Depending on the sport, it is not too late to reach out to a coach.
My 2022son is recruited for wrestling (the coach gave him a 4 hours tour!!! marketing/pitching the entire time. Campus is not big enough for 4 hours);
I don’t know about walk-ons for wrestling.
But my 2 friends were walk-ons for soccer.
There are also great clubs.
I’m an alumna; I got to try crew.
That was probably me. My D is a three season varsity athlete at WPI. Recruiting depends a lot on the sport but things are all over the map now with covid. Some kids have missed the usually critical high school seasons that the college coaches look at. I would have her reach out to the coach… they’re usually pretty responsive and helpful and they know that a lot of D1 hopefuls have a change of heart after a few official visits, so their rosters may have openings right up to the start of practice. Since she’s already accepted there are no real benefits to being a recruited athlete. The walk ons on my daughters team have all the standing that the recruited athletes do. I can’t comment in the club teams but I think they are more easily put on pause in these pandemic times.
Yes! D is in with merit! Thank you so much for suggesting WPI! She’s really excited and we can’t wait to visit!! 
This is what my D will remember and love most about your post! 
Thank you so much for the detailed feedback. We are learning so much on this thread and I think one thing coming through from you and the others posting is just how kind and helpful everyone is! I realize it’s a small sample, but I can sense different vibes on different school threads and am loving the kindness of the WPI family. 
And thank you for sharing the additional info re the recent student deaths. It is so helpful to learn more and while doesn’t minimize the tragedies, it really gives us more insight into what’s going on. Glad your own D is doing well with her depression. Mental health is huge on our list of college life concerns, and we are glad more schools are finally doing more to support students.
So glad your D was able to handle the courses and scheduling. My D will be relieved to hear again from someone who feels AP classes helped prepare for the rigor. The activities sound like a good balance and the flexibility in picking classes sounds great!
I don’t think D is a slow and steady learner. She handles the mid-term/final stress peaks fine, but was worried it would feel like a grind if it felts like it was always mid-term/finals time and everyone was stressed out all the time. Hope that makes sense. But I think from what I’m reading she’d be okay with the schedule and workload. You and others have given lots of good scheduling advice so we really appreciate that!
Omg, love it! Maybe I could encourage D (who’s also interested in computer science and game design) to recreate Galaga for me! I’ll have my virtual quarters ready!
Thanks again for all your help
I don’t know what your D’s major will be but no one mentioned the cool senior MQP.
It was not as common back in 1995, but I got to work with a private company for my senior project.
Before the MQP officially started, I got my partner and I a paid internship there.
After the MQP, the company offered us full-time jobs.
It’s a “pseudo” co-op without leaving school/still graduating in 4 years.
Thanks! D definitely likes the MQP idea, especially since it doesn’t seem to break up school attendance like I think Northeastern’s co-ops do?
D’s currently interested in computer science but is not sure and is interested in a lot of other areas too. That’s one reason she likes WPI – so she can explore and even switch majors in college, not have to decide everything going in. Thanks again!
My D graduated from WPI in 2018. The school was a great fit for her. She was well-prepared freshman year. There were definitely stressful times, to the point that I worried about her. But, she always got through it. The key is really to be a fast starter, and get help as soon as you need it. This is not to say that if you have a rough start in a class, all is lost. But, with only 7 weeks, it has to get turned around quickly. She was a 1-sport athlete, but in a sport with a seemingly endless season. Practice started A term and the last competition was the end of C term. It was a lot to juggle sometimes. But, all the kids are in it together and the environment on campus is very supportive. So, yes there is stress. And yes, help is available from professors and fellow students.
Not every professor was fantastic, but, they were all good one-on-one. She took full advantage of office hours.
She took 4-5 music classes and a philosophy class, and something else that I can’t remember. The philosophy class was difficult. She had AP credits so did not have to take social science classes. I thought the number and variety of courses In the arts/humanities was OK.
Scheduling classes for freshman and sophomore year was a little challenging since upper classmen got first dibs. But, she learned how to work the system and always got the into the class she wanted. I don’t know if course selection works the same way as it did a few years ago.
We were happy with WPI as parents. We liked the culture of the school, the feel of the campus. We were impressed with Laurie Leshin as a leader and found the decisions made to be student-centric. I followed their handling of the first year of the pandemic and I was impressed by what I read. We didn’t have to live it since D was already graduated.
For additional perspective, my H and I both attended RPI for grad school, where we both received excellent educations. However, I would say the feel of the campus is very different.
Good luck to all who are deciding.
@VMT I was also a grad student at RPI and may have overlapped with you. I was there from 1992-1997 and then on faculty from 1998-2006. I did my undergrad at WPI and my D is there now. I agree that RPI and WPI are completely different schools, head to toe.
@jmk518 I finished up in ‘90. I was a part time student in the ME department while working full time. It took a while!
Wow, would’ve liked to have consistent leadership (assuming it’s good leadership) during these difficult times. Any alums or others have insights on who might be interim president and how that will affect the school climate?: https://www.wpi.edu/news/announcements/president-leshin-depart-wpi-after-commencement-becoming-director-jpl
Director of JPL sounds like an offer she’d be nuts to refuse! Spinning it in a positive light - it says a lot about WPI that she was picked for that job.
I agree, stability is important, but given everything going on, maybe turning a page and starting with fresh leadership is a positive? It will be interesting to see how things develop. Thanks for posting.
I like your spin and agree she had to take the opportunity, sounds perfect for her. I’m just hoping someone is ready to step in and lead, hopefully someone who like you said can bring some positive change. 
I completely agree. WPI is not in a good place right now. A different approach is just what the community needs. From the Reddit group, it sounds like there is some discontent about the stress of quick moving academics, particularly in the context of Covid restrictions. It would be great to see new leadership bring in fresh ideas about how to handle mental health while providing rigorous academics.
WPI lifted most Covid restrictions last week and most IQPs are back on track for travel. So hopefully things are beginning to turn the corner. Sorry to see Laurie depart, but it gives WPI good exposure and hopefully create opportunities for more ME/Aero research.
Glad to see changes are happening. Hope the students are feeling supported.
https://www.wpi.edu/news/wpi-names-paula-fitzpatrick-phd-inaugural-director-new-center-well-being?utm_source=WPI+Today+-+Mailing+List&utm_campaign=15b97c7252-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_09_06_04_40_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_31b05cbe01-15b97c7252-441421185
Wanted to thank @huango @HankCT @jmk518 @VMT for sharing your/your kids’ experiences with us on this thread. I hope I can do the same for others in the coming years. 
Congrats and good luck to her - See you on the parents’ FB page!
Congrats on the decision and will perhaps see you on the FB family page 
So… a couple of years later, but I’m wondering about an update re: your daughter. We are currently looking at MSU vs WPI for my son. MSU is worlds cheaper (and he competed in the ADS so even more money may be coming our way soon), he got a “professorial assistantship” there, which sounds very cool, and it’s much closer to where we live so will save money on transport back and forth. But it’s hard to compete with the STEM-y vibe of WPI. He prefers semesters over quarters, though. Both schools offer what he is looking for (CS + Game Development). I’d love to hear updates about your daughter’s experience if you have a moment!
Sure - so she’s still happy at WPI. She’s bought into her school as a place she feels a part of. Ironically this weekend when I was bringing her back up to school (2 hours away from us in CT) she was saying she was so glad she didn’t choose MSU.
For her, MSU was going to be a net cost of about $25k per year (cheaper than in state UConn) after generous merit. WPI was about 39k after merit. So she was turning down almost 15k per year to go to WPI.
She bought an MSU sweatshirt when we visited before final decision and she was sure MSU was going to be it. Huge campus, very impressive, and they had that great street of food and shopping options adjacent to the school.
But then she did her second in person WPI visit and changed her mind. She was leaning MSU for the money but in the end didn’t really want to be flights away from home, and wanted a school that was 7k kids and not 50k
I think a lot of it depends on your student. If they prefer big really nice campus, a huge variety of students (jocks, academics, wide variety of majors), big sports, big amenities, then MSU might be the best choice anyway. If they prefer a smaller variety of student types (heavily engineering and stem based. Some athletes but they are div3, sports are just sort of a side thing. Greek life is there as well and some really like it, but it’s also a side thing).
She has mixed emotions on the quarters. She loves it every new quarter, and always at quarter end is stressing. But then it’s rinse and repeat. It has its pros and cons. But to me isn’t a game changer.
Once in WPI, you can take any course in any major. No restrictions or pre-reqs. For better or worse.
She was selected by a teacher to be an SA (Student Assistant), which she did for pay for a quarter. She’s also volunteering to help a group of upper class kids do their IQP project, which is building an entire game. As a 3d/2d art specialist, she is helping them by doing all of their games environment/background art. So she can add that to her portfolio.
The city itself - she tries to praise it and see it’s good side. As a parent I see it’s bad side. Can be dangerous, and as such 19 year old women can’t safely wander around it alone at all. Campus itself is very safe. And going to the adjacent places or getting a ride to more off campus places is ok, in the safety of a herd. May be different for males.
But overall she’s happy with her choice. But I don’t want to paint a picture for all. Personally I’d be all over MSU. I went to a school with 5k kids and limited facilities. It wasn’t as nice as WPI, but if I could do it again, I’d go to a large school with awesome campus and facilities, 1000 clubs, etc. But each kid is different so it’s more about your kid.
I will say she also has come home a number of times for weekends, doing laundry, visiting her sisters and used and appreciates being closer. She’d be more homesick in Michigan. Again though - at her age I’d be fine being a flight away and more on my own.
Best of luck!