Sat I: 2120 superscore (690M, 660CR, 770W)
Sat II: US History (770), Chemistry (730), Math II (680) - didn’t send
ACT: 31 (31 S, 34 E, 30 M, 29 R)
Gpa: 95/100
Rank: 40/280
AP: Chemistry (4), US History (4), English Language and Comp. (4), World History (4), Computer Science A (5), Human Geography (TBD), Calculus AB (TBD), English Literature and Composition (TBD).
Major awards: NYSSMA Award, Founder/President of Tri-M Music Honor Society, Member of SS, English, and National Honor Societies. Won top 10 in Science Olympiad for Electric Vehicle.
Extracurriculars:
Technology Service Organization, President
350+ Hours at Children’s Hospital
Programming Club, President/Founder
Fortune 500 Internship at Y&R
Male Choir
Science Olympiad Competition (regional finals and states)
Work experience:
Receptionist
Essays: My common app was great, but my essay for RPI was only decent. I’d say an 8/10.
Recommendations: Great.
Fin aid? Yes
Major applied for: Computer Systems Engineering
State: New York
School type: Public
Class size: 280
Ethnicity: White Male
Income bracket: $60,000/year
Got $27,000 in merit aid/scholarships per year! Not really sure how they choose kids though for scholarships; I think they look at a lot more than just grades. My friend with much higher scores than me that got into Cornell ended up getting nothing from RPI. Best of luck to everyone!
It’s a great school! You should totally consider it! They’re really trying to revitalize campus and they spend more than 100 million on research every year. Check out the Rensselaer Plan 2024 for more info. @anon9362
I forgot to post stats. 2300 SAT, 98 Weighted GPA (ranked just out of the top 10%)
$21,500 scholarship
$20,000 grant
Very intense STEM focused ECs, research, robotics, outreach work to involve girls in CS
I’m a girl so that probably helped
I’m going to try to fight for more merit money though, because I’ve had some major accomplishments since the time of my application. My parents are pushing me to go to a state school due to cost, but I really like RPI So I’m trying to get the price down as far as possible to justify going here. Wish me luck
How much less would your state school cost? What is its reputation for your intended major? Would it be large and overwhelming for you? You could definitely do the work and RPI seems to have a lot to offer in terms of support for women in traditionally male fields so these other factors may matter.
State school would be like 10k cheaper per year. @Pepper17 I was waitlisted by ivies, my other choices are SUNY Bing, Stony Brook, RIT, and some safeties. RIT is unaffordable for me, Stony Brook makes me uncomfortable, and Binghamton gave me a good offer into their honors program but i feel like RPI is a better fit for me. I’ve been talking to everyone I can about the school and everything about it seems to align with my preferences.
Did you guys see the stuff in the news about RPI and it’s debt? They are getting a lot of bad press. I wonder if this is affecting how much grant money they are giving out this year. It seemed like they used to give more a few years back.
I don’t know about anyone else, but my daughter was offered enough money between the Leadership Award & Grants that they are covering about 2/3rds of the cost of attendance which is in-line with the other offers she received from similarly ranked schools. We are going to accepted students day & hope she really likes it. I also hope she meets current female students so she can get a better feel for RPI & the 70/30 split.
My daughter can’t make the accepted students day but is going back to visit another day. We went to an open house last fall and there was a panel of women students talking about support and opportunities for women at RPI. I was very impressed. My daughter considers it to be one of her top two at this point.
@Kat2013 I got about 2/3 also. It seems like there are a lot of opportunities for women as well. I don’t think the gender ratio is too bad, it’s just something that we will have to get used to as female students. And I’m already so used to being the only girl in my clubs that it won’t have a big impact on me, I don’t know if your daughter has had the same experience but if she has then it won’t be too bad
My DD was accepted but we are not happy with the financial aid; one Leadership award and $8500/year in loans. I don’t understand why she was offered so relatively little. She is sending them a letter asking them to reconsider the financial aid.
@Robomama That happened to us too. Child appealed and got a form letter back to fill out, basically if anything MAJOR happened since the financial aid filing (job loss, catastrophe, death, etc…) they would reconsider, but they will not increase it because we think it’s unfair, it’s a favorite school, etc…This WAS our first choice school, however, we are going with another that actually is wooing my child to go there…full tuition, scholarships, etc…It feels good to be wanted! RPI costs 4X as much and has done nothing but create obstacles. Not worth it for undergrad, IMO. Good luck to you.
So I’m trying to get the price down as far as possible to justify going here. Wish me luck 