WPI more than great marketing?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Worcester Polytechnic Institute
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<p>S has received quite a bit of mail from WPI. The website and marketing materials are really compelling. The project component of the curriculum is very interesting. The school was also rated highly for "Happiest Students" by the Princeton's guide. So, we visited campus over the summer and S liked it. </p>

<p>We are from the midwest, however, so we don't know the school by reputation. I don't want to be overly influenced by marketing materials. I'd like to learn more about WPI. Other than being smart and hard working, what type of kids who will thrive at WPI. Is the MQP and IQP experience as great as the school promotes it to be? What engineering discipline(s) is the school really best known for? Lastly, does anyone know kids tend to graduate on time (in 4 years)?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>Can’t give you a lot of info, but I do know. </p>

<p>I worked with several WPI graduates and they were all good engineers, got a very good education from WPI. Job was in SoCal. It has a good reputation locally but a lot of people out of the northeast don’t know a lot about the school. You won’t find too many WPI grads out west, just works out that way. </p>

<p>My daughter was looking at colleges and I suggested she look at WPI. Well, she is a freshman there this year. She was concerned about being so far from home, but everyone is quite friendly there and she’s loving it. Classes are challenging enough that she worries some about upcoming tests and quizes, but is getting good grades. We went to parent’s weekend (which came up real quickly in the term) and all the other parent’s we talked to were impressed with the school. One parent’s son was a senior and they said he was quite excited about his out of field project (one project is in your major, the other must be in a different field) that he just completed. Was in London, England for a term. Note that the parents have to come up with the travel money while you usually have to pay the rent for your WPI living arangements.</p>

<p>Should have much more to say later in the school year. </p>

<p>D choose WPI since it is primarily focused on science and engineering, which is what she wanted. It is also a fairly small school (about 3400 students) that you don’t get lost in a numbers game. Older son goes to larger engineering school in CA. He is selecting/competing for slots for his required senior project with 150 seniors in the ME department. Although it is a good school he is going to, I now feel that he might have been better to have gone to WPI. He had a intro week to school and then it seemed like he was much more on his own to figure things out than daughter is right now. WPI has programs (Their Insight program gor one) to make the transition to college much easier.</p>

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<p>

The IQP and MQP are what the student makes of it. To be honest, I don’t think the MQP is very different from the senior projects students do at other schools. However, everybody has to do it and there is the option to do a team project. The IQP is quite unique but again, it is only as good as what the student makes of it.</p>

<p>

Beyond visiting, I would suggest researching online the program that your S wants to study. WPI is generally very good for most kinds of engineering (except possibly Civil). The ECE department here is excellent. WPI is not quite as good for business, computer science, or chemistry.</p>

<p>

Yes, most kids graduate in four years. Some graduate in less time. Most people I know can’t afford five/six years of tuition. Students here don’t have to take too many irrelevant classes and academic advising is typically good. Some decide to go for grad school and stay for a fifth year but many such students are fully funded for their MS/Ph.D.</p>

<p>

WPI has an excellent reputation in the northeast and is an engineering target school. However, it is not very well known outside due out of NE to its size and its research output. </p>

<p>Also, I would suggesting not going into too much undergrad debt. WPI gives out a good deal of merit/need-based aid and if your son manages to get aid, it can be a great value. WPI is good but I would have considered other options if I had to go full pay. In my opinion, no school is worth $80k debt. It limits options for MBA, grad school, etc.</p>

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<p>My son is a sophomore at WPI, majoring in IMGD (Game Design), another strong program at WPI. It was a good match for him.</p>

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<p>Thanks. S is looking at EE/ComputerEng type of thing. Strong presence of technology firms in the region seems like a plus vs. the Midwest (and not considering California).</p>

<p>Likes the small size and doesn’t seem afraid of the term system. He got a nice letter and a WPI pennant in the mail yesterday. Agree that we want to limit debt. Merit scholarship would make it a good value for our situation. Hoping for a chance with good test scores and possibility of National Merit finalist.</p>

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<p>

Well, WPI is ranked #1 in the US for their part-time MBA program …</p>

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<p>My daughter received a fair amount of merit scholarship money directly from WPI. Made the cost of WPI a lot easier to take. Saw a reference where something like 95% of WPI students are receiving some kind of financial aid. Apply and see what the offer is. You can go from there.</p>

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<p>

This probably means that WPI is allocating a disproportionately large amount of resources into its part time MBA program compared to other schools. Not to say WPI business is poor but when you compare WPI’s full time MBA and undergraduate business programs to other schools (BU, Babson, UMass), it lags behind. </p>

<p>Besides, I think UG business is overrated. Going to WPI UG and Harvard/MIT business school down the line (if you can get in) would be a great idea. Engineering/science undergrad prepares one for a management career; I don’t think it works the other way. </p>

<p>

WPI does give out good aid to many students but it admits many students with very poor aid. These statistics include unsubsidized/subsidized federal loans as financial aid. That being said, if he becomes a National Merit Scholar and selects WPI as his first choice, it means a guaranteed fairly good scholarship. Not many other good schools really care too much for this.</p>

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<p>we visited and applied at WPI, and others. My D was accepted at WPI, RPI, and about five others. We chose RPI - Rensselear Poly Tech - where my D is now and loves it. Their FYE program (freshman year experience) is rated tops in the country, and is available to the students for support, etc. You may want to consider that, depending on your D’s major. The individual attention is amazing, the support is outstanding (even support to us parents!!), and it is known nation/worldwide and recently ranked very high by US News and World Report - top 50 schools in the country. WPI was impressive but the individual attention, opportunities, and support at RPI sold us. Try visiting both. I know what a difficult decision it is. Good luck.</p>

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<p>I made the same decision but the other way. Chose WPI and don’t regret it. But worriedmom13 has a point. Applying to RPI is a good idea because if they give you more aid than WPI and you wish to attend WPI, you can leverage their aid offer to the WPI FA office. But RPI is an excellent schools and can be a better choice than WPI for some people.</p>

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<p>WPI has their Insight program which sounds similar to the RPI program. </p>

<p>RPI is ranked higher than WPI but I don’t always put a lot of faith in those rankings. More people seem to have heard about RPI, therefore it’s higher ranking. WPI is almost unknown outside the northeast. RPI seems to be known across the country. However, I have worked in aerospace engineering in SoCal for 30 years and have never worked with an engineer from RPI, but have worked with several from WPI. Just random luck.</p>

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<p>

You mentioned two of the biggest ones. Since WPI has many group projects it helps not to be a social introvert. Additionally, in the second and third years homework becomes much more difficult, so being able to find a study group is essential. I also think a “power hungry” person would be excellent at WPI. There are numerous leadership positions that aren’t all that competitive, and many professors will provide research positions simply if you ask.</p>

<p>

All are very well respected in the northeast. Mechanical and electrical have the best reputation/outside contacts. </p>

<p>

I would say 4 years is the standard graduation time. Without coming in with any credits, you can typically NR one class per year and still graduate on time. Participating in a co-op program or double majoring would likely push it to 4.5 or 5 years.</p>

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<p>If your son liked WPI on the first hunch, that’s a pretty good indicator the school will be a good place to attend. I’m a former student. I didn’t get that gut feeling. Now I think choosing a college should be a balance of reason and feeling. </p>

<p>By most measures, WPI is an above average college. It doesn’t have a strong network outside of New England. To account for that, its graduates earn high starting salaries and enjoy a high employment rate if they start their careers regionally. </p>

<p>A Note about Graduation Rate:</p>

<p>WPI also has a high freshman retention rate, particularly noteworthy since they have increased their incoming freshman class in the last few years. The 4 year graduation rate is slightly above average compared to 4 year institutions. The last set of data I could find was for 2009 which had the rate at 75%: [Office</a> of Undergraduate Admissions - Outcomes](<a href=“http://■■■■■■/aibmhv]Office”>http://■■■■■■/aibmhv). </p>

<p>Don’t be worried about that number. Some factors to consider: </p>

<p>1.) WPI is an engineering school and, despite the resources available to students, you will always find those slackers. </p>

<p>2.) WPI is an engineering school, and you will always find those overachievers who want to double-major, pursue several coops, or study abroad 4 times. </p>

<p>3.) Traditionally, the lackluster graduation rate has been due to folks not finishing their projects on time. After talking with someone in the administration about this, I think WPI has been improving in this area. </p>

<p>4.) Miscellaneous. Some folks postpone because of money issues. And, others don’t graduate on time for other personal reasons. </p>

<p>Conclusion:</p>

<p>If your son wants to graduate on time and barring there is no unforeseeable event that prevents him, he will. </p>

<p>He’ll be able to take the classes he needs. He will be able to find help from professors, PLAs, or classmates. He will be able to consult with knowledgeable advisers to pick the best road map. And, like dynamitekicker said, the NR policy is pretty lenient without adversely affecting a student’s graduation schedule.</p>

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<p>^ Do you think you made the right choice to attend WPI?</p>

<p>I feel that I did make the right choice but sometimes, I think I would have done better had I chosen a larger school that is better known outside of New England such as RPI, Northeastern and UMass-Amherst (perhaps these schools aren’t really that much better known).</p>

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<p>IndianPwnerDude:</p>

<p>Yes. I did make the right choice.</p>

<p>I didn’t think that when I was attending WPI. It wasn’t until I got out that I could appreciate my education. Sometimes, people make the right mistakes. WPI came around at the right time. And, now I feel like I can move on - better than when I started. </p>

<p>Don’t get me wrong: It wasn’t the easiest or best decision to transfer. I had to make some major trade-offs…but this was the decision for me. </p>

<p>And, in hindsight, WPI really is a good engineering education if that’s the kind of education you want. Even though I understand the name constraints, WPI can take you to so many places after graduation, as long as you’re strategic. If you know what you want, make the right moves ahead of time to get it. Even in my line of studies, I still use the WPI name as leverage (of course, I’m still in Mass.) </p>

<p>No college experience is perfect or, even, all that great. It’s normal to have what-ifs. </p>

<p>This is coming from someone who has had a full and diverse college career, from someone who has attended 3 colleges (I’m cross-registering somewhere), who has lived at and commuted to college, gone greek and non-greek, who have experienced multiple majors and learning options, who have been involved on campus and off and been not involved at all.</p>

<p>Best,
PJ</p>