<p>Hey guys WPI is one of my top choices and I applied EA round 2. I just wanted to know the pros and cons of attending WPI? It could be anything. Academics (esspically ME), social scene (the girls) whatever!!!!! Also if you could comment on what the admissions office looks at in a prospective student, that would be great. Thank you?</p>
<p>Sorry for posting 2x. My computer was acting wierd!!</p>
<p>i'd definitely say that the project based curriculum is a plus
and obviously the guy:girl ratio is a minus</p>
<p>
[quote]
Hey guys WPI is one of my top choices and I applied EA round 2. I just wanted to know the pros and cons of attending WPI? It could be anything.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>What other schools are you considering? Really a lot of the advantages/disadvantages are relative. </p>
<p>
[quote]
Academics (esspically ME)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I'm not a MechE, but I think it's solid. My advice would be to look through the course catalogs of all the colleges that you get accepted into, and see which one offers more/better courses. </p>
<p>I really have liked WPI's ECE department. I almost could not imagine a single way in which it could be improved. </p>
<p>Math professors are sort of a different story though. They're all good people who try their hardest, but a lot of them don't speak English. </p>
<p>
[quote]
social scene (the girls) whatever!!!!!
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It's pretty good for whatever. </p>
<p>I haven't been to any schools other than WPI, so I can't really comment on the relative quality of the social scene. Drinking is significant, but it doesn't really feel like you have to drink to be socially accepted. </p>
<p>
[quote]
Also if you could comment on what the admissions office looks at in a prospective student, that would be great. Thank you?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I guess one thing to think about is that schools are looking for people who will make a lot of money, not just nerds/geeks. That's why colleges provide such a big boost for athletes and alumni. </p>
<p>So that's my advice to you. Try to seem like a person who's sociable, and not just intelligent. When I applied to colleges, I wrote my essays about Darth Vader and aliens millions of years in the future, and I didn't get into a lot of schools where my grades/SATs where in the middle 50th percentile.</p>
<p>Pros
No prerequisite to classes
can take graduate classes
can overload classes
atmosphere is good, doesnt seem people are competitive with each other
grading A/B/C/NR
good in D3 sports</p>
<p>Cons
Almost never close the school for snow - believe it happened 2 times in last few years.
We do not have a discrete math department at all
Math teachers are hit or miss
The computer science building does not have a 24 hr lab
On campus life is not that good, ND is a lot better
not that competitive
get knocked out of NCAA basketball first round</p>
<p>"On campus life is not that good, ND is a lot better"</p>
<p>What is ND...Notre Dame?</p>
<p>yes, after about the first 2 months it becomes fraternity kids go to the fraternities a lot, then there are the kids who dont leave thier rooms and play video games or watch movies, and then there are a small group who do on campus things without drinking.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Pros
No prerequisite to classes
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This is sort of an advantage. When I went to a community college it was always a pain to have to get teacher permission to take programming without having taken
"Introduction to computer technology" or some rubbish. </p>
<p>I don't think will be a situation at WPI where I'll want to take a class without the prerequisites, but it might happen someday... </p>
<p>
[quote]
can take graduate classes
can overload classes
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Very true. Overloading isn't that expensive. </p>
<p>
[quote]
atmosphere is good, doesnt seem people are competitive with each other
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yeah, most people aren't that competitive. I wonder if it's because of the NR system. Or maybe WPI students just don't care that much about GPA. Who knows? </p>
<p>
[quote]
grading A/B/C/NR
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I think that really goes hand in hand with the quarter system. I mean, if there was no NR than someone could slaughter their GPA by bombing one test (in contrast, with a semester system one would have plenty of time to decide whether or not they want to drop the class). </p>
<p>
[quote]
good in D3 sports
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Football team seems good within the conference. </p>
<p>
[quote]
Cons
Almost never close the school for snow - believe it happened 2 times in last few years.
We do not have a discrete math department at all
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yeah, the math offerings seem to be very focus on statistics. WPI has a few advanced theoretical math classes (like rings and fields), but not really as many as I would like. </p>
<p>
[quote]
Math teachers are hit or miss
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Heh... Yes. </p>
<p>
[quote]
The computer science building does not have a 24 hr lab
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The ECE department does, which is very nice. They also have free printing for ECE majors. </p>
<p>
[quote]
On campus life is not that good, ND is a lot better
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I've never been to another 4 year college, so I can't say how good WPI is in a relative sense. However I can say that WPI is very diverse, lot's of international students. But in an academic sense it's not very diverse, as almost everyone is an engineering major. </p>
<p>
[quote]
not that competitive
get knocked out of NCAA basketball first round
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You mean Div. III basketball? I'm surprised that we wouldn't be competitive.</p>
<p>Here are my WPI questions:</p>
<ol>
<li>Is it very pricey to go oversees with the Global Perspective project?</li>
<li>Is the project work directly related to your field of study?</li>
<li>Are there good civil engineering projects oversees (Europe)?</li>
<li>Are internships relatively easy to obtain?</li>
</ol>
<p>WPI is my first choice too, but it's so damn expensive! >_<</p>
<p>Your answers are greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>I'm a freshman electrical engineering major at WPI, and I think I might be able to answer some of your questions. </p>
<p>
[quote]
1. Is it very pricey to go oversees with the Global Perspective project?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That's all relative. But if you're going to WPI, my guess is that you can afford it :D</p>
<p>Interdisciplinary</a> & Global Studies Division - Wall Street, New York City</p>
<p>This site estimates an IQP costs $3,000 (beyond the normal tuition/housing bill) for a NY/London MQP. I know that I'd have a lot of trouble affording that. </p>
<p>
[quote]
2. Is the project work directly related to your field of study?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>My understanding is that the IQP (done in the junior year) is general, while the MQP (done in the senior year) is more general. </p>
<p>
[quote]
3. Are there good civil engineering projects oversees (Europe)?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This site should help: </p>
<p>Interdisciplinary</a> & Global Studies Division - Project Centers in the World</p>
<p>
[quote]
4. Are internships relatively easy to obtain?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I haven't applied for any internships yet, so I really can't speak from personal experience. However, I did go to the career fair, and there was a very strong selection of engineering firms. The grad school fair, however, didn't have a lot of "big name" schools. </p>
<p>
[quote]
WPI is my first choice too, but it's so damn expensive! >_<</p>
<p>Your answers are greatly appreciated.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>What are your other choices? To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't advise you to go into a lot of debt if you have any good alternatives to WPI. </p>
<p>A good idea might be to look at how much money you'll realistically make out of school, and then decide if you can afford your debt burden.</p>
<p>I will be applying as a transfer student btw.
I am applying to Georgia Tech, Rose-Hulman, and Illinois. When it comes to rankings, these schools blow WPI out of the water, but WPI's project-based curriculum and study abroad opportunities really appeal to me. I would also prefer a small private undergrad education over a public one, I would rather feel that a professor is trying to teach me than dismiss me for his/her research. Sure the debt may be a lot, but I think it will be worth it.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, how does APPLYING to WPI make me rich? The tuition is definitely an issue for me. </p>
<p>Anyways, I appreciate your response, and am open to any WPI student's remarks on the school- they will definitely help when I need to make the important decision.</p>
<p>well I am disappointed to hear the negatives about the math department. This is not the first time I have heard negative things about the math dept at WPI. I have heard the math professors are hard to understand. And now that there is little discrete or pure math, the emphasis on applied and statistical.
It IS expensive. More so than MIT and Caltech and Stanford. Of the schools my son applied to I think only Rensselaer is more expensive.
Son has applied EA round 2. But we will need to look more closely at the math department if he gets accepted. I hope we hear from some folks who have a different opinion of the math department. As I say, it is disappointing to hear of the opinions of the math department</p>
<p>
[quote]
I will be applying as a transfer student btw.
I am applying to Georgia Tech, Rose-Hulman, and Illinois. When it comes to rankings, these schools blow WPI out of the water, but WPI's project-based curriculum and study abroad opportunities really appeal to me. I would also prefer a small private undergrad education over a public one, I would rather feel that a professor is trying to teach me than dismiss me for his/her research. Sure the debt may be a lot, but I think it will be worth it.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Well, I think that a good way of measuring academic strength is the 75th percentile of the school's math SATs. Illinois is at 700. WPI is at 710. Rose Hulman is at 720. Georgia Tech is at 730. </p>
<p>A good way of measuring the financial strength of private schools is to compute per capita endowment. </p>
<p>WPI: 135k
Illinois: 131k
Rose Hulman: 110k</p>
<p>So really they're all financially on par. I applied to both RH and WPI, and RH was about 5k a year more expensive for me. So really, I just couldn't afford it so that's why I'm at WPI. </p>
<p>
[quote]
Oh yeah, how does APPLYING to WPI make me rich? The tuition is definitely an issue for me.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That was just a joke. I was just saying that the cost of going abroad is smaller than the cost of tuition, but you don't have to go abroad. </p>
<p>
[quote]
Anyways, I appreciate your response, and am open to any WPI student's remarks on the school- they will definitely help when I need to make the important decision.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Those are all good schools, but I'd probably recommend Georgia Tech for financial reasons. I don't think its a good idea to rack up a lot of debt if you don't have to. </p>
<p>Also consider that Illinois is going to be more grad school oriented than WPI, and WPI is going to be more grad school oriented than RH.</p>
<p>@civegn, </p>
<p>US News should be illegal, because it probably destroys billions of dollars every year by forcing colleges to spend loads of money just to keep a spot on US News. Schools that offered a quality education, without the side luxuries, like Cooper Union, Webb, and Harvey Mudd are having their prestige destroyed by US News. If they just based US News rankings on median Math SAT scores, it would provide just as strong of a ranking as US News without all of the pointless pressure on colleges. </p>
<p>As for going into debt to go to WPI, I can't really make a great recommendation on this. If you were an electrical engineering major, I could recommend WPI without reservation, because every professor I've had in the electrical engineering professor has been amazing (as a lecturer, researcher, teacher, etc.) But I've never had a civil engineering class before... </p>
<p>--</p>
<p>@theoryMom, I don't know how the math department compares to schools like RPI, because the only college I've been to that's not WPI was a community college.</p>
<p>I read an article written by WPI (WPI</a> finds its place in national college rankings) claiming that their lack of a national reputation is what really hurts their US News rank. Putting aside the fact that US News rankings are unfair, doesn't this lack of reputation hurt a graduate's chances of obtaining a job outside of the New England area, compared to the well-known schools like Ill and Gtech where firms around the country hire? </p>
<p>I know that this is probably a question that only a graduate or human resources person can answer, but I might as well throw it out there.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I read an article written by WPI (WPI finds its place in national college rankings) claiming that their lack of a national reputation is what really hurts their US News rank.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>There's some legitimacy to that, but I think the real problem is that WPI is in the national university rankings, even though WPI is way smaller than the schools its competing with. </p>
<p>
[quote]
Putting aside the fact that US News rankings are unfair, doesn't this lack of reputation hurt a graduate's chances of obtaining a job outside of the New England area, compared to the well-known schools like Ill and Gtech where firms around the country hire?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Well, Georgia Tech is more well known than WPI - but I wouldn't say that Ill or Rose Hulman are.</p>
<p>I wanted to know how is diversity on campus? Do the minorities tend to stick together or do they hang out with the white students as well.?</p>
<p>Well, I think that the Chinese are the biggest minority (WPI has a lot of internationals), and they tend to be pretty insular because they speak a different language. </p>
<p>I know a few people who are of hispanic/african descent, and they don't seem to only hang out with people who have the same ethnicity as them. But you'd probably get a more comprehensive answer from someone who actually is a minority.</p>
<p>reply to #7</p>
<p>what’s your point…?</p>
<p>A few questions:
1)Why does WPI use NR? Isn’t that deceiving if your transcripts are requested by an employer or another school?
2)Have any of you tried to transfer to another school to complete your degree? Do your credits fully transfer?
3) If you spend over $50,000 in an academic year on tuition alone, don’t you then feel a financial obligation to continue your education at the school where you have so much invested? Especially if you will lose credits transferring? It is my opinion but it would seem a student may find themselves trapped at a school that is not a good fit, given these circumstances.
4) Therefore; does the NR that is not figured into GPA encourage students/parents to continue their education at WPI, even though the school may not have been a good fit for the student after the first or second year? As a parent, would you encourage your student to stay, if you invested significant money into an education that often does not transfer to another school?</p>