He did choose RPI, and he’s happy. He’s now in his second semester. He came in with a lot of AP credit, so he was able to leapfrog over some of the entry-level science classes (he’s already a sophomore in credits). He has had fantastic professors! He feels like the workload is manageable, but he came in from an intense private high school. He already knew how to manage his time. Some kids struggle with that, but I’m sure that’s the same at any engineering school. He hasn’t had to negotiate an internship or coop yet in his first year, but my sense is there is plenty of support for kids willing to seek it out (see my other post about the Arch in this thread somewhere).
2 Likes
My Daughter just got in for CS at RPI with pretty good merit. We were very surprised.
However we are from california, we visited Troy in December (campus was closed) and as a mom I am not sure I feel certain with the environment, seems so far away 
I know RPI has good reputation; does anyone know if the summer arch program is improved now ? I read many complains about the peogram. so just many things to think about besides just the academics .
She is also accepted at Colorado Boulder. We are still waiting for some UC school and we’ll hope to make good decision .
1 Like
Congratulations to your son. My D20 had several interviews for ARCH internship and then the economy started tanking and the FALL internship talks just got silent. There were several kids in the same boat. But the arch experience is not limited to just internship. My daughter had 3 straight semesters and was ready to take a break. So she did a project with her dad (also Mech Engg) at home and learned how to design and CAD brushless motors. She just had to write a report of what she learned.
She thinks she learned quite a bit doing this project. You have the option to do study abroad or community service or any such number of things to meet the arch requirements. The summer internship is still popular, so I hope there will be some open talks with the new president about ARCH requirements.
She has already landed a summer internship for summer 2023 because she was a step ahead (one junior semester finished)in doing the summer semester at RPI. In the end, it wasn’t a big deal. My daughter loves her classes and the professors are great. It’s a great school despite the negative stuff you hear about the admins.
1 Like
You can also get out of the ARCH requirement if you got a summer internship and write to the school in advance. I know some kids who have done this successfully.
1 Like
We are also from the west. It was a hard adjustment to send my son to Troy at first, but now that I see him thriving, I’m okay with the distance. There are a lot of breaks so he can come home. My son hasn’t done the Arch yet, but we do really like the new president. We hope he makes some modifications. Good luck with this decision. It’s very important to find a school that really fits your child. If you find that, it will be so good!
2 Likes
Is anyone willing to share merit amounts?
The road2college website has a great compare offers tool. It is anon. and allows you to look at previous years as well.
1 Like
Thanks! I wasn’t familiar with that site.
1 Like
We learned yesterday that my Daughter was accepted for biological sciences. She is very excited! She received 3 scholarships/ awards. Early Application scholarship- 3,000.
Women’s Leadership Scholarship- 20,000
Rensselaer Leadership Scholarship- 19,000
For a total of $42,000 in scholarships… most amount of merit scholarships so far, and therefore cheapest school at this point. We are still waiting on a few other schools, however Rensselaer is currently her top choice.
5 Likes
Is it relatively safe on campus? We’re in CA so Troy seems so far. D’s friend is at RIT which has no direct flights. But it’s another school we could consider but I’m not sure what merit would be like. RPI was surprisingly generous for which I’m truly grateful.
Congrats!
My son always feels safe on campus. If he ventures out into Troy he usually walks with friends. He walked into Troy alone one weekend for an immunization at CVS. It was totally fine, but he wouldn’t want to be out there after dark alone. He rides the city bus that stops on campus to Walmart for supplies. That’s very safe and easy. I did it once while I was there to check things out. We are also not from the area. The campus is very safe - Public Safety does a great job.
3 Likes
Hi! I got accepted as an Indigenous woman going into comp engineering with 52.5k in merit! woman’s leadership scholarship, Rensselaer leadership scholarship, and early app scholarship. BY FAR the highest merit I got plus they gave me a 5k loan. COA will be 24,008 if I go per year (given I keep up my grades and all). I am unsure about the environment for me though.
6 Likes
Congrats.
2 Likes
My daughter got in for Biomed engineering. All her merit combined to 47K. It’s definitely a contender now although I’m not thrilled with the area and the freshman dorms looked depressing when we did the tour.
1 Like
Congr! Seems girls get much more merit scholarship compared to boys? This year?
Congratulations, that’s fantastic!
Do you mind sharing your thoughts about the area?
Wow congrat, are all scholarship offered on all 4 years or only some ?
I believe RPI merit awards are for all 4 years.
1 Like