The Rochester Institute of Technology

Date: Dec 31 1969
Major: Video/Media (This Major's Salary over time)
If you are going to go into the Film/Video/Animation program, you absolutely must be passionate about film. It cannot be just something that looks interesting or that you like the idea of. It must be an all encompassing need to practice film because otherwise, once you get out, you will not want to go through all the hurdles it takes to find a job in this field. It's a very difficult job to find a stable job in because most people are hired on a per project basis, and since the work force is always in flux, there's a lot of competition.

With the amount of time you spend looking for a job and networking in this field, you would think a film program would spend some time on job finding techniques. But, since the only classes that addresses it are those with the entire 60-person class—with the animators, directors, editors, etc, all lumped together—it's not really possible to address each group's future employment needs.

Some of the teachers in this program are fabulous. Most aren't. When I was there, the 3D animation professors were pretty useless (I don't know if that's changed). What I mean by that is that their lectures were disorganized and difficult to follow, and usually they couldn't successfully answer questions.

The School of Film & Animation puts a very large emphasis on creating well rounded filmmakers. Unfortunately, from what I can tell, the working world doesn't care if you're well rounded or not. They want to hire specialists, not generalists. The school does not (or didn't used to) offer enough opportunities for students to work together, and concentrated too heavily on creating major projects, rather than smaller ones that might fit better into our portfolios. Don't get me wrong, the big projects were character building.

While I was at RIT I took advantage of their practically required liberal arts minor, and am going back to grad school using that degree.

Socially, I enjoyed being an RIT student. There are plenty of interesting clubs and activities to participate in, and lots of cool people (as long as your object isn't to find somewhere to get drunk and go crazy nightly). The dorms are in great condition, all newly renovated, but some of the apartments are better than others. University Commons is great, though, and that's where I lived. Don't miss the NTID Theatre productions. They are very impressive.

If you are into music, you will probably be disappointed with the quality of the Concert Band.

One of the best things about RIT is the Red Barn (an on campus bouldering and climbing gym that's open 3 nights a week for just $10 a quarter). I still miss it!