Just looking for some honest reviews for my son….accepted with 31k merit scholarship (yay!) which makes it very appealing for parents. Son really likes everything about the school except the distance…it’s about 5.5 hours from where we are in CT…have not visited yet - looking to go in April. Would love to get some honest reviews especially how it compares to his other top choices …WPI - RPI - RIT.
Thanks!
My son chose Clarkson over the schools you mention and plans to attend Clarkson as a freshman 27 grad. There is something special about the support at Clarkson and the entrepreneurial spirit at the school that stood out over other science / math schools. The alumni network is superior. Basically we got the impression that if you can get thru the cold and rural and the rigorous academics the ones that came before you will take care of you. Most of the other schools are large -Clarkson’s difference is in the small school size - it’s just more nurturing and my son sort of needs that to succeed
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What is your son planning to study? I would look at outcomes, first destination for graduates, and reach out to some recent grads through LinkedIn. My son has been accepted with very generous aid. However, he is probably going to pass because the school is so far from us in NC. He liked the small but well taught engineering program, rigor and general vibe.
I can only talk to RIT. Their strength is their Co-op program. Also my son was given enough AP credit to graduate in 3 years. From what I remember from the two other schools (we never looked at Clarkson), RPI is going through a transition right now. At the time my son was applying we felt very uneasy about the school . Glad to see they have a new president and things are going in the right direction.
WPI is very much project based when we talked to the CA folks at various college fairs For my son, who is more of "loner " we decided against it.
My son was very happy at RIT until Covid happened, but that was not the school’s fault. he currently happily employed. The school is very family oriented , which I really appreciated.
But basically RIT and Clarkson would both be far away. WPI and RPI a bit closer. So I would not let distance decide things. There are likely plenty of other kids from CT. He just has to visit and get an idea if this is a school for him, since they apparently provided a great Merit scholarship
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We, too, are looking at Clarkson and WPI (and some others), and are also from CT. We took a visit to Clarkson back in October. It was a nice campus - not spectacular, but nice enough. The town is tiny, but has an area just down the road with national chains (walmart/target, etc). It sounds like the kids do stuff with the SUNY campus, as well as St. Lawrence Univ. Our tour guide was very happy and said that she chose Clarkson over WPI because it seemed more collaborative to her. Not as much competition between students. My son really liked their makerspace and they are doing some really fun projects. Many of Clarkson’s buildings were connected, which would be nice in the winter. Dorms and dining seemed like dorms and dining. Nothing special there, but also not horrific.
The drive from CT really was not that terrible. You’ll go through the Adirondacks, which is lovely, but I think we passed maybe 2 gas stations the entire way once we were off the highway. That said, you’ll have a similarly long drive to RIT and the weather is not going to be all that different.
We know some people with kids at Clarkson and they are very, very happy.
I think a visit to the campus will help with the decision making. We are going to the revisit on April 1st. Maybe we’ll see you there!
Good luck!
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