<p>I got accepted to RPI, and it is in my top three schools. I plan to focus on studying, but what is the nightlife like at RPI? What is there to do for non-drinkers? Do people go into Troy alot? Are there good restaurants nearby?</p>
<p>My son is opting UCBerkeley over RPI and some of what you are concerned influenced his decision, but not entirely. Even if the excitement of Manhattan were present at RPI, there’s still the California weather factor which is tough to over-look, not to mention one cannot get more left than UCBerkeley, which suits him just fine.</p>
<p>What are your other options? I’d go for Georgia Tech before RPI and Carnegie Mellon before RPI, and some how Atlanta is more appealing than Pittsburgh, and then there’s Cleveland’s Case Western: all eastern weather, but some with more happenining culturally than Troy, NY. Could be a good thing, a great thing to be in Troy at RPI: if you think long-term, benefitting the most from your education, grad school, internships jobs. Check out where the grads from your three schools are headed to help you decide.</p>
<p>rather than shows, bars, art, clubs, you might be happy socializing with your school chums. There’ll be some where to go for college kids, even in Troy. And you’ll likely have more friends at a smaller school in a smaller town. RPI is a great choice for having to be back East. Congratulations! Do well at RPI in Troy.</p>
<p>Oh, is Rose Hulman one of your options? It’s supposed to be the best, the best for ugrad engineers. In Indiana somewhere. At RPI or RH you will be showered with attention, that other ugrads won’t at a large teaching U, such as CAL, or any other: definite downside. Enjoy! RPI is so fabulous that even we hicks in Nevada have heard of it. You’ve done well.</p>
<p>My other top choices are Villanova and the University of Rochester, but I also got into Georgia Tech and other schools. I’m looking for a smaller school that profs give undergrads attention, unlike big schools. I would love for students to give me their view of the school.</p>
<p>There is no college town, no coffee shops, very few restaurants, places to walk around and shop and/or relax, etc. There is really nothing to do in Troy; it is still an ugly town really.</p>
<p>Really, I hate this school because of this aspect. I’m more of a humanities, liberal arts person (even though I’m a BME and pre med) I’m just dying to go to a coffee shop, some kind of theater performance, anything. The nightlife is either chilling in the dorms or rushing and partying with frats. </p>
<p>On the other hand, I don’t have too much time to dwell on this because of my workload and I’m also involved in research- one thing I do like is the availability of research here and easiness of getting into a lab. But it would be nice if there was some nightlife here. </p>
<p>Georgia Tech is an excellent engineering school and you also have Atlanta. I didn’t apply to enough schools (chose RPI over carnegie mellon and cornell because of $$$) so I didnt have much choice so academics aside, seriously consider where you will be happy over the next 4 years.</p>
<p>If you are going to a halfway decent and rigorous engineering program, you are not going to have time to enjoy many coffee shops, art galleries, etc. unless you are exceptionally well organized. That stuff is for the political science, communications and psychology majors. Face it, even with the best financial aid you are looking at probably at least $20K of debt. The difference is that you will be able to pay it off. The communications major won’t - and student loan debt does not go away with bankruptcy.</p>
<p>RPI has tried to compensate by building first rate athletic and performing arts facilities. I would rather they had spent the money elsewhere or perhaps kept tuition down but they are in competition with schools that are doing the same.</p>
<p>As an engineer, scientist, architect or technology manager you are going to face demanding projects that will occupy much of your waking hours for several weeks or months at a time - sometimes longer than a semester. Read any of the books on the Apollo project’s engineers and you will see what I am talking about.</p>
<p>I am having the same conversation with my son who got accepted at RPI. Given the expense, I am reluctant to send him until he understands this.</p>
<p>I think a reconsideration of priorities are in order. Maybe you should be thinking about how to spend winter, spring and summer breaks than the day to day entertainment options.</p>
<p>Full disclosure: I am an RPI alumnus, didn’t have a car, lived in campus housing and I was able to do it. I had an advantage in that I grew up in the gloomy Upstate NY weather. I made up for it be being employed for the last 30 years in Florida and California.</p>
<p>Good points, OldEng. If a student is capable of deferring typical social gratifications off campus in favor of concentrating on first class preparation, then RPI is a good fit. Otherwise, there are certainly plenty of other colleges with nearby diversions.</p>
<p>So people at RPI are pretty much losers? They don’t have fun at all? And I will have absolutely no debt, anyway OldEng. I plan on studying hard, but what do people do on Friday nights? Just study?</p>
<p>Going to RPI this weekend. Ill report back.</p>
<p>I think with 5000 kids there are many answers. A good sign is the number of fraternities, the new athletic facilities, and a smart student body which is into all sorts of things and not afraid to talk about it (geeky). </p>
<p>When you visit, do you fit in?</p>
<p>Four years fly by.</p>
<p>I’m sure you’ll get a lot of positive and constructive responses when you suggest students at RPI are “losers”.</p>
<p>If you look at the intramurals website you can see they at least have time for sports. Soccer alone there are 56 teams playing right now with an average of 12 kids per team…that’s 672 students just playing the one sport. Like any college I’m sure there is a balance.</p>
<p>OldEng, does you son do anything to unwind at all? I mean that going to coffee shops to study and having dinner with friends at a restaurant isn’t a bad thing. I want to know what there is to do Friday and Saturday nights if you don’t drink.</p>
<p>What do you want to do? I would think hanging out with buddies is what most college kids do. What do you like to do now? What do you want to be doing? Didyou feel comfortable with the current students? I hear Albany is close and has lots to do. NYC is a2.5 hour train ride away, 5 hours worth of homework time.</p>
<p>If you fit then you’ll find something fun.</p>
<p>What are your other choices you are comparing it to?</p>
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<p>If you don’t plan on joining a frat/sorority, then basically just hang out in the dorm, study, watch a movie, etc. A lot of people here play video games too. In my dorm I’ve seen games of Risk go on for hours on friday and saturday nights in the dorm. </p>
<p>Like I said, there are no coffee shops, cafes, etc nearby to just relax, talk and do work. Everyone does their work in the library, union, and dorm. There is a bowling alley very close by and it’s not bad. </p>
<p>however just keep in mind, depending on your major and if you’re going to do research like I am, that most of your time will be spent studying and working. </p>
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<p>Well, maybe. None of my roommates and no one on my floor watched March Madness and the final four and national championship games. I found that pretty disheartening.</p>
<p>I think RPI is pretty fun. But then again i do a sport and I am in a fraternity so I experience stuff that most people will not experience. There are plenty I have a lot of friends I I love the place. The only annoying thing is that I never have free time haha. But I’ll make due.</p>
<p>Yes. He plays the guitar (mostly self taught) and wants to build an electric guitar. Yes he goes out with friends. Maybe he would have been accepted at more colleges if he had spent more time prepping for the standardized tests. His design team won an award at the JPL Invention Challenge for having the lightest design. Right now he is with his HS orchestra playing at Carnegie Hall. Sorry for the shameless bragging.</p>
<p>Yes there are things to do at RPI. But you should be warned that like any engineering school, even within a university, there is ALOT of work. The point I was trying to make is that college is so expensive right now that the four years should be almost exclusively focused on a) getting the best grades possible, b) getting involved in an engineering or research project, particularly where you have to make decisions or be responsible for something and c) getting a co-op job or internship. Frankly, I would rather want to work with someone who got a B or C in thermodynamics but had alot of responsibility in a project to launch a cubesat or won an award for building a novel wheelchair that had gears like a ten-speed.</p>
<p>I would not let the male-female ratio influence my decision. First, it actually eliminates alot of distractions. Second there are many colleges in the area that offer better dating opportunities. There is an expression that you don’t “go fishing off the company pier.” We toured UC Santa Barbara and it was a gorgeous campus right on the beach. But I wondered how would anyone get any studying done here? Maybe thats why all the tour guides were communications or psychology majors.</p>
<p>I found RPI very challenging. I was an “unremarkable” student which was a shock after being the “brain” in HS. There was no grade inflation and no freshman year Pass/no record like at MIT or Caltech (which are truly in a different league). By the way, I have worked with alumni of those institutions and while they were good, they were not nearly the best I have worked with. Some of the best, that “got things done” were from no-name schools or big public universities and, yes, RPI.</p>
<p>I don’t know why you are acting like I am lazy. I am planning on cooping and getting involved in service and engineering, and I plan on studying alot every day. I mean that people aren’t going to just study or else they will burn out. I am a girl, anyway, so I don’t know what you mean about distractions.</p>