Brennan Quatela brought all the comforts of home to his new residence hall at Rochester Institute of Technology, including the essentials: tubs of snacks and a flat-screen television.
“I’m very excited,” said Quatela, a first-year civil engineering technology major from the Rochester suburb of Webster, who moved in Monday morning. “I’m excited because this gets me closer to my next world, closer to my major.”
Quatela was one of more than 3,300 new and transfer undergraduate students arriving in Rochester this week as they prepare for their first day of classes next Monday.
The new undergraduate students come from 48 states (all but Iowa and Wyoming); Washington, D.C.; Puerto Rico; Guam; U.S. Virgin Islands; and 47 countries, with the largest contingent coming from India, Canada, and China.
They are among the most well-rounded and academically prepared class at RIT. Their average high school GPA was 93, and 60 students graduated first in their class.
There are 11 Fulbright scholars enrolling this year, and 112 new Ph.D. students, up 19 from a year ago.
Traci Westcott/RIT
Hundreds of RIT students work as orientation leaders and residence advisers, welcoming, often in dance, more than 3,300 first-year and transfer students to RIT.
Sandra Johnson, senior vice president for Student Affairs, also helped welcome the new students and their families, as did some 400 student orientation leaders, residence advisers, and international pals — who often cheered and broke into dance as the new students pulled up to check into their residence hall.
“We love this time of year,” Johnson said. “It’s great seeing these students come in. It’s going to be a real adventure for them, and we’re pleased we can be a part of it.”
More than 500 new students are receiving a Performing Arts Scholarship. These are given to students who participate in a club, performance, or take lessons in instrumental or vocal music, musical theater, technical production, dance, acting, or circus arts. More than 1,800 students have received the scholarships in the five years since the program began.
In addition, there are 927 new graduate students—about 150 are recent or former RIT undergraduate students continuing on for a graduate degree. About 60 percent of RIT’s incoming graduate class are international students, coming from 40 countries, the largest contingent coming from India, China, Nigeria, Iran, and Ghana.
