Thanks, polarbeary. I hope that you do well in that class 
No problem, and Iāve already taken that class, haha. Iām just hoping to do well so that particular grade doesnāt become an issue. 
@hungryteenagerā Physics I and/or II are also weed out classes for engineers.
@Dreadpiritā
Yeah, I heard about those at the medalist weekend. Hopefully, Iāll be able to use AP Credits for those. I wasnāt sure if there were any major-specific weed-out courses.
@polarbearyā Do you have support from your advisor ? What kind of interning or summer job opportunities do engineering students have ? Are there any local companies that typically have spots for engineering students ?
@frodosdojo I do have support from my advisor. It takes a bit of skill to try to get in contact with some of them as they are hard to make appointments with at times, but they do offer good support and help for schoolwork or class scheduling or major changes, etc. Iām not an engineering student but I know there are TONS of internships and other opportunities out there for engineers. We ARE an engineering school after all! I advise going to the career fair because there is literally so much. There are plenty of local companies as well. GlobalFoundries is a big one, located in Malta, NY. Regeneron is another, typically for BME or Biology but other majors are sometimes being sought for too. Again, I would suggest going to the career fair.
@polarbeary Thank you for the info. That is super helpful.
Hi! I recently got accepted into RPI and so far it looks like itās gonna be the school that I attend. I just wanted to know, are students required to bring a certain brand of laptop or does the name not matter? I own a MacBook Pro thatās relatively new so Iām not exactly looking to buy another laptop. Thanks in advance!
RPI has a laptop purchase program. I wouldnāt buy anything new until they put out the new computer package for 2015. Thereās a link to the old package somewhere in this or another nearby thread.
So I got admitted into the lally school of business. if i wanted to, is it possible to switch schools before this fall? like science or engineering
I know this is late for @quarlo but this is for anyone else who was wondering. No, you do not need a certain brand and Iāve seen about half and half for Mac vs PC. If you have a MBP, thatās great. Unless it stops working or has other problems, youāll be fine just sticking with it for the next few years.
Lally is easier to get into than the core engineering schools, for good reason. Thus, itās hard to switch from Lally to the the engineering ones. They donāt want people to get into RPI by choosing the easy major and than just switch over when they get accepted. Iām not sure on the specifics but I believe itās possible to switch, just really hard. If you really wanted to do take engineering courses or have a major on your diploma, you could always go for a dual/double degree.
It is very easy to switch majors and switch schools (management to engineering or science) once at RPI. Just fill ou the form and submit it. You have to have a Deanās signature but they only require like a 2.5 GPA to switch schools.
Do many people come into RPI with little background experience in engineering (meaning donāt know how to program or code)? I want to be an engineer because I like math and science, but I havenāt taken any āengineeringā classes since my school doesnāt offer them
There are free ālearn to codeā apps available. It also depends on what kind of engineer you want to be, whether you need to learn to program or code.
If you are planning to be a computer engineer, and are starting RPI in the fall, Iād suggest taking a summer course in programming basics.
Most high schools in the US donāt have engineering classes, but many have drafting (my spouse and I are engineers and took drafting in high school) classes and beginning programming classes. Iād suggest looking into a local community college to see if they have any courses that might help you prepare.
@1rpiinsider I really donāt think itās that easy to switch majors like that, especially from the business school to the engineering schools. If youāre switching within the engineering department, itās probably easier. But if switching from Lally is as easy as filling out a form and getting one signature, you can bet there would probably be no students left in Lally save for a few of the athletes who donāt want to do engineering. Iām not certain on the GPA aspect of it.
@thrainbow Like @rhandco said, whether or not you really need to learn how to program/code depends heavily on which engineering discipline you want to go into. I have friends who are IMEs and BMEs and I believe they only really have to take Programming in C or something like that. Maybe just CS I, which is in Python. Unless you want to go into Computer Science or CSE and/or possibly EE, you wouldnāt need to go too in-depth (things like C++, Java, etc). CodeAcademy is really helpful and I know a lot of people who use it, if you donāt want to take the summer course option.
Did they come into RPI knowing how to do those though?
No, the majority have never taken programming classes in their life. Especially for something like engineering, the most they have done (if their school even offers it, is take engineering classes). I think youāll be able if you come in with no knowledge at all. Although it really wouldnāt hurt to use CodeAcademy over the summer. Itās really helpful and itās not too hard either!
How are class sizes for intro classes; especially for those in the biology and economics majors? How do class sizes and individual teacher attention change as you progress through your major?
In general, class sizes are larger in the introduction classes, which makes sense. As you get into the more specialized classes for your major, size gets smaller. I would say, unless youāre in things like art classes where individual attention might be needed, youāre hardly ever find individual attention unless you go and search for it during office hours.
Hi! Iām in love with RPIās GSAS program and it is one of my top two schools. However, Iām concerned about Troy. Every other school that I applied to (quite literally EVERY OTHER SCHOOL) was in a big city, and it was my dream to be some place big. I myself am from Upstate New York and Iām worried that Troy will be just like home and that I wonāt be able to do much exploring outside of campus. Itās not really the cold Iām concerned about (Iām nearly immune now), but more of the overall vibe. Is it really this soul-sucking greyness that Iāve heard rumors about?