Olin in a year vs RPI

<p>Currently, I am supposed to be moving into RPI this weekend. However, I was also given the option of attending Olin College next year. </p>

<p>I like both of these schools, for different reasons. I feel like the social life at RPI would be better, due to more students, more clubs and a larger campus. But I think that academically, Olin would be stronger. Olin also has a history of having the hardest working but happiest students. I am a bit weary of RPI's academics, because I have been told by so many that they are near impossible, and test averages can be expected to be in the 20%. At the same time, Olin is very small, and it might be too confining. I have no idea about which one to pick. </p>

<p>I have been reading every post I could find about RPI or Olin on CC, but I didn't find one where they were compared to each other. Please help!! I only have 2 days left to decide...</p>

<p>Irrespective of the name of the college, I don’t believe in a kid spending an year waiting to be admitted to the college, even if it is Harvard unless they were truly interested in taking the year off to do something specific.</p>

<p>Olin was interesting when we visited with my son…but Olin is very unusual (campus feel, academics). I like it but it is VERY different approach to engineering education. In the end though whether you like Olin’s unusual campus and program is not the issue - why wait an extra year to graduate? Finish at RPI, a fine school, (and assuming money is not an issue), and use the money later to go do a master’s degree somewhere you would love instead.</p>

<p>Hey, I’m a current student here at RPI and I’d like to provide some insight. I’m a student ambassador through Rensselaer Admissions so I know quite a lot about the school. I’m also a member of the men’s varsity swim team, Greek life, and the Rensselaer Music Association. After doing some preliminary research on Olin, I think I can provide some good advice on which school to choose. RPI definitely has a very active social life, both on campus and off. Olin requires that all students live on campus during their time there, but RPI only requires students to live on campus for their first and second year. This allows students to live in more varied and independent living situations after they’ve established their place in the RPI community. This also allows for fraternities and sororities to form, something that Olin lacks.</p>

<p>In terms of academics, Olin is definitely very strong and uses a proven hands-on approach to engineering. However, I think RPI’s broad range of academic pursuits helps students emerge very well-rounded, something you would miss out on if you were to go to Olin. The academics here are by no means impossible as long as your high school prepared you well. And since you got accepted to Olin I would imagine that the academics here at RPI would be manageable as well as challenging. The figure of 20% that you quoted is taken out of context, in that there are some classes that do have low averages, but those are always scaled depending on class performance. And even then, the classes that have averages that low are most certainly in the minority.</p>

<p>I hope this was helpful, and if you need any additional information or advice about RPI, feel free to call our admissions office or visit our website at rpi.edu, which also contains our contact information. Feel free to ask to speak to a student ambassador and if you mention College Confidential, I will be notified and you can speak to me directly. And whichever college you choose, I wish you all the best!</p>