<p>Olin seems like an amazing school, and my son is excited about candidates weekend: he really wants to see the facilities, evaluate the curriculum opportunities, and most importantly, meet the faculty and fellow students (and other prospective students). With its unknown "track record" for graduates, though, it's a little scary. We can't evaluate, for instance, what percentage of students get into strong graduate programs (or what percentage don't plan on grad school at all). </p>
<p>So for those of you who are students now, perhaps you can offer some perspective. I'm sure the students will get a lot of this during candidates weekends, but as mentioned in the other threads, some of them will be "orphans" (ahem, like my son), so I'm trying this forum.</p>
<p>Most of the students coming to candidates weekends have been, or will be, accepted by some of the top schools in the country, as I'm sure most current students were. What was it about Olin that trumped your other admissions offers for you? (I am not talking about the full scholarship now, I mean in terms of the program and the school itself: it's hard to turn down some of these other schools in favor of something so new.) And now that you've been there for some time, what do you think of your choice? Was it the right one, and why? If you could wave a magic wand and improve something about Olin immediately, what would it be? (Better/more labs? More theoretical courses? More varied or different-intensity classmates? Rapid transit to Boston? ;) ) Your honest insights, and our students' reactions to candidates weekend, will help us understand better how to help them make their choices in April. Thanks!</p>
<p>You might want to go check Olin out at studentsreview.com. There are a fair number of comments that address some of the things you're asking about there.
You might also point your son to the xforums (search "olin" and "xforums") where he can ask these questions himself.</p>
<p>I have class now but I'll try to give my answers to your questions later.</p>
<p>Students review is a website where people review the school they attend. Someone here sent a link to it around the other day, so a fair number of us have filled out the survey there. </p>
<p>The Olin forum on Xforums is a forum where prospies can ask questions, candidates can keep in touch after CWE, and current students can discuss things over the summer. Generally is sees very little traffic in the fall, a bit more in the spring, and a great deal in the summer. </p>
<p>Regarding your questions:
I came to Olin because there was no other school that I actually wanted to go to. This isn't to say that there weren't other schools that I liked in theory, there just weren't any other schools that I could picture myself living at.
Olin was the right choice for me. I'm sure of that 99% of the time. The work is really hard, and when you're doing physics at 2am you sometimes start to wonder if it wouldn't be easier to go to school somewhere else. The answer is that it would be easier, but not nearly as fun/awesome/amazing/cool.
I'm not sure what I would change about Olin. The small student body is something that bothers some people, but I don't think you could change that without messing up the amazing dynamic of trust and support that it generates. I'm pretty happy with the amount of lab time we have etc. Being able to get into Boston more easily would be nice, I suppose. A better level of communication between profs and students regarding how much we can take, when they're killing us and when they need to back off would also be nice (most profs are really good about this, but some could improve). </p>
<p>Ohh, a few extra hours in the day would be nice too :)</p>
<p>thanks for the info! Im also heading up for the weekend, and have trepidations about Olin since it is so new. Ive poked around on Xforums the past few days and students reveiw has some good infromation. Im excited to come visit. I think Ill be a texan out of water in the snow though! Its 80 here today and snow is not sounding too lovely.</p>
<p>Mootmom, My D is an Oliner and, like most other students, had some amazing college offers. She chose Olin without hesitation and never looked back. I think that when your S visits the campus, he'll know whether or not it's for him. Its unique culture isn't for everyone and CWE is a mutual courting process. All the Olin students I've met are as interesting as they are bright and not intimidated by their ground-breaking opportunities-- they're energized by them. I wouldn't be too concerned about the accreditation issue. The Olin administrator overseeing the process also sits on the ABET board. In fact, Olin was spawned by the concerns voiced by ABET and the National Science Foundation about the changes needed in engineering education.</p>
<p>As far as Boston goes, lots of students carpool to the T and go in often. If your S doesn't have a car, it shouldn't be an issue since many others do and they have their own website for listing rides available and needed. My D was flying back to Boston on the day of the blizzard and was stuck in transit like most others. This also meant that their rides from the airport to school fell through. With their Olin laptops in hand, most of the affected students were able to check out eachothers' updated flight info while
stuck in airports around the country and rearrange their rides back to campus. There's definitely a comraderie there!</p>
<p>Ive posted on there to come out of the wood work. Had one person IM me to say Hi, and Im talking to another about robotics at Olin. Im really liking the place before I even get there!
Now the weather, that might be an issue. Its 80 today... and i hear its snowing up in Mass. Im in for a shock!</p>
<p>I guess Im so used to heat that snow and cold is a large change for me. 105+ and the summer, then we can discuss how hot it is. Oh, add a dash of humidity too. But when it hits below 40 and im hiking around all day in a plaid skirt, cold is really not my thing. (Uniforms for school, no pants allowed. only lovely plaid skirts which offer no warmth what so ever. )</p>
<p>I know guys at our brother school who complain about their shorts. One of the teachers looked at them and just said "no guys, sorry.. she wins. " They have the option of wearing pants.. gr. Texans are not made for 40 deg weather in skirts!</p>
<p>Haha. Try zero degree weather in skirts. And a school that claims wearing sweatpants under them in the morning before school is a violation of dress code. </p>
<p>::Is very glad to be done with high school::</p>
<p>we have the no sweat pants rule too. sometimes you can sneak across the parking lot with them, quickly dispose of them before hitting the main building and pray.</p>
<p>Actually I quite <em>like</em> the plaid skirts, they're smart and classy. As for the cold legs thing, I find you get used to it after a couple of weeks.</p>