<p>I received the RPI medal, which is a math and science award that guarantees at least $15,000 per year merit scholarship to RPI if I apply and am accepted. However, I am not particularly interested in RPI and I wonder if being the recipient of the medal will be beneficial in my application to schools aside from RPI. Will other competitive schools look on it favorably or will they dismiss it? Thanks in advance for any replies!</p>
<p>I received the RPI medal last year as well. I applied to RPI just for the heck of it; I had zero interest but they waived the application fee and on the common app RPI doesn’t ask for any additional essays so I had nothing to lose. I did make sure to include my RPI medal on my common app under the list of “honors.” While I cannot speak as an admissions officer, my guess is that other colleges look favorably upon it because it shows that you are a desirable candidate and at least one college already wants you. You also may be able to use it as a financial aid bargaining tool later (didn’t work for me). </p>
<p>For the record, I got into RPI and was offered $15K per semester rather than per year, which was a nice bonus. But I really had no interest in attending so I will now be attending Cornell University. </p>