<p>Frankly, I was only going to apply to RPI as a financial safety, and I ripped up the application as soon as I got my scholarship from WPI. From what I've seen, the dorms are really small and cramped, the campus is seedy, and the surrounding town is really sketchy.</p>
<p>As a former MA resident...how bad is RPI (Troy)? You know, Worcester isn't exactly regarded as heaven...</p>
<p>When I was a sophomore in high school I went to RPI to drop off my friend. I didn't get to see much of the campus, but I do remember thinking how small and crappy the dorm rooms were and being worried about having to live in one when I got to college (fortunately my freshman dorm experience at WPI was much better). Many of my friends here at WPI visited RPI in their college search and say how sketchy it is compared to WPI's campus, and that the surrounding area is terrible.</p>
<p>I know how sketchy Worcester can be, but WPI and the immediate area is actually very nice. The campus is especially beautiful in the spring (flowering trees everywhere), fall (colors), and after a fresh snowfall.</p>
<p>We're from CA. We toured both WPI and RPI as possible choices for my second son. He would have attended RPI in an instant over WPI, which he found far too small and unexciting. I guess it's a good thing there are so many wonderful schools for students to explore, since no one school will be perfect for everyone!</p>
<p>go to Michigan. If you can rise to the top of your class, you are just as desirable as MIT graduates</p>
<p>none. MIT rulz :D</p>
<p>Some of the replies here are naming some mighty fine colleges as safety colleges.</p>
<p>We view Iowa State as a financial safety with some excellent engineering programs. For most MIT applicants, your state university probably has lots to offer as an affordable safety school.</p>
<p>"RPI was my safety many years ago, but my world was a small radius around NYC.</p>
<p>Georgia Tech would seem to be the ideal safety for the MIT applicant. They accept 69% of applicants, its inexpensive even for out of state, and from what I gather, it's so hard that many people can't hack it and are thus miserable. I've met a lot of excellent Georgia Tech engineers over the years, both at MIT grad school and in industry. </p>
<p>For the MIT-qualified applicant who wants that "drinking from the firehose" education, the rigor may be just what the doctor ordered."</p>
<p>I'd have to agree. Also, despite GT's high acceptance rate, its the only school besides MIT with all of its engineering programs in the top 10.</p>
<p>many sites rank undergraduate engineering at university of illinois-urbana higher than that in uofm, and it's easier to get into as well. so, uofi would be an excellent safety college</p>
<p>For some students, UR (University of Rochester) might be a good safety. It has a great program in optics and some good BME programs</p>
<p>GaTech can be an admissions safety and a financial safety. The OOS tuition is lower than other similarly ranked state schools, they do not increase their tuition rate once you enroll, and if you study abroad they only charge the in-state tuition rate. Although not required, GT is big on co-op programs so a student can earn a salary in alternating semesters (more financial help). Unlike MIT, their offerings outside of engineering programs are not as strong as MIT's (eg, management), or not offered at all (eg, HASS majors and minors). Also, at GT there is a "weedout" process and collaboration is not permitted, although there is a lot of academic support offered, esp considering it is a state-supported school. There has been a lot of investment in the school in the last 12 years in dorms, rec facilities, nano-technology, Comp Sci, and bio-technology. </p>
<p>UIUC also offers fixed tuition and only a small fee while on study abroad. Some of their engineering programs are top 5 (including Civil, EE, Comp Sci). </p>
<p>Case Western Reserve would be a safety, very generous with merit aid, BME is top rated, same size as MIT, similar environment, rigorous, and broad offerings available.</p>
<p>I take "safety" to mean there is no chance that an MIT-level applicant would be turned down. But an MIT-level applicant should have good or very good chances to be admitted to excellent programs such as Carnegie Mellon, UChicago, Cal Tech, Harvey Mudd, Rose Hulman, Michigan, etc.</p>
<p>Yeah thats a good point that CWRU is very generous with merit based aid, I think something like 98% of people accepted receive it or something? However the school is very high cost to begin with, so for the majority of people it just brings it down to what an out-of-state state school would be. However a "MIT-caliber" student would probably receive more aid than that.</p>
<p>A lot of colleges with "rolling" admission are about to begin accepting applications. Some will notify you very soon if you are admitted. Have you chosen your safety college?</p>
<p>Good luck to the class of 2008 applicants.</p>
<p>Has anyone been admitted somewhere yet?</p>
<p>What about someone seeking studies in Bio-eng? I saw BMI, looks nice.</p>
<p>I live in Georgia and I can say for a fact that most people at my school that apply do get into GA Tech. It is also my safety. However, 50% of the freshman class do get kicked out ever year as a "weeding process" and I heard that it is like hell at least for the first year... but no one I know has been weeded out. As long as you qualify for MIT GATech isn't going to be TOO difficult for you, but I did hear that it is about the same difficulty... and more stressful...</p>
<p>So by more stressful, do you mean a tremendous class load, or pressure from professors, or do you mean some kind of culture/socialogical/mixtah?</p>
<p>
[quote]
I take "safety" to mean there is no chance that an MIT-level applicant would be turned down. But an MIT-level applicant should have good or very good chances to be admitted to excellent programs such as Carnegie Mellon, UChicago, Cal Tech, Harvey Mudd, Rose Hulman, Michigan, etc
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Nah brah the average MIT-level applicant doesn't have "very good chances" to be admitted to UChicago, Caltech, or Mudd. The average MIT applicant is 50th percentile and only the 85th percentile and above actually get in. How could a 50th percentile applicant have a "very good chance" to get into three of the most selective schools in the nation, brah? I'd say about 75th percentile do, brah, but that's just my opinion brah.</p>
<p>"I take 'safety' to mean there is no chance that an MIT-level applicant would be turned down. But an MIT-level applicant should have good or very good chances to be admitted to excellent programs such as Carnegie Mellon, UChicago, Cal Tech, Harvey Mudd, Rose Hulman, Michigan, etc."</p>
<p>I would second atomicfusion in post 39. If you read the school boards from this spring, you'll find that Caltech and MIT have more than a few differing admissions decisions. Our son was far from the only applicant to get into MIT, but not Caltech. When he was applying last year, we saw WashUniversity STL and Cornell, which are far from easy admits, as being in a safer application tier than Mudd, Caltech, Olin, and MIT. (Rose, on the other hand, is a fantastic school that suffers from location and has to be quite a bit easier on applicants.)</p>