<p>My DD is a junior and is in the middle of her IQP. She is in London for the term.</p>
<p>One interesting facet about the IQP project is that you have to write a resume and apply for some (all?) of these projects. The more popular centers will have more people apply than can be accomodated. So, they conduct interviews and review the resumes to decide who gets to go to that project. Kind of like applying for a job the way I see it. A very valuable experience but can be disappointing if you don’t get selected (as happened to one of my DD’s roommates).</p>
<p>An IQP project outside of Worcester (yes, there are some right on campus or at least in town) does get a little pricey. You are on the hook for airfare, the extra rent of the project housing (apartments around the WPI campus come with year leases and just because you are out of town, it doesn’t go away) as well as the “vacation” type weekend trips.</p>
<p>Hi all! MQD and catrin17…my son is a junior and sounds like we are following your paths…starting our visits next week to look at Game Design schools. WPI and RPI are on our list. Anxious but terrified to get started. Do you mind my asking where else you looked? Unfortnately, like many, $$ will be an issue…any “generous” offers? Would love to hear your son’s final decisions!! Best of luck!</p>
<p>Sorry for my tardy post, Mom2kids…I see the link above… I know that initially I read that RPI had 10% less applications, but actually they ultimately reported that they had 6% MORE applications this year…with very few exceptions schools posted increases again this year…it’s nerve-wracking.</p>
<p>Last year, WPI had a record-breaking 7500 applications and admitted around 4000. About 1000 enrolled.</p>
<p>I think the reason for enrollment and application growth is primarily that the school has a spectacular reputation for post-graduation employment and for providing a first-class education. They’ve been struggling to keep up with enrollment which exceeded their projections.</p>
<p>My son and I went to the Silicon Valley open house, and we saw presentations by groups of students who were working offsite for a term. I have to say I was extremely impressed with the diversity and general competence of the groups…</p>
<p>The schools DS applied to for gaming were on the Princeton Review top gaming design program list, were well regarded and generally known on the west coast as well, had a broad curriculum since he has many interests, and spanned a range of schools so that he might be offered $$. We were advised many years ago to attend a college where the student will excel and the school will pay the way. Prestige should be reserved for graduate school. So much can happen in UG that taking on debt is risky and consider the ROI. Taking on debt for a masters with potential for much higher pay is a better bet.</p>
<p>Two DSs of friends so far are looking at $10 per hour jobs out of top five schools for industrial design and film. Each put at least $200,000 into their child’s education, each child had excellent SATs. Both are likely in the middle of their class as far as performance. </p>
<p>Once again, I suggest have someone pay the way and have your child end up close to top of their program.</p>
<p>DS applied to</p>
<p>Rensselaer - accepted
Worcester - ?
Rochester - accepted with nice scholarship
USC - ?
UCSC - accepted - instate
Miami of Ohio - accepted with great scholarship
Case Western - rejected</p>
<p>My son had a medical episode for a few months in Sept of senior year from which he has fully recovered but his grades suffered. The results are colored by this hiccup. He also has ASD (Asperger’s Syndrome) and wanted to make certain that it was not a big deal for the school he attended so he provided full disclosure.</p>
<p>ACT
Comp = 33
Science = 35
Critical Reading = 35
English = 32
Math = 30
Writing = 10</p>
<p>More than you asked for but in the midst of deciding and this post is helping me sort out the important issues, reminding me of advice I was given.</p>
<p>Hi MQD…thank you for your reply! Wow!! Congrats to your son on incredible acceptances/awards…no doubt he will be accepted to his couple of pendings!<br>
I’m anxious to hear what he decides. Are you planning to visit Miami Ohio? It’s nice to have lots of options :)</p>
<p>Yes, we will be visiting Ohio sometime in April. He is flattered about the scholarship and this last weekend we met the Director of the program that houses gaming. DS was quite impressed.</p>
<p>Last night on LinkedIn, I made use of my InMails and sent our notes to 15 people listed as designers in game companies, large and small. I asked for their opinions of the schools where he was accepted and also any thoughts thy ould pass on. So far 5 folks have responded and my son is in awe. These random guys are carrying lots of weight with DS. </p>
<p>Basically they do not care what school you attended. They only care what you can do and what you have already produced. One fellow did mention that UCSC has a great geographic advantage since it is just over the hill from SV and they are a rising star with industry leaders in residence and large enough to have a powerful alumni network.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, who you go to school with and the alumni network is what will carry your career, not the school.</p>
<p>MQD…I’ve been following your posts and anxious to hear how your visits go these next couple of weeks and what your son’s final decision will be! Good luck!</p>
<p>Bump: I’m starting this process. I’d love to hear about what schools you ultimately chose and how your children love (or hate) them. Please tell me about WPI, RIT, RPI, UCSC, etc.</p>
<p>Dustyfeathers, I think you and I may be in the same boat? my s will major in game d&d and interested in WPI, RIT, RPI, Drexel and Champlain. We visited WPI, RIT & RPI over the summer. He felt at home at RPI but could see himself at RIT as well.</p>
<p>Hello… found myself here again tonight after I was doing some research.
I was one of the posters on page 1.<br>
My son is now a Freshman at RPI, majoring in GSAS - Game Simulation Arts and Science. He loves the school and program, but I admit is finding the course load very difficult. Hopefully he will get back on track second semester and learn how to manage his time.<br>
He was accepted to RPI, RIT, Drexel, Stevens, Wentworth, URI and UMass… but did not get into his first and second choice, which were WPI and Northeastern. We were happy to chose RPI based on the program, campus and more than anything, how much money they offered off the very expensive tuition. </p>
<p>My son is not unlike many boys who struggle… High SAT scores, Lower Grades, Bad (or no) study habits. RPI, however, has offered a very concrete plan for his second semester. I love the support they have offered. </p>
<p>@catrin17 - Glad to hear that your son is happy at RPI. Also glad that RPI has helped put together a plan to help for his second semester. One of the things that impressed me about RPI when my D was deciding between the 2 schools was the amount of support they have in place for Freshman. I hope your S has a fabulous 2nd semester and continues to enjoy his time at RPI.</p>
<p>Any more recent experiences contrasting the cultures of RPI and WPI?</p>
<p>Past posts report a friendlier and more cooperative climate at WPI (+ projects and quarter system). Bigger campus with more sport opportunities at RPI. The campus size is an objective measure (easy to see by reading data or Google Maps). Any other notes around the culture of these two schools?</p>
<p>These two schools are more alike than they are different. Similar majors offered, similar types of applicants.
I think most kids that apply to one also apply to the other. I don’t think there is a big culture difference at all.
My son preferred the smaller, friendlier vibe he got from WPI. Also, he really like the concept of the IQP and MQP - the two biggest projects that are required. He is currently in Copenhagen for the term working on the IQP, and had the option of doing his MQP next year abroad as well (though he decided to stay on campus). On the weekends he has traveled to other parts of Denmark, and over Easter break he went to Berlin and Prague.
He slightly preferred Worcester over Troy as well.
I would urge anyone to visit the campuses thoroughly and perhaps more than once. </p>
Likely going to have to make this choice. S got into WPI EA and have reason to believe he’ll get into RPI too.
We visited both, as a parent, liked both campuses, did not like either city. S not thrilled about M-F ratio
at either school, his main hesitancy about both (he also applied to larger universities and got into our state flagship or engineering, which we have yet to visit).
At RPI/WPI visits, did get a warm and fuzzy feeling from some encounters, less warm at other encounters, at both campuses. I think you will get a wrong impression from anecdotal experiences spending a day on a campus. Students seemed really happy at WPI. Excellent treatment from school at RPI (profs and athletic staff).
Did not get to meet any profs at WPI.
Good to have choices, 2 good ones so far, waiting on RD RPI and others.
Leaning towards RPI due to academic reputation and athletic interest by a coach.
But really liked WPI (and cost of state flagship).
Ditto what BeanTownGirl is saying. The IQP and MQP at WPI are fantastic opportunities. My S did not do his IQP abroad, but I imagine that it is a great experience if you get one. What does your S like outside of school? Is he into music? There are many music electives available. The best thing is that with a couple of AP credits, S had enough time to earn a music minor (major is not available in Music). He was never a singer, but joined the WPI Men’s Glee Club to earn additional arts credit. Ended up loving it and even went to London one summer with the Glee Club and Alden Voices (girls). S completed an MQP that combined his interests of ECE and Music. He is now working in software engineering. He said he talked a lot about his MQP during job interviews. He also has had several instances on the job where he has been able to call on things he learned as part of his MQP. Not sure where you are geographically, but Worcester is easy to reach from Boston’s airport. There are a couple of shuttle companies that make it pretty easy.
WPI and RPI are both great schools. Disclaimer: I am a WPI alumni.
The MQP is a unique opportunity but you can do something similar elsewhere, though it will not be required. If you go to another school, there are opportunities to do something a design project similar in philosophy to WPI’s MQP (ex. the Cornell Cup Embedded Competition, DARPA Robotics Competitions, etc) but you’d have to be more proactive. I did some of these design competitions and also did an MQP.
Similarly, there are more research opportunities at RPI and it will be easier to get into a PhD program. But this doesn’t mean that you can’t do research or get into an top PhD program from WPI (and many students have done this, just not as many as RPI). If you have an interest in research, you will have to be proactive and you can find professors who will advise you. And there is also the option of doing an REU.
Both schools can provide excellent preparation for a job and grad school. They both are engineering focused schools with a more pragmatic focus. Time is zero sum and a mandatory design project comes at the cost of possibly fewer upper division and graduate courses and less time to spend on research or social life. Though if you are interested in research, you can do a research-focused MQP (and there are many examples of this). You will have to weigh what is important to you.
At the end of the day, your personal qualities and how much you learn matter more than where you go to school. Optimize for maximizing your personal growth and learning when you decide where to go to school (within constraints of cost, geography, etc).