<p>Coming from a freshman just about to finish his first year here,</p>
<p>Unless you plan to study all day or join a gaming club, this place may be a horrible choice for you.</p>
<p>I would say that coming to RPI is the single worst decision of life. The social scene is awful. Tons of kids who seem completely socially incompetent. Classes here can be obnoxiously hard, the average gpa is around 3.0.</p>
<p>That along with the fact that we're actually not that highly ranked kills your opportunity for higher education and some jobs.</p>
<p>Know the retention rate that they brag about? It's because our grades are too low to get out.</p>
<p>The place is pretty Depressing..I've made quite a few "normal" friends and most of them hate it here. Those who have the gpa are waiting for their transfer news, and those who don't are just screwed. </p>
<p>There's almost nothing to do on campus or even in troy. All the clubs that the school brags about having? Most of them have just a few regulars. Some sports ones don't get enough people to even hold games.</p>
<p>If you are fine with doing nothing but studying or playing video games all day, you'll love it here.</p>
<p>If you have other interests, I can almost promise you you'll Have much more fun in another school. The campus seems dead during the daytime and has a truly depressing aura around it.</p>
<p>If I could remake a single decision in my life, it'll be not coming to rpi.</p>
<p>For the note, I'm not depressed or sick. I'm also ranked around top third of the class to date so I'm not failing out either. But really, it sucks here.</p>
<p>What a depressing post. You would hardly know that this is the same school where my freshman daughter is having the time of her life. She could not be happier really. She participates in sports and several clubs, never plays video games and is out all the time being sociable.</p>
<p>So a couple of thoughts.
- If you are in the upper third of your class at RPI, you are far from stuck. You could transfer to about 90% of the schools out there with no problem.
- If you do stay, you need to change your attitude and approach. Bering miserable is a choice and there are several thousand kids around you that are having a great time and making the most of their college experience. Maybe you didn’t find your ideal social circle this year, but next year is a new deal with 25% turnover in the student populace. Go out and give it a go and you may find that it will be much better next year.</p>
<p>The original post is crazy. My son just finished his 3rd year at RPI, is 1.5 semesters away from a BS in Chem Eng and an MS in Mech Engr. He plays two clubs sports including club ice hockey where the comittment is quite large. He has friends, goes out to parties and bars(now that he is 21) and occasionally will play an Xbox game with friends. And he has a great Summer Internship at GE Energy in Schenectady this summer. Most of his Ice hockey Teamates get great jobs after graduating and enjoyed their 4 or 5 years.</p>
<p>My daughter is finishing her first year, and couldn’t be happier. Yes, the coursework is challenging, but with reasonable effort, she’s been on the Dean’s List and still had time for a club, sorority, and social life. </p>
<p>I guess that every student’s experiences are unique, but I don’t believe that the poster represents all or even most RPI students.</p>
<p>The title of this thread needs to be changed from “The Cold Truth About RPI” to “One Student’s Opinion”. No matter what college you look at, you are going to have students who end up unhappy with negative opinions. However, I want to assure anyone reading this thread, that my daughter and her friends (also RPI students), are very happy with their decision to attend RPI.</p>
<p>STEM schools in general are crazy hard work, have less grade inflation, and also happen to attract a fair number of gamers. Sounds like you wouldn’t have been happy at most of the STEM schools I can name, not just RPI. Maybe you should have picked a larger college with a more diverse student population. Or you should transfer to one. STEM-focused schools are not for every student, even those who want to major in a STEM subject.</p>
<p>this thread shows that at virtually every school, there will be unhappy students who made a bad choice and are intent on blaming the school for their unhappiness rather than themselves.</p>
<p>XinzeLi – Can you get a research project with a professsor? My kids focus on part time jobs, music, reading and the gym. Glad we banned xbox from our home. All engineering schools are a grind. </p>
<p>I visited RPI two summers ago with my son who was interested in the school. When we toured the campus I remember seeing someone had scrawled a note on a whiteboard in one of the buildings (probably the engineering center). It said:</p>
<p>“Thanks RPI it’s been a great 4 years - I’ll miss you! (name) Class of '12” </p>
<p>I was so touched my eyes misted up, and I realized my son would be happy at RPI even if I wasn’t thrilled with the city of Troy. He ultimately chose a different school for mostly academic reasons, but RPI was always a contender. </p>
<p>XinzeLi I’ve met parents whose students never settled into college until their sophomore year, but then they were very happy after that. I also have friends whose kids knew within the first year that they’d picked the wrong school and decided to transfer. You should think hard about whether you can overcome your current dissatisfaction. RPI is great for some students but it may not be right for you. </p>
<p>I also wonder if perhaps you and your small group of friends are feeding each other’s negative experiences such that it’s harder to find happiness at RPI. If you decide to stay, or must stay for some reason, maybe you can form a group to create a new club or something - you might find other students looking to have fun that doesn’t involve video games. Good luck to you! </p>
<p>Let me add my voice to the chorus; RPI is a highly regarded engineering school. I was in Troy last weekend with a buddy to visit his freshman Materials Science kid. The restaurant we ate at in downtown Troy in the late afternoon was packed…full of young people. Clearly some people are enjoying themselves at RPI and in Troy.</p>
RPI is great - watch out for Women’s Soccer though - check out the coach before deciding to play there.
I am a third year student at RPI. I was reading XinzeLi’s post and much of what he was saying was ringing true. I was a little bit surprised to see that all of the replying posts where in disagreement. As I feel strongly about the matter, I’ve made my first college confidential account to post on this thread.
I will preface by affirming that RPI is a very strong engineering school and that employers are even willing to forgive less-than-stellar GPAs on account of RPI’s grade deflation being so severe. The rigorous coursework and group projects will teach undergraduates how to endure, work hard, and get things done. It’s very good preparation for the real world (jobs in engineering or compute science). RPI’s motto is “Knowledge and Thoroughness” after all.
The course work is brutal - RPI turns students into hard workers or drops them. I know enough people who couldn’t handle it and left. To be fair, there are ample tutoring resources to help students cope. But there is no getting around doing the hard work.
It is definitely true that RPI has a very odd atmosphere around it. Many of the students spend too much time playing video games or watching anime. In general, anyone who isn’t on a sports team is at least a little bit eccentric. The skewed male-to-female ratio and the awkwardness of the social scene leave too many guys single. Also, it’s very difficult to have a social life without joining a fraternity or joining a sports team.
It is true that Troy is unpleasant and that most RPI students don’t leave campus. There is a strictly enforced divide – for security reasons – between Troy and RPI.
I have noticed a trend that socially inept students that tend to stick to studying hard and indulging in their (usually nerdy) hobbies tend to excel.
On the other hand, students that have good social skills, and are quick-mouthed or streetwise have a terrible time. The social scene is just that bad and the coursework can be stifling. The best escape is by joining a sports team or frat– I’ve seen several of my peers weathering it out in this manner.
To summarize, if your child is not described by the words “quirky”, “nerdy”, or “geeky” even a little bit, don’t send them to RPI. Although, this level of quirkiness is to be expected of a tech school, perhaps the fact that “normal” students struggle within this strange setting is a bit less known. Still, RPI works wonders for certain types. My best friend was always the awkward type (and still is!) in high school. He’s also at RPI and is having a great time. He easily landed an internship in AT&T and is in a solid relationship. He and his girlfriend (a sophomore at RPI) play online games and watch anime together.
To the people complaining about social life, you clearly have made very crappy attempts to make friends here.
Your comment about how socially inept students excel here is completely false. The smartest people I know are athletes or involved in greek life where the motto is “work hard play hard”. In my opinion, the socially inept students seem to do the worst because they get so caught up in playing video games they fail to prioritize their schedule and always end up doing poorly. I know more than probably 10 examples of this occurring.
People, please do not listen to a couple of angry students who are salty that a social life and grades aren’t given to them sway your opinions. There are a decent amount of socially inept people here, but plenty of normal and social kids here too. The reality is the really nerdy kids you rarely see because they never leave their rooms.