Hey, I’m a female high school senior trying to decide where to go to school for mechanical engineering. I’ve narrowed it down to WPI and RIT, and I looked for some forum discussions to help me figure it our, but they’re all out of date, so I thought I’d start one of my own. Finances aside, I’d like to hear your opinions on the topic (particularly from people who attended one of these schools or made the same decision). Could you give me a comprehensive list of the benefits and shortcomings of these schools (particularly in the mechanical engineering dept.). I’m looking from everything from classes to atmosphere to extracurricular to co ops, to the dining halls. Anything and everything you can think of. Thanks so much! (also could someone let me know if RIT offers a teaching program, WPI offers a teacher license program).
I’m somewhat familiar with both, but more so WPI. I came away with a very positive impression of RIT (visited/toured a couple of times). You would get a great education there. That said, and you can check my previous replies, WPI is incredibly impressive to me. I thought the campus beautiful and the vibe terrific. It’s in a nice neighborhood, and Worcester itself is rapidly redeveloping, including a massive downtown renovation. Collaboration among students seems great. I liked the hands-on approach, which I think is relatively unique there, though it would also be a strong point at RIT as well. Bottom line: two great choices, but a biased vote for WPI. Good luck!