Not disputing that students were leaving in the ‘80s, Theloniusmonk. I’m just looking at today’s numbers.
A good example of how things can and have changed is Pratt Institute, one of the best schools for art, design, and architecture we could find anywhere. In the’70s and ‘80s, the neighborhood had become crime infested. Houses that are worth millions today could be had for as little as $10,000. Enrollment had fallen off dramatically to such an extent that by the early ‘90s Pratt had closed its Engineering School despite the fact that it was founded more than a century earlier as an Engineering College. Pratt was starved for funds and the engineering school was just too expensive to maintain. They were literally fighting for survival. Today the Clinton Hill is one of the toniest neighborhoods in the city, in the forefront of the Brooklyn revival and Pratt has rebounded along with it.
Troy, NY is not Brooklyn and it has been hurt by manufacturing jobs lost decades ago. It too was crime infested in the ‘80s. It hasn’t had the resurgence that Clinton Hill did, but it is a much safer place than it was 30-40 years ago. Cheap houses attract investment and RPI is immediately surrounded bu a residential neighborhood, which means homeowners. It’s a fine place to go to college right now. And it’s positioned to take off with anticipated new leadership.
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Tsbna44 makes a lot of good points about going with where your heart is. A lot of new information has been thrown at you, which may have given you food for thought and even altered your perspective. But in the end, you have to go with your gut.
I’m curious about something. Where is your best friend going to college? Your 2-3 best friends? Any girls you’re close to?
A lot of my friends are going to stony. Some of my closest friends are going to BU( I honestly might try to transfer to BU so I can rent an apartment wit em in Boston sophomore year), I know one at cooper union, one to RPI, and I think one more going to UIUC which i woulda went too if I could have afforded it.
They extended the deadline to may 15 so Ima wait until then to make anything final, maybe I grow to like rpi more by then who knows.
One thing that does concern me tho is that I have heard of a few anecdotes of rpi just randomly cutting fin aid for no apparent reason either their sophomore year or junior year.
Would you be able to afford BU?
At this point, there’s really nothing positive YOU find about RPI. What others think isn’t material. THEY are NOT going to be attending RPI and their thoughts in April 2021 will be cold comfort to you in November 2021.
Never choose a university with the intention of transferring (whether RPI or SB).
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If they give decent fin aid. I’ve heard good things about BU fin aid even for transfers.
I think you’re attaching too much weight to the college selections of your high school friends. It’s curious that BU, a notoriously expensive institution, has now entered the conversation, apparently only because friends are attending. Of course you should value your high school friendships, but the important ones will always remain intact. College should be a place to establish new, meaningful, and lasting friendships. Some kids are adamant that they want to attend a college that has no one else from their high school in attendance — with good reason.
As far as removal of scholarships in later years, I am aware this is a concern at quite a few places and not exclusive to RPI.
I would not be too jazzed about Troy, which may not be quite the pit it was years ago, but is nothing to write home about either, IMHO. I would be excited about RPI’s proximity to places like Saratoga, Lake George, and the Adirondacks. The Catskills are nice too. SBU is in a congested, overpriced, big-box distant NYC suburb that screams mediocrity and conformity. BU has the obvious best location of the three, but again, not sure how it entered the conversation.
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I just threw BU in there cuz my friends who were going were talking about it and the idea of transferring came up. Think of it as just a passing thought. If I apply as a transfer and get bad fin aid I just don’t go… not exactly the end of the world.
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nothing is the end of the world- but you are going to risk getting adjusted and falling in love with your college if you head out in August already making plans to transfer.
Why not decide to have a positive experience at SB???
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Random comments about RPI are red flags, but they’re not facts. Now that you’ve seen the red flag, you should contact RPI and find out what the facts are about your specific financial aid package, what guarantees it comes with and what uncertainties.
Just about every college retains the right to change need based financial aid if rhe family’s need changes, and the vast majority of merit awards come with a stipulation that the recipient must maintain a specific GPA.
A comment which characterized SB students as white Long Islanders, and which seems to have been removed, is completely baseless. If it matters to you, you can look it up.
Yeah … if anything all the “white long islanders” pick Binghamton 
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I think you do a lot of “I hear”…sounds like my kid.
As I always tell them, don’t ‘hear’ from others. Pick up the phone and ask. Perhaps what you’re hearing is someone losing aid due to missing a required GPA. Or their family income went up which will reduce need. Many people are in sales jobs and incomes fluctuate year to year.
Ask how or why this happens. Typically a scholarship (merit) is 4 years but has GPA requirements.
Some may even have major requirements. My son goes to Alabama. If he left engineering he’d lose $2500.
Call, ask questions, and get facts.
Otherwise you will run your life on hearsay. This is a lesson for life, not just this situation.
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OP, this is a factually unsupportable statement that you can safely disregard. The middle 50th standardized test scores at both schools are comparable, especially considering SB has twice as many Pell Grant recipients as RPI (35 to 18). A huge number of kids at SB are working- and lower-middle-class Asian, Black, and Latino graduates of NYC public high schools who are supremely interested in their studies and are at SB because it is affordable. Good luck with your choice.
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If you are going to hop skotch schools then go to community college. You go to a university with the intent of spending four years…well unless you are in a 3/2 program. If you walk in knowing you are leaving your experience will not be good. Dude it’s time to man up !! Pick your best fit. Love it. Go with it. Meet new kids. Gain new experiences. Time to move on from HS. The world awaits. And it’s an exciting place.
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Sorry Bill. Didn’t see your comment when I wrote mine. Yes you are spot on.
According to the US Dept of Education, only 1/3 of the students are white Americans, 1/4 are Asian American, 1/8 are Latin, 7% are African America, 14% are international, and the other 9% are eithe multiracial or unknown (whatever that is).
RPI does have 2+2 relationships with a bunch of CC’s (but not sure it’s that appealing).
The only facts you’ll get is the conditions for financial aid and even that could change yearly. Here’s the thing, anecdotally the people that went to RPI don’t have good things to say about it. And I know people that transferred for that very reason, to places mainly in the northeast, Colgate, UMass, Mount Holyoke, and they were much happier there and still able to reach their career goals. I went to HS in upstate NY, and the other colleges the kids went to like Vassar (local), Cornell, U Rochester, Williams, also tough academic schools, have a lot nicer things to say about their experience.
Maybe the people on this thread who went to RPI can counter that impression or you can go to the RPI board on CC to see the discussions there.
