@PengsPhils Not knowing the OPs ambitions or interests, the point was to carefully examine the offers received. An argument that the school you attend doesn’t matter can be made for engineering also. I’m suggesting OP simply be aware of reputation. I personally would choose RPI over WPI based on reputation. That’s just me perhaps. Purdue is coming in for OP as a near safety, which is what he asked for. When the financial offers start coming in that could also make a difference for OP like it does many students. You have to start measuring and evaluating. Would you spend 20k more for WPI vs. Purdue? Is Worcester a good location for you? Does the personality of the student body match you? Many things will factor in and the point again was careful consideration and to really look under the hood of the program offered. I’m not sure WPI would be a definite for me over other choices. Clearly it was for you though. And I really don’t know OP but there is no harm in a top student looking outside of the typical NE go to choices.
I agree completely that there are many factors in play here and fit, financials and location are all important, often more than a school’s strength in a major. My post was directly in the thread of yours on Purdue, which did not discuss any of those topics either. This is really all from this original claim:
It was clear that my post was addressing specifically just the CS programs of the two schools and their reputations in that aspect. Your original post directly made both real and implied claims about Purdue vs WPI CS. I was simply showing that I don’t think those differences you claimed and implied for CS are there.
I have no horse in the race here for either school. I didn’t make any claims on WPI vs RPI or any other comparisons on the list. The only claim I made is that the reputation of schools beyond that top tier makes little to no difference in CS, which I fully stand by. Though I may choose RPI over WPI too, it would not be for reputation.
As far as Purdue goes, I’d still put it as a match due to the difficulty of admissions for CS/Engineering there. It’s likely a strong match though and likely a great option.
@PengsPhils Look if I had wanted to say Purdue has a better CS program than WPI, I would have just said it. I did not. I think that would be a personal choice for OP. I did mention fit later for WPI. If you are spending a quarter of a million dollars on your education, I don’t think it should be a secret that school A is more regionally known versus school B. OP should end up with a palette of options and should really get on a plane and judge for themselves up close and personal. I would personally gravitate to a university with a bigger reputation and I would personally make a choice that would be best for graduate school.
Here is one decision tree on WPI for 20k more vs State School. And that scenario is not uncommon.