Despite trying economic times, and uncertain fall enrollment predictions for colleges across the country, RIT welcomed 2,650 students to this year’s freshman class, a record number of students coming for a career education that will put them on the path to success. From Maine to Hawaii, 48 states and 41 foreign countries are represented in the class. Fifty-two percent hail from outside New York state. The college’s enrollment now totals more than 1,200 students with hearing loss from all 50 states and other countries, and more than 12,000 hearing undergraduate students.

Choosing a college involves thinking carefully about your academic and personal goals, and deciding which college matches your needs and will best prepare you for a successful career.

Reading about colleges that interest you is important, but asking questions is essential. Here are some questions you should ask to help you decide which college is right for you.

• What qualifications does a student need to be accepted to this college?
• Tell me about the diversity of the student body?
• What is the campus culture like?
• Where do students come from?
• What kind of access services and support services are available to me here?
• How do you help students find a job after college?
• What kinds of extracurricular activities and student groups are there on campus?
• Do you have a cooperative education program?
• Can I visit a class?
• What percentage of students graduate?
• What tuition assistance is available to me here?

Visiting campus will give you important information to use when making your college decision. When you visit, you’ll get a tour of campus, visit personally with an admissions counselor, meet with professors in subject areas that interest you, chat with our financial aid coordinator and enjoy a meal in one of our dining facilities. Just like your education at RIT, your visit will be customized to meet your interests.

2009 Fall Open House Dates:

• Saturday October 17, 2009
• Saturday, November, 14, 2009
• Friday, December 4, 2009

Register online for Open House or call 585-475-6700 (voice/TTY) or toll-free in the U.S. and Canada at 1-866-644-6843 (voice/TTY). If you have any questions, email us.
Find out more about our Open House events.

If you can’t make it to one of our group open house events, we encourage you to schedule a personalized visit, tailored especially for you. In addition to the above activities, you can elect to meet with a coach, meet club and organization officials and much more. Find out why RIT means a superior education and a unique college experience for you.

Now is a good time to start planning to take the ACT  or the SAT. High school seniors should take one or both of these tests as early in their senior year as possible. Juniors and sophomores can take the PSAT and/or ACT to get an idea of what the questions are like, or get a head start on college planning.

What information do I need to apply? What is the deadline for applications? Contact your personal admissions counselor to get answers to all of your questions about RIT. RIT/NTID admissions counselors make the process of choosing and applying here as easy as possible. Each of our counselors works with students from specific states and geographic areas. Get a list of our admissions counselors and the areas they cover. You also can Chat Live.

Janna Luksha, 20, from North Yarmouth, Maine, credits her father with helping her make the decision to attend college.

“He told me earning a college degree was essential for having a successful future,” she says. “I chose RIT because it offered me what other colleges didn’t—the opportunity to get the best career preparation and to form friendships with other deaf students.

“RIT is a perfect match for me,” says Luksha. “I attended a mainstream high school, but I grew up in a deaf family, so I’m comfortable in both the hearing and deaf environments. I like that there is a large deaf community that I can communicate with here.”

A third-year student, Luksha is pursuing an associate degree in Computer Integrated Machining Technology. She likes working with numbers and her hands, and prefers not sitting at a desk all day.

“The CIMT program is the best program for me,” she says. “I really enjoy the hands-on work I get to do on state-of-the-art industrial machines.”

She admits that blueprint reading has been her biggest challenge within her major so far, but her professors are very approachable, and her classmates are helpful, too, when she needs clarification.

Luksha completed a cooperative work experience at Tobyhanna Army Depot in Pennsylvania, and learned a lot.

“I was amazed at how many different machines I was required to learn how to use during my co-op, and I know the experience I gained will help me when I look for employment after I graduate,” she says.

Luksha keeps busy outside of class—playing basketball, skiing and socializing with her friends. She enjoys her time here at RIT, and still is undecided about her immediate plans after she graduates.
“I may continue my education and pursue a bachelor’s degree instead of heading directly to work,” she says. “But in five years, I see myself working at a job, earning good pay and having a great life.”

“I’m keeping my options open for my future, and wherever I go I will be successful because I know RIT/NTID will prepare me for the real world,” she says.

Her advice for other students is to “take advantage of every opportunity and learn from each one of them.”

At the beginning of the academic quarter in Sharron Webster’s math class, it’s not unusual for students to be somewhat disinterested. Many of them are there because it’s a requirement, and don’t understand its relevance to their major. But Webster promptly helps her students makes sense of it all.

“I tell them that math develops logic skills, and it’s pertinent to any career they pursue because in the workplace and everyday life, being able to solve problems can lead to great advantages,” she says.

This compelling analogy, as well as Webster’s patience, creativity and enthusiasm, leads her students to become engaged and motivated learners.

“I encourage students to share their knowledge, successes and failures, and question one another,” she says. “In such a supportive environment, students develop the confidence they need to explore their problem-solving strategies and discover that there are many ways to approach problems.”

A graduate of RIT, she earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, and a master’s degree in Applied Mathematics and Statistics.

Webster, a Michigan native, has worked at RIT/NTID for 25 years, 10 of them in the NTID Science and Mathematics Department. She is a recipient of the NTID National Advisory Group Award and the NTID Alumni Association Outstanding Alumni Award.

Webster met her husband Kip, an interpreting manager at RIT, while they were residential advisors on campus. The couple has two children. In her spare time, Webster likes to play the logic-based number placement puzzle Sudoko, and keep informed about emerging classroom technologies.

“I find it very rewarding to teach,” she says. “Math is a difficult subject for many students, and I enjoy the challenge of getting them excited about it and seeing their successes.”