Troy isn’t very dangerous at all as long as you’re smart. As long as you’re not wandering around downtown at night or putting yourself in obviously unsafe situations you should be fine. I personally have never had an issue where I have felt unsafe.
Public Safety is very activity on campus and has made a strong effort in keeping campus safe. Troy like any other American city requires people to be smart about how you travel. Use common sense.
Snow is a regular and expected thing up in Troy during the winters. It has been rare for class to be cancelled unless for anything severe enough for it to be dangerous for professors to travel to campus. They did cancel classes in February 2014. If something like that does happen though, you will be notified through RPIAlerts.
During major holidays, RPI offers free shuttle direct to Albany transportation centers. I believe you have to sign up a week in advance. There are also the CDTA buses that run throughout Troy and Albany.
http://i51.tinypic.com/35lw0g2.jpg
This is the best image I have off-hand of the style of closets that are in the freshmen five. If you take a look at the ‘Room Photos’ tab under Freshman Five Pictures, you can find pictures of all of the rooms. The door with the towel on it in this photo slides from left to right to expose the space for hanging things, as shown in the closet on the right-hand side. I would estimate that there are about 30 horizontal inches of hanging space. If this isn’t helpful enough, let me know and I can hunt down better details and a photo that concentrates on the closet.
On holidays (winter break, spring break, and summer break), campus shuttles make runs to the airport, train station, and bus station for free. You have to sign up with Public Safety and they are only offered on specified dates. Other than that, I would highly suggest that you make friends with some upperclassmen. They might have a car AND could be great mentors to help you figure out how to make the most of your time at Rensselaer. (plus $5 in gas money is much less than $20 for a cab)
Public buses for CDTA do make stops on campus! Take a look at this link and look for RPI towards the right-hand-side of the document. There are actually quite a few routes and stops at RPI: http://www.cdta.org/images/troywaterinset.pdf
“there is nothing you can do in Troy”
… I hate to be so rude, but you’re wrong. There is plenty to do on campus, in Troy, in the Capital District, and in the surrounding areas.
1. On campus: I leave campus maybe once or twice a week and I always have something to be doing. First off, there are academics: classes and homework. Throw on top of this your choice in 170+ clubs through the Student Union. I personally am currently involved in Relay For Life, Rensselaer Outing Club, Red & White, as well as a few other things in the future. Keep in mind all of the athletics going on: you can be watching (or maybe playing in) a varsity game, running and working out at the Mueller Center, playing racquet ball or rock climbing in the ‘87 Gym, or participating in one of our intramural sports programs. I can’t talk enough about how much there is to do on campus.
in Troy: downtown Troy has a ton of little stores, shops and restaurants. There are always shows going on at Revolution Hall (and Ground Zero or EMPAC – on campus). On the last Friday of every month, the stores in downtown Troy stay open late for students and residents to hang out, jam with musicians on the street, and walk through the art galleries. It’s very easy to get to the grocery stores and strip malls up Hoosick street by getting on the CDTA bus (free with your RPI ID) and riding for a few minutes. “Having to take a bus” isn’t that bad, and if you can’t handle that, join some student groups to get to know upper classmen with cars.
in the Capital District: I don’t even know where to start. There are two pretty large malls (Crossgates and Colonie), continuous events at the Times Union Center, Union College (booo! – one of our rivals), art galleries, and any other thing you can imagine.
in the surrounding areas: I make relatively frequent trips to the Adirondacks to go hiking, students can go to NYC or Boston on occasion, or any other cities nearby.There’s tons to do.
I don’t want you to feel like I’m mad at you for asking this question, but I want you to understand that there is a ton to do, even within walking distance. In the warmer months, students like to walk to the local gorge and go cliff jumping (be careful!) or sunbathe. As it warms up this spring, students will be outside of all the residence halls and houses playing frisbee, listening to music, and getting tan. People walk to Pizza Bella’s and Pizza Di Vinci for some yummy pizza all the time (we also go to restaurants in downtown Troy – wooo! Dinosaur BBQ!). If walking is a challenge, there are campus shuttles that get you all around campus, and CDTA buses (I know, I know – it sounds so scary!) are really easy to use. Really, there’s plenty to do!
In warmer weather, there are quite a few people riding bikes. In no sense do a majority of students ride bikes, but it’s not uncommon. Yes, you can bring bikes into your rooms. There are also bike racks outside most of the residence halls and event inside in some of them (I believe). Troy does have plenty to do – feel free to ride your bike down to check it out. Getting back up the hill will be a great workout!
Also, check out our cycling club if you are interested – http://cycling.union.rpi.edu/News/News.html
RPI’s RedHawk Shuttle runs roughly every 15 minutes. There is an East shuttle and a West shuttle. The East shuttle covers the BARH and ECAV areas, in addition to a good amount of off campus housing. The West shuttle covers mostly the academic part of campus. Both stop at the Union (in addition to many other scheduled stops around campus). The shuttle is free for students, but only stops at the scheduled stops. Additional shuttle service operates for home football and hockey games, Troy Night Out (first Friday of each month), and other special events. The shuttle service operates from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. on all weekdays. Students can also ride CDTA (Capital District Transit Authority) buses for free by swiping their student ID.
I only know of one time this past year when shuttle service was cancelled for the inclement weather. Most of the time, walking home in the snow is manageable, but then again I love to walk.
RPI Rooms 
