<p>Give me compelling reasons to choose RPI over Cornell. Thanks.</p>
<p>Financial issues. Ranking of your major’s program.</p>
<p>Both schools have top notch academics. There will be areas where RPI is stronger than Cornell and vice versa. Need to look at the individual program you are interested in.</p>
<p>I have kids at each, we strongly prefer RPI though Cornell may have more prestige. A line from graduation speech “Cornell is where you walk up a 30 degree slope in 30 degree weather to get a 30 on an exam”. The exams are curved there so you can get a good grade with a low % on exams. It seems unnecessarily demoralizing. RPI is much smaller, more team work, and supportive. But you can do well at either school. Would you rather be a bigger fish in a smaller pond?</p>
<p>How’s the teaching quality at RPI? How’s the faculty support to the students? How’s the facilities?</p>
<p>I think RPI reaches out to students more with Learning Assistants, etc in dorms. They don’t let people fall through the cracks. Help is available at both schools if the student makes the effort. My kids are happy with the teaching quality. It probably depends on the major. Considering how hard it is to get into Cornell, they don’t seem to work hard to keep people in engineering. It is more like a state school mentality, or boot camp, in my opinion. Some of it is because it is just such a big school. But a student can find help if they need it at either school.</p>
<p>What’s RPI’s strongest programs? What is it known for?</p>
<p>The direct entry to med school looks extremely inviting…
What sort of stats they require from that program?</p>
<p>I’ve heard the direct entry to med school is extremely competitive. The only person I’ve ever talked to who was attending had about 45 AP credits from high school and did biological research in high school. </p>
<p>RPI is best known for engineering. You’d have to visit to see if you think you fit in. They have good merit scholarships as well (most of top 25% of admitted students get about $15K of merit).</p>
<p>I’m a Rensselaer Medalist for my high school’s class of 2012 and liked RPI A LOt when I visited the campus, but I’m still going to apply Early Decision to Cornell College of Engineering. Cornell’s student body is much larger and clearly more diverse than that of RPI’s. Also, the town around Cornell is much nicer than Troy in my opinion. I liked Cornell’s campus more than RPI’s too. </p>
<p>But the engineering programs at both colleges are both top notch. However, another reason for apply ED is that Cornell has Physics Engineering and RPI Doesnt. Physics engineering is my top choice for engineering.</p>
<p>Cortana, your interest in Physics Engineering would be a valid reason to prefer Cornell. Student body diversity is similar (ethnically, but RPI doesn’t have the liberal arts but my child who thought she’d value the liberal arts college started calling it “College of Arts and Crafts”), Cornell is much bigger (bigger in a negative sense IMHO, the distance from living quarters to classes is not convenient, especially for meal plans). But Collegetown in Ithaca gets small fast, and the primary recreation at Cornell seems to be getting drunk. Living off campus is much more expensive as well in Ithaca. Consider Penn State’s Honors Program if college town and big campus is important to you, as well as good engineering. Out of state cost for Penn State Honors Program would be similar to RPI Medal merit award.</p>
<p>We have had 2 kids graduate from RPI recently (May,2010 and May, 2011). The job scene was not rosy in these years, yet both got great jobs. One was a computer science major and the other was a biomedical engineer. Our kids worked hard yet enjoyed RPI. I will be forever happy with their decision to attend RPI.</p>
<p>Our son graduated from RPI in 2008 and has a job that he loves in California working for an division of Activision.</p>
<p>I attended Cornell as a grad student many years ago so I do not know much about the curriculum there now. But if it is similar, the big difference between RPI and Cornell would be the level of team project work at RPI, particularly in his compsci and game design courses. RPI gave him the opportunity to TA with a grad student TA in an intro compsci lab, the scholarships were very generous($25k/yr) and he participated in an annual game design competition sponsored by RPI.</p>
<p>I preferred the killer tests where the average was a 30. I thought it was much less pressure than having to get high 90s to maintain an A. The easier exam meant you really couldn’t miss many questions and had to study more. Killer tests challenged your understanding of the concepts, so the focus was on learning, not putting material into short term memory. Just my opinion.</p>
<p>Should I apply to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute? They have been sending me stuff since February 2011 and even their Candidate Choice Application for admission. However my SAT score is 1650. : (</p>
<p>If it interests you to apply, then go ahead. It’s a free application anyway, and the candidate’s choice app is easy enough. As for your SATs, my understanding is that your combined SATs don’t matter as much as your math scores. If those are solid, then they will likely not be application-killers on their own (however, it most definitely wouldn’t hurt to improve those scores, even if only for your other college apps).</p>
<p>RPI is amazing for engineering. It’s a beautiful, small campus with incredible facilities. Professors are always available and helpful. There are tons of resources for those who need help (Learning Assistants, Advising & Learning Assistance Center, Office Hours, free tutoring and help sessions, thousands of students who have probably taken the same classes you’re struggling with, etc.) The work here is extremely challenging, but employers know that and a lot of times they’ll prefer and RPI student over a student from a bigger name school because they know how intense our work is here and how much we actually learn. We’re paying for the education, not just the fancy name on the degree.</p>
<p>Also, opportunities for undergraduate research exceed most other schools. I forget the statistic exactly, but most schools don’t offer paid research opportunities for undergrads (as early as sophomore year I believe.) The social life here is great. We have the largest student run union in the nation, with students handling a budget of over 6 million dollars for our 200+ clubs.</p>
<p>Hey, I know this thread is old, but I was wondering if you could give me some more info about RPI? I’ve applied ED, and I was wondering what you guys think about the school?</p>
<p>Better to open a new thread …</p>
<p>Sahil,</p>
<p>Asking for updated opinions about a college is quite vague – perhaps similar to asking for updated opinions about your neighborhood. If you open a thread with somewhat specific questions (what should I expect from such-and-such major, do people do X in some club, etc.) you’ll likely get much more informative answers.</p>
<p>@lolitarocs - I wouldn’t worry too much about SAT scores if the rest of your application is strong. My Math SAT score was pretty meh (and I’m not being modest), and I was still accepted and am currently attending. If you’re interested, then apply. It’s one of the best engineering schools in the world, and even if you’re not interested in engineering, the other programs here are really strong as well. I’m a freshman in the Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences (GSAS) program, and I must say that I’m impressed by the fact that I’m already taking classes in my major. It’s a pretty well known university by people in the industry, so it’s really worth looking into. But I do recommend at least visiting campus and taking a tour because, like with literally any college, RPI isn’t for /everyone/. But I love it here already. </p>
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<p>I looked at Cornell as well and didn’t feel like it was my cup of tea. Part of that was because I’m not a fan of larger universities, and Cornell is much larger than RPI is. But the other part was that Cornell didn’t feel like it had the strong community that RPI has. Maybe that’s related to the size of the schools, but I don’t know. I felt more comfortable upon visiting RPI than I did upon visiting Cornell, and RPI’s GSAS program attracted me to the school even more. But I guess both schools have their perks.</p>
<p>Also, regarding Troy, it really isn’t bad. It can be a little sketchy in some parts, but as long as you go down with friends, it’s kinda nice. There’s a lot of cool shops and restaurants down there. I’ve gone down with friends several times. Plus, even if you’re not a big fan of downtown, there’s a lot to do on campus as well.</p>