I'll be attending RIT this coming fall for Computer Science. I would like to see if there are any RIT alumni here and if so what they thought of the program? I'm slightly worried that due to RIT's strong industry placement emphasis that their computer science program will be one those "produce crappy business app java programmers" programs. I'd just like to ensure that the quality of education is decent!

Also, how does RIT's computer science program compare to the University of Rochester's computer science program? The US News and World Report ranks UR's program much higher than RIT, but the ranking doesn't exactly explain why so I'm hesitant to put too much trust in it. And at a much higher cost, UR may just not be worth it compared to the cheaper RIT.

Thanks

Congrats on college! I'm not an RIT alumni but I'm in the same situation as you (attending college in the fall). The quality of education really depends on you and how you handle the work and how much effort you put in. As for "produce crappy business app java programmers", RIT is a very good school, and they don't just spit out mindless programmers, that is unless you let yourself become one. Honestly, no matter what school you go to, and no matter how good the program is, it all varies on how you make you experience worthwhile. Just always keep learning on your own and make games in your spare time because a degree doesn't hold as strong to a degree and a portfolio of good games to prove you're a good programmer.

Also remember that they do have game development degrees, so you should try to talk to people in that program when you get there, to make some friends that also share the same career goals.

Quote: Original post by Kenny G
The quality of education really depends on you and how you handle the work and how much effort you put in.

This is... not entirely true. If you have a program that focuses on the wrong things, your work is going to a black hole (or worse, developing bad habits). If you're surrounded by sub-standard peers, there's not going to be any pressure/competition to drive you; you're not going to make valuable contacts for post-grad life.

To be clear, I'm not saying work ethic and study habits are meaningless. They will certainly impact your experience and success. Your environment and program will make just as much an impact though. People who put the effort in at a good program are still light years ahead of a good student at a middling program.

That's true. You have a good point, and sorry if what I said was misleading. What I really meant was that it doesn't matter if you go to the best school in the world, you still need to work hard if you want to succeed.

Well, speaking as someone that just came back from there, it's a bit of a mixed bag. Unfortunately, I don't really have much of any first-hand experience with other schools' CS programs, so I can't really make any decent comparisons there. What I can tell you is that the instructors (at least, the ones I had) are certainly competent, are fairly invested/interested in what they do and certainly have some (as I recall, the CS for AP Java teacher I had worked as a professional for maybe ten of his thirty or so years) industry experience.

Now, with that being said, I'm not sure that I, personally, got a lot out of the program to date. This probably has more to do with the fact that I came in with maybe five years' experience using/abusing (big emphasis on the latter ;) ) C++ before even setting foot in the school, and I've already had exposure to some pretty decent 'instructors' here to answer questions/beat bad habits out of me. I actually placed in the Java-based CS for AP program (the 'fastest track' course) despite never having any Java instruction, period-- I could answer the questions based on the similarities to C++, and I gleaned the few required bits of language syntax (specifically, how to specify object constructors in Java) from part of a previous question on the placement exam.

So, in summary, the program is what you make of it?

EDIT: I see someone mentioned the game dev degree they offer there. I was in the CS program myself, but from what I can tell it does appear to be a pretty good offering so long as you're after a *designer* position. While they do cover some of the programming aspects, these have a lot more to do with the use of scripting languages (see ActionScript) over the use of any heavy-duty native ones. If you're interested in an actual programming position you're likely going to want to actually get into the computer science program. AFAIK this is pretty much par for the course as game development degrees go.

Thanks for the replies. I'm glad to hear that the professors seem to be well-informed and seasoned in what they teach. That's what I was after the most. InvalidPointer, like you I have about 4-5 years of experience heading into college so I feel I may be in a similar boat.

What do you mean by 'CS for AP' course? Is this the fast track for the students who scored well on the CS AP exam in high school?

I did my freshman year at RIT in the CS department about 5 years ago before transferring out. I won't pretend like I was particularly fond of my social or academic experience at RIT within the classroom (I did make a great set of friends outside the classroom), but it just didn't happen to be the school for me. My friends loved it.

At the end of the day, what you get out of college is up to you. I did one year at RIT and 3 at Cornell. I can tell you this: no matter what CS program you go to, you can come out as a "crappy business app java programmer" if you let yourself.

Best of luck. If you have any questions, please feel free to shoot me a PM.

Quote: Original post by Telastyn

Quote: Original post by Kenny G
The quality of education really depends on you and how you handle the work and how much effort you put in.

This is... not entirely true.

I disagree with Telastyn; what Kenny said IS entirely true. You really have to work hard at getting the best out of the education you get. You can have a great student come out of the lowliest TV-ad-blitzing game school, and you can get a Unabomber come out of Harvard.

Quote: Original post by Tom Sloper
You can have a great student come out of the lowliest TV-ad-blitzing game school, and you can get a Unabomber come out of Harvard.

I've seen great programmers without degrees. I've seen mediocre programmers from great schools.

But I've never seen someone who went straight to a top tier college for programming, graduate and be completely terrible. I've never seen someone who went straight to a trade school or community college for 4 years come out great.

I'm not saying my experiences are the sum of human experience. And Tom, you certainly have seen more programmers than I have. What I have seen just doesn't back it up though.


Sure, you have to work hard to get the most out of the school. But that 'most' will be capped by the school itself. And even if someone great comes out of TV-ad-blitzing game school, are they really great because they got the most out of the program, or despite it?