My son’s dad wants him to get into WPI (Worchester Polytechnical Institute) and then reapply to MIT as a transfer. This is one of my son’s options after not getting into his top three choice colleges. What do you all know about WPI?
I personally know a guy who goes to WPI and he loves it. In the Northeast (and possibly beyond that sphere), WPI is academically a strong school with a great reputation. Its programs are specifically tailored towards STEM fields, giving the students a great foundation to move on to STEM related careers. Worcester isn’t exactly the best city in the world but it still gives students good opportunities to intern, plus you’re only like an hour-hour and a half from Boston.
Did he apply to RPI? People like that too
My husband works with an MIT grad. He wishes he had gone to WPI. They produce very capable engineers. It is a top school in the region and probably best known regionally. Very hands on, working on projects from the start and more balanced than MIT. They have 4 seven week sessions. At MIT your student would work from pillar to post. If your son wants to BE an engineer then go to WPI. If he might want to work on Wall Street, go to MIT. And WPI has a great career center. Everyone I know that goes there loves it. I don’t think he will want to leave.
My son definitely wants to be an engineer, possibly specialize in robotics. We are still waiting to hear from WPI.
They have an amazing robotics program. My son was accepted but it is too pricey for us. If he was an only child we could do it. We have a friend with a daughter at MIT who is really miserable; it is insanely intense. At WPI, your son will be a kid in a candy store. The first week heading over to the machine shop. It’s just such a cool place. Really, he won’t want to leave.
Also, he can reapply as a transfer, but transfer admission to MIT is exremely unlikely (nearly impossible).
WPI is a fine fine school. So is RPI, Case Western and Carnegie Mellon.
Forget about transferring to MIT. Find a school that fits who you are now.
If you want a school that is not solely engineering focused then CWRU and CMU might be worth a look.
Also the male-female ratio at WPI is 75-25.
The admit rate for transfer students to MIT is EXTREMELY low. Latest common data set shows an admit rate of 4%. I would not get your hopes up.
WPI is a fine school. My daughter just graduated from there last May. She very much enjoyed her time there. The classes were good; she made some really great friends. Worcester isn’t the greatest city but they found plenty to do there.
I went to MIT many moons ago. MIT is definitely a challenge and you learn a lot; work with great people, etc. But, from talking with my daughter, you do also at WPI. If you take the attitude that you are going to a school just to transfer out, then it makes it very hard to enjoy yourself (and do well) while you’re there. Go to WPI; plan on staying; enjoy the experience.
The male/female ration is improving a little every year, last year’s freshman class was 31% female I think. I’m expecting that ratio to continue to improve with better marketing and outreach programs plus there is now a young dynamic female president at the helm of WPI : )
http://www.wpi.edu/news/20134/president-announced.html
Agree with a lot of what people said. MIT is intense. Intense to the point of being too much for many people. There are suicides every year. It shouldn’t surprise anybody that many MIT students are at the top of their game. WPI is more enjoyable and a much better choice for many people. Applying to MIT as a transfer from WPI is very doable. Getting in really isn’t.
Around Boston, WPI is known to have heavy grade inflation, and their GPAs do not provide us employers a lot of insight into what the candidates actually know. Everybody feels good, but as employers, we are left to try to figure out who is really good from those with really high GPAs. WPI produces some wonderful engineers.
The real question isn’t about WPI, it’s about your son. What kind of student is he, and how much pain is he willing to endure to be at the top of his game. What’s more important, the grade or the education? That’s a critical question to ask in choosing an engineering program.
If on the other hand, he really wanted the MIT intensity, WPI isn’t really a substitute. Where else was he accepted?
Any thoughts here on WPI vs Rose Hulman or G. Tech?
WPI ~ RHIT
GT ~ MIT
I have an older son at MIT and my younger son just committed to WPI. He is no less brilliant but he knows himself and he knows what he wants and he loved WPI. We hadn’t really heard of it before but when we went to visit our son last fall at MIT family weekend, we found ourselves in Worcester on a fluke. My son loved the size of WPI, the short, more intensive terms, and many other things. I think he made a great choice and I am really excited for him and his next four years of school.