Yes! I’m so glad to have gotten a scholarship from WPI for my son and he absolutely loves it there, but the COA is soooooooooo high even with the scholarship and he’s gotten such incredible offers elsewhere. It’s such a good match for him and it breaks my heart. It sounds like you graduated from there and loved it!
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Hello fellow tuition exchange-r! I’ve heard that WPI barely gives out any TE scholarships, which is heartbreaking. Thankfully they give out the Presidential Scholarships like candy, but it’s still a huge difference (about $16-20k a year) for TE. So I’m not holding my breath for TE (but I AM shedding tears about it). They pretty much said “good luck” when I contacted them earlier this year as opposed to RIT (that my son also really liked) who even said, “Hey, wanna chat on the phone about your kid?” So challenging!
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My son got accepted to Purdue Computer Science (great school) and we are in state, so it’s CRAZY cheap!!! But he likes WPI so much better… UGH!
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What did your son decide? My understanding is RIT is sooooooooooo much more generous with the number of Tuition Exchange Scholarships they give out.
I’ve had the same experience. RIT responds quickly and enthusiastically. If he winds up going there, hopefully that is a signal of a great experience there!
Congratulations. For now our top choices seems to be Pitt/Purdue as WPI will not be affordable.
Both of those schools are AMAZING! Purdue’s CS program is world renowned. My husband is a Pitt graduate and loved his time there.
Thanks, my daughter is pursuing Biomedical engineering. We love both Pitt, Purdue on what we are hearing so far.
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Yes, we have heard a lot of the same things and sounds like we have similar lists! We knew from the beginning that WPI was a financial longshot, even with TE, so haven’t put much hope there. But it does seem like such a cool place.
RIT would be an absolute frontrunner for us, but they very oddly don’t offer a major in civil engineering. That’s one of my son’s possible majors, and since there’s no ancillary substitute, I think it will be a dealbreaker. Which is sad because we all adore it. It may also be too pricey for us even with TE.
You really cannot beat Purdue CS in-state. That is so many kids’ dream. But it might not be your kid’s dream! Mine got into Purdue engineering in-state (also the dream of many kids). He’s been saying for years that’s what he wants, but he changed his mind this summer. He likely won’t attend there, which I’m sure will baffle some people.
I hope yours gets a great offer from WPI.
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Very interesting… what changed? I think Purdue might have ended up being my son’s choice if he got in there (a reach) and not VT.
Well it’s a bit off-topic for this thread, but…
We have quite a few friends who have Purdue kids in engineering, CS, polytechnic, etc. They all have mostly good things to say.
But our kid talked to a friend’s brother that was home for the summer. The brother is a junior in CS (but has lots of engineering friends) and urged our kid to think more carefully about the decision. The gist of it is that our son doesn’t want to feel like he’s in competition with his classmates. Like as little as possible. We know that Purdue is very collaborative and the kids are nice. Unlike several top engineering schools, it doesn’t have a harsh grind or cutthroat reputation. My son refused to apply anywhere with a whiff of that atmosphere.
But the large lower-division classes with high fail rates are unappealing to him, even though he’d do fine. He knows he’d almost surely get the major he wants in the T2M process, but he hates the fact that there’s even a chance he might not. Those things inject enough competition or insecurity or stress into the process that he feels he rather go elsewhere where things are a bit more relaxed and predictable.
He has friends that are thrilled to be going there and we’ve scheduled a Purdue’s for Me visit. We’ll make sure he considers it carefully and doesn’t just write it off. But his concerns make sense and he’s paying for it, so it’s all up to him!
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We are living such similar lives! Our kids got the golden ticket to go to Purdue (congratulations to your son!) for 4 years for the price of (practically) 1 year at WPI, haha! And yet they don’t really love it there. My son really liked RIT but wants to study Computer Science and Game Programming, which is so beautifully and remarkably laid out as a double major at WPI, not really offered at Purdue (waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!), and RIT is such a great place for both, but doing the double major there is not really feasible and there are so many requirements due to the need for a major, gen eds, and an immersion, that getting the minor may not be realistic. Getting TE at RIT is apparently more feasible, though, than WPI. My son got admitted to The University of Utah which has solid options in both Computer Science and Games but he just comes alive in the nerd culture of RIT and WPI. Oh goodness! We are living very similar experiences 
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My son was disappointed he was not accepted early action as well and was put under review for regular admission. He also was accepted to other schools with great merit awards. He had 3.7 unweighted, 4.1 weighted, by graduation he will have a total of 6 APs and 2 college classes (but his school offers limited AP classes up to 10? 11? total), and all other classes honors classes where available He had pretty good ECs: 3 varsity sports all 4 years, captain of soccer team (and received all-league and all state player awards), Eagle Scout, Senior Patrol leader, Natl Honor Society, plus Natl Math and Science Honor societies too. He also is a certified Life Guard and worked summers as lifeguard and held a weekend job during school year as a busboy. WPI was his first choice and I am trying to tell him that if the admissions team didn’t think he was a good fit, maybe the universe is trying to tell him something!
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Admissions seems so random sometimes! I’m sorry your son is hurting.
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My D23 also admitted EA with a $25K Presidential Scholarship!
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My son is also looking into majoring in CS and Game design/programming! He’s also applied to RIT RD and got accepted to WPI. He was not interested in applying to Purdue - too far for him - we’re in the east coast and he also heard about the competitive nature at Purdue CS which is not his cup of tea. What other schools did your son apply to? What double major in WPI - CS and what’s the other game design major called?
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What is this Tuition Exchange Scholarship at WPI, RIT? Is it only for students whose parents work at WPI or RIT?
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Hello similar parent! WPI has a IMGD Technology major (essentially game development) that is so heavily rooted in CS they have a special planning sheet for the double major and recommend IMGD Tech majors do it (here is an old one so not entirely current, but a similar idea, I imagine: https://www.wpi.edu/sites/default/files/inline-image/Departments-Programs/Interactive-Media-Game-Development/IMGD%20Technology%20+%20CS%20Double%20Major%20AY2017-18.pdf. My son had a great experience on the RIT tour but is concerned he may not get enough access to Game Development opportunities since he will have so many other requirements there. He loved it, though. Purdue CS is incredible but does not have a specialization in Game Development. If it did, it would likely be a no-brainer for him to attend there since it is sooooo cheap in state and such an incredible CS program. My son also prefers cooperating as opposed to competitive atmospheres so I worry about Purdue anyway. My son also applied to University of Utah which has a special CS-Game emphasis major that looks wonderful, Michigan State University where he would plan to dual major, and some significant reach schools such as USC, UIUC, and Northeastern. I love talking about this stuff with other parents - woohoo!
Oh - the Tuition Exchange is just for kids whose parent works at, essentially, a university that is part of this particular scholarship program. I am a professor, as is my husband (at different schools, but both are in the “exchange”), so we are eligible to apply for the scholarship. It’s a scholarship like any other (it’s not automatic - the kid has to secure it and it is often crazy competitive), but it’s wonderful to add to the mix.
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Thank you! I just asked my son about IMGD, and turns out that’s what he put in as intended major for WPI! Lol, I can’t keep track anymore - he applied to CS programs mostly. So good to hear about the double major!! We learned that having just a game development major is not as stable as a CS degree.
We haven’t toured RIT yet! Thanks for the info on their game dev. major! That’s too bad!
Sounds like our kids are similar in what they look for in a school! So my son got accepted to PITT, and let me tell you, the atmosphere at Pitt (from reading their subreddit) is VERY supportive! Check it out! It’s definitely on the top of our list. Pitt has a game dev minor, so not as amazing as WPI’s IMGD, but so far we like the supportive vibe that its students give.
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