<p>in terms of research, academics, acceptance into grad school and prestige, which one of these is the better school? I know GIT is ranked higher but rpi gives more aid and seems to be more involved in research. also, i heard that gtech has a "weedout" proccess the first two years which makes freshman and sophmore year very stressful... is this true or is it just a rumor?</p>
<p>I don't think you can go wrong with either. They are both well respected. Don't know about the weed out process. I do know of 2 people who went to RPI and loved it though. Good luck!</p>
<p>From what I've seen, Georgia Tech is harder and more intense than RPI. It's like MIT with fewer MIT caliber students. Whether it's better for you depends on whether you would get "weeded out" or not. If you'd prefer less stress, then RPI is better for you. Succeeding at RPI is better than failing at Georgia Tech, but doing well at Georgia Tech is major league impressive.</p>
<p>anyone else?</p>
<p>i know this thread is like more than 3 years old, but i have to say…</p>
<p>@ classicrockerdad, what makes you say that georgia tech is harder and has better students than RPI?? RPI actually has higher average SAT scores (look on collegeboard.com) and made the list for “schools with hardest grades”…GT didn’t make that list…idk why</p>
<p>with that being said, i think both schools are very similar in terms of student quality and how tough the curriculum is…both very top notch…</p>
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<p>For what it’s worth, I have the same impression as classicrockerdad. Both are fine schools, but Georgia Tech is known for a level of intensity that is rare - just a slight notch below the toughest programs. Again, both schools would deliver an excellent technical education.</p>
<p>This topic is also of interest to me: Is it possible to receive a broad education at RPI or Georgia Tech? My impression is that it wouldn’t be possible at RPI; their humanities offerings seem to be the thinnest of the thin. But what about GT? Are there folks here with insight into GT?</p>
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<p>I think that this perception is inflated by a popular urban myth about a GT orientation greeting that goes “Look to your right; look to your left - one of you won’t be here next year.” It’s an impressively intimidating tale, but the fact is that Tech’s freshman-to-sophomore retention rate is 93%. One might respond that the story only applies to GT Engineering students, but since Engineering students make up at least half of Tech’s overall undergrad enrollment, a weeding out of one-third isn’t mathematically possible with 93% retention.</p>
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<p>LOL, I don’t think I said that GT has better students. There are 5 lines and 5 sentences in my post from 3 years ago. None of them say that. </p>
<p>I said that GT has a reputation for being harder than RPI, as in “MIT hard”. Georgia Tech traditionally has been known to teach to the top of the class. Many people get weeded out, though perhaps with Gadads data, it’s been changing. It’s traditionally been very harsh. </p>
<p>RPI does not have that reputation as teaching to the top of the class. I’m sure it’s plenty hard, but it’s not the same thing. RPI could have better students and teach to the middle of the class, while if GT teaches to the top, it could still be harder. </p>
<p>If you thought you could handle MIT but didn’t get in and still want to drink from the firehose, then based on what I know, I thought that Georgia Tech would be a better place. YMMV</p>
<p>i think both schools have a rep of being harsh…just like CMU, Cornell, etc…</p>
<p>i know both schools have a low average GPA…i think RPI’s might even be a little lower…like i said earlier, RPI was on a list for schools where its toughest to get an A…</p>
<p>so i think both teach to the top of the class…have ridiculously hard exams, etc…</p>
<p>as far as weeding out goes…i see GT has a retention rate of 94%…RPI’s is 91%…both have management programs that people change to…but i’m sure there’s a lot of other factors that go into that besides just doing bad and failing out</p>
<p>there was also a list for schools that put out the most science and engineering PhDs…like the undergrad schools where they come from…RPI was on there, but GT wasn’t…</p>
<p>just sayin…based on the data that i have, i think both schools are identical…just different locations, different size, different environment…etc</p>
<p>i would say that GT has much more research opportunities for grad students though…</p>
<p>the whole look to your left, look to your right line…i’ve heard that one used on both schools LOL…</p>
<p>and as far as humanities / broad education, i would think you can go alright with either school…but if you really want a broad education, i’d recommend a place like stanford or cornell over GT or RPI…</p>
<p>Well here’s my problem with RPI: I was already concerned with the thin humanities offerings when I visited the RPI booth at the local college fair. Amusingly enough, I learned that video game design is a humanities course, according to the brochure that the RPI representative offered. In our discussion, the rep indicated that the humanities offerings were even shallower than I could have imagined. Laughable, honestly.</p>
<p>I really wanted to love RPI based on the hiqh quality technical curriculum and the merit aid possibilities; but now RPI has become our household joke. It’s pretty much the only school we’ve crossed off the list based on pure silliness.</p>
<p>Georgia Tech, however, is still very interesting, and I’d like to learn more.</p>
<p>I did EE at RPI and have met/worked with dozens of GT alums over my career. I think the graduates of both schools are pretty interchangable in terms of technical ability. I’d venture that the academics at RPI are just as intense as at GT.</p>
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<p>yeah at RPI, the humanities classes tend to be the GPA boosters for a lot of kids…</p>
<p>another thing i’d say about the RPI education…i feel like its VERY theoretical…like sure you get your design classes and such…but in general, it’s mostly ridiculously hard exams that are more puzzling than anything…</p>
<p>one class i’d mention…fields and waves…the electromagnetics class…i came out of there knowing how to derive magnetic field equations using 3-D space integrals from Biot-Savart Law (probably like its nobody else’s business)…but didn’t have a good practical understanding of what its used for…</p>