My son was accepted to both WPI and Clark with scholarships to both (CS major, class of 2024). WPI is his first choice but Clark is less expensive and gave him a significantly higher scholarship. Any thoughts from others familiar with one or both?
Congratulations on his acceptances and scholarships.
Both WPI and Clark are good schools.
My friend’s son; an international student got many job interviews ( and couple job offers ) with his WPI engineering degree.
D really liked Clark. She thought they offered a lot of interesting opportunities for a small school. She interviewed with a great guy who found another student with similar interests and the two of them spoke at length about what Clark could offer her. No experience with WPI, though, because she’s not a STEM kid at all.
Congrats on the acceptances. Both are fine schools but I’d imagine they have different vibes. WPI is more engineering/technical while Clark is more liberal arts oriented.
Here aer some questions I would ask:
–Have your visited both?Does your son prefer one environment to another?
–Have you checked the CS offerings at both schools (should be able to find online) to compare their programs?
–While Clark is cheaper, are both schools comfortably affordable (no hardship, no major debt)?
–Can you get any information about CS job placement from both schools?
–If both schools are affordable, can you revisit them both?
Thanks for the input so far! We have visited WPI but not Clark - we plan to but live far away so still figuring that out. Both are “affordable” but there is a big difference in cost. We will compare programs in more depth and all that. Just looking for insider perspectives from those with personal experience with either school.
I respect both Universities, The vibes will be different… therefore visit both if possible.
- The mix of possible majors are very different. Although both offer CS. A very large number of students do not graduate in their intended major from their selected University. Keep this in mind and think of what your second and third majors (or applications) may be.
- Do not assumes that you will take courses at both universities through the Worcester Consortium as the schedules differ so much that such exchanges are very awkward, WPI has seven week terms.
- The average secondary GPA of WPI (3.89) and Clark (3.66) students differ, but both have academically solid student bodies.
Posted by a biased WPI alumnus, but always liked “Clarkies.” Used to tutor one in math when I was a student. Two of my WPI economics faculty professors were from Clark and my roommate married a Clark student. One of WPI’s more popular Math professors had his PhD from Clark.
If your son has expressed a clear interest in computer science, I think he’d prefer WPI’s curriculum.
My son was accepted at WPI too. I have done exstensive research on CS programs even considering a few liberal arts colleges. With that said Clark never made our list of considerations and I have never heard of the school. The only liberal arts colleges we considered based upon course offerings are Tufts, Bowdoin and Cornell.
My son loves everything about WPI except the cost. At the end of the day it will cost about 30k per year to attend.
I do like Becker which is also near by. They are the 3 highest ranked CS program for Game Development.
Becker has done a remarkable job in game design and development. They are just a few blocks from the WPI campus. The breadth of offerings will be narrower than Clark or WPI, but if you are 99% certain that game design is the CS application you are looking for, check it out!
The AVERAGE HS GPAs of the entering classes at Becker are listed as 3.02. Clark’s is 3.66 and WPI’s is 3.89. I bring this up as it is a metric which, somewhat, reflects the campus wide academic perspectives of your fellow students. I don’t know how much these numbers reflect the artistic and creative aspects of game design.
If interested, see the campuses in action. All of CS is not game design. Think about AI and fully developed Robotics, Math, and physics programs.
per “happy1” suggestion: Can you get any information about CS job placement from both schools?
For WPI placement info, see https://www.wpi.edu/student-experience/career-development/outcomes and download PDF report for selected year. The newest postings are for 2018 on page 19 of report for detailed listing of CS majors with average salary, employing companies, double majors and graduate school listings.
@Ricegirl92 - We visited both and my daughter was also accepted to both EA with scholarships. We are not putting any emphasis on either just yet as we are awaiting another EA Feb. 1 which is closer to home as she is in prep school in Mass. Cost will play a factor in our choice as well so we are praying for more $ than these are offering. We are leaning towards a LAC in case she decides to change her major which is common so Clark does have a slight edge. I do understand that WPI does have a large selection of LA/humanities courses and majors. Are you considering any other schools? We also are awaiting RD decisions as well. I wish you well.
@Sarrip - My son is planning on the Interactive Media and Game Development major at WPI. The Clark offering is more of a general Computer Science degree I believe (also available at WPI of course). He is very interested in the social sciences as well and hopes to minor in Philosophy or something similar. I would say he is a STEM-light kid - very strong in CS but not an engineer type - thus the interest in Clark and some other schools where he has been accepted as well. We are waiting to hear from Northeastern, RIT, and Stevens also. Right now we are planning to attend accepted student day at both Clark and WPI in early April. Thank you for the insight about taking classes in the Consortium @retiredfarmer - I wondered if that was really practical.
@Ricegirl92. my daughter is applying to Stevens which is also very close to home since we live in the state. I’m not sure if you visited yet but it is really a nice community. My daughter loved the location.
I would choose WPI over Clark. I worked at Clark (in administration) and think it’s a very good school, but WPI is academically stronger. If you care about the US News ratings–WPI has a higher rating than Clark.
I graduated from WPI in economics way back in 1970 as one of three Economics majors. A large number of Engineering majors were minoring in Economics and they complained about all the questions we three kept asking. From their perspectives our questions generated more information for them to worry about on the next exam.
The EC majors minored in engineering, math and CS. The Notre Dame, Holy Cross, MIT and Clark educated economics professors showed us a lot of attention and loved the mathematical directions they could take in the economics classroom.
I worked in the WPI administration after graduation and can say that the SS directions have expanded considerably at WPI since the 70’s. They now have a serious psychology major ( which Clark has long been known for). WPI’s growth is this area was kick started by a university wide degree requirement called the IQP. See https://www.wpi.edu/academics/departments/social-science-policy-studies.
“AI” activity in the Robotics and CS areas have also fed over to the SS areas. They need each other.
For Philosophy and religion minor offerings see https://www.wpi.edu/academics/study/philosophy-religion-minor. No majors here.
Post graduation, my first job involved working the engineers, social scientists, environmental scientists and civil engineers regarding the impact of the federal Highway system. Interdisciplinary thinking was fun and necessary. Projects teach students this by way of experience. For this reason you might want to take a close look at Clark’s impressive undergraduate research program. These vehicles can make a difference. See https://www.clarku.edu/research/undergraduate-research/
What does “not an engineer type” mean? Are the large number of women who now study and manage WPI also not engineering types? That sounds like a flashback to my youth!
@retiredfarmer Thanks for all the info! By “not and engineer type” I mean he doesn’t really enjoy physics and calculus. He loves computer programming, game design, web development, etc.
Thank you… understood.!
I’m a bit paranoid about stereotyping a grouping of majors. It perpetuates disciplinary biases which can interfere with the discovery process in learning. Knowledge and technique are not aware of our somewhat artificial disciplinary boundaries. Our questions should lead us to the needed tools.
I would be very wary of Becker. It’s well known that they are having financial difficulties. The recent Forbes financial health listing confirmed this: Becker earned a D.