You say that you’ve heard that the social environment is”toxic”. Whoever described it this way wasn’t doing you any favors because that doesn’t tell us very much.
I’m really interested in knowing if there’s anything more specific about the social environment at RPI that is of concern to you.
We’ll likely have a similar decision next year. And I think we’ll pick RPI.
In support of what you’re saying, Whirling Colleges, here’s a study from last December ranking the top 100 colleges and universities of all types for return on investment. Look for RPI at #28.
can’t really compare Specialized Schools and STEM-centric engineering schools with large universities … what are those English/History Majors going to be earning?
RPI does seem like a lesser CMU.
Challenging and gives you skills. As one poster put it (about CMU): Great school to be from; maybe not to be at.
I’ve heard it’s just a really mixed bag. Some people find it fine, others absolutely despise itit. The administration seems to have cracked down on anything remotely fun in recent years. The gender ratio is nothing to write home about, but it’s probably not the worst thing in the world. There also seems to be a problem wit sexual assault and sexism amongst the male population? I’d rather not be dorming wit a bunch of neckbeards if ya know what I mean.
Don’t want to compare RPI with large universities? Okay, compare them with schools like themselves.
They’re not MIT or Cal Tech - although at #28 on the list they’re not all that far behind Cal Tech at #17.
They’re right there in the 20s with other engineering peer institutions like Carnegie-Mellon, Georgia Tech, WPI, Lehigh, and Rose-Hulman. And they’re well ahead of some other well known engineering colleges like Cal Poly SLO, Cooper Union, and Virginia Tech.
A number of large state universities did show up on the list (Cal, Michigan, Maryland, UCLA, Illinois, and SUNY Binghamton). Stony Brook was nowhere to be found. And let’s not forget that large state universities have a big advantage when calculating Return-on-Investment because the upfront investment (tuition) is so much lower for the vast majority of students than it is at a private university like RPI. The State U grads don’t have to be making more money than the RPI grads to rank higher in ROI.
I posted this link as data in support of Whirling Colleges comment: “RPI is still extremely strong in terms of salaries and hiring opportunities for new graduates.” That was a factual statement and is supported by the data from the Georgetown study. The data speaks for itself.
Stony Brook may have a denominator problem 
When the cost is zero … ROI == np.inf
To be fair … SBU is a very strong STEM school.
Their Math, Physics, Bio are top-notch.
Simmons BUILT (and then raided) their math department.
Their physics dept was always WORLD class.
CS has been gaining reputation and is considered a very strong program.
But it’s a University … they have ALL departments … and some aren’t nearly as well known.
Thanks for sharing what you’ve heard, Deathhater. I can’t comment on crackdown on fun by the administration. Certainly not a good thing. I would expect changes to come.
I do get what you’re saying about the Neckbeards and I’m glad to hear that you don’t want to be one of them. Sexual assault and sexism is a problem on every campus. Data suggests that women are actually treated better and are safer on campuses that are more male than female. Not what one would expect. See the link:
Having a 2:1 male:female ratio certainly does set up a different dynamic between the sexes and suggests that a lot of guys are going to have to look off campus to find young women to connect with. Fortunately part of the solution is nearby. Russell Sage College, which is 80% women is literally just a few blocks away, which helps to balance the local college student ratio somewhat. The other factor is that RPI is just one of 8 colleges & universities in the Capitol District, all within a half hour drive or less of the RPI campus - SUNY Albany, Union, Skidmore, Siena, Albany College of Pharmacy, and St. Rose being the others in addition to RPI and Russell Sage in Troy. You’ll probably have friends going to one or more of those. Certainly some of your new friends at RPI will. So you might find yourself socializing at times at a nearby campus. It is what it is.
It’s clear from how you feel. Go to SUNY. I could tell that from your first post. RPI is a better name but guess what, you can only get one job. Neither provides advantage for grad school. You’ll go into RPI with a bad attitude about it. SUNY SB is fine. That you ate Honors makes it even better. Why go to a situation where you believe up front the day to day will stink. You have to spend four days there, day after day. So you have to feel good about it, not just it’s perception. I’m sure in a world which is short on computer scientists you’ll have no issue finding a job.
Sounds like you really like Stony Brook better.
That’s okay. SB is a very good university and engineering is hard everywhere. No need to make it harder on yourself with a university you are very ambivalent about - even if they’re cheaper.
Unrelated question, should I try calling up stony and asking for more aid using RPI’s new fin aid offer as leverage? Would that reflect bad upon me if I did it?
No…it’s a state school. You already accepted and paid. They’re not going to adjust. If you leave they’ll just keep your deposit.
I have a few friends who went to RPI who I keep in touch with it, now they went in the mid to late 80s, so of course things could have changed quite a bit, especially this ARCH thing.
"You say that you’ve heard that the social environment is”toxic”. "
Toxic may be a strong word but they said Troy was a dump (their words) and social life was pretty bad, esp if you weren’t in a frat or sorority.
"I would much rather have an RPI degree in my hand four years from now than one from Stony Brook. "
I would too, but OP should check the 4-yr and 6-yr grad rates for both schools, both were pretty low on a quick google search, like 53% for SB, 60% for RPI for 4-yr. This is consistent with what my friends also said, many of their classmates transferred out, they were surprised there was a lot of weeding out at small private school like RPI. They were also surprised that the introductory classes had large lectures of like 4-500 people.
"Some people find it fine, others absolutely despise it. The administration seems to have cracked down on anything remotely fun in recent years. "
You seem to have a pretty negative opinion about RPI, If you feel this way, you should probably attend SB at least for two years, and then consider transferring to RPI or some place else where you’d be a little more excited to attend. If you attend RPI and the first time something goes wrong, you’ll start thinking you made the wrong choice, which is not where you want to be, especially at a place like RPI.
Troy was a dump. So we’re a lot of other places in the 80s and even the 90s. A lots changed since then. And Troy has bounced back along with a lot of other places.
The graduation rates I’m seeing for RPI as of 2019 are 66% in 4 years, 82% in 5 years, and 85% in 6 years. Given those 5 and 6 year numbers, I don’t see how anyone can infer from the 4 year numbers that kids are leaving. More likely is that they’re changing majors and taking an extra semester or two to finish up. In addition, RPI has a number of 5 and 6 year programs as well as 3+2. I don’t know how those are counted.
I do like stony better, but rn everyone I know is telling me that RPI is the correct choice here…
Better reputation, smaller class sizes, more rigorous academics, higher average starting salary.
Despite RPI’s MANY shortcomings, it’s not like stony is the perfect school either… and I’m starting to think that they r kinda correct.
“Given those 5 and 6 year numbers, I don’t see how anyone can infer from the 4 year numbers that kids are leaving.”
They were definitely leaving in the 80’s, I have to take their word for it and I knew a few that did as well. However as with other colleges, this was before US News became influential wrt grad and retention rates. Now I think they do pay more attention to grad rates and percent freshman that come back.
“Despite RPI’s MANY shortcomings, it’s not like stony is the perfect school either… and I’m starting to think that they r kinda correct”
I think if the costs are pretty even, I would lean to RPI, it’s easier to transfer from there to SB than the other way around, actually. The only thing is you have to stay in STEM, whereas with SB, they do have other majors to explore.
You wrote “I do like Stony better.”
Frankly this was obvious in all your posts.
It doesn’t matter that others think differently.
This is why I keep saying go to SB because in every message it’s clear that’s YOUR choice. And you need to spend four years there…day after day after day.
People need to remember…when you graduate you can just accept one job. So even if RPI’s placement is better, you can only accept one job. And you’ll find a job from either.
The fact RPI is coming to you with more money now means one of two things:
They are desperate
They have endowed scholarship they must spend, they were turned down by who they awarded it to, and need to spend it.
It’s your choice of course but in every note you express support/desire for SUNY.
If you doubt yourself, it’s gonna be a tough life. Follow your gut. It’s gotten you this far.
RPI does have a few business/econ/non-STEM majors (including music and philosophy).
I hope you stick with SB!