<p>Help! This is my first post ever, and it is clearly too long and not well focused. I just got accepted off the wait list at CWRU. Since it was already past May 1st, I had already, and very happily, sent in my deposit to RPI. I intend to study Electrical Engineering. I like both schools for the small, dedicated student body and have already declined other schools including Lehigh, VT, RIT, and UMD. The choice is down to CWRU or RPI, costs for me are within $1000, and so that is not a discriminator. I am not a big party person and am happy to hang out with a small number of friends, so the Cleveland/Troy comparison is not that important to me. I am interested to know about any other comparisons or differences regarding things like the campuses, student bodies, professors etc. For example, I like CWRU a lot, but I am not sure about the focus on undergraduate vs. graduate students. Also, I appreciate the close tie to medical professions and BME at CWRU, but I wonder about the focus on other engineering disciplines. At the same time, I hear RPI described with terms such as grind that are not used to describe CWRU. Lastly, I got a good, welcoming feeling from the RPI students in extra-curricular activities, such as theater, how does the sense of community compare between the two schools? Thanks.</p>
<p>I don’t really know how to compare the two, since my kid didn’t look at RPI, but Case does place a very strong emphasis on undergrads (this was also addressed on another thread). I think both are tough academically, but the payoff seems greater at Case. But I don’t think you can go wrong either way.</p>
<p>My son had to make a decision between these two schools and eventually decided on Case Western. Several factors contributed to that decision. He is similarly not a “party person,” but liked the feel of Cleveland as a city with more options (culturally, arts, Little Italy/restaurants, national-level sports teams) compared with Troy. In addition, while he is fully committed to engineering and enjoys hanging out with similarly minded people, he liked being at a school with a broader scope of students/interests. He received an exceptionally warm welcome at CWRU (as a future Computer Engineering major with possible Biomed Eng minor), was spontaneously invited to attend computer science classes and then spent another hour or so talking with students after class about different topics. Another discriminator is ease of transportation. If you are a Maryland resident (thought possible given that you applied to UMD) round trip direct flight fares from BWI to Cleveland are $200 or less - simple and fast. Travel to Troy is much more challenging - e.g. drive or flights to Albany. I think both schools offer a lot from an engineering perspective. CWRU definitely has an edge in Biomed Eng. RPI may have an edge in EE. Our impression was that research opportunities are ample at CWRU, as well - but again, may be more (but not all) biomed focused. Twice as many EE graduates each year at RPI than at CWRU (60ish vs 30ish), which might also figure into your decision. Congratulations on your acceptances! Both are great schools - good luck!</p>
<p>Just FYI. I have reconfirmed my original decision to attend RPI and I am looking forward to the fall. I felt warmly welcomed by the students at RPI during the accepted students day - including the students who were just walking around on a typical Saturday, not just the ones involved in the organized activities. It feels comfortable and right for me, after all the analysis, perhaps that is what matters most.</p>
<p>Good luck with your transition to RPI. It is a great school!</p>
<p>I was also going to recommend RPI for EE. Its really good and well known for engineering. Congrats !</p>