Looking for pro/cons - Aerospace Major - WPI vs Clarkson Honors
If you have not already done so, read the following:
Clarkson:
For Aeronautical Engineering program detail and faculty see https://www.clarkson.edu/undergraduate/aeronautical-engineering.
Setting is very rural with a spacious, 640 acre campus. Ice hockey is at the center of the athletics focus.
WPI:
For Aerospace program detail and faculty see https://www.wpi.edu/academics/departments/aerospace-engineering
The campus is 80 acres in the suburban setting of New England’s second largest city.
The entire WPI program is “honors.” The average GPA of the latest entering students is 3.89. There is no distinction as all students go through a small group research directed program with projects starting in the first year. The WPI Plan is unusual in its degree requirements with a focus on interdisciplinary project work as well as project work in your major which is now required in all ABET accredited programs. These IQP and MQP projects take place at over 50 project centers located all over the world. No major sports teams, but over 80% of students take part in a very wide variety of club and division III sports.
“Pro” or “con” depends on your needs and personal perspectives. You really need to ascertain your goals and interests. What you like to do with your time can impact your academic performance. Both Universities are highly regarded in the engineering world.
WPI '67
Clarkson - Setting is VERY rural (and pretty darned cold in the winter). But I loved it there. The academics were strong, but with a collaborative spirit even before that came into style.
In more recent years, I’ve done extensive engineering college research for my own kids. I really like what I’ve read about WPI. (Then again, I’m an enthusiastic Olin mom… and there are some definite similarities, but WPI is not as teeny/limited).
Clarkson '84
Clarkson has a wind tunnel and they have a club where they build and fly mini airplanes. The kids seemed pretty into it.
Clarkson is rural and surrounded by nature. WPI is in Worcester, which is not bad, but it’s not the most pretty place.
We have visited both and been admitted just trying to decide on which would be a better choice
The kids do very well coming out of either place. Both of my kids looked into each of these schools, and we have visited WPI multiple times through the years. WPI is a good choice if you have a kid that might want to work in the metro Boston after school. There are a lot of job opportunities. Kids are all bright and it might have a bit better gender ratio.
I really liked Clarkson too. The campus was decent, the dorms decent, the Honors college seemed interesting. Fun to go watch good college hockey games. It was safe. Easy access to outdoors type activities.
I don’t think you can go wrong, unless your kid is strongly averse to one type of environment vs the other.
@RightCoaster WPI has a wind tunnel too. I wouldn’t recommend an AE program that didn’t. My son’s school has multiple wind tunnels, including a large format low speed wind tunnel for full size vehicles and mach+ speed wind tunnel, all for undergraduate education.
Both schools have strengths and weaknesses that are all exclusively in the eyes of the beholder. Both were on my son’s initial list back in the day. You can’t go wrong. Gut feel about intangibles and price should really drive the decision.
I know that Clarkson has always had a very strong career placement office. (It’s a long trip for most recruiters. But I’ve heard that Clarkson has more engineering grades than most NE schools, except Penn State).
I suspect that WPI has great placement too.
For WPI’'s Aerospace post graduation report for 2018 go to page six of this PDF report. The employers and the salaries are listed on page six of this report You can also review other years. See Post Graduation Reports @ https://www.wpi.edu/student-experience/career-development/outcomes.
For WPI Aerospace Engineering facilities see https://www.wpi.edu/academics/departments/aerospace-engineering/resources/facilities
In terms of wind tunnel capabilities, Cal Poly, SLO takes the prize. The above referenced WPI website lists other facilities related to the aerospace program at WPI.
(for “eyemgh”) They have a second wind tunnel at WPI, but it is designed specifically to study those California forest fires. The NE needs to rescue those creative institutions and people in CA from the ongoing impacts of climate change.
@retiredfarmer, interestingly, CP has a facility like that too. Along with WPI, they are one of only a few that offer fire protection engineering. I think though, that the CP program is MS only.
One thing I feel it is necessary to mention is to pay attention to what various “honors programs” entail. Some are great and some are not. Personally, I’d be a little wary of programs that add further restrictions on how you pursue your degree, as engineering degrees are already notoriously inflexible. Maintaining some semblance of flexibility in deciding electives and whether or not you want to pursue research or co-ops can be a valuable thing, and some honors programs have mandatory aspects that may jeopardize this.
Clarkson started the Honors program after my time there, so I had to look it up on google. There is not as much scholarship with it as I had expected, but still interesting. The research opportunities would be cool. The residential part of it seems appealing, but some students might find that too limiting.
There are curriculum requirements (some probably overlapping with elective credits), but I agree with the warning posted by @boneh3ad.
My S19 has applied and been accepted to Clarkson and will interview for the Honor Program next week. It is very far from us so I’m definitely concerned with the distance. They have a couple of programs specific to the Honors Program including a pre-freshman research experience.
We are about an hour from WPI but did not apply. Not because WPI isn’t excellent, but because the compressed semester is not a good fit for my kid. I’m at WPI quite often for sporting events for another kid and the campus is nice. Worcester is a gritty New England city but there are several colleges and universities in the area. WPI does not have enough housing and will not guarantee it for four year; however, there are many apartments in the area.
@debbie414 - can you do another visit - accepted student day or overnight or something? My second cousin went to Clarkson - couldn’t see himself among the students at WPI or RPI. But, he also was really into hockey. I think at this point it’s really about where you feel a better fit.
Anyway, he’s been comfortably installed at Boeing now - it was his second job after graduation. I think it took a year or 2. Clarkson is top notch when it comes to job placement.
Yea, Clarkson has always rocked at job placement… even before other colleges realized the importance of a thriving career center. But students need to be comfortable with the desolation and distance from home (winter weather driving home is a factor). I lived in Poughkeepsie, about 6 hours away. For that area, it was easy to find rides home at break. I had Clarkson friends from MA, but it was less common. It’s the very long distance kids (fly home) that I do discourage - travel logistics get to be a pain.
Students with an Aerospace major in mind may find this live streaming presentation of interest on Tuesday March 26th from 5 to 7PM EDT. See “Space Exploration: Past, Present, and Future, A Celebration of 50 Years Since Apollo” @ https://www.wpi.edu/news/calendar/events/space-exploration-past-present-and-future-celebration-50-years-apollo
@debbie414, did you make a decision? WPI is in the top 3 after my daughter visited accepted student day. I personally think it is the best fit for her, but she is still trying to decide. We have one more accepted student visit to go.
She will be aerospace major, looking to minor or double major in robotic engineering.
@NewSR1 No decision yet, WPI still in his top 3
@NewSR1 - what are the other 2 schools - my son’s are Clarkson and Binghamton - he will also be an Aero major so the don’t side at Binghamton is he will need to go the Mechanical route