<p>Can anyone who is familiar with RPI and Case Western please share their perspective? My d is looking for a mid sized school strong in Engineering and Economics. She wants an intellectual environment that has a vibrant, fun campus (but not too much partying etc). It does not need to be sport centric but, IMs or club sports would be a huge plus. She's visited Case and thought it was good but not great. We will likely visit RPI this spring. We are also hoping for some merit aid.</p>
<p>Definitely visit RPI. We saw a one hour tape of Case and while it is an academically excellent school, the campus did not seem attractive to us. On the other hand, we visited RPI and the buildings and campus were very nice and inviting and the student union was great with various places to eat and hang out; we talked to quite a few students who were all involved in activities and seemed happy to be there.</p>
<p>@Sweetheart1: Thank you for your response. </p>
<p>Anyone else with any feedback on these two schools? I suppose I should post this in the Case forum.</p>
<p>This is from someone who does not intimately know the schools but have researched both a little bit.</p>
<ul>
<li>Overall, they are very similar tech schools with similar academic credentials.</li>
<li>Similar sized school in terms of #s of student.</li>
<li>Male/female ratio is a little extreme for RPI, Case is a little bit closer to 50/50.</li>
<li>Case is a big city school and the surrounding neighbourhoods can be a little bit rough and generally have higher crime. RPI surrounding is not great either but probably not as worrisome as Case. But with Case, you get a real big city with all the cultural benefits that go with it.</li>
<li>If Biomedical Engineering, Case is the school to go.</li>
<li>Case seems a little more generous with merit aid.</li>
<li>Slight nod for weather to RPI.</li>
</ul>
<p>Thanks! I wonder how the student body differs in personality. We’ve visited several campuses where the engineering schools and sciences are small in comparison to the rest of the school. It’s may be concerning from an academic standpoint but it may match her personality better. She also wants to be able to take classes in economics. Biomed is probably not the field of engineering she is going for but, things can definitely change.</p>
<p>Now, she is researching some of the tech schools. Both my husband and I are encouraging her to keep an open mind:) </p>
<p>@ttparent: what are your favorite sources for researching schools?</p>
<p>In deciding between Case v. RPI, I would look at whether your child wants an education grounded in the liberal arts or not. If so, choose Case, which has an extensive core curriculum (I think it is called CORE). If not, I think RPI has a bit better reputation as a pure science/math school (although both are quite good). </p>
<p>Another factor is money. Case competes for students against Carnegie Mellon and has been known to throw $ at promising students. I do not believe RPI is as generous with its scholarships. </p>
<p>Finally, I have been to Case several times and do not believe it is in a bad neighborhood. That area of Cleveland is developing and vibrant, with the Cleveland medical center as the hub. I would not make the choice based on safety.</p>
<p>This is from a high schooler’s prospective who has visited RPI and isconsideeing Case also: I feel the RPI campus is in a way a gem as it is tucked away in Troy, yet is still just 25 mins from the center of Albany. However, one aspect I think you need to address with your daughter is whether or not she has interest in greek life. Sororities and frats are HUGE at RPI (my dad by the way went there and was in a frat so i guess you could say this is a"personal" exp.). If that is not of interest she might prefer Case but I will contend there IS stuff to participate in at RPI even if she doesnt join a sisterhood. Hope this helped! :)</p>
<p>Yes, your post is very helpful! Thanks for your point about greek life. She is somewhat interested in learning about greek life and will probably join a sorority. She likes the social aspect as well as being involved in philanthropies. I liken aspects of sororities to some of the student council functions at our high school. We will ask more about it when we tour RPI in April.</p>
<p>Do the girls on campus participate in IM’s? My d would like to play sports but probably will not go the varsity sport route as academics are her priority (m&d approve:)).</p>
<p>Who does RPI compete with for students? RIT and WPI?</p>
<p>Yes, but I’d say more with Georgia Tech and Purdue. That is the caliber of school most of my friends turned down to come here. Greek life is big, but not essential. You can definitely have a great time and never set foot in a house… although it’s probably better if you do.</p>
<p>Don’t major in Biomed… there are no jobs. You’re much better off to be an ME or an EE undergrad and specialize later, or just apply for Biomed jobs with an ME or EE.</p>
<p>Intramurals are surprisingly popular for a school full of geeks. There are multiple leagues too (D league ice hockey is a hilariously good time). There’s hockey, softball, soccer, basketball, ultimate, and fun stuff like dodgeball and walleyball too. There are club teams that split the difference between IM and varsity for some sports like lacrosse and hockey as well.</p>
<p>I’ve taken a bunch of econ classes, only not picking up the minor because I already have a job lined up, and for the most part they’ve been really interesting. I’ve heard the same thing from people who’ve taken some of the classes I haven’t. I’d highly recommend Structure of Industry and Money and Banking.</p>
<p>Also the weather is typically not good, and the area is a little sketchy. Public Safety does a pretty decent job though.</p>
<p>I’m very pleased with the education I got, but I think I think the social aspect could stand to improve. It isn’t awful, but it certainly isn’t the best.</p>
<p>We’ve visited Georgia Tech and Purdue. They are both not appealing to her- mostly due to the size of the school and campus layout. She did not like the “vibe”. </p>
<p>@AeroRPI: Congrats on your job. Did RPI’s Career Services help you land the job? I imagine there are many many companies who recruit at RPI. She looked into Biomed and your comments confirm her findings. Chemistry was always a favorite subject but now she is really enjoying Physics so EE is a potential in addition to Chem E. </p>
<p>She loves all of the sports you mentioned! Playing with geeks (or closet geeks) is great fun:) Thank you for not mentioning quidditch! We’ve heard enough of it- usually mentioned in some weird way on many campus tours.</p>
<p>Thank you for your honesty about the social aspect. It is one of the concern areas for her. Does the university host school sponsored events? Are they well attended? I’m not sure that hanging out at a stereotypical frat party would be appealing for her. BUT, I realize I’m thinking of the frat parties from my days in college maybe it’s different now or at RPI:)</p>
<p>Lastly, I know she’d like to see the surrounding areas where students like to go. What/where are the popular hangouts?</p>
<p>Livn 487: Who does RPI compete with for students? RIT and WPI?</p>
<p>I think that the schools that RPI competes with may vary depending on where the applicant is from. Here in NH, WPI is a huge competitor. Most of the kids that we know that go to RPI are, interestingly enough, not engineering majors. Many engineering kids choose WPI because of its strong regional reputation and large regional alumnae network. </p>
<p>My D has been accepted to both RPI and WPI and is having a hard time choosing. RPI offered more merit money but she’s not sure that she gets that same friendly feeling from the school. She has relatives that graduated from both (dad an uncle from WPI and aunt from RPI) so it’s sure to be a fun month with decision time approaching!</p>
<p>@GraniteStateMom: Do you think RPI was lacking in the friendly feeling or was it that WPI went above and beyond during your particular visit? It’s a qualitative element describing the vibe. I want to be somewhat informed of your experience because we are travelling far across NY and MA with just over 24 hours in town to check out RPI. We live in the midwest and do not know any current students attending or looking at RPI or WPI. I’ll have my d look into WPI to see if she wants to swing by to take a look at the campus.</p>
<p>Well,my son is a senior at CSW .He is graduating in ME ,and going into a PhD programming at OSU or Perdue . Perdue is paying for him to fly out there . Case has the most generous aid packages ,IMO . He started with 17k as a freshman ,and it went up from there . He loved the school,but did not enjoy Cleveland . We are from NJ .Only 17 kids came his year as freshmen from NJ .</p>
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<p>Thanks! Not really. The company I was hired by has RPI as a target school, so they hire a bunch of people from here every year. My name somehow got on a list and they actually asked me for a resume – but I have no idea who put my name on that list. I did go there for a resume critique once, but I had done a bunch of research online on how to do it right and they only had a little bit of advice. It was nice to have someone say “that looks about right” though. They also hand out padfolios if you visit them during your sophomore year, and it’s nice to get a free one.</p>
<p>I have seen people making a fool of themselves on the '86 field playing Quidditch, but uh… just nope.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what you mean by university sponsored events. I mean we have sports (although really the only one we care about is Men’s Hockey), and we do host the occasional concert, but it is certainly not an every weekend occasion.</p>
<p>RPI’s Greek scene really runs the gamut. While we have some that are fairly close to the stereotypes, we have quite a few that are really quite different. It depends on the house, and during rush the frats try pretty hard to get the girls to come hang out too, so you can really get a feel for what places are like and where you might want to go in the future.</p>
<p>I’m not really sure if there are “hang-out” places in Troy for the under 21 crowd. Basically most people will be good friends with their hallmates, and maybe the people in clubs or frats/sororities they join. RPI really does do a great job during SO and Orientation getting you meeting people, doing things, and making friends, so basically you’ll find a group of people and bomb around for a week. Then school and work starts, and you fit the fun stuff in on the weekend.</p>
<p>There is a ton of stuff in Albany, if you have friends with a car, or come in with AP credit and get labelled a sophomore 2nd semester.</p>
<p>@livn487 - I replied via PM so as not to hijack the thread!</p>
<p>My son has both RPI and CWRU on his final list. We went to RPI last fall and really liked it. The kids were very nice and very helpful. We wanted to see a lab so one student spent about 15 - 20 minutes trying to help us. Even my son noticed how nice the students were. The students seemed very smart but pretty laid back. The dorms were pretty old but functional. Case gave us more scholarship money but I think my son’s final decision will be either RPI or Georgia Tech. He won’t consider Maryland College Park, even though it would be half the cost. If you care, Case is actually ranked higher overall in US News. RPI comes up high on producing students who get PHDs and on making the most money. They are both great schools.</p>
<p>They are both excellent schools and I know kids in both. My personal preference is for Case because of the city of Cleveland and the better balance that the school has. However, kids have preferred RPI. I suggest your daughter spend a day or so shadowing a student to get the feel of each school, and if neither is a big difference to her, go with the one with the lesser cost.</p>
<p>Hi Everyone, Just wanted to thank you again for your replies. We visited RPI last week (it was 1 of 4 schools) and the visit exceeded my d’s expectations:) She received a warm welcome and the academics on the technical side sound solid. Only one concern for us was an undercurrent that “writing and liberal arts classes are a nuisance.” I know, I know it’s a tech school…We know that stereotypically engineers may not enjoy writing BUT effective communication is needed throughout work and social life. Our d is a very well rounded student who enjoys foreign language and english class almost as much as her science/math and economics. We know that econ is a common minor at RPI so no concerns there. Any perspective on if RPI is a good fit for our d?</p>
<p>On the social front, she has no concerns. The students at RPI seemed happy, interactive with one another, and full of school spirit (with their RPI colors and school clothing). We visited the athletic facilities and the staff and students were informative and every place we looked all was inviting. We ate in a school cafeteria and it was enjoyable to grab lunch, people watch and talk to some of the students.</p>
<p>Our tour guide was informative and quite funny. We appreciated the snarky posters around campus for the student gov elections. </p>
<p>Our d will likely add RPI to her list of schools. I’m thankful that she is finding/visiting many schools that she likes.</p>
<p>I worry a little about the lack of foreign languages at RPI. However, I’ve convinced myself that it’s OK bc my son will likely have a double major, so he won’t have many credits left to take electives anyway. Just food for thought.</p>
<p>I agree about the lack of foreign language. My daughter has taken 4 years of Arabic in high school and was hoping to continue in college. It won’t be a deal breaker for her though.</p>