<p>Now that S has been accepted, he is hearing good things about RPI and is thinking about a visit. He did an overnight "sleeping bag weekend" to Carnegie Mellon this fall, where he stayed in a dorm, went to classes, etc. Does RPI do anything like this? </p>
<p>What would be the best way to experience the school (beyond the standard campus tour?)</p>
<p>Thanks...
Do2</p>
<p>There is an Admitted Student's Open House in April and they did a very nice job. After an opening speech by Shirley Jackson, the president of RPI, they separated the students by the school they were admitted to and had a variety of panel discussions by professors and students. There were also tours of the dorms, dining halls and campus. I think I read that they were going to offer overnights this year (they have not in the past).</p>
<p>I think this year's accepted students' open house is on April 14. It's sort of late...but for us, if RPI is still in the running at that point, we'll probably try to go.</p>
<p>The Admitted Student's Open House was great. Even though students were not given the opportunity to sit on classes, professors and students were very accessible. My son spent close to an hour with a graduate student who discussed her research, gave a tour of the lab facilities and answered everyone's question. He had a chance to talk one-on-one with another student about his research. There were also representatives from many of the clubs. Rensselaer does a great job with their open houses - very well organized. My only complaint was that there was so much to do and we couldn't do everything we wanted to do. </p>
<p>During the summer, there is another orientation for students who have decided to attend and their parents. The program lasts two days and the students are separated from the parents during that time. That was phenomenal and I came away with a very positive feeling. There were panels from many different areas - safety, residence hall, dining services, computer, first year experience, etc. We had the chance to talk with current students, professors, met the student's advisor. It was during this time that the students chose their classes for the fall. They have a lot of programs available to freshmen to help them succeed at the school.</p>
<p>Oh, bad date. S will be doing his robotics thing in Atlanta that weekend, and there is no way he'd pass that up. </p>
<p>palermo-Thanks for the info about possible overnights at RPI. I think the CMU overnight visit was really helpful for S to get the flavor of the school that he/we didn't get on our first visit with just an admissions presentation and campus tour. The dorm stay and classes he attended let him visualize himself there. Maybe RPI does a better job on their visits, though, as one of S's friends fell in love with the place when she visited this fall.</p>
<p>Weenie--I peaked at your S's EA acceptance list--Wow! I assume you have a few RD schools, too? </p>
<p>It's pretty hard to read my S, but he has heard good things about RPI from maybe four different people lately, so I think he's getting more interested. The merit $ letter in Saturday's mail didn't hurt, either. </p>
<p>I'd like to visit RPI and maybe Case before the RD decisions come out if possible so we don't have to do everything at the last minute. I think it's going to be tough for us to schedule, though. Troy and Cleveland in February. Brrrr. Cheap Southwest flights, though!</p>
<p>Can anybody else share their experience visiting RPI?</p>
<p>Thanks,
Do2</p>
<p>My son got his RD acceptance to RPI's Engineering School in November. He also is awaiting RD decisions from several more schools including CMU. He and I toured the RPI campus last February on a gray, raw day but the school left such a positive impression on my son. He is a quiet kid but was taking in all kinds of things as we walked around. Troy is not the nicest place and the campus is OK with a mix of older brick buildings and a few very high tech brand new ones. My son did not pay attention to the physical campus that much, more interested in other aspects.</p>
<p>One impression he came away with was that the students were down to earth, friendly and really seemed to like their school. The other impression was that, at least for engineering students anyway, there was a collaborative approach to studies and lab projects. We looked in on a few classrooms where students were in small groups working on projects together. The tour guide emphasized this learning approach as we walked around. This is great preparation for an engineering career where so many real world projects are given to engineering teams to work on. My son seems to particularly enjoy this kind of team approach in high school and found that aspect of RPI very appealing. I think the other impression we got was that the school really cares about the students. Not too big or impersonal. As a parent, I have a very good feeling about RPI.</p>
<p>My son has not yet received his merit award letter and he has several more "reach type" schools to hear from. Even so, he says if he did not get accepted to any more schools from here on in, he would be happy to go to RPI. And I would be happy for him to go there even if he got in to ALL of his "reach type" schools. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Dad o 2:
This is our second time through, and both my kids are procastinators, so I made son #2 do things really early. The only RD school he has left to hear from is Rochester Institute of Technology.</p>
<p>I just looked to see if I ever did a trip report on RPI and couldn't find one. (I also looked for a trip report for CMU, which I'm pretty sure I did, but I don't see it. He didn't even apply there due to the very small amount of merit money they give out.) We visited RPI in the winter of his junior year. We were the only visitors that day - so it was quite a personalized event! ;) It was the first school my son looked at - and he still likes it a lot. He likes the whole "tech" thing - I prefer the more well-rounded university thing. Alas, it isn't me that's going.</p>
<p>My kid is basically "up for auction." We don't really qualify for financial aid, so we are banking on (pardon the pun) merit offers. I'd like to keep all expenses for him around $25-$28/year. Hence the rather long and predictable college list. No reach schools on it at all. </p>
<p>He has offers in hand from Ohio Univ, Worcester, and Northeastern. We'll see how the money shakes out come April and then he'll make a decision. </p>
<p>We too still have visits to make! And they are REALLY hard to schedule - especially because we've done all the easy ones. Ha! We will really try to get to Ohio Univ (Athens Oh) for sure. Rose-Hulman, maybe, if they give him any money. Purdue we haven't visited, but we'll probably skip at this point (same price as Pitt and 1000 times more inconvenient). Northeastern we are trying to go back to again for their Feb 24th event.</p>
<p>Any dog sitters out there??? <em>sigh</em></p>
<p>I believe if you call the admissions office and ask for an extended visit those do happen. Either way just calling admissions will answer all of those questions for you.</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure RPI is starting to have overnight programs this year for accepted students.</p>
<h2>As a current RPI undergrad, I got the following email in the first week of December. So, it looks like this kind of thing is being planned. I signed up to host and be contacted.</h2>
<p>I hope you are having an amazing first semester here at RPI! Rensselaer is hot these days (New Ivy, PACE gift, CCNI Supercomputer.) and interest in attending is also VERY high (our Early Decision applications grew over 120% this year, for example). Admissions needs YOU to help capitalize on this strong interest.</p>
<p>As you may remember, there is no better way to enjoy and experience a perspective school than spending it visiting classes, talking to students on-line, staying overnight and socializing with the students. This year, we would like to host admitted students on the campus. If you love it here and would be willing to share your excitement about RPI with a perspective student by hosting them or if you are willing to be contacted by a "pre-frosh" about your experience here, please fill out this short form so we can match you up</p>
<p>For what it's worth...</p>
<p>My son is a freshman at RPI, and let me say as an aside, loving it. But back to the question at hand. RPI started out very low on his list after our initial visit. Troy is not the beautiful college town that many other colleges are situated in. Nor is it the bustling big city (e.g. Boston) providing lots of excitement. On this particular trip, we went up to Burlington Vermont the day before, then the next day were stopping in Troy. Well, we pulled in and my son said 'lets go home'. But we stopped. </p>
<p>We attended the start of their normal senior student visit program in the early fall of his senior year and after that, he said that it didn't sound like the place for him (too much 'hard work / we only accept the best') so we left. We didn't do the tour.</p>
<p>But as we did research about programs, RPI wouldn't fall off the list. After acceptances were in, we went on overnight trips to five schools (it was a busy spring, as each one was in a different state). Each school handled it differently. (Georgia Tech, I have to say, had the best, most organized program). We didn't make the RPI 'accepted students' date, so we organized our own visit, as we did at a couple other schools. To tell you the truth, I think that by organizing our own visit, he received a lot more attention. (I doubt that the schools would advocate each candidate coming on their own, but we got to pick what was important to us to hear and tailor our visit.) We met with the admissions people, we met with the department that he was interested in, we STILL didn't do a tour, and we went on a day when there were some student activities in the evening for his dept. THAT's what made him decide that RPI was the place for him. First, he got to hear what the club was doing, they included him in their discussions, they spent time talking about the program and he was sold. At each school, we figured out a way to get him hooked up with a student for an overnight. </p>
<p>As we drove away, he knew that RPI was his choice. </p>
<p>My sense now that he's been there for a semester:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The students are great. He has easily made friends, starting at the orientation in the summer. I think the student body is a nice size, as we walked across campus this fall, he'd see others that he knew on a regular basis. Apparently there are kids that are intent on playing video games / staying connected to their computers all day. But that's not the majority. My son has made good friends with the others on his floor, they have a great time, are talking about getting an apartment next year, and IM'd throughout the Christmas break. </p></li>
<li><p>Troy doesn't factor into the student experience much (at least so far). The students seem to find lots to do on campus. There are social and competitive athletics, great singing and improv groups, a Greek system for those interested, great skiing, and academic clubs. In addition, there is a bus service that takes them to the mall or WalMart or the movies when they need to get out. There are lots of 'silly college experiences' that have occurred. I'd love to share some, but I don't want to be called out. But these kids like to have fun as well as study.</p></li>
<li><p>They have a great orientation in the fall. For almost a week, they participate in Freshman Orientation. Now if you ask my son, he'll say that many of the activities were 'corny', but it got them all out participating and meeting others. </p></li>
<li><p>Oh, academics. I know, that's a big reason why they are there, right? Back to our initial experience. My son is perhaps a little off the norm. He's not a real competitive person. So being 'the best' or working the hardest doesn't necessarily appeal to him. However, he does have a mission for his education. RPI seems to be able to fulfill that. He's happy so far with the academics. Many of the other kids are pretty driven. They talk about double majors and specializations. Some seem to be having a pretty easy time with their classes. On the flip side, the school does pay attention to grades the first year and intervenes if students are having difficulties. </p></li>
<li><p>There is a 'girl' issue. We heard the story at a couple of the tech schools that since many of the males were stuck in their rooms with their computers, that left the ratio of 'eligible girls' and 'eligible guys' much more even that you'd think. Well...my son is still working on this one.</p></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>I apologize if this is too much information. But it gave me a chance to reflect. Thanks for reading.</p>
<p>Apple17, thanks for such a great report! I am going to have my son read it.
( He has been accepted already but waits to hear from some other schools). My older son attends UVM in Burlington VT so I can just imagine how you felt driving into Troy after being in Burlington. But my younger son is looking past the town and even the campus a bit when he forms his opinion about RPI. I know that with both my sons, all the campus tours and info sessions started to blur. They felt they got their best sense of things walking around and seeing how students looked/acted and in talking to them. When my older son went to Accepted Students Day at UVM he looked around at the kids going back and forth between classes and said "I can picture myself here." My younger son has said the same about RPI. He is a very focused student but he loves his down time and wants a student body that does the same. He is looking for academics with a hard working but collaborative spirit. Some of the larger engineering schools he has looked at give off a more "sink or swim" vibe. It is good to read the types of thoughts you have given us about RPI.</p>
<p>jdasmom,</p>
<p>My son tends to learn best when working with other students as well. I know that he found others to study with during his first semester, mostly right on his floor. For one of his classes, he didn't know anyone else in the class, but somehow he had befriended an upperclassman who had taken the course previously. I know that in the final weeks, he would get together with this other student to go over problems and make sure he understood the material. I thought that was awfully nice of the other kid, imagining that he had his own classes to work on.</p>
<p>The school emphasizes the 'Freshman Experience'. They watch all the freshman grades and do try to help struggling students. There are 'learning assistants' in the dorms, there are TA's for the classes, there are group tutoring / study sessions (the kids can go for help or go to find others to form a study group) for the freshman classes and the 'first year' office will step in and help if there are still issues, if the student wants. </p>
<p>I know that he's already had 'team projects' and they seemed to work pretty well. Some friends in industry say that RPI is known for producing graduates that know how to 'do' things, not just the theory. So they must have many projects and collaboration. </p>
<p>I also know that everyone's experience is different, any maybe if he got in a group of really competitive kids, things would be different. But that's not who he is, so I think he seeks / attracts others that are more collaborative and fun. There are also the kids there that don't need to work at all, they are really bright and seem to have breezed through the first semester. We'll see where they are four years from now.</p>
<p>Ok, I think I'm rambling now...back to work!</p>
<p>Thanks to everybody for your responses. Clearly we need to visit, and will probably have to wait until April (should be warmer by then!).</p>
<p>D2</p>
<p>Dad'o'2: Don't know where your from, but if your son is not used to the weather in the northeast, February may be a good time to visit. The wind chills today make the temperature feel as though it is below zero. The school is on a hill overlooking the Hudson River and there can be quite a cold breeze blowing. Freshman typically live on Freshman Hill which is not too far from many of the academic buildings.</p>
<p>Brr. I understand. We're in Maryland, and it was 15 degrees and windy this morning. I'm sure it is much worse there all winter long, though.</p>
<p>I would completely agree with apple17s son. Everything that was said was correct. The only thing I havent had an issue with is the "girl" factor. Of course I am a second year student and I hang out with kids from all of the area schools so that might have an affect as well. Thanks for the great write up though...it's always nice to hear about other people enjoying it here too!</p>
<p>i'm visiting 2/4 sun. Any RPI students like to meet up.</p>
<p>highflyer, what major are you looking into at RPI and what other colleges are you looking at?
I'm a freshman working on my BS in Computer and Systems Engineering. If you'd like I think I'll be free next Sunday if you want to see the campus from a non-tour guide point of view.
Feel free to talk to me on AIM. There's a link to my SN at left. Just mention who you are if you IM me.</p>
<p>OK, an update regarding overnight visits. I signed up with Admissions today as an overnight host. Seems that it will be for accepted HS seniors who love at least ~150 miles from campus. Letters and forms about the program should have been / should be sent out and then you send it back to Admissions.</p>
<p>Some forms have already been received back by Admissions and they are working on scheduling the guests/hosts.</p>