I’ve been admitted to WPI, RPI, and NU for a degree in CS + Music. Each school has provided similar aid packages (within a few thousand dollars). Each has its own pros and cons as far as I can tell, but I’d be interested to hear all of your opinions.
My understanding of these schools is as follows:
— Degree — At WPI and RPI, I would be pursuing a double major, whereas Northeastern has a CS+X dual degree for music. In addition, RPI’s music major seems to be a little bit buried in a conventional arts curriculum. Does anyone have any experience with or knowledge of these degrees?
— Learning model — RPI and Northeastern are based on a co-op/internship model with a standard semester system, while WPI has a quarter system and a project-based approach. From what I understand, internships are also relatively common at WPI, so it seems to have opportunities for both. WPI seems to be the winner here, though if anyone would disagree I’d love to hear your opinion.
— Student life —I don’t know much about this. I’m taking visits to these three soon, and will know more then. I have heard online that WPI and Northeastern tend to have more interesting and lively student bodies, while RPI tends to be a bit more “square.” Is that statement true?
— Research — From my understanding, all of these schools have good research programs. NU and WPI being more undergrad focused have slightly more opportunities, but the difference is small. Is this true?
— Reputation — When applying to grad schools, jobs, and internships, the reputation of my undergrad school will matter, particularly for CS. How well does the industry respect these institutions for CS?
All great schools, congratulations! I’m personally a big fan of WPI. Campus is beautiful, in a nice neighborhood, with a great vibe. The students seem happier than the norm at most schools we visited. Worcester is undergoing a major downtown renovation and is really becoming an interesting place. Surrounding area is beautiful. Program is very hands-on, if that appeals to you. Internships/co-ops are great. For some reason, we learned about the music program while visiting, which I thought surprisingly strong and energetic for a science/engineering school. In terms of reputation, all have very terrific reputations, especially in the Northeast. Northeastern has the advantage of Boston and, I think, a slightly higher national profile. Good luck!
RPI tends to be a bit more “square.” Is that statement true?
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Not sure what you mean by “square”. RPI has a “nerdy” student body, but is actually quite diverse. It has a strong hacker culture among its CS majors (does very well in InfoSec college competitions).
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How well does the industry respect these institutions for CS?
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I can’t speak for WPI or NU, but RPI is highly respected by industry both in CS and engineering. Google, Microsoft, etc., hire lots of students from there.
Hey! Current Northeastern student who looked at all three when applying, have worked with students in industry who attend all three, and beyond coworkers know people at all 3, all for CS.
First, there really isn’t a bad choice here, congratulations!
Here are the things you mentioned:
**Degree: **
I think Northeastern has the big advantage if you’re serious about music here, and doing a combined versus double major will help a lot with class freedom (more room to take classes in other areas). The only negative is it will be slightly light on CS classes - you can choose to take CS electives if you wish to make that up of course. I don’t think the difference will matter in the end for a motivated CS student.
Personally, I don’t have any direct experience with music at NEU, but I know that many parents who end up asking here often get a lot of info about schools we partner with like the NEC, which is literally next door. @TexasMom2017 I believe could help there.
Learning Model:
I think you’ve described them fairly - I understand the appeal of WPI’s model myself - it was a factor that kept it close, but in the end wasn’t enough for my preferences.
That said, I think you’re overplaying it a bit. You’ll take the same classes in the same order at all three in the end. Co-op vs no co-op is really the biggest difference.
Student Life:
WPI and RPI are tech schools with big gender and major imbalances - that was a big turn off for me. The CS world is already very much mostly the same types of people, and I couldn’t imagine being surrounded by it 24/7. Something to consider.
Northeastern is a city school, where you go out and explore Boston and will spend less time on a traditional campus.
WPI is close to Boston but realistically most students stick to campus in a sleepy suburban town with little around, occasionally venturing out to Boston for a day or weekend.
RPI is known to be very isolated. The joke there is that all there is to do in Troy is drink. Still, RPI has a pretty solid campus community from those I know there - if you want to be social, there are others there who are good people who get out of their dorm. For every one of those, there’s a kid who stays in their dorm, studies, and plays video games all day, in varying quantities or each.
Research:
RPI and NEU have good research, but WPI is known to be lacking. It’s focus is on teaching, which is good in it’s own right, but means that if you’re looking for lots of research opportunities, NEU and RPI will offer much more. Personally, I’ve found NEU offers more than RPI, but they are close, while WPI is a ways off.
Reputation:
All three have incredibly strong reputations in the Northeast region and in the tech community. All three send people to Google, Facebook, Microsoft, you name it. Northeastern makes it easy to get in your foot in the door via co-op, as does RPI if you do co-op. Beyond the big tech names, the reputations of all 3 stretch a bit less beyond the region, but are known in tech still. While again close, NEU and RPI will be known a bit better generally, partially due to size and research, not any fault of WPI’s.
The important thing here is that this category has by far the smallest difference between the three. All three have great reputations and opportunities.
Beyond specifically mentioned, here are some key difference factors I would focus on, some mentioned, some not:
I can't underscore how different the social environments are. As someone who wanted a city and a lot going on around me, Northeastern could have won based on that alone. It could be the same for you, or the reverse, or indifference. Either way, know the difference. I think your visits to all three could make this entire thread moot on this alone, and it's great you can visit all three!
You talked about learning models but not specific curriculums. I'm a bit biased here, but CS teaching can vary a lot more than people say. I would highly suggest reading the essay below, as it will benefit you no matter where you end up. It details the curriculum and philosophy of Northeastern well.
In my experience, the program is incredibly effective. Don’t take my word, though. It has spread to many other notable CS schools such as Brown and Waterloo, and even one in this thread:
From RPI students I have talked to there and even shown this essay to, their approach is not nearly as good for learning CS, something both I and they concluded.
It’s also worth noting that RPI CS is significantly tougher in terms of time commitment it seems, for a reason I still haven’t managed to figure out. It’s not content, as all three are in the same ballpark of know-how from those I know (and that level is very high).
On the flipside, I have heard great things about WPI’s adaptation.
At Northeastern, co-op is a very big deal. At RPI, it's optional. That cultural difference is worth noting.
Some of the answers/preferences come down to what you want to do after graduation. If you’re planning to go straight to industry, research may not be important. However, if you want to go the research / Ph.D. route, I think that alone could narrow it to RPI/NEU.
Personally, I obviously chose Northeastern. I have zero regrets or doubts and can rave about the program and school for days, and would be happy to answer any more questions That doesn’t mean it’s the choice for you, though.
If you could note your thoughts/preferences on some of this, I think many here could help to see which fits you best. I know I just dumped a lot, so I apologize for that lol.
For some balance, @frontpage is a WPI CS grad, and @joedoe has fielded a lot of RPI CS questions despite being an engineering major (has many CS friends).
Again, these schools are very similar in the end and there isn’t really a bad choice. Again, visiting will likely make more of a difference than this thread will. Good luck deciding!
Of the 3 schools, NU is the only one that I’m familiar with. It’s one of my son’s top 2 choices (he’s a hs senior and also wants to do CS + music composition). We just spent the weekend at NU and again were very impressed with most everything. However, when we finally got to speak to a composition professor, we learned that the emphasis of this combined program is being shifted from composition to music tech (apparently this is not yet official but will be soon). This didn’t sit too well with my son, who’s seriously interested in composition. We will have to have some follow-up calls to see if he can get comfortable with this. I’d suggest that you also talk to someone there and make sure that the new direction will work for you. … Regarding NEC, my impression is that the cooperation has to do with NU students taking performance classes there, since NU does not have performance majors. And that’s something to keep in mind, too - no performance majors means you have to work harder to get your music performed. … If you’re more interested in the music tech side, I think NU could be a very good choice.
@PengsPhils Very good explanation, I’d side with that. Also, I’m a computer engineer so I need to take all the core CS courses which is why I know so much about that (e.g. Data Structures, Algorithms, Databases, Foundations, Org)
That doesn’t mean it’s the choice for you, though.