<p>I have posted this topic elsewhere in cc and i am not a parent but i figured some of the people reading this could be alumni of these school and maybe be able to help me out. I want to major in either electrical or computer engineering. I've done some research and I have a couple school choices:</p>
<p>WPI (Worcester Polytechnic Institute): I like the project based learning and their bs/ms program, quadmesters also sound interesting</p>
<p>RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute): great reputation, also offer bs/ms program but i could not find if they offer it for computer or electrical engineering, would like to know if they do a lot of hands on learning, such as wpi's projects</p>
<p>Stevens Institute of Technology: local, only a train ride away, across the river from nyc I imagine would present great job opportunities</p>
<p>I would say these are my top three choices and some things I like/want to know about them. Although I'm also looking into RIT, NYU Polytech, UMass Amherst and University of Maryland. If anyone could tell me anything about these schools and their programs or would like to reccomend any other schools to me it would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Another thing is i would like to know how good hands on learning is vs. theoretical learning because I have read in a reply to someone on cc that hands on learning will train you for a job but theoretical is better for further endeavors such as research or a cutting edge job.</p>
<p>I would expand to some south schools that have good engineering programs and, ehem, interesting culture, Texas A&M, Auburn, and the like. I have had friends attend both WPI and RPI and locations are sub-optimal for both (polite way of saying the location is awful). Very good schools, especially RPI. </p>
<p>Maryland has good location and a few friends who went there for EECS were happy. RIT (see RPI). Stevens, well, my best buddy from Jersey came all the way to Northwestern to NOT go to a state school there :).</p>
<p>thanks for your suggestions, but they are a little farther south than I’d like to travel. the farthest south I’d go would be perhaps Virginia Tech, even RIT is a bit of a long haul.</p>
<p>but in regards to your comment about RIT, are you saying it is comparable to RPI? Because, even though the school intrigues me, I have heard RIT is a big step under RPI</p>
<p>My son goes to RPI. The 5 year MS is offered for just about all majors. RPI has a great reputation with students and parents. From what I understand they aren’t as team focused as WPI, but they have something called studio learning where you learn the theory and then literally turn around and apply what you’ve learned. All contacts ever made with RPI have been positive. I suggest you contact someone in their engineering dept.
Maryland is our state flagship and also has a great engineering program. I would have been ecstatic if my son went there, but in the end he chose RPI, and it’s probably a better fit for him. If you didn’t already apply to UMD you may not have much of a chance of getting into their engineering program. Their priority deadline was 1 November. Of the four schools my son applied to, GT, Case Western, RPI, and UMD, UMD actually has the lowest admission rate for engineering. Last year they admitted only 32% of applicants directly into engineering, the avg. GPA was over 4.2, and the avg math SAT score was over 700.
RPI gives lots of merit money, as does Case. GT does not, if you are out of state. My son got a partial scholarship to UMD, but I don’t know how good they are to out of state students. RPI may wind up cheaper than out of state publics. Good luck, and feel free to PM me if you’d like.</p>
<p>RIT is a big coop school, that means you will have rotations through internships so the program takes longer than 4 years. Drexel is also a mandatory coop school in Phily. Many students are drawn to the coop part of their education which helps provide work experience before leaving college. </p>
<p>Rochester is no Boston or Philadelphia but it has Eastman school of music and other cultural events. Troy, where RPI is, is just an old industrial town and students seem to go to Albany to have broader experiences. </p>
<p>Stevens has optional coop/internships and is smaller than RPI, half the number of undergrads, and is of course next to NYC which sounds the closest to your home.</p>
<p>@lakemom yes RIT’s coop is very strong. Out of my choices that is the one school i have visited and heard personal stories from students about their coops. And RPI being a bigger school with a strong reputation, would they have more coop opportunities than say Stevens? Or anyone have any knowledge on coop opportunities regarding any of these schools?</p>
<p>RPI has internships but they are not woven into the curriculm the same way that RIT, Drexel and Stevens are. I know someone who recently graduated from RPI and never did an internship but the reputation of RPI is so strong he won’t have problem. There are a lot of companies that regularly recruit from RPI.</p>
<p>RIT is easier to get into than RPI and although it is a very good school, RPI has a better reputation.
I have a son at WPI, so if you have specific questions about it, I can probably answer.
He preferred WPI to RPI (got into both) and he didn’t like RIT at all (did not apply). Lots of kids who apply to RPI also apply to WPI, there is probably a little less crossover with RIT due to the co-op program. People who do co-ops love them, but my son figured he rather spend a 5th year on campus getting a Master’s.
I don’t know anything about Stevens.</p>
<p>RIT has some out of the beaten path engineering programs (optics, we had one of their grads working computer vision systems) and from a couple people I got the impression they were very competent and liked it. RPI is more ‘well known’ and my experiences with RPI grads are a couple friends (and now one of their kids :)). </p>
<p>Travel should not be a big issue - some of us traveled across the ocean to come for school, but of course everyone has their favorites there. VA Tech is also pretty good but location is a bit off the wall. I would say UMD, VA Tech, and RPI or RIT should make a good set. Again it depends on what you want to study, I’ve worked with several UMD Comp Sci grads and was impressed. College Park is a bit ‘meh’ (too close to the real world) but being on the subway for DC and your own IKEA store has its benefits too…</p>
<p>Many of your target schools are part of the [Association</a> of Independent Technological Universities: AITU](<a href=“http://theaitu.org%5DAssociation”>http://theaitu.org) so I would suggest considering some of the others too.</p>
<p>If you are interested in engineering and hands on experience consider Northeastern and their co op program. Don’t know so much about their approach to project based learning in the classroom, but the co op program gives you real world experience mixed in with the academics.</p>
<p>Well, out of those discussed so far I’d say RPI has the best reputation for engineering, just one step below the top reputation schools like MIT, Carnegie, Cornell, UPenn, etc. (yes, I know, several others but that’s for a different thread).</p>
<p>However, I don’t think it makes a big difference in future job prospects RPI vs. the other good schools you listed or others have added. It is tougher to get accepted at RPI vs. RIT, WPI, Stevens, etc. but lots og good jobs come out of all of them. It’s more a matter of fit for you - size, location, co-op or internship, etc. RPI is sort of a “love it or hate it” type school for most kids. Northeastern is a big school with a huge selection of classes and majors. Very different so research a bunch then visit the ones you think may be fits.</p>
<p>Have you taken SAT/ACT yet? If so, what are your stats?</p>
<p>I went to RPI and recently toured it with D1. I think Troy is a great location. True it is less than wealthy with a minority population (assets from my point of view). The city has beautiful row houses, reasonable shopping in walking distance, great access to the Hudson River and Albany. There are several colleges in Troy with 4 or 5 more in the area (SUNY-Albany, Skidmore, Union). Good hikes, bike rides, x-country skiing, I loved it all.</p>