I visited WPI and Stevens, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to go to one of them. However, I’m from NYC and I LOVE it here.
When I went to Worcester, I only saw the parts 30 minutes from the school on a bad day, and I hated the town. It was a big ghosty, there was a drug homeless problem that I saw everywhere, and of course its no NYC. I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt and I should visit the entire city on a sunny day. I hate the cold but I can bear it.
I loved WPI and everything about it and the curriculum; hate the location. I’d be forced to drive, but it would be an experience for me.
Meanwhile, Stevens in the opposite:
I’ve been to Stevens twice and the campus is nice but eh. don’t see college experience with Stevens bc it looks like a high school to me but I love Hoboken and its proximity to NYC.
I want to major in aerospace or robotics, I think WPI is a better choice but the location is bad. Stevens may not offer the same but the location is perfect.
Should I go for WPI try to adjust and drive home (3 hours which is bearable) every now and then, or should I try to like Stevens more? I am yet to hear from both but want to avoid the dilemma if I get into both.
Optional: NEU is a mix of my feelings of WPI and Stevens: Big school means more majors I can choose, has co-op like Stevens, location is good bc Boston and it has a slight campus feel. But isn’t as a community or cool like the other two. Its a good in between option.
This is a NYTimes article we found helpful to evaluate Worcester when we were touring colleges. The city is a big college town with lots of improvements being steadily made in many areas. Both the Clark U and WPI campuses are “safe” while being in the city proper. The sketchy areas can be avoided with common street smarts. Great town with a unfortunately bad rap- things have definitely started to change. WPI is an excellent choice. Good luck!
Why would you need a car at WPI? Wouldn’t you be living on campus at least for the first year? You don’t need a car to get to and from NYC. There are plenty of bus/train options.
Speaking as someone who looked at WPI, loved it academically, but hated the location and chose Northeastern over it easily, Northeastern or Stevens is what you want if you’re a city person. Driving in from Worchester is not an option. I’ve rented a zipcar once to drive there for a concert and if I did it in reverse, I would just never go into the city at all.
Between WPI and Stevens, absolutly Stevens and try to get used to it.
As far as Boston, you def got it on a bad day. It’s a smaller city than NYC but will offer a good deal if you’re actually in the city. It’s young, has lots of good food, hangouts, and will even be cleaner than NYC in my experience.
Personally, while obviously biased, I think that you should rephrase this as Northeastern vs Stevens based on what you’re looking for.
Can you elaborate on this? I think I get what you mean with the community part, but have no idea what you mean by “cool”. WPI and Stevens certainly don’t strike me as that, and another draw of Northeastern was actually to get a bit more diversity of people, academically speaking, who usually would be considered “cooler” stereotypically.
I’d be happy to answer any questions on Northeastern of course.
When I was a student we used to drive to Boston two or three times a year to hear the BSO, but prices are now out of reach for students. Classical music used to be considered part of your education so we had special ticket prices.
Living in a fraternity, I was taken out for hamburgers about midnight on a “study break,” but wound-up being kidnapped to NYC for breakfast and a trip up the Empire state building. Let me make this perfectly clear, it only happened once and we all did graduate. Do not put this on your likely events list.
According to official crime rate data, the the Highland St/Pleasant St. WPI neighborhood is among the safest in the city See https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/ma/worcester/crime. Most everything is on or about the campus.
Clearly Worcester is not NYC. The world is not NYC. If you are interested in music, drama or sports you won’t have much time to drive anywhere. PengsPhils is in a much better position to explain the Northeastern nightlife.
Good luck! Wherever you go, work hard and have fun!
If the WPI program fits, I would not drop it on the assumption that it is a dangerous city. Don’t go into those areas regardless of what city you are living in.
:bz