<p>Any thoughts?</p>
<p>My DS is interested in gaming but is also strong in all of the sciences. If by chance his mind is open to being influenced to another direction in college, where is this most likely to happen?</p>
<p>He is a quirky kid not easily moved from his position so it would need to be a very stimulating environment yet also encouraging and supportive. He needs to feel at ease.</p>
<p>ACT = 33 (CR=35, Science=35, English=32, Math=30)</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>This subject has come up in the past. This thread is from a few years ago:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/rensselaer-polytechnic-institute/676824-rpi-wpi.html?highlight=wpi[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/rensselaer-polytechnic-institute/676824-rpi-wpi.html?highlight=wpi</a></p>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>We need to make that decision soon.</p>
<p>My son just got accepted into RPI - Computer Science with emphasis on Game Design. We are waiting to hear from WPI. WPI is his first choice based on location, but it will all come down to money.</p>
<p>We are visiting RPI in two weeks, however. We were actually surprised with his offer - his GPA is relatively low, but he had great SAT scores. </p>
<p>I am not that hopeful on WPI for some reason. They say they had a record number of applications and it is becoming increasingly more difficult to get accepted.</p>
<p>He LOVED that campus and school, however. WPI is really his wish school.
Catrin</p>
<p>MQD - why those two colleges? Is your son a Jr or already applied? If you are asking for next year, I’d say cast a wider net and look at schools that have lots of strengths. I’d look at schools that have a good general core of classes that all students need to take. That will give exposure to other fields. </p>
<p>Harvey Mudd is a good one for its core and I’ll bet quite a few others. Maybe even some liberal arts colleges with strong computer science programs. Anyway, just a thought!</p>
<p>Thx all. He was accepted into RPI and waiting to hear from WPI.</p>
<p>Gaming is his first priority but has other interests that I want to make certain are kept alive.</p>
<p>Looks like we are in the same boat. The waiting is hard!! We are heading up to RPI next week. Hopefully WPI news will be good and come out soon.<br>
Good luck!
Catrin</p>
<p>We have not visted either since we are in the west coast. Good luck to you. I am interested to hear your thoughts after the visit.</p>
<p>Do you have any opinions about Miami University. DS was offered a full tuition merit scholarship and we are weighing the benefits such as small program in big school, growing program in 15-30 ranking, good boy/girl ratio, happy safe place, balanced atmosphere, eager/entrepreneurial attitude, good graduate school acceptance but … Far away, newish program, not yet as highly rated, not well known out west … Etc.</p>
<p>My D had to make that decision last year. She was on the fence until the last minute. Drove me nuts! In the end, she chose WPI which she felt was the better fit for her. It has turned out to be an excellent choice for her.</p>
<p>You really can’t go wrong with either school. Some people like to argue about which one is better, but in my opinion, they are pretty much academic equals. There are some differences, however, that are important to consider. </p>
<p>Size of school: WPI has a somewhat smaller undergraduate population and a significantly smaller campus</p>
<p>Location: Worcester vs. Troy; No great winners there, but some people prefer one over the other. </p>
<p>Terms vs. semesters: How does your student feel about taking 3 complete classes for 7 weeks? Both schools offer rigorous courses, but the 7 week terms can be challenging for some students. The pace of the classes is very quick. Students either love this or hate this. </p>
<p>Project based curriculum: How does your student feel about doing 3 major projects in their 4 years? Again, students either love this or hate this. On the plus side, these projects foster interdisciplinary work among students in real world settings which is appealing to employers. Negatives are that these projects are time consuming, challenging, and some students just don’t like learning in this way</p>
<p>Structure of curriculum: It seems as though RPI structures their curriculum more than WPI. While WPI has guidelines for each major about which courses need to be taken, the student needs to take the initiative to make sure that all required courses are taken. RPI had nice tables outlining exactly which courses need to be taken each semester in order to meet graduation requirements. If your student is very organized, it probably won’t matter. If s/he is disorganized, the greater structure may be helpful.</p>
<p>Extracurriculars: Both schools have a wide assortment of ECs. WPI has excellent instrumental and vocal performing groups that tour worldwide. RPI also has music groups and a beautiful performance space. Both are D3 schools for sports, but RPIs men’s ice hockey team is D1, so games are great. </p>
<p>Non STEM curriculum: Both offer a variety of humanities courses. If your student decides that a STEM major isn’t for them, I don’t think either school is stellar (with the possible exception of business at RPI), but in my opinion RPI edges out WPI on this one.</p>
<p>YMMV, but hope this helps. This is just the opinion of one mom who’s student loved both schools and looked very carefully at each of them in order to make a decision. </p>
<p>In my opinion, you can’t go wrong with either school; you just have to decide which is a better fit for your student.</p>
<p>Thank you granitestatemom for your perspective!!</p>
<p>Granitestatemom - which of two has the project-based curriculum? (I think my son would prefer the other LOL.)</p>
<p>WPI has the project based curriculum. Here is a link to more information:
[-</a> Welcome](<a href=“http://www.wpi.edu/academics/Projects/index.html]-”>http://www.wpi.edu/academics/Projects/index.html)</p>
<p>On the plus side, many students do at least one of these projects abroad.</p>
<p>My S had to make the same decision 4 years ago.</p>
<p>He liked both schools very much, but ended up going to RPI because it had a program that he was very interested in (Information Technology).</p>
<p>Being from a very small high school, he did like the smaller feel to WPI.</p>
<p>Both are great schools. I agree that it is just a matter of personal fit.</p>
<p>DS and I visited both campuses last year. I think both are excellent schools. WPI’s campus is more intimate. RPI’s is very nice (really large quad - my son’s eyes lit up, because he loves ultimate frisbee).</p>
<p>RPI has a higher reputation, but I think that WPI has made strides to close that gap, but is still more regional.</p>
<p>My understanding is that WPI has FOUR 7 week terms (A,B,C and D) in a standard school year (starts in late august, ends in early May). The scholarship and financial aid paperwork refers to all four sessions. RPI is on a standard semester program. </p>
<p>WPI just completed construction of new dorms and I think the new athletic facility is open or will be by fall. They’ve increased their student population and have been catching up with space. I did think that the dorms we saw at RPI were a bit run down…and when we toured WPI showed doubles that were being occupied as triples…so - kind of a ding on both. </p>
<p>Last, but not least - we got much better financial aid offered from RPI. Although WPI has stated it wants to improve its performance on average student debt at graduation, it’s also clear that it considers students and families responsible for the cost of education, not that they don’t have some good scholarships…</p>
<p>We are waiting on hearing back from some UCs, so the decision making is tough…there are also a few LACs on our list (an odd compilation…). Best of luck to all who at least have this choice. Both schools had record-breaking application years.</p>
<p>Oh, one more thing. To the post regarding planning your degree… I found this tool quite a while back and thought that this was an excellent planning tool at WPI. [Office</a> of Academic Advising - 1. Academic Overview](<a href=“http://www.wpi.edu/Admin/OAA/Designs/academic.html]Office”>http://www.wpi.edu/Admin/OAA/Designs/academic.html). I thought this was actually one of the best planning tools I had encountered at a college - wish they ALL worked this way.</p>
<p>KD94025 - Do you know the numbers on applicants this year for WPI? Is it listed somewhere?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Can someone (GraniteStateMom?) explain a little more about the projects at WPI? I have looked at several links but still don’t have a clear picture of how this works. Do the students do these projects alone or in a team/as part of a group? </p>
<p>There is a lot to like about project-based learning, I think, as it is the way the “real world” often works. But “projects” makes my kid think of those horrible group projects in high school in which one or two kids do all the work while the rest of the kids slack off. Presumably this is not like that? </p>
<p>It also sounds like you would have to be very organized and a self-starter to conceive of and succeed at a project – true? Do the kids (esp. in early years of school) get a fair amount of oversight and guidance?</p>
<p>Many thanks for info.</p>
<p>Mom2kids - here is a release on the number of applicants at WPI this year - 12% increase this year:</p>
<p>[WPI</a> Achieves Record-Breaking Number of Undergraduate Applications - WPI](<a href=“http://www.wpi.edu/news/20123/2013admins.html]WPI”>http://www.wpi.edu/news/20123/2013admins.html)</p>
<p>lotsalego- my D is just a freshman, so I don’t have any 1st hand experience yet, but I can share what I’ve heard from her upperclassmen friends. Also, my H graduated from WPI eons ago and the project curriculum was in place way back then. Although some details have changed, they are still pretty similar. I believe that students have an advisor for each project.</p>
<p>Humanities (formerly called sufficiency) - based on a series of related classes that students take. D is taking Arabic language, history, and culture classes. No idea what she will do for a project. H took music classes and performed a solo recital for his project. from what I understand, these projects are usually done individually (as opposed to groups) and are pretty flexible. Many students do this their Sophomore year, but it can be done at any time once the courses are taken.</p>
<p>IQP - this is done Junior year and is collaborative with students from different majors. Many students choose to go abroad to project centers where there is a specific, real world problem to address. I have heard of students working in Africa on water delivery systems. It sounds like the centers are well organized and supervised. I would expect that slackers in the group would not go over well.</p>
<p>MQP - done senior year and is basically research with an advisor in your major. D is a BME and I have heard of students doing research at UMass medical school (also in Worcester). My H was Chem E and researched something with zeolites. I believe that these are individual projects. </p>
<p>Not sure this was helpful. Maybe someone else who has more knowledge about the projects will chime in!</p>
<p>Definitely helpful – thanks GraniteStateMom!</p>
<p>MQPs can be individual or group projects and can be done on campus or away. Each major has its own project sites for MQPs. CS majors for example can go to Wall Street, Budapest, Silicon Valley, Japan or at do them at some local companies such as Microsoft’s Cambridge office.
IQP sites are all over the world but you can also complete them in Worcester or Boston. My son is looking forward to going to Copenhagen next year for his IQP.
The humanities/arts project is not always a true project, though it can be. You have to demonstrate depth in an area of Humanities/Arts. My son for example is taking German and the completion of the high level courses in German satisfy the requirement. There is a lot of flexibility.</p>
<p>We too compared WPI and RPI. My son really liked the smaller, more intimate campus at WPI and thought the students seemed “happier”. Just his impression of course. And although Worcester is not the greatest city he (and we) liked it better than Troy.
I think WPI and RPI get compared more than any two schools I can think of except perhaps the eternal Bates/Colby/Bowdoin debates. They are very similar in terms of majors offered (though RPI is bigger), size, lopsided male/female ratio, and the types of students that go there (STEM kids, pretty nerdy!).
Other things - the new 4 story Sports and Recreation Center opened last August. They are building a new apartment-style dorm right now for next fall. Agree that the freshman dorms are not the greatest, but options are better after freshman year.
Apps are up 12% but apps from females are up 17% :)</p>