<p>My S got accepted here, he got a nice scholarship, but we were also hesitant about the costs. This was his #1 pick, but since we've gone back to revisit a few schools, his whole thought process has changed. When we revisited, we aren't doing the formal visits. Instead, he's found someone from his High School who is now attending there or a friend of a friend type of acquaintance. He "hangs out" with them for the day without any parents in tow.. experiencing classes, dining, dorm life from a real perspective. Not even considering the money aspect, this really shuffled up how he ranked his acceptances! I think this gave him a better idea of the schools instead of going to the
structured accepted student days where all you are going to hear is positives.</p>
<p>wpirpi- Did you go to visit Clarkson? It IS in the middle of no where, but have a highly respected engineering program. My son also got an excellent financial package there. It's about double what WPI gave hime. He loved it there.</p>
<h1>theorymom- Sounds like you haven't visitied WPI yet? The campus itself is ok, the brochures sure make it look a lot bigger and classic New England than it really is. The biggest complaint we heard from students is about their fitness /pool facilities. Their fitness center is in a basement and "reeks" and I guess the pool is in rough shape. They are supposed to be building a new fitness and student center, but that wont be ready for another 2-3 years. The other thing he didn't like is the lack of community feeling there in housing. There are dorms, but after freshman year, it seems like the majority moved off campus. What he did like is the project based curriculum and the food.. lol! Good luck!</h1>
<p>TYMOM- Thanks for the input. We are going to go to accepted student day at Clarkson, unfortunately it's the same day as RPI, but I've already visited there. They ended up giving me almost $25k/year there in scholarships and grants, plus loans and work study, so that was sweet news. If I get in their honors program, that will take another $2k off/per year.</p>
<p>WPI is my daughter's top choice right now. She is planning on going to the accepted students day. I wonder about the kind of community the school is with half of the students living off campus. Is there less of the "college experience"?
How do girls do in the predominantly male environment?</p>
wpirpi- Did you go to visit Clarkson? It IS in the middle of no where, but have a highly respected engineering program. My son also got an excellent financial package there. It's about double what WPI gave hime. He loved it there.
</p>
<p>I wouldn't consider Clarkson unless your son plans to work in Nebraska where Clarkson will be known or go to a graduate school with a national reputation. (And if your son wants to work in Nebraska it might be prudent to go to a community college and transfer to the University of Nebraska). </p>
<p>WPI has a solid engineering and actuarial science reputation on the east coast (the career fair attracts the big firms that you'd expect). But it is probably not a great option for law/medical school. WPI has sents grads to a few T14 law schools, but to my knowledge it has not sent any to Harvard/Stanford/Yale law. The WPI plan might hurt student's chances at graduate school, but I am unable to confirm whether this is the case or not. </p>
<p>
<p>About half of the students live off campus. As a freshman you'll live in a residence hall, but as a sophomore you'll choose between a fraternity/sorority house, an off campus apartment, and an upperclassmen residence hall. If you're not picky (i.e, you don't need to live with a specific group of people), it is not difficult to get on campus housing. </p>
<p>
[quote]
How do girls do in the predominantly male environment?
<p>Shelley14 -
WPI is a great school for women. I would have no concerns over sending my daughter there. The male/female ratio just doesn't come into play much. (except for sometimes it is fun to be in the minority...) </p>
<p>As for the community - it is a small and tight community. Not as small as when I was there (I think our graduating class was around 400), but the upperclassmen aren't that far away. The local apartments and houses are a short walk from campus. There actually is a benefit to this type of arrangement. Looking back I realize that the upperclassmen would hang out on campus during the day in public areas rather than going back to their apartments so there were more opportunities to mingle with them and run into them. I have dear friends that were grad students when I was a freshman. I also have dear friends that were freshmen when I was a senior. The majority of my friends were in the same class, but there are ample opportunities to get to know others.</p>
<p>As for the "athletic facilities"... They are old (I don't think they have changed in the 30 years I've seen the campus!), but there are plans for a new facility (I think they may be breaking ground this summer?). It only smells when there has been too much testosterone flung about and that can happen anywhere! And my only hope is that they don't get rid of the bowling alley. Not many colleges can say they have a bowling alley! I have fond memories of playing a pick up basketball game in Alumni gym and some wicked racquet ball and wallyball games in the basement of Harrington. Pick up rugby games and softball games happened almost daily in the spring as well as frisbee on Higgins Lawn and the quad. Who needs facilities!!? Just kidding. Sort of...</p>
<p>Yep, Clarkson University is in Potsdam NY (there IS a Clarkson college in Nebraska, for health care education, but definitely not the Clarkson I'm looking at! There is about a $30,000 difference/year between the two!)</p>
Yep, Clarkson University is in Potsdam NY (there IS a Clarkson college in Nebraska, for health care education, but definitely not the Clarkson I'm looking at! There is about a $30,000 difference/year between the two!)
</p>
<p>Yeah, I was sort of wondering why you thought Clarkson College had a great engineering program :P</p>
<p>
[quote]
There's a Clarkson in Nebraska? A college I've never heard of? Yikes, I'm slipping.
[/quote]
LOL, firefly! I've never heard of the one in Nebraska, either, but it doesn't matter any more since S (going to WPI) is our youngest and I'm finished with the whole searching/visiting/applying thing! (Does little dance.)</p>
<p>But back to the topic at hand -- S also looked at both Clarkson (NY) and RIT. On the drive back home from Pottsdam, H told S if he ended up at Clarkson we might drop him off at the start of freshman year and pick him up 4 years later! It's certainly a long haul, and not near any airports/bus terminals.</p>
<p>My kids have now made it a game. For example, when S and I flew into Hartford and drove to WPI, S noticed any signs for colleges and asked if I knew anything about them (Bay Path - no, Western New England - yes). New version of "stump the mom".</p>
<p>To bring it back to WPI, has there been any update in the proposed grading policy revision?</p>
<p>Also the overload fee has been changed from around $1000 to $3000 for each additional class. On one hand it makes overloading much less feasible, but on the other hand it will most likely cut down on class sizes and improve the quality of education.</p>
<p>MAXIMUM HOURS EXCEEDED
Undergraduates are limited to 2 and 1/6 units (19.5 credits) per semester. To exceed that amount, students must get their advisor's signature on a Drop/Add form or have the advisor e-mail (<a href="mailto:registrar@wpi.edu">registrar@wpi.edu</a>) permission for the overload to the Projects and Registrar's Office. The Registrar's staff will then enter the desired overload. Overload fees will be billed per credit hour in excess of 19.5 credits per semester exclusive of physical education and Military Science.</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (by section): 630CR 720M 610W (1950 Total)
[</em>] SAT IIs: Don't remember....
[<em>] ACT:29
[</em>] APs: AP US History, AP Biology, AP Language, AP Literature, AP Environmental Science, AP Psychology, AP Statistics
[<em>] IBs: None
[</em>] GPA: 3.45 UW 4.15W
[<em>] Rank: 27/360
[</em>] Other stats: None available
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] ECs listed on app: 4 Years Varsity Cross Country (2 years captain), 4 years Indoor Track (2 years captain), 4 years Outdoor Track, (2 Years Captain), President of Red Cross Youth Corps, Student Council, Math Team, LEAD Tutor, Building with Books, Interact, Marching Band, Concert Band.
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: CVS Pharmacy Technician/16 hours a week
[<em>] Essays (subject and responses): My perspective of running....it was good.
[</em>] Teacher Recs: Excellent
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Really excellent
[</em>] Applied on: Regular Decision
[<em>] Hook (if any): Female into engineering?
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[</em>] State or Country: Fairfield, CT
[<em>] School Type, Average Stats of School (if available): Public
[</em>] Ethnicity: Asian
[li] Gender: Female[/li][/ul]General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: Congrats to those who got in! Good luck to everyone else!</p>