Questions from Applicants to WPI This Fall

Colleges and Universities A-Z Worcester Polytechnic Institute
1

<p>What questions do you have about the WPI application process or about the college, its curriculum, or the environment? Do you have any comments or questions about WPI or the quality of its programs? Please post your stats if you want to be unofficially "chanced" by me or some other WPI student who stumbles on this page. I hope that this thread not is not used to generate useless flame wars between engineering colleges in boston. </p>

<p>There seems to be limited action on the WPI page at college confidential. Is it that people on college confidential have lost interest in WPI or because (as I believe) everyone has been too lazy to initate any constructive discussion on WPI.</p>

2

<p>I know a lot of people who have dropped out of WPI. Should I assume that this is something related more to their dedication to their academics rather than the school, or is WPI just that tough? </p>

<p>Also, what do you know about the engineering physics program at WPI (classes taken, number of graduates, their outcomes, etc.)? I’ve been able to find out very little. I’d love to know. Thanks. :slight_smile: </p>

<hr>

<p>I’d also like to be unofficially chanced.</p>

<p>State: Michigan
Gender: Female
Type of High School: Fairly competitive–and tiny–public. You have to apply to get in, meet test score requirements, and maintain a certain GPA if you don’t want to be kicked out. We send kids to the U of M frequently, and to some other top colleges. No Ivies, really.
Class Rank: I’m not positive, but I’m pretty sure I’m in the top 10%. I know there are only three kids with 4.0 GPAs, and I’m just behind them.
Prospective Majors: Not sure yet. Engineering physics? Biology/biotech? Biomedical engineering? Math with a focus on statistics? Dabble in computer science? I don’t know. :slight_smile: </p>

<p>GPA: 3.98 unweighted. We don’t weight.
ACT: Two tries with 32 composites both times. I’m re-taking in September.
December 2008: 36E, 34R, 28M (subscores of 16, 14, 14), 29S (essay is pretty irrelevant, but I got a 10)
March 2009: 36E, 34R, 29M (subscores of 18, 12, 15), 30S (essay was 11)
SAT: One try–definitely re-taking.
January 2009: 750CR, 640M, (720W, essay was 10)</p>

<p>Courses: My school doesn’t offer APs or honors math classes, so I don’t have any of those on my resume. I’ve had an A or A- in all of the math classes I’ve taken, with an upward trend in that department. Basically, I understand math, but it’s hard for me to show it on the SAT. I’ve been in honors science classes for the past two years (chem and physics) and have had the same grades in those as my math classes. Next year, I’ll be taking AP Biology. I’ve had AP classes in English and history, for what that’s worth.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars: I’ve done choir every year of high school (three years at a professional level) and I average 5 hours a week rehearsing and performing. I’m also a member of the varsity Quiz Bowl team, which has a pretty good record, and the legislative debate team (I’ve won some awards for speaking). I volunteer each summer as a mentor for a youth opera education program, and I’m the student council secretary. </p>

<p>I’ve been interning with the neuroscience and cancer facilities at a local hospital this summer, and I’m planning on finally joining a local FIRST team (after hanging out with it for the past two years…). </p>

<p>Thanks again! :)</p>

3

<p>I think you’re in. A bigger question is how much money you’re going to get in scholarships. I got 20k. My SATs were 2170 (equivalent to a 32 ACT) and I had a 3.4 unweighted GPA. </p>

<p>So I’m guessing you might get 20-30k.</p>

4

<p>I don’t think that many people drop out of our school. There may be a few notable dropouts but they are more the exception than the norm. We have a fairly high retention rate and this school is definitely rigorous but the workload is probably similar to RPI and other top50 schools (can’t judge them since haven’t been there). It is a good school and there are a fair share of intelligent people here and the environment is good for nerds.</p>

<p>You are almost in for sure but al6200’s calculations might be a bit off. i had a 3.7X uwgpa and a 2210 and got 18k… the scholarships go down each year as the enrollment (class size) increases due to a larger needs-based aid pool. The school is trying to grow an gain a national reputation so they can rely less on merit aid to attract applicants and meet more demonstrated need. They used to give out a lot more full rides than they do now (confirmed information). 32 ACT is good but it is just somewhat over the average (around 30). You can expect at least around 15k and can prb. get more by matching with rpi, northeastern and other peer schools that give out more merit. Your stats are excellent but there are quite a few valedict/salut-atarians here at WPI and they get on ave. 20k. If you want a “full ride”, you are better off looking at second tier state school.</p>

5

<p>WPI is one of the most nurturing engineering schools out there. If you are doing poorly in class, your professors will (most likley) care very much, and will offer a lot of support. It has a very high 4 year graduation rate compared to other engineering programs ( I think there’s is like 73% or something, versus the average of around 50%) Source: friend at WPI</p>

6

<p>I think the higher graduation rate is also because the kids’ parents are paying a lot for the education and they are also taking big loans. There don’t seem to be too many students who come here paying a lot of money to waste thier education partying as it happens in many other state schools where tuition is cheap and it is “affordable” to fail classes and perhaps stay for a fifth or sixth year.</p>

<p>But I agree with SpacePope. The professors and staff here seem to all genuinely care about the education of thier students. This is the case of many professors elsewhere although there are some professors at other schools who probably see undergrad students and teaching in general as a burden against thier professional success.</p>

7

<p>
[QUOTE=SpacePope]

WPI is one of the most nurturing engineering schools out there. If you are doing poorly in class, your professors will (most likley) care very much, and will offer a lot of support. It has a very high 4 year graduation rate compared to other engineering programs

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Ehh. I don’t think that you are correlating the right variables there. Usually if someone does not graduate it is because they cannot handle the curriculum or because they transfer. So graduation rates are very positively correlated to the academic strength of a school’s student body. Consider that MIT’s graduation rate is above 95%. WPI’s graduation rate is above the engineering average because it is an above average engineering school.</p>

8

<p>To answer phanatic’s comment about a high dropout rate at WPI, the statistics don’t support that, at least not for freshmen. CollegeNavigator (National Center for Educational Statistics) says that in the 2007/8 year (the latest year on their web site) the freshman retention rate was 93%. CollegeBoard’s numbers are even higher, at 95% (though they don’t say whether that’s for freshmen or overall).</p>