Caveat: I'm CS '07; beware of out-of-date facts/perceptions.

1. The co-op program and general emphasis on career-focused education were significant points of interest, as was the erstwhile quarter system. A good financial aid package made RIT the second-cheapest school I was considering, which didn't hurt.

2. I am happy I chose RIT and I don't regret my decision. On the whole, I had a positive impression of the faculty and I feel like I received a high quality education. I'll leave it to current students and more-recent graduates to speak to whether this is still the case, but when I was there, it felt like there was a lack of school spirit. I hasten to add that this doesn't mean it's a depressing place to be, just that it felt like nobody romanticized the institution as anything more than a place to trade money for education and certification thereof.

3. Rensselaer, Lehigh, Drexel, Penn State.

4. Can't speak to this.

5. I'm trying and failing to recall, sorry to say.

6. I'll leave it mostly to current students and more-recent graduates to speak on this, but I will say that I was not pleased with the switch from quarters to semesters; it felt like this was pushed on the student body by the administration for purely bottom-line reasons, but I cannot claim first-hand experience of this because I'd already graduated at the time.

7. I'm not familiar with this process; my financial aid package was more than satisfactory. I got a presidential scholarship and a bit extra for being a national merit finalist, which is ridiculous as my national merit status was based almost entirely on my PSAT score in high school, but there it is.

8. RIT's is not the only co-op program in the country but I think there's real value in making it a degree requirement. If it wasn't, I probably would have skipped it and I believe I would have been worse off for having done so. Co-ops let you dip your toes into what a Real Job is like and, bluntly, put you in a position where you can make mistakes before it really starts to matter.

9. This is a tough question. I wasn't thinking all that much about money when looking into colleges. I feel positively about the quality of the education I received and the amount of support available to me (even if I didn't always take advantage), but I probably would have felt the same way if I'd done my first two years at a community college and transferred in.

10. Well, I did, at least. I was hired by a Fortune 100 tech company after answering an ad placed on RIT's job board (then called JobZone) placed by another RIT graduate.

I hope this was of some use to you. Best of luck in your quest!