Opinions of WPI

Colleges and Universities A-Z Worcester Polytechnic Institute
1

<p>This is from a student who just finished his first semester at WPI:</p>

<p>My experiences at WPI have been generally positive so far. The professors are generally excellent and many students here are very strong and hard working. Despite only having three courses a quarter, the workload is fairly challenging. Some courses here are especially difficult, such as the Introduction to Robotics course, the Differential Equations course, or the Great Problems Seminar. In Differential Equations for example, we cover Linear Differential operators which aren't even covered in any other intro courses I know (including 18.03 ODE at MIT).</p>

<p>WPI has a lot of excellent first year programs. They have an Insight program for first year advising in which people living near eachother in a residential hall are advised by a faculty member. After the first semester, students are advised by faculty in thier major. For students who struggle with Math or Science, there is the MASH program which provides tutoring. There are Great Problems Seminars here where first semester students learn a lot about engineering problems relating to energy, food, and health and complete a very extensive analytical project (50 pages long) where they discuss a solution. Unfortunately, I did not do this (I regret it though). This program prepares students for the IQP and MQP projects and university research. There are special small and focused math courses for first year students which are able to cover more material than the other courses. </p>

<p>Another great aspect about WPI is that there are no course prerequisites and if you are up to the challenge, you can take advanced undergraduate and even graduate courses of your interest in your first and second years. Leadership is great here. There isn't as much competition for SGA senate positions or other leadership positions so it is easy to stand out in this respect if you want to. There are also opportunities for students to get involved in helping other students and making money as MASH leaders or PLA's. Students can also learn about and engage in research fairly early on if they want; I have already started talking to my professors about doing some research this summer.</p>

<p>Some majors here are excellent and others are quite mediocre. The engineering departments are very strong, with ECE, Mechanical, and BME being particularly strong. There is a biochemistry scholars program too which is very good and enables students to get into research fairly early on. The computer science department is fairly good also, although the grading in intro courses is extremely picky and annoying. Robotics is very intense and is more than simply building robots like in high school. The program integrates the disciplines of Mechanical engineering, ECE, and CS in the context of robotics. However, the courses are very time consuming and the major is kind of a jack-of-all trades major with a focus on robotics applications so if you want to be a specialist in robotics, you might not want to major in RBE. There are separate robotics concentrations in the ECE and Mechanical engineering majors as well. The economics, philosophy, and history majors are side majors and often do not lead into top grad schools or careers as investment bankers.</p>

<p>While WPI is a fairly small school, I realized that students here are responsible for asking for help and looking out themselves for the opportunities. For example, many students here (and at other engineering schools) are not interested in research, although if you are, make sure to let your professors know so they can help you. I screwed up one DiffEq test badly since I didn't understand some fairly fundamental material in DiffEQ. Instead of spending hours confused and unprodctive, I realize in hindsight that I should have probably asked the professor or some of my peers for help. </p>

<p>On the negative side, Worcester is really a very boring city. If you are looking for live music, entertainment, or great nightlife, this isn't the school to go to (I don't really care for these). Also, if you are very interested in going deep into highly theoretical math like topology or manifolds, this is not the school to go to as well, although we have a famous european expert on analysis, Umberto Mosco. For such majors, you might want to go to a school with a top ranked graduate math department. However, the applied-type math courses here are very good and there is a lot of ongoing research on mathematical modeling. Students and faculty here generally tend to be interested in doing work that is applicable to current technological problems.</p>

2

<p>IPD,</p>

<p>My son was just admitted to WPI for Fall 2010. The other school he is considering is UMass Amherst. Do you have an opinion of the ECE dept. at WPI vs. UMass?</p>

<p>Also, what do you think of the GenEd courses at WPI, and the general campus atmosphere? I went to a large state school in the '80s (SUNY Binghamton) and the GenEd courses were very politicized. I got a C in PolySci111 for not towing the line, then played the game after that to get better grades. I’ve heard that UMass is also politicized in its GenEd courses, and I’d prefer not to have politics shoved down my son’s throat (whether from the right or left.) How is it a WPI?</p>

<p>Of course, this may not matter, because I’m not sure I have the $$$ to send him to WPI.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

3

<p>We don’t really have GenEd’s here. There are some required courses for majors, particularly Math courses and 3 quarter long humanities courses with a humanities capstone. The environment here is not politicized at all. However, there is the IQP, which is an intense project on social analysis of engineering/tech problems.</p>

<p>From what I know, both ECE departments have a similar academic reputations nationally at the UG level with WPI having a stronger local reputation within New England. UMass is more focused on graduate research and has a stronger rep at the graduate level and (have more funding for grad students, etc). </p>

<p>I would say recruiting and career placement at WPI is stronger (from an old datasheet, I saw that a very high percentage of students were placed into jobs or grad school within 3 months of graduation). You should visit both schools and get a feel for the environment. WPI has one of the highest faculty/student interaction in the nation out of a sample of 12 doctoral/intensive university.</p>

<p>Cost is also a serious consideration. If you need to take out more than $20k of loans, UMass Amherst is clearly a smarter choice (esp. if you get into Commonwealth College). But if you get good FA/merit scholarships that makes WPI affordable to you (via scholarships/need), you might want to strongly consider WPI. Both are good engineering schools and when I was accepted to both, I had a tough time deciding!</p>

4

<p>thanks for the insight.</p>

<p>How do you find the student/dorm life? Are people raising hell in the middle of the night? How about student cooperation? Do you find the students cooperative in helping each other learn, or more in competition to get grades? (I know WPI has a funky grading system that helps out in that regard.)</p>

5

<p>As a parent of a wpi graduate, I would like to reassure you that there will be NO politics shoved down your son’s throat at WPI. Most of the students barely knowledged that there was an election last year…
As for grading, the system seems to evaluate an individual’s performance and from what I could tell, hit it pretty well on most subjects. Students got along well enough and there was no real competitive cut throat attitude. My wpi grad has gone on to a grad school now and is amazed that the fellow students are nearly killing eachother for a nod from a teacher even if they don’t need it. They hold study groups where students withhold info rather than share insights, and that is a shocker to my grad. WPI was just not like that. Students worked hard because they were that kind of student.<br>
As for wild parties, there was some hell raising, but not enough to concern me.</p>

6

<p>IPD, thanks for the detailed post. My son just got his acceptance today. Do you know anything about the Science, Technology & Policy program?</p>

7

<p>My darling husband went there and likes to tell the story about the only political uprising in his 4 years at WPI – it was when they were looking at cutting students work study allocations. Gotta love the work ethic, the capitalistic ideals and the real desire for his classmates to take a stand for what was impt to them. I went to an uber liberal nearby college and there was some silliness political uprising every week. I never even would notice what they were whining about there were too many of them!</p>

<p>Our daughter just got her big envelope to follow in her dad’s footsteps and we couldn’t be more pleased. We are hoping for a lovely Christmas merit envelope next week. I heard that they are mailing our merit awards on Monday. Daughter is waiting to hear from a few other schools, but I do believe unless she gets a full ride to RPI, she will be in Worcester next year. She could have reached to larger/more prestigious schools, but there is something to be said for feeling “at home” at the school she chooses. </p>

<p>Again…so pleased and proud! And congratulations to all accepteds – parents and students!!!</p>

8

<p>Congrats all you students and parents. We know how you feel. Son just returned home from WPI for winter break, tired but still loving his school choice. He felt “at home” there almost the moment we got to campus when we visited. He says it is HARD work - never had to work in HS - so he is learning how :slight_smile: He is playing hard too (too hard in his mother’s opinion) but so far is keeping up.
Good to see the number of girls applying and choosing to go to WPI.</p>