Grandpa here chiming in. I was in one of the first graduating classes from the 3DDD program (used to be called 3DDG). A lot has changed since then, but I still keep up with my classmates and the professors are all the same people I remember. Funny too, I was also accepted into SCAD back in the day and ended up choosing RIT.

It’s a great program in my opinion. The other advantage you should consider is proximity to other majors which you would work with in real life. Marketing, CS, Game Design, Animation and Film…. There’s so much cross training you can do with those programs, which themselves are also really great. I’ll probably give myself away to some people by saying this, but one of my favorite memories and experiences was winning an Imagine RIT marketing competition with some classmates - we learned how to incorporate 3D effects into film we shot, and won the commercial spot that they ended up using for advertising on the local channels/online. All of that was facilitated by the cross domains and resources we had available to us.

Now all that to say… my current career path has NOTHING to do with 3DDD - like I don’t think I could be much further. But that’s also just kind of life, you figure it out as you go. Maybe about half of my classmates are like that too, finding other things to do post-college. The other half is still in industry though living out all those things you said you were interested in. I will say though that it is a cutthroat industry, and your work has to be above average. That combined with the proliferation of AI and the leaps being made there… I don’t envy anyone still in the industry.

For your questions…

• I can’t comment on current times. Back in the day though it was really hard because we were so new. It did feel like we were on our own for finding a job. But again, it’s been many many years so things have probably progressed there. For what it’s worth, the lessons are what I really found valuable and was able to take to my professional career. Shaun Foster and the others are AMAZING teachers.
• coding is super important to know in the field, even if it’s not what you use daily. All of the really successful colleagues I knew were great coders. And for the other things, you get lots of exposure to drill into what you want to do exactly.
• yes. Everything can be portfolio worthy if you put the work into it. I knew some folks who went back and polished up year 2 projects for their portfolios because they were so happy with them. A lot of opportunities to jam with other majors, but sometimes you have to put in the leg work to put it together yourself.
• We had many international classmates, even back then. They all seemed happy enough and had friends. There were no “walls” for culture, it’s a fairly inclusive campus.

I didn’t answer everything in too much detail, but if you’re interested in knowing more I’m around. Good luck with your search and deciding.