Yes, I was so sad to read about that too. I know there’s a lot more reported college age suicides across the country recently, but that seems like a very high number for such a small school. It’s so heartbreaking and I too would like to learn more about what the school is doing to support the students.
Thank you so much for your feedback, that really helps to put the pace of courses into perspective. My D has a heavy AP course load so maybe she would enjoy having fewer classes at that high intensity. I’ll share your feedback with her (but maybe after their EA decisions come out in another week I think?!).
So glad your gf is able to talk with and support her daughter. I went to a high school eons ago where there were suicides and other deaths at least a few times a year. Even if it’s not someone close, it really does affect all the kids. Hugs to your gf’s daughter.
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Your daughter may really like the more intensive 7weeks terms, concentrating on just 3+ classes.
AND the classes meet more often so if you don’t understand something, you can ask for help the next class the next day or something instead of waiting until the following week when the class meets again. -
I thought WPI ED decision = 12/15,
but EA decision wasn’t until 1/15.
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That sounds great. Now I’m starting to understand why many kids like the 7 week sessions.
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Omg you’re right, EA doesn’t come out until 1/15! My D thought it was coming out soon – girl needs to pay a little more attention to detail.
Guess no harm in sharing your feedback re 7-week sessions now!
It’s going to kill her waiting another month but I’m so glad you told me or she’d be so stressed wondering why she wasn’t getting any notices this month!
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I’m late to this discussion but I lived through the 7-week terms as an undergraduate and my daughter is a junior there now.
Adjustment to the 7 week terms can be challenging initially. As freshmen, the pace is faster than what the students are used to, they are often unaware or reluctant to use available out-of-class resources to get help, and they haven’t established the study groups that prove to be very helpful in the upperclassman years. Usually by second semester (C & D terms) things have stabilized and the students get into a groove. So a good strategy is to select a reasonable course load A & B terms (A term in particular). Generally, that is a math, a science and a humanities class. Where students appear to get themselves into trouble freshman year (based on the discussions on the parents FB page) is starting too far into one of those sequences. My advice is to be conservative on the first math class. Usually the greatest threat of an early NR is in the calculus sequence, Chem 2 or Phys 2. There is a math placement test to help the student figure out where to start, but the student can choose to start anywhere. My daughter came in with non-AP calculus, so she started with calc 1. It was a lot of review from HS, but it was a good confidence builder.
Regarding the 4 student deaths: last I heard, two were ruled suicides. One death was over the summer and one was a freshman just two weeks into A term. While definitely devastating for the school community, I don’t think the timing would suggest that the workload or campus experience were primary factors. The most recent death was the evening before a scheduled mental health day just two days into B-term and after a 1 week break. Again - not a high-stress period for any of the students. I also think that these types of issues are more widespread than most realize as they go unreported in the media (nobody outside of the WPI community knew about the first 3 until the papers reported they were investigating 4 deaths). I was talking with out HS principal about the deaths and he shared that his son’s roommate from last year had committed suicide that very week - and that was at a school right here in my area. It was never reported. I do think WPI has done a good job responding.
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thanks for the great info. Would you mind sharing an example of how often classes meet for a 7-week term? My biggest concern with WPI is my son takes a few weeks to get in a groove. And with calc 1 do they have homework that is turned in? My son this year (a high school senior) has several AP classes with no homework - just studying - and he prefers having homework.
All of this is based on my observations of my daughter’s current experiences - How often classes meet will depend on the class - and they are all the same value in terms of credits. An exception is some in-major lab classes are half the normal credit load. A calculus or science class will generally have 4 lectures per week (nominally mon, tues, thurs, fri) and each meeting is 50 minutes. In some instances there will be sections that only meet twice but for double the time. In addition, each science and calc class generally has a lab meeting and a discussion section. My daughter (junior) is taking a statistics class and has 4 lectures, 50 minutes each, one lab (also 50 minutes) and no discussion section - so 5 hours of meeting time per week. The length of science and calc labs/discussions vary, but generally 1-2 hours for a lab and 50-80 minutes for the discussions. There are definitely homework assignments and labs that must be submitted for grading. Much of that is done on-line (HW) and lab reports in the science classes are with small teams (2-3 typically). HW assignments I believe are “several per week” and labs less frequently. I would say that completing the assignments is the primary mode of studying.
Most other classes - humanities, SS, in-major classes, etc meet 3 or 4 times per week (4 is normal). A few specialized classes - for example Orchestra, or a class taught by an adjunct might meet only once per week for 3 hours. The vast majority of classes occur between 8AM and 5PM
The campus is very compact, so scheduling with 10 minutes between classes is normal (for example one ends at 10:50 and the next begins at 11:00) and creates no problems. A gap of an hour allows an easy trip back to the freshman dorms or time to grab a cup of coffee or meal at the Rubin campus center which is right in the middle of the academic buildings. Really a great setup and that area is always active with students.
One final point - the 7-week terms allows a 1-week break between A and B terms that other schools generally don’t have. It is really a great breather between sessions because there is no work due when you return and nothing to think about in terms of academic pressures. The same is true for the March spring break. And if you have a professor/class that you don’t enjoy - it is over fast.
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YAY!! Thanks so much! My D is glad (but also nervous) that they’ll come out sooner!
This up and down on the date changes is making us both nauseated though! 
Thank you so much for sharing your and your D’s experiences! They are so helpful, especially love your tips on how to set up the first year course load. I will definitely share all this with my D!
Another question for you and @huango – how are the non-STEM course offerings at WPI? My D is very undecided about majors, though currently most interested in Computer Science. But her interests have varied to areas outside the traditional engineering departments – she also likes Neuroscience, Physics, Economics etc and she does want to take Humanities courses too and might want to minor in or at least study those more traditional liberal arts areas.
As for the student deaths – thank you for the additional info, it’s hard to get a sense of what has been happening from the outside. Does your D feel the overall school climate is otherwise a healthy one and they have adequate supports for students?
I can imagine it’s hard for the schools (colleges as well as high schools) when trying to share out the info on student deaths, especially suicides. They want to be transparent and supportive of students, but probably don’t want to encourage suicide contagion either, especially as we are all suffering mental health-wise during the pandemic. Each of these deaths is so tragic, I hope the students and families feel the school is properly addressing their needs, which it sounds like you feel it does, which is very encouraging. Thank you!
@jmk518 's daughter can answer the current non-STEM offering better,
but I did take Mandarin through the consortium at Holy Cross, utilizing the free shuttle.
I liked it.
Easy to sign up, as though I was registering for a WPI course, didn’t have to worry about payment; WPI paid Holy Cross.
It was good to get off WPI campus every so often.
One of the main reasons why I loved WPI was because I didn’t HAVE to take more than 5 classes in non-stem for my humanity (used to be called Suffiency) project, so yay, no endless History101 or social science 101 or art101 for me!
I was able to jump right in the 1st term in Calculus 4, Chem 2, and some computer science, without having to take the non-stem core classes that other colleges require.
My gf’s Freshman daughter took a music course in her 1st term.
WPI has a humanities requirement as part of their project-based curriculum. In the old days it was concentrated in 5 classes as @huango says. I did mine in music and it was probably comparable to a minor. Now WPI requires “depth and breadth” so you can’t satisfy the requirement with all classes in a specific area - the greatest level of concentration would be 4 courses with one outside and a final inquiry seminar in your area of depth. My daughter took 2 art classes (art 1 and art 2), 4 music classes (therory I, theory II, World Music) and Spanish. Her humanities inquiry seminar is an in-depth study on the Beatles which she absolutely loves. This is 1 more class than usual because she initially thought art and music together would satisfy both the depth and breadth but later found out that those two count together towards a depth component…so she added a Spanish class. As for the quality of the humanities - I can only speak to those mentioned and the experiences have been very good. My wife is a conservatory-trained professional musician and we’ve been to several concerts and musicals there and she has been thoroughly impressed by what she has seen. To me it just reinforces the notion that these students are good at almost everything they touch…not just math and science. The classes are not blow-off classes, but they do offer a change of scenery from an all-STEM curriculum and are taught by very accomplished individuals from WPI and the surrounding schools. All of my daughters humanities classes were taught on the WPI campus. My sense is that most students find the humanities component to be an enjoyable part of their time at WPI.
In addition to the 6 course equivalents for humanities, there is a two-course social studies requirement. Beyond that, most majors have a few free electives and about 4 extra course slots that are not required to be filled - some will say they allow penalty free NRs along the way, others will use them to graduate early or start taking graduate courses…but there is no reason one couldn’t take additional humanities courses or build more depth into the major with additional classes. Edited to add that if you search “WPI program tracking sheets” you can find a link to the distribution requirements by major and graduating year. This will give you an idea of what space there is for discretionary classes as it is probably dependent on major.
I think the student deaths caught everyone off guard. The 2020-21 academic year was significantly more challenging with the pandemic. Students in dorms did not have the same freedoms that off campus students did. But somehow everyone made it through…so why things seem to turn for the worse this year is up for debate, given that things have opened up more - athletics, clubs, in-person classes - all of that is back. My daughter moved off campus soph year and she is a 3-season athlete. Her experience has been great BUT she still had the social outlet last year through athletic practices and off-campus living that the on-campus community did not have. I think schools keep things quiet in part to respect the privacy of the families. I have seen discussion on the WPI parents FB page that WPI needs to reduce the stress - others have countered that WPI hasn’t changed what it has been doing for the past 40+ years and reducing the degree of effort reduces the quality of the education and the focus should be on helping to identify and help students that are struggling with mental health issues. I do believe that Laurie Leshin is an exceptional president and is immersed in the campus community. She is a great communicator to the parents. I think that now students and parents are more aware of the prevalence of mental health issues, we are all better positioned to look out for those struggling and make sure those best able to help are made aware. In general though, I think you will find the campus to be exceptionally friendly and welcoming and the students seem very happy.
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Hi,
I believe I was one of the first to suggest WPI on your original thread. I still think it is an excellent fit for your daughter. I know it is late in the game but have you looked at NYU Polytech Tandon School of Engineering? If you think your daughter may end up in an actual humanity-type major, this may offer even more flexibility because of the potential cross-curriculum with NYU. Also, Tandon does have an Aerospace major.
Thank you for sharing your experience. Good to hear it was easy to take classes at Holy Cross as others had mentioned that as a possibility but we weren’t sure how feasible it was with the different session start/end dates at WPI. Not sure D would make the extra efforts to go across town, but for the right class, I could see her trying.
My D is actually fine with either a common core or open curriculum since she wants to dabble in non-science classes too, although she does like having flexibility in choosing how to meet those requirements.
Thank you @jmk518 for the details on how the additional courses play out today. My D will be happy to hear of the humanities and social science requirements and that those classes are also strong. That was probably the biggest concern with WPI for her, whether it would allow her enough opportunities to explore non-STEM studies. I’ll have her check out the tracking sheets, thanks!
Especially appreciate the insider feedback regarding the school climate. It is very worrying only seeing headlines and all the bad news, and not knowing what was being done. Having a strong, supportive president is so important and it sounds like they really are working to help give extra support. It really does sound like such a wonderful place.
Thank you both!
Omg, you’re killing me, we’re trying to cut down the list! 
Of course, I looked up Tandon anyway (because you’ve been giving me great advice 
!) and thankfully decided that although the school and the options to take other NYU classes sound great, I think she’d feel too isolated in Brooklyn away from the main campus. (The main campus is also probably not campus-y enough for her too).
Thank you for the additional suggestion, this will help other kids reading this thread too. In the meantime, thank you again for suggesting WPI! Fingers crossed for EA in 2 days! 
Not sure if she could feel isolated even if she tried in the center of Bklyn Hts but definitely not a traditional campus. Best of luck with WPI and all of her college decisions.
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Ah yes, I meant isolated from the rest of the NYU students.
We are nervously watching the clock moving closer to decision time. 
@chrisntine I seemed to have missed this. With one a sophomore in HS, and the other two in college, I had not really been checking this site much since we’re a year away from really looking again.
My daughter is at WPI, and I would say so far she is enjoying it.
First, regarding the deaths (someone mentioned 4, but I only recall 3. Two of those were suicides, per the parents releasing that info, and one family I believe was I think a foreign student who passed while out of country - but the details are more hazy on that one). My belief at this stage is that those tragedies were kids who had significant mental health issues. As a parent of 3, one of whom has diagnosed depression (She’s a junior at college now and doing well there, but it’s always something that has to be monitored and worked at), I feel terrible for those families. I do believe that the school itself (WPI) was not any significant underlying cause for these tragedies.
Like any college, once you arrive there, many of your preconceived notions (good or bad) will change. This happened to my daughter as well. Her excitement for the campus food options is now long gone … her fear of the 7 week classes has subsided. She felt at first she was getting little help around scheduling and that it would be impossible to get the classes that she wanted, but by her second quarter she was getting classes that she did not think she would be able to. Her perspective on which dorms are best wasn’t accurate either, according to her.
The main thing she notes is that:
AP classes in HS prepared her very well for WPI and its rigor. Some of her classes are easier than HS classes. Some are harder, but she is prepared for the pace.
The school has a ton of events, activities, clubs and Greek options. She feels very busy with school though and doesn’t get to dabble in them as much as she could. She is seldom bored, and there is always work to do - and if not, activities to do.
She likes that she can just pick any classes she wants. She is taking some upper level class in digital concept art right out of the gate because that is something she already has experience in.
She is finding WPI is BIG on groups. Most classes seem to form groups among the kids (assigned, I believe), and this has been the most challenging aspect because some kids are great team members, and others not so much. She has groups where some kids are AWOL on the project, and other groups where one kid feels better than the rest so tries to go off and do the entire project on their own. In some ways she is learning about what it’s like in the working world, dealing with people who pull their own weight at very different levels, and with different motivations. But it can be frustrating for them when their grade is group dependent. If you have some kids in your group who are majoring in that subject, or are engaged in the class, it can be great. In her second quarter (she is an IMGD major, which is game design and comp science), she was already working in Unity with her team to build a version of Asteroids, and they were dividing up features to code into the game (she’s a novice coder, more of a digital artist), while also learning about how the business works, down to dealing with shareholders and stock prices to budget challenges. Quite a lot for her 2nd quarter of school, which I think is neat.
Overall, she really does love her school so far, which she calls “Whip-ee” (and never WPI). Food? Not so much. Kids? Like any school you have a variety of types, she has found friends, has a nice roommate, has met kids she doesn’t really feel she fits with as well (kids who somehow are at WPI but seem to be very focused on the party/social scene).
I do think the rigor there is something to consider. If your kid is OK with the ups and downs of academic stress (slow times, mixed with stressful times where you’re finishing projects or essays with due dates), then it works. If your kid is a slow-but-steady and doesn’t handle the intermittent stress peaks all that well, I would recommend the traditional 2 semester schools. I remember when I was at school, twice a year the stress would peak (each time it was end of semester, finals and projects). At WPI, it happens 4 times a year really. But obviously for 3 classes each time instead of 5. The key (her and I agree) is all about course selection. Each term, with your 3 classes, take one that is a real challenge, one that is moderate (hard work, but understandable), and one that you can coast in a little. Sometimes it’s hard to know that, but as an example, you may take a calculus (level here) or hardcore programming/engineering class which may be challenging for you, mixed with a business class that is a lot of work but not something you won’t get lost in, and then a creative writing class (lots of writing, but understanding the class is easy). This has been working for her.
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Good news?
My daughter was just accepted early action with a nice merit package. We weren’t able to take an in person tour so very eager to learn more about the school. I saw mention of someone being a 3 season athlete on this thread. Is that three seasons of varsity sports or a mix of club or varsity? DD played lots of sports in HS so I think it will be important for her to have a similar outlet and community in college. She didn’t try be to be recruited D3 - that was a bit overwhelming with everything else happening in the application process. Is it possible to contact a coach this late in the game and express interest? WPI seems to have lots of club sports so if those programs are robust (soccer, basketball, ultimate), that sounds like a real plus.