My son has been accepted RPI 19 and its his #1 choice. I have to say I think the campus is a mess! For $66K a year the dorms seem deplorable and walking around you could easily break an ankle! The facilities are run down and I smelled mold in one of the freshman dorms. Does anyone else have concerns? The president made $7 Million last year and does not appear to have a huge presence on campus. Some buildings seem in fine shape - most student spaces do not. It seems to me the students are only valued for the income stream, Anyone else? Thoughts or insights would be greatly appreciated!
My son has been very happy there. What I noticed in the freshmen dorms was the male locker room kind of smell. Some of the dorms are nicer than others. Some of the buildings are nicer than others. It was that way at pretty much all of the campuses we visited.
Thanks 1214mom. I think my son is going to be happy there too. I just am appalled at the physical plant, couple with the fact the we have to pay $175 for orientation (none of the other schools he was accepted at have that fee) and the fact that President Jackson made $7 million last year.
Certainly writing the checks is difficult. Believe me, I know. (Writing them to 3 schools at this point). I can tell you that my son at RPI is “happier” and “identifies” more with his school than the other two. He has really grown as a person while he’s been there. Good luck to you and your son.
Funny that it is mentioned that RPI is the only school that someone was accepted to that has an orientation fee, when just about every school my DS was looking at has an orientation fee, with RPI’s fee of $175 being among the lowest…
Examples would be Stevens $580; Carnegie Mellon $236; RIT $225; and WPI $200.
Dadinator - That’s good to know…I guess?? Older son started school 3 years ago - no fee. Just surprised…maybe I did not look close enough at the info…Always a possibility 
1214mom - I hear you. We have 2 in school and those checks are awful to write. He is very excited so we are going with it.
@shamrockmom Believe me, you and all of the students are shocked that Shirley makes $7mil a year while we each shove our $67k tuition down her throat each year. It’s a little crazy. All students share this opinion, guarantee it. You have to move past it though. While conditions can be improved in some areas, the school excels in other areas where it matters most.
While Perxy Jackson is certainly among the highest paid college presidents, her salary is not $7 million. The year that was reported, $5.9 million was a one time retention bonus accumulated over a 10 year period. That year her salary was a “mere” $1.1 million. During that time she spearheaded the Rensselaer Plan and oversaw a $1 billion fundraising campaign.
FWIW, my son’s school has a $450 orientation fee, plus another $200 for parent’s to attend a separate orientation.