RPI ED results class of 2021!!!!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
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This thread is dedicated to 2021 ED results.

Please use the following format while posting the results. Please discuss on the other ED threads, and use this one only for results.

Please replace the “[a” below with just “[” before posting.

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted [/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FFA500]Decision: Deferred [/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FF0000]Decision: Rejected [/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1:
Teacher Rec #2:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview:

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?:
Intended Major:
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
School Type:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:

General Comments :

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bump

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**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
ACT: 31
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.35 (88.2/100) But a really good upward trend. (Junior year was a 3.9)
Rank: 5th decile
AP: Taking 3 APs senior year and self-studying for one. Physics, Calculus, Macro Economics, Comp. Sci
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics, AP Calculus AB, AP Macro Economics, English 12, Social Studies 12, Wind Ensemble

Subjective:
Extracurriculars: Band Webmaster (Leadership), Chess Club (VP for 2 years), Physical Programming Club (Member 2 years, VP Senior Year), Tech Crew (Member for 4 years), JV and Varsity Tennis Team (1 year JV, 2 year Varsity).
Volunteer/Community service: 50+ hours for Tech Crew. (Running community events and such in our Auditorium).
Essays:Very good 9/10. Wrote about my time as a Band Webmaster.

Recommendations: Very good recommendations (Didn’t read them but I assume).
Teacher Rec #1: Band Director. I am a Band Officer and very involved in the program. I am a webmaster and have had her as a teacher for four years.
Teacher Rec #2: Physics teacher. Have had him for Regents Physics and AP Pyhsics but knew him before that from Tech Crew at the school which I have been involved with since Freshman year.
Counselor Rec: Guidance Counselor. Have no idea. He is like 86 years old.
Interview: No interview. Did visit once for a tour and information session.

Other:
Scholarship: $14,500 Rensselaer Leadership Award
Intended Major: Computer Science. Double major in some kind of Engineering.
State: New York
School Type:
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male

Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted to Drexel
Deferred from WPI
Rejected from Lehigh

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Amazing accepted to RPI but deferred by WPI ?

WPI used to be less selective than RPI, but it has caught up !

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Call it a healthy competition! As long as the applicant is accepted into a school of their choice it is good news! Now the rubber hits the road.

1 Like
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[asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted [/color][/size]

Objective:
SAT I: 1360 (680 EBR&W, 680 M)
ACT: 32 ( 33 E, 35 M, 32 R, 29 S, 19 W)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.79
Rank: 99th percentile
AP: Taking AP Calculus AB as it is the only AP offered at my school but have taken 6 dual enrollment courses last year and 4 dual enrollment courses this year.
Senior Year Course Load: University English, AP Calculus AB, University Physics, Government (S1), Economics (S2), Intro Nano (S1), Advanced Nano (S2), Principles of Engineering, University Spanish 5, Independent Study Choir

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Student Government, Speech & Debate, Environmental Club, Spirit Club (Representative), Food Club (Treasurer), Senior Choir (President), Society of Literature (Editor), Varsity Boys’ Soccer (Team Captain), Varsity Track & Field (Team Captain)
Job/Work Experience: Garde manger & dishwasher at local Italian restaurant (~1200 hours), Summer counselor at park program (~150 hours)
Volunteer/Community service: Afterschool daycare program (~200 hours), Tutoring (~30 hours)
Summer Activities: I worked, I studied, and I enjoyed the remnants of my fleeting adolescents
Essays: Not bad 8/10. I wrote about the time I broke my collarbone during a soccer match.
Recommendations: Pretty good recommendations (didn’t read them, but hey, they must have worked)
Rec #1: Physics teacher. Awesome man. Had him for regents physics last year and university physics this year.
Rec #2: Tech teacher. Had him for CAD last year and Nano this year.
Counselor: Very nice. Her husband is also one of my soccer coaches (we have three of them).

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes, got a pretty hefty financial aid package given my situation (I will be financing my education entirely on my own, I will always be grateful to the financial aid committee!)
Intended Major: Civil Engineering, possibly taking advantage of the 5-year master’s program
State: NY
School Type: Public school (went to a 2,000-student suburban public school from 9th-10th grade & am in a 200 student rural public school for 11th-12th grade)
Ethnicity: 1/2 Filipino, 1/2 White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: <$50K a year

Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted to Hudson Valley Community College
Accepted to SUNY Buffalo
(Both safety schools, didn’t feel the need to apply to my reach schools)

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**Decision: Accepted **

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That’s better

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@JohntheKhan it seems your ACT should have gotten some financial award, did they mention anything about that yet?

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@reformedman I did not get anything extra in terms of merit awards. I’m sure this is due to the fact that I have received the Rensselaer Medal, which is $25k a year. I did, however, get my financial needs met via other institutional grants. All my financial aid made the tuition manageable for me.

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Blevine, You can’t make such judgments based on a single data point. Well, you can, but they aren’t statistically significant.

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@Padre13 I have to agree… WPI and RPI’s average SAT scores are very very different. I’m pretty sure WPI has a low 1300 as its average SAT and RPI is like a 1420. Big different in terms of competitiveness, number of applicants, acceptance rates, class metrics, and the overall quality of the students. Judging as though one student was admitted to RPI and rejected from WPI really doesn’t mean much. You can be rejected simply because they don’t think you can pay since WPI considers the money your parents make during the admissions process. RPI less so since it has the money to supply for more students, regardless of ability to pay in some cases, to attend.

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According to the WPI common Data set, the middle 50% of the class entering in the fall of 2015 had a verbal SAT spread of 570 to 680 and a middle 50% math SAT spread of 640 to 740. It is also interesting to note that the rigor of the entering freshman’s HS and the academic GPA count more heavily in the selection process than do standardized test scores. Sixty-five percent of the class entering in 2015 were from the top 10% of their HS class. The RPI spread is a little higher.

You might like to read this explanation of the college selection process before predicting an applicants probable success based on just this data. These test scores are not the straight forward predictors that we commonly believe in street conversation. You might like to read this admissions explanation before you bet on the infallibility of small differences in standardized test results: http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/there_is_no_formula

When you have student bodies of the WPI/RPI caliber, any of the horses have the potential to win the race. These schools do have different environments and different approaches to the learning process. Choose the racetrack that fits your personality if you want to optimize YOUR end results.

I would like to know what the basis is for for the statement: “WPI considers the money your parents make during the admissions process” as I worked in the admissions office for ten years and was not aware of this. When I was there, we actually turned down two applicants in the same year who were from very wealthy, “household name” families. Their ED applications were not rejected because they were rich, but because our program did not fit their academic needs. It would not have been a fair decision to admit these students based on the evidence available. They wisely selected two different and very fine schools that could better meet their needs.

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@retiredfarmer I wouldn’t exactly put RPI and WPI in the same “caliber” of schools. WPI is barely ranked top 90 for engineering and is only top 60 in general according to US News. RPI is top 40 overall and top 30 for engineering. WPI also conducts significantly less research than RPI (like a third of what RPI does), has a significantly lower graduation rate (only 76% graduating in four years compared to 82%, accepts 49 percent of applicants (so roughly half), and the class metrics, in general, are much much lower (1315 versus 1420 SAT, 68% versus 78% in the top 10%, etc). An 100 point difference in the average SAT score is a very large deviation, even if scores aren’t the only factor in admissions and this doesn’t even consider the number of APs students take and their average scores. I’m willing to bet many more students at RPI came in with a lot more APs and higher scores on those exams. Also, even if you did work in the admissions office, neither school is “need-blind.” I’ll leave that to be dissected but anecdotal information about someone wealthy being rejected doesn’t change that. My argument is that RPI’s financial aid budget is A LOT larger in comparison to the number of students so need does not need to be considered as much during the admissions process.

https://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/us-news-college-rankings-yes-they-matter/?_r=0

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" My argument is that RPI’s financial aid budget is A LOT larger in comparison to the number of students so need does not need to be considered as much during the admissions process."

@joedoe The following numbers were taken from the US NEWS postings. In the interest of clarity, please consider the following data and its relationship to financial aid at WPI and RPI:

 applied for need based aid           WPI 73.8%    RPI 68.1%          
 need fully met.........................             44.2% ..........20.5%                
 received need based aid........              63%..............61%
 received need based self help             33.8%...........59.1%
 Avg % of need met.................              83%..............79%
 FOUR YEAR GRADUATION RATE     76%..............63%

You may be correct, it appears these are not peer institutions.

The percent of RPI applicants accepted was 42 while WPI’s was only 49. Clearly we should not expect our graduates to compete with MIT graduates where only 8% are accepted! Or should we reach higher?

Thank you for your article from “ECONOMIX” which points out the positive impact impact that the US NEWS university rankings have on a university’s applicant pool. As they rank RPI higher than WPI it must be true! This is a strange bait, but it seems to have an impact in the market place.

Bridges will fall when mathematics are not properly applied. Numbers mean nothing unless you understand the science behind them.

In the interest of behavioral science, please go back and re-read: http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entryI/there_is_no_formula.

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@retiredfarmer Acceptance rate means nothing if the class metrics of one school are much lower than another’s. Look at American University, they admit most ED applicants and then reject a lot of RD but have low grade metrics. WPI has a similar acceptance rate (17% higher to be exact) but much lower grade metrics. You should know very well that all acceptance rate does is determine the competitiveness of being admitted for “qualified” applicants. That can take on a different definition at each school. And, speaking of class metrics, RPI’s median SAT scores are only 70 points lower than MIT’s while WPI’s median SAT scores are 170 points lower… So yes, I do not expect WPI graduates to be able to compete with MIT graduates, let alone RPI graduates. Please revisit your knowledge of statistics before you argue this.

In terms of four year graduation rate: a very significant percentage of RPI students do not graduate in four years since they continue undergraduate study under the 5 year masters program where they receive undergraduate aid, but have their higher level undergraduate courses cross-listed as graduate courses and graduate with a masters degree.

Applied for need based aid is completely irrelevant… there are a lot more international students that cannot and will not apply and a lot of students that don’t qualify so they won’t. The percentage of need met is also only slightly lower than WPI and doesn’t tell the full story. What percentage of that is covered by loans? At RPI, less students qualify or apply for aid so they will not recieve federal loans as well - even if they may have if they applied.

Compare the average grant aid for those who get into both schools:

WPI: $22,936
RPI: $30,943

Tuition isn’t much cheaper at WPI than RPI… RPI gives much larger average grant aid for those who qualify.

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@joedoe Your statement that you “do not expect WPI graduates to be able to compete with MIT graduates, let alone RPI graduates” makes little sense. Graduates from these and a broad range of schools both compete against and work together every day. It is a mistake to conflate attendance at any particular school with competence or success, (although I understand the tendency for young students to do so, as they have little experience in the working world and may not know of any other way to value themselves and others).

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@hopeyhippie You’re very correct, but I enjoy being petty since it’s fun - especially on this forum lol.

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@joedoe Well, I give you an A for honesty. :slight_smile:

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@Hippie…have to agree w/ I know some WPI students and grads, it is an excellent school. Pointless comparisons

“…@joedoe Your statement that you “do not expect WPI graduates to be able to compete with MIT graduates, let alone RPI graduates” makes little sense. Graduates from these and a broad range of schools both compete against and work together every day. It is a mistake to conflate attendance at any particular school with competence or success, (although I understand the tendency for young students to do so, as they have little experience in the working world and may not know of any other way to value themselves and others)…”