*hear back
I’ve been accepted! I haven’t received amazing financial aid, however, which has put RPI out of the running for me. Aid seems to be something that is preventing a lot of students from attending. It’s a shame considering RPI is a wonderful school.
The biggest issue right now at RPI is it can only afford to give good packages to like 30% or 40% of admitted students. This keeps the yield rate lower (at around 21% which isn’t about) and the acceptance rate higher than it should be (35%-40%, also not bad but it could be better). The president is launching another $1 billion+ capital campaign in the fall though, which should finally solve that problem by creating a large permanent endowment for scholarships. The last time they did a capital campaign they raised $1.4 billion and used it on physical infrastructure and research. This time they’re keeping the money for student scholarships/aid and to hire more faculty (thanks to big donors they brought the student:faculty ratio down to 13:1 this year). So yeah, they’re working on it but this isn’t going to be realized for at least a few years.
Alright people, official announcement for all your listening pleasure. My son has decided to chose RPI so I’m changing the avatar back to RPI again. That is all for now, please continue with whatever you were doing.
Did everyone who was accepted receive this?
'We want to make sure you have a smooth transition into your first year of college at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. To help you get started, we have created a personalized website for you, featuring a checklist of all of your Next Steps to join the Class of 2021.
With the checklist tool, you can take concrete steps toward enrolling at Rensselaer, including submitting your enrollment deposit, completing important forms, and registering for housing."
I applied to the JD program, so I still haven’t received my decision letter via mail. Does this email mean that I was accepted into RPI?
ACCEPTED REGULAR DECISION 2021
(international applicant)
New SAT: 800 math 610 ER
Male / Female: Female
Class rank: Does not rank
Taking IB: predicted 35 (now 38 but my school predicted too early and i already sent 35 to all the unis i applied to. 6 in all my HLs, math phy and chem)
Extra Curriculars: president of ecoclub, member in baking for charity, badminton club, Senior school’s article writer, Senior props design for school play, swimming, painting.
Other schools you applied for: PSU(Accepted) UIUC(Waitlisted) and 5 UK ones all accepted with conditional offer (bath,surrey,loughborough,birmingham and heriot watt)
Major/Field of Study: Chemical Engineer
@figgie13 Congrats you were probably accepted. You could have gotten in and not into the program though, I think that’s how that works? I’d call the school up and ask, but you’ll probably get your letter soon.
@joedoe Thanks! I tried calling them this morning but the admissions office was busy.
Accepted, but Notre Dame is offering better financial aid.
anyone know when financial aid is coming out???
FA appeated on the portal Friday… received Renssalaer Leadership Award but is not enough to compete.
@Fraugher Can I ask what day they received it from you? Was it by email, fax, or snailmail?
Does RPI offer around the same amount of aid for every 4 years or is there a significant difference in the aid provided from freshman year to sophomore year?
My son, accepted EA, received first an email for his FA this week, then a couple of days later a letter arrived in the mail.
@jdhaliwal12 You get the same scholarships every year. Everything given from the school, and not the FAFSA will remain at the same levels. Examples of these include the Rensselaer Grant or the Rensselaer Leadership Award.
Anything given by the U.S. federal government through the FAFSA or TAP, such as the Pell, SEOG, or NYS Grant are subject to change. That isn’t up to RPI though, the federal government decides your funding levels for those grants. Any college you go to, please note that federal and state aid is not decided by the college and can/will change based on your personal financial situation. Again, this is regardless of the institution you decide to enroll at.
My daughter got accepted RD and received her financial aid award today. Although she received a fairly generous merit offer, it isn’t enough to sway her from her top pick - WPI. Best of luck to everyone as you make your final choices!
I emailed a financial aid appeal letter two days ago. How long does it take to get a reply?
@artsciencefood my son emailed the fin aid offer a couple of weeks back and asked if he was being considered for any merit money. They promptly replied back the next morning to say NOPE. Made the decision a little bit easier, lol.
I did appreciate their timely response however.
Good luck with your appeal.
My D is currently waitlisted with RPI and when we mentioned this to the college my D is currently committed to they increased her financial package by another 10%! 
Sending D here where there is both diversity in student body and colleges.