Why Visiting RIT Made Me Fall in Love with Campus (From a Student Tour Guide)

Daily Visits

The best way to find out whether RIT is for you is to visit campus! RIT provides on-campus tours 6 days a week, given by Brick City Ambassadors. As a Brick City Ambassador, I can confirm that any tour you take with us will be enjoyable! Brick City Ambassadors are students from all majors at RIT who will lead you on an informational tour. Sometimes you’ll get an ambassador with similar interests, while other times you’ll get a whole new perspective you never knew existed. The tour lasts a little over an hour and takes you through multiple buildings, giving you sneak peeks into the labs and research going on. 

Fall Open House

RIT hosts Open Houses throughout the year. During the fall semester, we usually host three open houses for interested students, typically in October and early November. It is a fantastic opportunity to see the tiger pride in full swing. After checking in, you will be led to an academic session that dives deeper into your intended major and the school you are interested in, with a tour and information session. Fall Open Houses are a great way to learn what RIT offers and how the campus feels for you. Plus, campus in the fall is gorgeous with the leaves changing colors. 

Spring Accepted Student Open House

Now, Accepted Student Open Houses are game changers in my opinion. Being at the accepted student houses means you have already been accepted into your intended major, and you get a taste of what your next year will look like at RIT. Free swag is floating around, and you will get an in-depth look at what your major entails, including a tour through your department and different projects students are actively involved in. You’ll interact with student ambassadors who are knowledgeable about their own departments and what experiences you will be going through. The energy at both of these open houses can be life-changing. Yes, you may look at the ambassadors like they are crazy for being so energetic and excited to meet you, as you walk through the doors at 7 am you slowly start to understand why!

I was definitely one of those students who were just surprised anyone could be excited at 7 am when I first visited the campus through an accepted student house. But as the day went on and I met students in my department, I slowly got excited and felt myself just wanting to commit right then and there, which is something you can do during an accepted student house! I held off at first just to see if any other schools gave that same spark, but nothing compared; everyone I met felt so welcoming, even if they weren’t from my department. The professor who led my tour, along with the ambassador, answered the group's questions. You could tell how much they enjoyed being on campus by the way they spoke and led you around. It totally helped that I saw all the cool labs and was told I would be working in them, and they definitely weren’t lying. I’d already worked in the majority of the labs I saw during that tour; I have already worked in and know how to work the machines inside. The best part of the open houses, you can even take a campus tour during the day!