<p>On the basis of math and science results, a kid receives this awards which allow them to have $15,000 in tuition reduction if they choose to attend RPI. Would you mention it to other colleges in college application or it is not worth it?</p>
<p>Yes! Yes! Yes! My d got the Rochester Humanities/Social science award which was worth 11,000/year and listed it on her activity sheet. Coincidence or not, she got an $8,000 merit award from CMU. So I think for comparable type schools (including Case Western), I really believe that if they know merit money is available, the "competition" may make some kind of counteroffer.
QLC- I am editing- so I'll add I think the Rensellar medal is 15,000/year</p>
<p>$15,000/year or $15,000 total?</p>
<p>It's $15,000 per year. </p>
<p>Yes, I would mention it to comparable schools. Each HS can have only one winner each year, so it's quite prestigious. </p>
<p>There was a very similar question posted on the RPI forum, BTW.</p>
<p>Our on was the Rensselaer Medal recipient for his hs and he mentioned it in his applications. Interestingly, he was accepted to every college he applied to and was offered merit scholarships totalling $370,000+. Keep in mind that he did not apply to any "reach" colleges as he was trolling for merit aid.</p>
<p>The most pleasant surprises were RPI, where he received three scholarships totalling $25k/yr and Case where he received $17.5k/yr. The biggest disappointment was Oberlin where the merit scholarship offer was less than $5k/yr.</p>
<p>Based on his experience, I would not hesitate to mention the RM on other college applications.</p>
<p>D was praying she wouldn't get the RM because she thought I might *make * her take it. (RPI is local and she really wanted to get of the area) The winner from her school is at UChicago. I wonder how many winners actually take the scholarship.</p>
<p>My son won the medal and didn't list it; I guess it just seemed a little awkward to him. I wish expressed interest was considered when medal winners are chosen. At our HS the kids who win it are generally headed to elite schools and many bright kids, who would be top students at RPI, are passed up.</p>
<p>Yes, I asked DD's GC about the medal at the end of the last year. She's going to look into it. Many schools give it to the kid with the highest average in math and science courses, in which case DD would definitely not get it. But I'm wondering if they could maybe give it to the kid with the highest math and science grades who WOULD use it!</p>
<p>I agree it would be more sensible to give the medal to someone who would use it. Last year's winner went to Harvard, meanwhile three other topnotch science students went to RPI without the medal.</p>
<p>ADREW5449: According to the RPI website, 24% of the class of 2009 were medal winners, so it sounds like about 300.</p>
<p>How does one receive these scholarships without applying? My school doesn't participate in any of these programs.</p>
<p>Here's a link to info about the Medal program:</p>
<p>I guess I was just lucky with my kids HS. They listed all the awards that were available and told the kids if they were interested, they should see their guidance counselor. My d was truly interested in U of Rochester so that when the "announcement" about the Bosch and Lomb/ and Humanities Soc. Science was posted, my d went to speak to GC. My d was definitely a good student -but not the top. They would only recommend kids that the school would be proud of- which is probably like the top 15% anyway. I think it does make a lot more sense to give it to a kid who may actually take advantage of the award. In the end my d decided to go to Cornell/ILR- but Rochester really did remain one of her top choices and she could have very easily decided to go there instead.</p>
<p>the winner at my school is attending RPI</p>
<p>I was a recipient of the Rensselaer Medal last year. I didn't feel awkward at all putting it on my college applications (then again, I'm going to be a polisci major and therefore had no intention of applying to Rensselaer anyway). I just considered to be a very prestigous award that I was proud to list with my other achievements. The thought of NOT putting it never even crossed my mind. Whether you choose to attend RPI or not, the award simply shows that you've done remarkable work in the fields of math and science.</p>
<p>S1 was the RPI medal recipient at his school at end of junior year. He definitely listed it among his awards, and we even visited RPI on their "medalist" day in the fall of his senior year. We knew it was not the school for him, but wanted to at least check it out, and his hs was pleased that he would show the interest, as they always worry that RPI won't let them award the medal since so few of their winners have ever gone there.</p>
<p>Sounds like RPI should give the high schools some guidance on choosing the medal winner. Or maybe they don't want a high yield on it?</p>
<p>They do give the schools some guidance. S1 was approached by the teacher in charge of that particular award and was asked if he would be interested. His school did want to make sure that a) the person who received it would be the most deserving b) if that person was not interested, they would approach the next few deserving students in order to see if any of them had a high interest in RPI. In S1's case, he told the teacher that he would be honored to receive the award, but that he was not really interested in RPI, and understood that maybe it should go to someone who WAS interested, and yet still highly qualified. The teacher approached several other students in order of their math/science grades, and none of those students had a high interest in RPI either. So they gave it to S1, as he was the highest ranked in the math/sciences. That's why we went to the medal day--to let RPI know that his school was honored to be allowed to give out the award, and still interested in being able to give it out. The most popular of the "polytechnic" schools for kids in our area is Virginia Tech. They have strong academics in those fields, plus the big time sports--and better weather. S1 did not apply there either, but many of his friends go there and love it.</p>
<p>Oh, I see. RPI is fairly popular in our area--it's less than three hours away. I don't think they'd have to go too far down the list of good math/science students before they found one who was very interested in RPI.</p>
<p>I have to admit that while lots of people apply to RPI, it's still tends to be everyone's second choice. The two I know there had both hoped to go to Cornell, and several who turned it down went to other Ivy League schools or MIT. It's a great school - but one big negative in my eyes at least - is that it's still overwhelmingly male.</p>