We are in the home stretch - can’t decide between Clarkson Honors and WPI for Aero - any help to sway the decision would be appreciated.
Have you visited both campuses? What are your interests? I don’t know much about Clarkson. My son did not consider it because it was way too remote for us. He did want a small-medium school with focus (or at least strong) in STEM. He chose WPI because of their project based education, the ability to travel abroad for his IQP or MQP, and the availability of great music programs. He is really enjoying it there, and is really liking the 7 week terms - especially when he comes home for breaks (fall, Christmas, and spring). The breaks are scheduled in between terms, so he does not have to worry about homework, or exams and can relax. If you are not fond of a particular class, it is over in 7 weeks… and you only need to focus on 3 subjects at a time.
@GoatGirl19 might be able to give you more details as current WPI student.
@retiredfarmer is a WPI alumni and can provide you with the school’s background and great facts and stats. If you can give us a better idea of what is important to you, we might be able to better help you with your decision. May 1st is right around the corner!
- If you did not major in Aeronautical Engineering, what would it be? Just pretend.. try hard!
- What other areas of study do you want to pursue outside of engineering?
- What do you enjoy doing for a change of pace, i.e. diversion?
Your concept of a days activities are important!
The IQP is, for many, WPI’s most unique experience and can not be duplicated by classroom experiences and readings. It is like the difference between reading Shakespeare and acting Shakespeare. This is a big part of embedding interdisciplinary thinking into our graduates.
I was a student there when they were developing this program 50 years ago. Project education as developed at WPI has been so widely accepted now that ABET requires what we call an MQP before graduation. MQP experiences are not classroom experiences. The WPI IQP is a different and second project which personalizes the understanding of interdisciplinary thinking. This is uniquely WPI. The Humanities Sufficiency also offers very wide flexibility to permit the student to personalize this area of studies. This program applies to ALL students
They were designing this program while I was still an undergraduate.
WPI '67