Take Our Advice: Hear From Current RIT Students

As students in college, sometimes we need a little word of advice. Whether it be for student life, academic life, or career advice, we could also use a little help here and there. Below are some pieces of advice as well as tips from students of many different years and majors here at RIT. There are also some personal experiences from students and what they learned from it that may be helpful to you!

Student life advice

1. “You can’t really be “prepared” for college, every experience is different, You can only come with an open mind.”
2. “Freshman speaking. I realized college requires a lot more effort than anybody I know is used to, which can be a wake-up call. There is an overwhelming pressure to study, especially if you're a STEM major. My advice is to find your own pace and be honest of your capabilities. Everybody in college is seeking improvement, so there's nothing wrong with you doing that too.”
3. “Do not be afraid to reach out to professors to do research even if you have no experience!”
4. “Establish a good relationship with your professors.”
5. “Be active on campus! Visit clubs or make use of your college’s lounges.”
6. “College is hard; keep your friends close and lean on them. Don’t push them away.”
7. “Get enough sleep. I promise you it’s more important than you think. “
8. “Go to clubs and try something new.”
9. “Go to class!”

Make good relationships, go to school clubs, and get to know yourself!

General life advice

1. “Never beat yourself up for things you can’t control.”
2. “Find the most random things to do. Take advantage of EVERYTHING.”
3. “Don’t be afraid to do something you’re afraid of.”
4. “Never live life with regret. Always say yes to anything because you don’t know where your life may lead to. Seek discomfort :)”
5. “Find a routine that you would like, is good for you, and stay consistent.”

Do everything you can, have an open mind to try new things, and just try your best!

Career advice

1. “When you apply to a job, cater your resume to each individual position because you’re more likely to get a callback.”
2. “Tip for co-ops: It’s true what they say about the first internship being the hardest one but after you get one under your belt, they get a little easier. Coming from a guy that applied to over 120 jobs when I tried getting my first co-op you really have to keep your head up through all the rejections. A job will come, but you have to stay determined and don’t let self-doubt get the best of you. Some things that really helped as well was using RIT’s Career Connect. I’d say out of the few interviews I got, 90% of them were through that site. Your chances are higher with Career Connect as well compared to other sites like Linkedin, mainly because Career Connect only has RIT students while the rest are open to anyone and everyone.”
3. “Always maintain a smile while in an interview. Sell yourself. Show your employer that you’re someone who isn’t afraid to make mistakes and [has a] desire to learn from those mistakes.”
4. “Try to get ahead of your peers. There are thousands and thousands of other college kids in your major. You need to have something to differentiate yourself that makes you better. Do extra things besides just school work, other projects to put on your resume. They become great conversation points with employers and recruiters.”
    

Miscellaneous

1. “Bring medicine.”
2. “Be a good roommate. Set rules with your roommate.”
3. Learn the alphabet in ASL and basic phrases.
4. “Best place to use a bathroom on campus is any gender-neutral bathroom in Cybersecurity or Slaughter Hall.”
5. Highly recommend get something with wheels, campus is big and it’s useful.
6. Find a place for yourself and yourself alone on campus aside from your dorm. Unwind.
7. Be careful with floor friend groups/drama. You have to deal with them for an entire semester.
    

My own advice!

1. Get around and talk to people! You never know how many conversations or people away you are from a great opportunity or a useful resource. That’s how I landed my job and also how I became vice president of LASA!
2. Don’t be afraid to experience things. One way or another if it’s good or bad, you learn something from it, and you can use it in the future. It is good to have a growth and learning type mindset.
3. Do your best to keep yourself healthy and generally in good shape. Keeping up with your health ahead of time can benefit you in the long run!

And there you have it! I hope some of this advice helped you or got you thinking of something new. There are always new things to explore and learn and try.

Don’t forget to check out the other blog pages on TigerTalk and our videos on the RIT Undergraduate Admissions YouTube channel.