weekends and it has a high miority population(not a problem for me at all considering I live in Flushing, Queens). Also a couple specific questions about RIT and RPI(if anyone knows about RPI): Are freshman allowed to have cars? Did you have trouble finding loans/scholarships? I realize its about an 8 hour drive to the city, but how about by train or airplane(price of tickets?)?

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