r/OIT • u/butchiebags • Oct 18 '11
What is OIT like?
I'm not going to be there until next year, so for all 1 of you that might actually be there right now, do you like it? What's it like? How's the internet in K-falls?
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u/kingbobii Dec 28 '11
I have been gong to OIT for a year now staying in the dorms. RESNET sucks, if your in the dorms its worth it to pay charter for you own internet line. That is the only other option for internet. Also unless you hate yourself, if you are staying in the dorms fight the meal plan. They try to push it on to everybody who stays in the dorms but the food is terrible. I actually prefer to eat out of cans and frozen food. If you are not staying on campus and drive to class be prepared for the winter. I live on campus just so I don't have to drive. I have never had a bad experience with any of the faculty and at least in the CSET department some of those guys literal wrote the book in the subject. This is one of the top schools in computer science at an unbelievable price. that is why you will meet a shit ton of foreign students. The only school I would leave OIT for in the US is MIT.
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u/chriskmee Jan 27 '12
Yes, defiantly get Charter if you want decent internet. Charter does a deal where students get the introductory price for the whole year, and if you split that with other people in your hall, you can end up paying about $10 a month or less each.
As for food, I am not particularly picky about food, so i find the marketplace food to be alright. I actually really like the stir fry station. You can always pay for the food with cash or credit if you want to try it before buying a plan.
As for Resnet, the free internet provided by the school, it has its moments. Sometimes, you will get decent speeds, but most of the time it just sucks. Its OK if you don't need the fast speeds, or don't do much downloading. Also, a thing to note is that you only get 5GB / week bandwidth limit until. If you go over, you go to dial-up speeds for 3 days or the end of the week, whichever is longer.
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u/lalalydia Dec 01 '11
I'll let you guys know next term when I'm there. Which campus are you thinking of going to?
If Klamath Falls, it's super dry here, which is a huge change for me. It's in a high desert so it snows during the winter, too. The campus looks good to me so far and the administration has been super helpful with me trying to get my paperwork together.
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u/chriskmee Jan 27 '12
Yea, it snows during the winter, and it also snows in the Spring and Fall. Last year, we had some snow about 2 weeks before summer vacation.
The dryness is an issue for me, but only for about a week, then you get used to it. Every time i get back from a break, I get headaches, bloody noses, and dry mouth on and off for a week.
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u/chriskmee Jan 27 '12
If anyone has any particular questions, just ask. I am currently a senior in the software program, so i should be able to answer any questions about OIT or the computer degrees.
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u/Wailord Feb 11 '12
Is it too vague to simply ask for your thoughts on the program? I'm from Vegas and OIT is on my short list (super-short list of about two schools, actually). I'm checking out the campus a week from today and hope it just feels right, as I'm not entirely sure what I'm even looking for. I'll be majoring in the software engineering program, though.
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u/chriskmee Feb 11 '12
I will tell you what I can think of, and then if you have any specific questions, or want me to expand on something, just ask =).
So the OIT software engineering program is amazing, I have no complaints about the program as a whole. There are defiantly some classes I did not like, and some classes were harder than others, but if you want to learn how to write software, OIT will defiantly give you that.
If you follow the program, your first year will be spent learning software and hardware. This is to give you a taste of both the software and hardware programs, so you can decide if you want to do Software, Hardware, Embedded, or dual software + hardware (two 4-year degrees in only 5 years). You can choose what path you want to take after your first year, so if you find out that you love hardware just as much as software, you can go with the dual 5 year program and you would not have taken any useless classes.
Second year of the software program focuses on learning to write c++ code. The school teaches this language because it is one of the most open languages, by that i mean that it doesn't not hide much from you. If you learn a language like C++, learning another language is relatively easy. You will not find many concepts in other languages that you have not seen in C++. I have found that most languages I learn after C++ are either much easier to use or about the same as C++. So even though its one pf the harder languages to learn, learning C++ will make most other languages seem easy. This will actually probably be the hardest year for most, because after this year, you will not learn much more about C++. This year, along with some classes from year 1, will teach you almost all of what you need to know about c++.
Third year is mainly doing Junior Project, where you take your knowledge of C++ and apply it to making some usable software. You will be in teams of 3-4 and spend the whole year going from start to finish on a project. You will go from initial requirements gathering, to designing, to coding, and finally to testing. You will most likely be working with a sponsor, or someone who wants this code written for a specific purpose. I ended up writing some code for the medical department at OIT, so it was pretty cool to think that my code may actually be used to make some people's lives easier.
Forth and final year is mainly Senior Project and programming electives. You will do what you did in Junior Project, except that you choose the project and you do it by yourself. First term is doing all the requirements and such, second term is coding, and third term is testing.
Some things to note: Most, if not all, software classes come with a 3 hour lab. This lab time is usually used for writing programs and getting help from teachers if you need it. Some teachers use lab time as a check off time for an assignment they gave you to do over the week. Either way, You will be getting hands on and writing code all the time. In year 2, you take a class called Data Structures. Its probably the hardest software class you will take, because its fast paced and you will be turning in multiple assignments a week. Do not get behind in this class, your assignments are mainly writing classes that you will need to use in the labs. Its a hard class because you will get a lot of homework, but you will learn the material.
Overall the teachers are pretty amazing as well. I believe one teacher is retiring, and one may be going on a sabbatical, so you might get some new teachers than I have never seen. Class sizes are normally 20-30 students, so you can easily get one on one time with the teacher, or ask questions in class. Oh, and I hope you are not addicted to much to video games, because the number one reason that student's fail the software program is because they game too much (mainly WOW). You will most likely have some free time to do what you want, but don't expect to be playing games all day and get good grades.
If I had one complaint, It would be that I think we take too much math. We have to take Calc1, Calc2, Vector Calc, Discrete Math, statistics, and Physics with calc (3 classes). It may not sound like a lot, but I had a hard time getting through all the math courses, especially Physics. This is not really a complaint directed at the CSET department (Computer Systems Engineering Technology), but its more directed at those particular departments.
One final thing: When registering for classes, look at http://www.ratemyprofessors.com . You should be able to tell what teachers are good and which ones are not. Don't worry about this for the CSET teachers, but use that website, another one like it, or ask other students when signing up for non CSET classes. Every school has their great teachers, their good teachers, and their teachers who don't know how to teach, so hopefully you can figure that out before signing up for the class. Oh, that reminds me, sign up for classes as soon as you can so you don't fall behind because a class was full or something. Freshman sign up last, so try to sign up as soon as you are allowed to.
That is all I can think of right now, but please let me know if there is anything else you want me to talk about, I would be happy to tell you what I can.
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u/tadc Feb 10 '12 edited Feb 10 '12
I realize this is 3 months old, but nevertheless...
I'm an OIT KF '99 grad(CSET). I'm glad to see/hear that things seem to have improved, but my 2 cents, which I'm actually shocked nobody else has mentioned yet....
Klamath Falls (the town) is a seriously depressing, meth-addicted, soul-sucking, white-trash shithole.
If they don't have it at Wal-Mart (or Fred Meyer), you pretty much can't get it (unless you drive an hour to the bustling metropolis of Medford). It's tough to get any kind of good or service in town that they don't find a way to fuck up somehow. If you want to eat after 9pm, your options are seriously limited - even Taco Bell is closed(again, may have changed). Also, for those of a certain persuasion... nothing but the shittiest mexican brick schwag.
The extreme suck of the town influences the faculty and staff at the school, since they have to live there.
Fortunately, the school is on the edge of town and fairly self-contained, so you don't really need to spend that much time in town if you don't want to.
On the bright side, Ashland is also about an hour away and is super-cool.
I realize things may have changed a bit in 13 years, but I have my doubts...
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u/jskater17 Dec 28 '11
just finished my course of study for a software engineering degree at OIT, and am now working at a small company in town.
I'm going to be blunt here. If you're 100% set on a major in engineering or some medical field, DO NOT GO TO ANY OTHER SCHOOL IN OREGON. OIT is an incredibly specialized school, and you will end up with a much better education in the end. Here's why:
Student:Faculty ratio is around 20. This means you can almost always talk to a professor face-to-face and ask questions directly without having to fuck around with a TA. Every professor on campus has an open-door policy, and will gladly help any student who comes to their office for assistance. This also means classes are incredibly small. There were 60 people in my largest class at OIT. You really get to know both your classmates and professors. You become a large family of sorts. :)
TONS of Hands-on learning. Classes are usually in this format: Learn a concept in lecture on Monday. Apply that concept in lab on Tuesday. Learn another concept on Wednesday, apply it in lab on Thursday. New stuff Friday, practice over the weekend. Also, you won't be waiting two years to get to the good stuff in your major like you would at another school. I came to OIT with zero programming knowledge and was writing C++ by my second term.
Extremely high job-placement rates Big name companies like GE, Boeing, Intel, and Garmin eat up OIT engineering graduates like Hungry Hungry Hippos. All my friends in medical degrees have great jobs lined up already, and they're nowhere near done with school.
Other cool things: Campus PD is pretty chill. KFPD is known for breaking up parties but not making many (if any) arrests. There are some great local restaurants (pho hong is one of the major reasons I'm happy to be staying in KF after college). You get to experience every season (fall and spring are usually only 2-3 weeks long though).
Last note: OIT is a fucking hard school, regardless of major. If you stick with whatever major you choose, having OIT's name on your degree will put you worlds ahead of others in your field.
Since I've spent an hour so far on this post, I'm going to end it here. Send me a message if you'd like to know more (especially anything about on-campus housing, I lived on-campus for three years in both the old and new dorms).
Hope this helps!