Worcester Polytech trip report

Parents Forum
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<p>(Also posted under WPI in the alphabetical section.)</p>

<p>We visited **Worcester Polytechnic Institute<a href="WPI">/b</a> on a super hot day in July. While I maintain that summer is NOT the time to go college visiting, I also know that sometimes it is just unavoidable.</p>

<p>We had visited the City of Worcester with my eldest son, who looked at Holy Cross, so this time we didn’t look around too much. The memories were still rather fresh in my mind – the city has seen better days. (The same could be said for our hometown but I know it has good stuff once you're familiar with it - maybe Worcester is the same?) We stayed at a brand new Marriott Residence Inn and got free dinner and breakfast! It was a great deal and a very comfortable place for the three of us.</p>

<p>As a little introduction I should say my son is quite intent on being an engineer. He is a “techie” through and through. He does not care if he is in a big city or a corn field. He also does not seem to care if there are few girls. (Although he has a casual girlfriend here at home I don’t think that is entering into that consideration.) He is not interested in sports, school spirit (i.e. football), partying, or Greek. He is a musician and is seeking opportunities to play in a decent orchestra or other ensemble and participate in theater productions. He wants to go to a small college, however this may or may not happen.</p>

<p>We did the campus tour first and a nice young woman showed us, and one other kid and dad, around. They have a brand new admissions building which is lovely, but seems rather large for a school with only 2851 undergrads (1018 full and part time graduate students). There goes the scholarship money perhaps???</p>

<p>The campus is quite compact at 80 acres, 33 buildings. It is on a hill, but flat once you’re up there. It is in a residential neighborhood. We ate lunch at a nearby restaurant, which was fairly scuzzy.</p>

<p>Like all campus tours, we only saw a fraction of things – and I realized this even more when I looked at their online virtual tour when we got back home. <a href="http://www.wpi.edu/About/Tour/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.wpi.edu/About/Tour/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>The campus is really quite pretty; lots of trees, historic old and somewhat-new buildings. Not as much new construction as I’ve seen on other campuses. Facilities did not seem as high-tech as I’ve seen at other (engineering) schools. (But, I really have no idea what I’m looking at.) The tour did not emphasize the “techie-ness” of the place (unlike a couple of other tours or open houses we’ve been on).</p>

<p>The dorm we saw was standard fare – except the rooms seemed unusually large. Freshman dorms were right on campus. Dining was in the dorm. Housing, however, is not guaranteed after the first year. (I always find that a little worrisome.) There are some apartments for upperclassmen; we saw some of them at a distance and they were not spectacular, but we did not see all the housing.</p>

<p>After the tour we did the information session. Again, that was pretty ordinary, with all the usual buzz and fake diversity. (Am I getting hardened?!) It was well attended, and people seemed to be from a variety of places.</p>

<p>WPI has a very integrated learning approach to their technical majors. It not only feels like a liberal arts college based on the appearance of its campus and its size, but there seemed to be more emphasis here on humanities tied to technical majors. (Which I think is a good thing.) Their program revolves around three Projects, rather than coops or internships (although you might be able to do those too – but they are not the emphasis). The first project is a Humanities and Arts Project; five thematically related courses and a final project. The second Project is an Interactive Project; team based, works on a science and technology in society activity – usually off campus. The third Project is a Major Project; team based in major field of study. Some of these projects can be done internationally.</p>

<p>I suppose the “project instead of co-op” theme works especially well if you are wealthy and don’t need the money from working a lucrative co-op.</p>

<p>WPI has a different grading system – A, B, C and NR (no record). This was described as encouraging risk taking and collaboration. The collaboration part is good, but the risk taking part just sounded expensive to me as you are still paying for the course.</p>

<p>WPI is on a term system that consists of four seven-week terms/ three classes per term. I guess there are mixed feeling in general about short terms. It seems that the thinking here on CC is that they are good for procrastinators, but rushed feeling from a learning stand point. </p>

<p>The thing that really caught my son’s attention was WPI’s focus on the arts. They seem to have a lively music and theater scene. Wouldn’t you know even the tour guide was a musician? That is a first for this round of tours (not so uncommon when we did the LAC tours with eldest son). Some of the engineering schools we’ve looked at don’t seem to have any performing arts going on at all, or they are in huge universities whose music departments do not accommodate an engineering student’s schedule very well. So, this was a BIG PLUS for my son.</p>

<p>WPI is expensive. Their tuition is $33,318, room and board $9,960. This puts it in the realm of the $40,000/year+ schools – out of our league unless some miraculous scholarship appears. They do offer merit scholarships, but their admissions is quite competitive and I’m sure their scholarships are too. Their student profile is 3.7 GPA, 1210-1400 SAT CR+MA (mid 50%), 26-31 ACT.</p>

<p>My son also had an interview that, he reported, went well. The admission’s person came out and fielded any questions we had (I only had one about early action).</p>

<p>Overall, my son liked this school a lot. It sort of struck me as a place wealthy kids go to get an engineering or computer science degree in a more sheltered (dare I say, coddled?) environment than the typical engineering school at a big university or even RPI or RIT. But, so far, I believe at the undergraduate level smaller class sizes far outweigh fancy facilities and/or extensive research opportunities in engineering. (And for all I know WPI may offer those too...)</p>

<p>If we could afford it he’d probably sign up today and not even look at any other schools! But, he’ll apply and we’ll see how the money looks.</p>

<p>Here are some photos (I hope they work) – but the virtual tour on their web site is better! </p>

<p><a href="http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1&Uc=x43zpxh.azreljmh&Uy=-yxq505&Ux=0%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1&Uc=x43zpxh.azreljmh&Uy=-yxq505&Ux=0&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Hi weenie,</p>

<p>nice report. Don't give up on the scholarship money if your son is interested in WPI- my take is that they are quite generous. andison got a Presidential Scholarship when he applied last year (can't remember how much but I think it's posted on the merit aid thread. 15,000-19,000/yr ? and Kat's s did as well). In any case, we went to a reception there for the scholarship kids and there were MANY recipients. Probably worth checking out. </p>

<p>One of the things that we found of interest was the combination of a 'project' with study abroad. They have well-established and organized destinations for study where the students can work on projects in other countries. England and Australia are two I remember but I believe there were others.</p>

<p>I'll second your impressions on the theatre and music programs- they appear to be thriving.</p>

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<p>Worcester and RPI are both on my son's list. (He sounds very much like yours minus even a casual girlfriend or much interest in music.) The town of Worcester has a really fun armory museum and and a first rate (small) art museum which has some of Sargent and Homer's best watercolors. While Worcester isn't much of a town - it's not too far from Boston. My college roommate lives in Cambridge and commutes to teach at one of the Worcester colleges. I believe you can cross register for courses at the other colleges in town though I have no idea how that works with their funky schedule.</p>

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<p>I suppose I'll add my own bit of a trip report to this thread.</p>

<p>I was accepted in their first early round, last year, so I went to their admitted students overnight session. Overall, the school was pretty nice, I couldn't take a good look around, as it was just after mid-winter, and I was coming from a place that's warm almost year round. I was often more focused on getting back inside than looking around outside.</p>

<p>Some of the downsides I saw that aren't often mentioned:</p>

<p>-Yes, their 3 classes/term thing is nice, however, you have to pay extra to overload, which is something I'd have been interested in doing fairly often.</p>

<p>-They seemed very strong in applied engineering, however, they seemed fairly weak in the theoretical sciences and the theory behind the engineering.</p>

<p>-The school didn't seem very diverse.</p>

<p>-It was Very expensive (though, yes, this is mentioned a lot). I have a lot of need (efc ~$6000), and I got a presidential scholarship (~$15,000/year), and a small grant for need aid. I was expected to be able to come up with $23,000+/year.</p>

<p>On the other hand, adding to the good things that were mentioned. The people there seemed extremely nice. The admissions office was very helpful to me, and all the students seemed friendly and interesting.</p>

<p>Overall, if it seems like a good fit for you, it'd probably be a very good school for you. Even with a lot of those downsides, I still liked the school. Personally, it wasn't a good fit at all, but I think it'd be great for other people.</p>

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<p>Where'd you end up me? ?</p>

<p>That question of theoretical science vs. applied is a one we haven't really figured out. I suspect my son might enjoyed a more applied approach, but I think we're leaning to more theory based places anyway. He likes the idea of being really, really challenged and is therefore thinking MIT or Caltech, but from everything I gather they would be a completely different experience from places like RPI or WPI.</p>

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<p>I ended up getting off of Caltech's waitlist, so I'll be there in the fall. (:))</p>

<p>Also, I was actually at RPI a couple months back presenting something at a conference. I didn't get to see much of the campus, but what I did see seemed very nice. Different atmosphere than WPI, definately, but I liked it there pretty well. I didn't really get to go through their tour things, so I can't really comment on anything beyond it having a nice atmosphere/campus.</p>

<p>I do agree that Caltech/MIT would be a much different experience than W/R PI, though. If he's actually interested in being extremely challenged, he may like Caltech/MIT better. While at WPI, I went to a couple of the freshman classes, and to me, it just didn't look like it would be as much of a challenge as I'd like.</p>

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<p>We visited WPI in April, and although my S#2 at the time seemed enthusiastic, his enthusiasm has waned and he may or may not be applying. The area just seems too isolated for him, I think.</p>

<p>RPI is being mentioned here as another school in the same vein, and during our visit there it impressed my S#2 far more than WPI or Northeastern, he saw much more emphasis on arts (although it might have helped that one of our tour guides was involved in the same electronic arts and media program that my S is interested in). </p>

<p>My S#1 is at MIT; S#2 is planning to apply to RPI, Northeastern, RIT, and maybe WPI. There is a definite difference in feel and approach between these sets of schools, I agree, and the "applied" aspect will suit S#2 much better.</p>

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<p>I should probably have mentioned the other schools my son is thinking about.</p>

<p>Schools he's visited:
RPI - Probably his first choice, would need merit money
RIT - Liked a lot, awfully close to home...
Penn State - I don't think so, too big
Northeastern - see my other report
U Michigan - Probably too expensive and he is unlikely to qualify for $ (but he liked it)
Case Western - He likes, but I don't like the scholarship GPA requirements (and that assumes he'd qualify for a scholarship!)</p>

<p>Schools he will be looking at:
Univ Pittsburgh
Univ Delaware
Purdue
Ohio University Athens</p>

<p>Schools he might apply to without visiting:
Georgia Tech
Virginia Tech
Lehigh (he's cool on this one)
Lafayette (he's cool on this one too)</p>

<p>Schools that are not on his list:
MIT - Too reachy
CalTech - Too reachy
Olin - Probably too reachy and he isn't interested
Drexel - He doesn't like what he's read (firm)</p>

<p>He doesn't really want to be down south, although lately he's been talking about Georgia Tech. He does not want to be in California or west coast (too far from home). </p>

<p>While a very good student, and really good SAT scores, he will need merit money at any of the $40K+ schools. We simply will not pay that much. He also refuses to take SAT IIs. (This one is a little stuborn and he has opinions! Horrors!) So, he will apply to mostly match or safety schools.</p>

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<p>weenie,
Does he like snow? Would he consider the UP of Michigan? Taking into consideration all that he is interested in, Michigan Tech seems such a match for your S. </p>

<p>This school would never have been in my S's radar but after he visited it he kept comparing it to other schools. It was such a value for an OOS student. It's very much in the same vein as WPI and RPI, techy engineering schools. The male to female ratio is 2.8 to 1, better than some, worse than others.</p>

<p>We found if you take the time to go up there, the school is so friendly and accomodating. I know that they talked about kids being on theater tech crews and I think that they even have some kind of minor in theater tech. They have a community orchestra that students can play in. I heard the pep band and they were suprisingly good. I think that they have quite a few kids that are proficient in music and wish to continue. </p>

<p>Depending on his class rank, he could qualify for up to $12,000 a year in scholarships. Here's a link <a href="http://www.admin.mtu.edu/finaid/scholar_nonmich.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.admin.mtu.edu/finaid/scholar_nonmich.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>They have changed how they administer OOS scholarships, but in the past once you received the scholarship, there was no min. GPA to retain it. </p>

<p>I think that it's too bad that this school is in such an out of the way place. If not for it's location, it would be on a lot more students radars.</p>

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<p>I don't think my son would be able to get past the male / female ratio! Females make up 26%..... :(</p>

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<p>Hey! I'm a female going to WPI in 20 days :) Just figured I throw that out there to prove there are some women there. But let me just give you an idea of WPI's financial aid and what not. I have an EFC of around $3,000, so obivously money if a pretty big deal for me. Before financial aid was even taken into account I was notified of the $10,200/year scholarship from WPI. Not bad considering I graduated with a 3.33 unweighted GPA, 33rd/422 class rank, and 1890 on new SATs. Not fabulous, but not terrible either. My need package originally came to $33,125 with a few federal grants, loans, and work study. Went and talked to my financial aid director, maxed out some of the federal loans and got it up to $37,125. So that left a bit of a gap... but I covered it exactly with local scholarships. So they really aren't that bad with financial aid or for that matter scholarships. </p>

<p>Now, just because I can, I'm going to tell you what hooked me into WPI. Basically it was a combo of the projects and the fact that even though its a tech school its not ALL tech. I love science, math, physics, all of it, but I also love languages and arts. I will be a Biomedical engineering major, but you look at my schedule and I am still taking spanish for my first 2 terms and will probably take it the last 2 as well. That was a big factor in my decision. As for the projects, I am a very hands on learner, sure I learn from reading textbooks and listening to lectures, but its the labs and practical work that really helps me to learn. So there was my main reasoning in choosing WPI. The other thing ws the fact that many students go abroad for the projects. I love to travel and I want to travel in college, if anybody is concerned with study abroad think about it this way, fresham nthis year were offered the chance of travelling to Morocco for a 7 week term that will help you complete your humanities project, still waiting for more info on this, hoping I hear more about it soon! Well I guess that's pretty much why I chose WPI, hope its not too boring for anyone!</p>

<p>If anyone has any questions about WPI please feel free to ask!</p>

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<p>A few thoughts....</p>

<p>Your son will stand out in the job market if he becomes a very, very good writer. Consider that as he pursues his humanities/social science courses.</p>

<p>5 social science/humanities is NOT a lot. That is the minimum required at my alma mater (plus writing + 2 free electives). MIT has a requirement of 8. If you think about it, that's less than one per semester, and they have to be thematically arranged, which can really limit your options (esp. if you have to pay to overload).</p>

<p>WPI has a good reputation in Massachusetts. Campus is lovely. Worchester can be very isolated from Boston, though.</p>

<p>Finally, I know someone who did master's work there and was deeply unhappy - essentially, he was asked to do something unethical and refused; the backlash that followed was pretty bad. His story has forever given cast the school in a bad light for me.</p>

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<p>I just thought I'd mention that we attended a joint WPI/Dartmouth Wind Symphony concert, and I was impressed by the WPI musicians. Of course, all the musicians were wonderful, but I wasn't aware of the strength of the WPI arts scene. </p>

<p>If anyone has any insight into applied vs theoretical paths, I'd be interested. We really deliberated this issue with S1, who is now a physics/math major. Some schools I really liked just seemed to be so focused on applications, which didn't seem to be the right fit for my son. But I don't see how anyone could really be a successful engineer without lots of hands-on experience. Oh well, I guess it's just one of those dichotomies that's hard to figure out. S2 is also leaning toward physics, but he's my "tinkerer" so I sometimes think he'd be better at a more hands on school. So I'll find it interesting to follow the path some posters are pursuing.</p>

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<p>Thanks to everyone for this thread. There's a lot of great discussion here of many of the schools my DD will be considering in 2008. Thanks again!</p>

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<p>sjmom:
I learned a lot about how to look at engineering programs on this thread:</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=105841&highlight=engineering%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=105841&highlight=engineering&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>And thanks to everyone else for their helpful comments. Maybe my son isn't too worried about the male/female ratio because he attends an all-boys school now and we teasingly call him the "chick magnet." He knows that girls FIND boys almost anywhere! I, however, do think it can't help but put a bit of a sour note on the social life at a college.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the link to the other thread. </p>

<p>Funny about the boy/girl ration--WE want DD to go to a school with a large number of boys, she doesn't care. She's not all that into boys yet, but...uh...yes, we'd like her to meet a nice guy in college. I would, anyway; DH is sort of above it all (but he went to a college that had been all-girls for about 100 years before they started accepting men in the 1970s, when he attended). </p>

<p>Rose-Hulman is really too far away for her, but I told DD that the boys there open doors for girls (which I read somewhere), and I actually saw a flicker of interest there. But I think she was plotting something....</p>