<p>Anyone feel this way at all? I feel like we got shafted by our ranking last year. Hopefully it will move up. The new incoming class stats by the way is listed below.</p>
<p>SAT Range (middle 50%) (CR+MA) 1210-1420 (CR,MA,WR) 1780-2090
ACT Range (middle 50%) 27-32 composite score
Average class rank: in top 11 percent </p>
<p>Our CR/MA definitely rivals some of the top schools in the country. I feel like we get the shaft though big time. In my opinion we also have one of the hardest curriculums in the country. Anyone else agree/disagree? Hopefully well move up this coming US News edition. Also what are your thoughts about our president?</p>
<p>I think WPI is definitely an underranked institution. The students at WPI compare with those at Georgia Tech, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, UIUC College of Engineering, and other schools in terms of SAT scores, although the class rank is slightly lower (but Massachusetts high school education is a lot better than Illinois, Georgia, Michigan, etc).</p>
<p>However, WPI’s rank may be based on its sub-par financial aid (meet around 70% of need although they give a huge amount of merit aid to more qualified individuals) and the fact that its graduate programs are not as strong as its peer schools. They need to find better ways to raise funds in order to remain highly competitive and shouldn’t be admitting a lot of people who get in (rather focusing on increasing quality). But the overall undergrad education and research/industry opportunities for undergrads is great at WPI and would compare well with these other schools.</p>
<p>I also agree that WPI is far underranked. I also think, like pwner, that this is due to the graduate rankings and the financial aid. Once, Wpi was one of the best schools in the nation for financial aid. Alas, this is no longer true</p>
<p>Forbes rankings are less legitimate than even US News. Read this passage:</p>
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<p>Forbes rankings are not to be taken seriously, although US News Rankings contain some truth. The matter of fact is that it really doesn’t matter where you went to school. There are grads from UMass Lowell (a US News “tier 3” school) who are working at Fortune 50 companies and even some who went to MIT or Ivies to grad school. Remember that your talent matters a lot more than your school’s brand name (at least in engineering). There are some schools (like Ivies, Stanford) where they can pay thier way to top grad departments and where students are spoon fed opportunities. While WPI does afford this opportunity to you (I don’t really think this entitlement is fair anyways), there are really smart kids here and even if you are a top student, you will probably be challenged here if you really want to excel.</p>
<p>WPI is not underranked too far, although the top 25% of students here are MUCH more talented than the average students here, especially the international students. I’d say it should be ranked at around 45-50 instead of 68, since it is a peer with RPI and Boston University. And don’t avoid applying there just because of thier poor aid. If your family has a high EFC, the merit aid at WPI is much better than the need based aid at other schools (including some Ivies). The school is still not cheap but the atmosphere here is really amazing. Most students come to class early and pay attention as they are really serious to learn and to come out as talented professionals. From my first few weeks at WPI, I am myself becoming more self-motivated.</p>
<p>I think WPI’s rankings would be much higher if they dropped their PH.D program. WPI is certainly a peer to Rose-hulman, the top non-Ph.D granting engineering school. With a Ph.D program, they lose ranking because their Ph.D program is pretty terrible (although the undergrad program is awesome) and because it puts them in the same water as schools like MIT and Cornell.</p>
<p>Also, I know WPI gives pretty okay Merit aid nowadays. It used to give out ridiculous amounts of merit aid. I know somebody from our school with a 4.2 gpa (out of 5) and a 2100 hundredish sat who got like 30,000 in merit aid five years ago</p>
<p>I don’t think WPI would be in the same class if it didn’t have a Ph.D. program. There would not be as much research faculty if there wasn’t a doctorate program, and the graduate school helps WPI advance nationally and helps provide research opportunities to undergrads. They are trying to grow and recruit new faculty, many of whom won NSF career awards and other prestigious awards. While they probably won’t be as prestigious as MIT or Cornell in the foreseeable future (largely due to location too), by hiring more faculty and expanding thier programs [esp. thier graduate programs], they have the potential to be a top 35 institution in 10 years or so.</p>
<p>Rose Hulman is not better than WPI and is not the top undergrad eng. program despite what US News says. WPI has better student stats and has better research opportunities. Same with RIT, which is ranked very high in the "Top Masters Program (Northeast) category. I would say any day that Olin and Harvey Mudd are miles ahead of Rose Hulman or Cal Poly.</p>
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<p>While I would like to pay less for college, I know that merit aid is a dying dinosaur right now. Its first obligation is to meet the demonstrated need of students. I know very few schools that offer much more aid than WPI and most of them are third tier schools. They are focusing on spending more on making thier departments better and this [imo] is more important than giving enormous scholarships to wealthy students. Carnegie Mellon University used to give merit until a year ago and and they stopped it entirely. If WPI wants to be in the league of CMU and other premier schools, dropping merit aid and migrating to need based aid is an important step.</p>
<p>To provide examples of what I just said, look at Gateway Park at WPI, the new bioscience center which will have better facilities for the biosciences and will house a lot of interdisciplinary research as well as industry work. </p>
<p>Also, they have added many new faculty to the Robotics Engineering program at WPI and have also added graduate programs, which equals funding for the CS, ECE, and MechE departments and a new and unique program which attracts more undergrads.</p>
<p>If WPI did not have a grad program, I probably would have gone to UMass or another school with a grad program. Secondly, being in a more competitive classification does not mean that the school will attract poorer students. More the opposite. And many other private schools like Duke, USC, and CMU, and Tufts have grown in the rankings enormously in the last 10-15 years. If WPI provides more of what students want, I don’t see why it won’t grow in the same way as well.</p>
<p>Another aspect of the merit aid that is important is that they now guarantee you a lower amount at the beginning and are willing to increase your merit aid if you perform outstandingly in college rather than guaranteeing you $30,000 regardless of how you do. I know a friend who got her scholarship doubled after a year or two. I think this is an important and wise decision. WPI has made some significant administrative mistakes in the past, such as not hiring new faculty at the rate of its peer institutions and I think that they are now moving in the right direction.</p>
<p>^ I agree. I know we have been putting money into the business and liberal arts programs. Our peer schools are RPI, Gtech, Case Western, Lehigh, MIT and Cal-tech.</p>
<p>superstar12, I know how much you like WPI (and I do too) but it is very unreasonable to consider WPI (or any other of the aforementioned schools) as a peer school to MIT and Caltech. MIT and Caltech offer a more rigorous and research based program than WPI and the other schools (not to mention better financial aid) and can afford to do so because they have the funding, the endowment, and applicants of extremely high caliber from whom they can choose. I was rejected from MIT (and would have gone there if I got in) and I do not believe that the majority of my classmates are really admissable to MIT (or Caltech or even Cornell for that matter).</p>
<p>While WPI’s 75th percentile SAT scores (~1410) are nothing to slouch at, Caltech’s 75th percentile SAT score is 1590. That is one standard deviation higher in both sections (and this is statistically significant at any level). I don’t also think WPI is alone in being under-ranked. I also think that RPI is underranked. Lehigh and Case Western are slightly overrated in the rankings although they are also fine institutions.</p>
<p>Besides, I don’t think you can compare schools too directly. What WPI has to offer is different than its peer schools. Our liberal arts are still quite mediocre, with many of our liberal arts courses being taught by adjunct faculty. The part time MBA program here is quite well ranked and I am aware that it brings a lot of money to the college but our undergraduate business and management programs are average (probably not as as good as nearby UMass/Amherst or Northeastern). That being said, the culture at WPI is very different from other schools that I have seen and some students here are clearly at the MIT/Caltech level (and end up going there for grad school).</p>
<p>Sorry… umm for killing the discussion. I don’t think rankings are that relevant and I am not meaning to bash WPI or any other institution. Besides, I go here and I know that WPI (or RPI, RIT, Georgia Tech, Case Western, Michigan, …) is a great place to get a challenging education. </p>
<p>I didn’t mean that one cannot get an MIT or Caltech-equivalent education here. I go here and there are a few kids here who are more intelligent than people I know who go to MIT (I don’t know anyone who goes to Caltech, but I’m sure that the same logic applies). The courses at WPI are challenging and even the humanities department offer some interesting courses (although they are still underfunded).</p>
<p>However, while the education may be equivalent here, WPI and RPI have less of a national prestige. A big reputation is often not really made by exclusively by students, but rather by endowment cash, big-shot scholars (which the cash can buy), military and defense connections (think MIT), and of course, student accomplishments (who they can select from the nation’s absolute best). This is why even uber-selective schools like Olin College in Needham don’t really have national prestige. It is usually the reputation that brings in famous faculty and top students and vice versa. This cycle keeps MIT and Ivies at the top, regardless of the education they provide. They can afford to focus more on scholarship than teaching.</p>