Hi, I just found out I was waitlisted from RPI. I saw an article (here: https://poly.rpi.edu/2017/04/05/rpi_receives_record_number_of_applications/) that said only 4 people out of 2,500 were admitted off the waitlist last year. I was accepted into the University of Rochester, but tuition is much more expensive there. I have a feeling I won’t get much in the way of financial aid because my family’s annual income is >$100k, but nevertheless I don’t want to bill my parents with an extravagant tuition. Also I think RPI offers more opportunities considering I want to study CS.
I already sent an email to the RPI admissions office and called them. What else should I do?
@underscoreone What is your safety?
@gearmom I haven’t heard back from many colleges yet, but out of the schools that have accepted me I’ll probably go to UR. I don’t like having my parents pay the high tuition, but it would probably be better than attending a public univ.
@underscoreone Are your parents O’k with that? What is your home state and major? We have a 175k a year income and I would not be super happy about close to full pay.
@gearmom They just say “we’ll fund you as much as you need.” I don’t feel comfortable taking so much money from them though.
@underscoreone I think its really admirable that you are thinking about this. But, there comes a point where you have to trust your parents when they tell you its OK. If you have a less expensive option, great. But if not, just remember to let them know how grateful you are. Trust me, as a parent, I know how much it means when your kids let you know that.
@underscoreone You should put in an application at UMass Amherst, see you get for $. It is very well known for AI. Visit. Meet the professors
@gearmom Even better than RPI?
@underscoreone Let’s bring in an expert.
@PengsPhils OP is accepted to UR (high cost), waitlisted RPI and accepted to UMass Amherst. What is your opinion about quality for AI for those three?
In my experience/opinion (for all of this), for CS and generally AI (not getting into the nitty-gritty), RPI and UMass Amherst are at a similar level - UMass is more known by research reputation and spreads a bit better nationally, but the difference is negligible. URochester is solid but a tier below for CS/AI. Still a good tier above many others though and is generally a great school that tops the others mentioned in non-technical areas easily.
It seems like the OP didn’t apply to UMass if I am reading correctly though, right? If they did, then I say add yourself to the waitlist but I would go UMass/RPI based on fit - visit both and go from there type deal. If UMass isn’t an option, then it seems like it’s just a matter of waiting it out for RPI and defaulting to UR which again is a plenty fine option, academically speaking. Financials of course are the other consideration.
My D was admitted to both UR and RPI and the financial aid/merit awards were about the same, UR was only slightly better by a few thousand. If you come off the RPI waitlist, your cost to attend RPI may be similar to UR.
@PengsPhils OP has been accepted to UMass and is awaiting merit award. I know it is confusing because OP has several threads. But UMass could be 100k (over four years) less than UR. Seems like an obvious choice considering you think UMass and RPI are better than UR for CS/AI. @underscoreone
Oh yeah, absolutely UMass Amherst then. @underscoreone
I’d like to offer another solution to the OP about getting into RPI. If all else fails and you really want to get in then consider [this link](Admissions - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - Acalog ACMS™) in the middle of the page.
Look at the sections for
Two-Year College Affiliated Program and Four-Year Affiliated College Engineering Program.
You can save tens of thousands of dollars going to RPI this way and you will get the exact same diploma either way.
TLDR;
If URoch is too costly and RPI waitlisted you just keep busy and apply again after you have a few credits under your belt.
@gearmom I just found out I got 14k in merit aid (per year) from UMass. I’m definitely strongly leaning towards it now. I assume if I get admitted off the RPI waitlist I won’t get too much merit aid.
Does anyone know how the internship opportunities at UMass would compare to RPI, though? I know that RPI is well-established in industry and its career fairs attract a lot of big-name tech companies; what about UMass?
To answer the Umass internship question it would be best to ask in their forum. Umass is a very name worthy school so if you can get in that’s great. You should definitely visit though as I found that it was too big for what my son was looking for and that’s the only reason he didn’t want to apply. As for RPI’s internship some information can be found [url=<a href=“https://rpi.edu/dept/cdc/Co-op%20Salaries.pdf%5Dhere.%5B/url”>https://rpi.edu/dept/cdc/Co-op%20Salaries.pdf]here.[/url]
As far as I’ve seen, they are pretty equal in that department - both will show up at top tech companies and have lots of strong recruiting connections with companies in the northeast region in particular.
@DadTwoGirls can add more to this I believe.
@underscoreone Really, I think they all have job fairs and I’m sure the Boston tech corridor companies haunt UMass to scoop up the best candidates. So you are at about 27k-28k a year for UMass? What a deal for a great education.
My DD got into both RPI and Umass Amherst, she got 29 k a year Merit from RPI and 0 Merit from Umass Amherst. We are in-state so Umass Amherst is still cheaper for us. She will be studying Biomedical Engineering. She is not sure what to do … Can anyone compare the two programs?
We are in the exact same situation! She just got rejected from NEU, so the choices are dwindling.