<p>How much of a dump is Troy?</p>
<p>How bad is the ratio, when you exclude guys who couldn't get a girl if their "make install" depended on it, and girls who couldn't get a guy if their.... life? depended on it.</p>
<p>How strong is RPI in other areas, like business?</p>
<p>How many places are there to go out and have fun?</p>
<p>What's the typical guy/girl student?</p>
<p>Where should I go to college?</p>
<p>I have friends that go to RPI and I've been to the campus.. uhh.. I'll try and give you my impressions of it. It'd be better if a current student posted here:</p>
<p>-Troy is a ghetto. You don't want to walk around the city alone at night... RPI's campus is great though.</p>
<p>-The ratio is pretty bad. I remember reading somewhere that 80% of the campus is male, and 80% of the 20% female are male. I think it's blown a bit out of proportion because an all girl's school, Russell Sage, is like a minute away.</p>
<p>-RPI has a strong business school.. Lally.. it's ranked like 50-something in the nation... but RPI is mainly a tech school.</p>
<p>-Ehh.. it's a geeky school, but you'll find pretty much every social clique there.</p>
<p>-Where you should go to college should be a long evaluation by you. I can't answer that.</p>
<p>How much of a dump is Troy?</p>
<p>Downtown is pretty ****ty, there's pretty much only one place street to go to, 4th street. Theres a few pizza shops there, and a bar and a club across the street from eachother. Other than that there isn't much that you'll be doing in Troy. The areas around RPI are mostly residential so they're not too bad, lot of decent places for off campus apartments.</p>
<p>How bad is the ratio, when you exclude guys who couldn't get a girl if their "make install" depended on it, and girls who couldn't get a guy if their.... life? depended on it.</p>
<p>Ratio is bad, I don't know what you would expect, it is an engineering school. Plenty of guys that would rather sit in on a friday and play LAN games than go out to a party or hang out with girls, but there are plenty of girls that are also like that. Most girls that you'd want to do, attractive, outgoing, etc. end up in relationships fairly quickly. Russell Sage helps slightly, but its not big enough to help a lot. It's also not really that easy to meet Sagies, it's not likely they're on campus, or in your classes or anything. Only way to really meet them is if they come up to a party or downtown at the bars. </p>
<p>How strong is RPI in other areas, like business?
Lally school is very very strong business school, which has been getting better and better. Their entrepreneurship program was just ranked 6th in the country. Most of their sciences programs are very good too. If you want to be a Psych major, I wouldn't recommend coming here.</p>
<p>How many places are there to go out and have fun?
There are 4 clubs/bars downtown.
The Ruck, The Hudson Duster, El Dorado, Eldas. Eldas and El Dorado are the only two that are 18+ to get into, the others are 21+ only. I generally stick to El Dorado when I'm going downtown, but sometimes go to Eldas because there are generally more females there. There is also a very large greek system, I think like 30-35% of campus. I think there are 28 or so fraternities, so even if you've never thought of going greek there are a lot of different houses, so you might have a fit there. Lot of parties go on at the fraternities on campus.</p>
<p>What's the typical guy/girl student?
It's really hard to nail down the typical student, tons of different people. There are the super nerdy unadjusted types. There are the normal types, who would probably be considered a bit nerdy at another school, just because they actually know about computers. You'll find kids that are into music and bands, the plays, sports whatever. </p>
<p>Where should I go to college?
Where'd you get in? What do you want to get out of college? What do you want to study?</p>
<p>Troy is the 'hood. It's really rundown, cold, snowy, and too dangerous. RPI campus is really viewtiful tho.
Ratio: 76% male (and probably 76% of the reported 24% female is actually male).
Business is regarded pretty lame around here. At a tech school where about 85% majors in engineering/science, management major is pretty much what ppl do when they can't do engineering or science. Only 6% here does management in undergrad (and that's mostly the hockey team).
Places to have fun?? No, and stop crying (unless you're like me and interested by the snowy ghetto for some weird reason). You might think Albany cuz its the NY capital, but Albany has less than 100000 ppl, and aside from like 3 high rise buildings, the rest is more rundown and dangerous than Troy (compare crime rates).
Typical guy/girl student: Most guys here are geeks, whether they look it or not. Ppl talk grades all day. You might find some ppl in, say, the gym, that look normal, until they say "work = force x distance" as they lift weights (true story, i heard this). Typical girl here is either an athlete, and either tall, fat, jacked, or some horrible combo of those, or just really nerdy (you find about one hot girl per 500 students).
Where should you go to college? Not here, if you want a fun time. But go here if you want good scientific/technical education in a small, nurturing environment.</p>
<p>If the guy/girl ratio is horrible, and the city's a dump what is/are the main reason(s) a guy would go to RPI?</p>
<p>It's one of the best tech schools around. It's small and undergraduate oriented and really focused on science and engineering, and if you're looking into those fields, you will love studying here, even though the workload is pretty rough, but that should be expected. Personally, I wouldn't want too many girls at college, because it could be distracting. And also, and this is really personally, I like how this area is really rundown and bitter cold, and snowy. I come from Boston, so I am experienced with snow. But it is cold and rundown, and that interests me for some weird reason.</p>
<p>Yeah, that's it. It is one of the top engineering schools, all of the facilities are absolutely top notch.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any idea why a girl would go here? It sounds like it's cold, full of guys, has no social life outside the school, and only for students intersted in computers. I'm interested in biology, am definitly a girl, and have been accepted for next year. Is this a mistake? Is there really nothing to do on campus? If the male/female ratio is what you say it is, and 76% of the females are male too, it doesn't make it very appealing to me!</p>
<p>Well biology is a hard science, and hard sciences are strong at RPI. If ppl intend to major in an engineering or a hard science, you're doing good by thinking about coming here. Otherwise, please don't come here. You're making a mistake for yourself, and you're lowering the school's rep.</p>
<h2>quote</h2>
<h2>Does anyone have any idea why a girl would go here? It sounds like it's cold, full of guys, has no social life outside the school, and only for students intersted in computers. I'm interested in biology, am definitly a girl, and have been accepted for next year. Is this a mistake? Is there really nothing to do on campus? If the male/female ratio is what you say it is, and 76% of the females are male too, it doesn't make it very appealing to me!</h2>
<p>I'll try to answers these one by one.</p>
<p>It is cold, but not too much different than any other school in the Northeast, the climate isn't that far off from Boston.</p>
<p>The social life here is what you make of it, I have a very active social life, I'm hanging out drinking, partying, going to bars or whatever every friday or saturday night. And it's also much easier for girls to have a social life than guys, they always get into all the bars and parties, there is a decent greek life. 3 big sororities on campus, which include most of the more normal girls not the computer nerds.</p>
<p>Well if you're a female I'm not sure why the ratio bothers you too much, Bio classes are much more girls than guys, you'll have plenty of friends who are girls and you won't have a problem meeting guys.</p>
<p>If you have specific questions about the school or the social life, send me an IM at BosSox1985 on AIM.</p>
<p>I actually am from Stoneham, MA, which is about 7 miles North of Boston, and the temperature in the winter is about 10-15 deg colder than my area. Snow is about the same.</p>
<p>One thing that you may have noticed from the previous posts is that everyone seems to have the same opinions. One typical thing that happens to an RPI freshman is they get sucked into the attitudes that have been established on campus for years such as troy sucks, rpi sucks, the ratio sucks... etc etc... In actuality, having graduated last year, there is quite a bit going on on campus and in the surrounding areas. RPI has TONS of clubs, a huge party scene compared to many of the schools in the surrounding areas, and a tighter knit community. Granted... it has far to go... but many changes on campus and in the city I have witnessed personally in the 5 years that I have now resided in Troy. Visit and see for yourself what it has to offer and don't get sucked into negative attitudes. There is definitly something for most people and you'll get an excellent education.</p>
<p>About that huge party scene thing... as a girl coming from New York City in an area where the party scene is HUGE... how will Troy match up? I don't party a lot but I want to know if I'll still see the same drunken tards stroll on by. :| </p>
<p>And by more dangerous... if Troy more dangerous than Bushwick or Bedford-Stuyvesant? If anyone knows what those places are... And if dangerous = higher proportion of minorities then a recheck is in order. Is it more dangerous than New York City basically?</p>
<p>I want to go to RPI because I love science and math (and by all means it is the only thing I am good at >_>) and I love to build computers and other electronics :<</p>
<p>Is it a good school for someone who actually go to a high school (Brooklyn Technical High School) that specialized in that?</p>
<p>We joke that my son, a freshman, as more fun than the whole family combined. There's so much to do at RPI that your social life is what you make of it. Most seems to be on campus, though there are trips to Albany for concerts, etc. The clubs run by the union are incredibly diverse and become what the students make of them. </p>
<p>He is on a coed hall and has a wonderful coed group of friends on the hall, all of whom seem like very normal people. Frats appear to be the party scene, but he's not into that crowd. The old stereo type is that the ratio is 50/50 once you remove the gamer addicts. Seriously, each year seems better and better on the ratio and it is about 30% now.</p>
<p>Sushiserv, I'm currently attending RPI and I'm also from New York City. Troy is dangerous at night if you walk alone, but that's a given. Make sure to walk in a group or you're asking for it. Crime does occur, but it's mostly off campus so you'll be able to sleep peacefully at night knowing you're safe. Public safety is a great help as they're active and patrol the area. In the end, I'd say Troy is safer than NYC, but that's really not saying much.</p>
<p>I came to RPI for the technical education and so far it's been great. I've taken intro level courses and two of my major courses, which I loved. Then again, that's why it's my major. It's been good so far and I hope to learn a lot more.</p>
<p>The social scene is really what you make of it. Honestly, that's really all I can say and it's been pretty good so far. You can't expect people to just be friends with you- you have to make the effort. I haven't been to any parties yet, but a lot of my floor mates seem to enjoy them a lot :O</p>
<p>It's a great school for someone who wants to specialize in a science or engineering field. I've been enjoying it and although I have quite a few qualms about the school, the positives outweigh them. Btw, I know a specialized high school student like you will enjoy RPI because I'm one as well- I went to Stuyvesant :D</p>
<p>Why does everyone say the business program is a joke? How about you give it a try? I am a business major doing the accelerated law program in combination with law school and it is no joke. In fact, I know people who transferred from the business school to engineering because they could not hack it. Don't just assume it is easy.... We are ranked #1 in corporate strategy, #5 in business calculus, #26 overall, and #6 in entrepreneurship. These rankings are probably even better than engineering. I'm sorry, but I get annoyed when people say business is a joke.... In fact, I help some of my fellow engineers with their homework. I don't know how the business program was in the past, but right now it is becoming one of the best in the entire country.</p>
<p>^ That maybe 'cause your friends are special cases, some people may have trouble with the business curriculum and are more oriented towards math. In general though a business/managment major at RPI will be easier to attain then say a EE degree or a ChemE degree. The subject is generally less rigorous and it is a accepted notion within the community and even some staff.</p>
<p>Also the first few posts were overly pessimistic about the campus, I'm a current freshman and like the other dude said, most other freshman just buy into the lamenting of "ooh man the ratio sucks, social scene here sucks" as an excuse for their own inability to find something other than video games. If you are remotely socially adept you'll have no problem finding parties. Usually frats like the Zoo, Sig Ep etc. will have some parties for you to go to, and other than that you'll find plenty of other stuff to do.</p>
<p>If you want a good job as a engineer or scientist, you should consider RPI, also like the guy above me said, the business school is not to shabby either.</p>
<p>pitpatil -- You are absolutely right about the first few posts on this topic......except you sugar coat. These were not "overly pessimistic" comments they were disrespectful, ugly and would be exactly the reason why I would encourage my daughter to stay far away from RPI. If the early posters are typical RPI male students then there is plenty of reason for young women not to attend. These are not postings of mature young men they sound like sexist rants of immature boys that I would not want for my daughter to socialize with on any level.......very disrespectful towards women. </p>
<p>After reading about the RPI President and the strong science curriculum I am hoping that these immature boys are not typical RPI men and will encourage my daughter to attend assuming she is accepted which I'm confident that she will be.....she loved her visit and if we can afford to send her here......she'll be there. As of now she's had many other offers and we'll need to compare all of the options.</p>
<p>You must remember that these boards have only probably 5 real RPI students (as freshmen right now and higher). Generalizing the male population on behalf of communication with 3 out of the thousand freshmen isn't all too great, these people represent less than a percent of men at RPI.</p>
<p>Postings online also tend to be a little more blunt due to the very limited restrictions, it is very unlikely that they would act that way when confronted in real life.</p>
<p>I'm got accepted to RPI, I'm a pretty good person, and I'm a guy.</p>
<p>JoshuaGuit -- Exactly! I'm sure typical male RPI students are intelligent, fine young men.</p>