My D will be transferring to RPI this September and while I’m excited for her because I think the school is fantastic I’m concerned that she’ll have a tough time making friends. She’ll be an incoming sophomore at Lally. I’m also concerned about her safety on and off campus as I heard Troy is less than safe. Can anyone who knows anything about these two issues please share their insights?
The part of Troy that the campus is on is fine - decent residential area that I would consider safe. There are other parts of Troy that are a little sketchy, but there really isn’t any good reason to visit most of them. Downtown is really the only area with anything of interest to most students (restaurants, a handful of stores, etc). This area is safe during the day and, at night, if you are going to the typical student night spots you will be fine.
Lally is much smaller than the engineering department. My guess is you will see many of the same students in all of your classes and there is a lot of collaborative work in management - lots of opportunities to make new friends.
Thanks Dreadpirit! Can’t wait! I’ll try to stop worrying. 
@msquaredsmomma, I realize you posted this months ago, but wanted to add my son has lived both on and off campus, and has had no safety issues. He lived off campus in the area by Tibbitts. He will be in that area. Again this this year.