Post any questions you have about RPI and I will try my best to answer them!!!
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Anyone is free to ask or answer questions in this thread.
How about suggestions of most important things to bring day 1 for an incoming freshman ?
Most important things to learn/do at orientation over the summer ?
@blevine If you mean day 1 as in the first day of classes, I strongly suggest that even before that to get to know where your classes are so you’re not scrambling to try to find classrooms while the halls are even more crowded. You can always ask an upperclassmen to help you navigate, I’m sure anyone would be happy to help, just don’t be afraid to ask. Check online on your SIS (sis.rpi.edu) like the day before classes to make sure which classroom the class is in because they sometimes change from when you first register. I also recommend that you DO NOT buy any textbooks beforehand, or if you do, do not bring them with you to class. Unlike high school, you usually don’t use the textbook in class unless the professor says that you do need it, which is probably unlikely as far as I know. Wait until your first class when the teacher goes over the syllabus to decide if you need to get the textbook because sometimes you really don’t need to spend that much money if you’re only going to use it once or twice. And for buying textbooks, I suggest you go to the Facebook textbooks for sale group where you can buy a lot of cheap textbooks from upperclassmen.
And for your second question, the most important thing to do at orientation is to meet as many people as you can. Don’t worry about being nervous, everyone is in the same position as you. Just strike up conversations with anyone you see, they’ll be happy to have someone to talk to as well. I still keep in contact with a bunch of people that I met at orientation that I probably would not have met during the academic year. Most people do end up forming friend groups through orientation, but don’t worry, there’ll be a lot of other chances for you to meet a lot of other people as well. Also make sure to pay attention to the campus tours so you kind of get an idea as to which buildings are which, it won’t be that hard since they’re all pretty distinct and you’ll most likely be traveling between two/three buildings freshman year for the basic freshman classes. Lastly, don’t be afraid to ask the Student Orientation advisors any questions you have, they’ll be happy to answer them for you (that’s why they’re there). You won’t regret not asking, I promise you. Hmmm, that’s all that I can think of right now, but I’ll post back if I think of anything else.
Can you comment at all about what the students are like, from a social point of view?
My DD really liked RIT, where the admissions officer said “this is not a party school”, and she liked the goofy nerdy maybe even awkward vibe she saw there… We also saw U of Rochester - which she strongly disliked. I think she thought the kids were too … preppy? She thought it was “Harvard-lite” - which she meant as an insult. When we toured RPI, the baseball manager gave the admissions talk, and all the talk about athletics wasn’t her cup of tea. But we didn’t get much impressions of the personality of the student body from the tour (maybe because it was raining the whole time).
I’m wondering if you can give some color about the type(s) of students at RPI. (She wants to major in CS, in case that matters.)
@thshadow, as a parent I clan assure you RPI is not by any means a huge sports school. It’s much more like your description of RIT than your description of U of R.
@thshadow I would have to agree with 1214mom in saying that RPI’s social scene is more like RIT than URI in that the school is not hugely preppy. Of course, you can’t avoid everyone entirely since there are still individuals who give off that preppy vibe, but there are also plenty of students here who are of the ‘goofy nerdy’ type (we don’t call ourselves the Enginerds for nothing). Overall, I think RPI is a very welcoming community, everyone that I have met is super friendly and although there are still “cliques”, it doesn’t impede that much on social interaction. You do have your athletes and you do have your theater kids but I have friends in all different spheres. There are plenty of clubs to join on campus, and you will find a mix of different people in them which makes it so easy to make new friends. And as for athletics, the school is definitely not a huge sports school at all, except when it comes to hockey. But there is no pressure to obsess over it, though it can also be an outlet for students to come together and cheer for the team. If you have any more questions whatsoever or want me to clear something up, please feel free to ask me! I hope this helped.
I’m going to tour in about a month, but I’ve done some research and I’m wondering if…
- Troy is actually super sketchy…is it concerning? I like an urban atmosphere, but obviously not sketchy urban places. Is it like regular NYC at night or worse?
- Is everyone into video games? I personally hate video games but I go to an engineering high school and everyone is playing pokemon and watching anime and I feel a feeling that RPI is exactly the same as high school…it only kind of bothers me as long as there is a good population of people who are into other stuff
- Is the M/F ratio an issue? I’m not a tomboy; I don’t like video games or anime, I enjoy fitness, cooking, music, volunteer work, research…not into a strong party or drug culture at all, but I doubt that is an issue at a technical school!
- Do you know anything about the 7 year BS/MD program? Do you know any students from there? I am interested especially in this competitive program…but also since it’s very difficult to get into, I’m trying to gauge if RPI would fit me as a “match” school on my list! If it is a match…but that’s an entirely different story.
@LushLillies 1) Troy does have its good and bad parts, but for the most part it isn’t like super bad as long as you go with a group of friends or at least one other person and during the day. At night, it can get kind of sketchy in places so I wouldn’t recommend going down there like in the middle of the night. There are a lot of upperclassmen who do live in those areas, though, so it’s not completely uninhabitable. There are a lot of cool events that happen in downtown Troy (farmer’s market Saturday mornings, Troy Night Out, other festivals) so I recommend checking those out. Overall, it really isn’t that dangerous; just go with friends and you’ll be fine.
2) As this is RPI, there are definitely a lot of people who love video games, but there are also people like you who don’t. There is definitely a mix of those who play it all the time to those who occasionally play it, to those who aren’t obsessed. I don’t play video games either and I still have a lot to talk about with people who love it. RPI has so many different types of people that have so many types of interests that it’s not hard to make conversation with everyone you see. We also have a bunch of different clubs tailored to all different types of people so that’s a really good way to meet others who have the same interests as you.
3) The ratio has gotten a lot better…I can only kind of notice the difference at certain times. But we do have a popular saying that goes around on campus: The odds are good but the goods are odd. It’s been said that you can’t really notice that there even is a ratio because a majority of the guys are in their rooms most of the time. All in all though, I can’t say that it has posed any problems for me.
4) I can’t say I know a lot about that program nor do I personally know anyone who is a part of it. I can try to ask around and get back to you if I find out anything!
I hope I answered your questions and if you want, we can exchange emails and if you have any questions about RPI or college in general we can contact each other from there 