OT: College (RPI)

[slappy sam]

Hey everyone I'm a senior in high school and looking at colleges. I have a list... ahh I suppose I'll write a few down here.
RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
Lehigh
Drexel
WPI (Worcester Polytechnic Institute)
Northeastern

Basically, my top choice is RPI and I was wondering if anyone either is going there, has gone there, or knows much about it. Although its a long a shot, if anyone is going there that would be amazing. The reason is is that I'm contemplating applying early decision (binding, you must go there, higher acceptance rate). Also, if anyone knows much about any of the other schools or goes there, I'd be glad to hear some input.

All advice is welcome :). Thanks guys.

P.S. This seems sort of random and stupid... but its all thats on my mind right now as its a big decision! :thumbsup:

[Humphrey]

I've no idea what country those are in even...

[Summoned]

It's New York State, not sure which actual area. But from what I understand, you should be able to get in if you have a good grade average and much more likely since you're planning on applying early.

My high school had a list of those accepted and rejected.

What's funny about that list is that someone with a 81.3 average and 630/720 SAT scores got accepted while another one with 95.2 average and 720/790 SAT scores was rejected.

[KangXi]

Im also a high school senior, every year RPI comes and does an awards presentation. From what Ive heard in the past 2 years, that place is one of THE places to go to study science and math. Ranked every high nationally for engineering and such and is extremely selective as it is mostly looking for students excelling in math and science. Just curious, have you visited RPI? Sometimes if you visit and sit in a few of their classes and possibly have an onsite interview, you will have a upper hand when it comes to application and acceptance.

This is going to personal, but if you could supply a few general scores that youve gotten, maybe we can gauge you and your chances. If you dont, thats fine, I understand.

I also have a family friend who goes to lehigh...i'll try to find a little about lehigh.

Best of luck.

[skoolbus]

I visited RPI and absolutely loved the campus and programs, but one of my friends who goes there said the dorms weren't good. I don't know if that't true or not, just what he said. Its right outside Troy NY. I visited Lehigh too, and I didnt really like that because it's basically on the side of a mountain.

[Almighty Cow]

I visited RPI and absolutely loved the campus and programs, but one of my friends who goes there said the dorms weren't good. I don't know if that't true or not, just what he said. Its right outside Troy NY. I visited Lehigh too, and I didnt really like that because it's basically on the side of a mountain.

Depends a lot on what kind of school you're looking for. Sorry, I only know RPI vaguely by reputation. It's undeniably a great place to go for hardcore math/science; if you're into that, then by all means, go for it.

I do, however, feel that with dedicated sci/tech schools like that, you're potentially missing out on a more diverse student body. Or at least a student body with a broader interest base. It's kinda the reason I decided to go to UPenn over CMU. To be fair, though, different people thrive in different environments.

...that was kinda rambly. Not sure if it helped at all...

[slappy sam]

Hey thanks for the help guys, I'll give you a little info about my scores/etc.
-3.5 gpa: this is difficult to gauge because most colleges plug in your grades and calculate their own gpa. I've seen colleges that are supposed to be extremely selective saying their average freshman class has a gpa of 3.3 or so, and then ive seen a college that isn't very selective saying their freshman had an average gpa of 3.8.

-560 verbal, 710 math, 560 writing SAT scores: Writing doesn't really matter because it has not been established enough to have average scores and most colleges aren't going to pay attention to it. I took the SAT's again last weekend, and hopefully they will be more like a 600+/750+/600+. I was actually sick that first time I took them :(.

-pretty strong courses (all honors and ap except freshman year history), 5 ap courses this semester. AP Calc this year and AP pre calc last year. Decent grades in them (B+ last year, probably about the same this year)

-other things that will affect my chances: not that many extracurriculars, but very interested in sailing and they are trying to build a sailing program so that will help. Also, I've shown some interest (visited already, and will be visiting again for the open house before I apply). I also might talk with someone about their sailing program and stuff. And I might be able to talk with a professor who knew my grandfather, or just any professor (see next comment for why). And applying early decision should improve my chances.

-the last thing... My grandfather was head of the math department at RPI for a while back before I was born (he died before I was born), so this could very well affect my chances a lot, but I don't want to be relying on this.

@Skoolbus: I had the same impression when I visited. Compared to other colleges the dorms seemed very small. I love the campus and the facilities, and they also have a lot to do on campus! A major downer is the lack of girls though... :( How does your friend like RPI overall?

P.S. Skoolbus- what other colleges are you looking at?

[Cattleya]

You know, reading your post I get the impression that you know what you want to do, even if you don't realize it yet. ;)

Back when I was looking at schools (which was a long time ago, I'll admit) RPI and WPI were both on my long list. (Or as one of my dad's friends put it RPI and that other polytech. :) ) The only reason I didn't apply to either was that my family had moved to California, I ended up just applying to California schools. Both are good schools, and I don't think it will be hard to get a well rounded education. If you decide that you really wanted to be an art major, though, you could be in some trouble.

I wouldn't worry too much about the dorms. It's likely that you will get an apartment off campus in a year or two anyhow. (If you want scary dorms, go to Berkeley. Some of my friends that went there had lots of fun stories.)

In the end, know that what school you go to really doesn't matter as much as what you get out of it. I didn't get to go to my first choice school for finacial reasons, and it worked out okay. Well, except for the fact that I found I couldn't stand working in my chosen field... So now I find myself back in school again. Of course, this time around I choose my school based on the fact that I can get free rent. I've already decided that 3 years in Utah is likely to send me running back to California as soon as I graduate, though. Hopefully by then the Governator will be gone and I can end my boycott of the state. :D

[Maxwell Armada]

RPI is an amazing school. Can't comment on the dorms though, i'm more interested in the Ice Rink and the Hockey Team. Used to play there all the time in various leagues, don't go to a college at the moment that has any sports teams though... So thats out of the question.

I've known a few guys who went there, its a very, -very- great program they have their if you want to be an engineer or something similar.

I dont recognize the other school names though.

I live right by RPI too, would be interesting to actually know someone online that would be around me.

[kabal]

Hey thanks for the help guys, I'll give you a little info about my scores/etc.
-3.5 gpa: this is difficult to gauge because most colleges plug in your grades and calculate their own gpa. I've seen colleges that are supposed to be extremely selective saying their average freshman class has a gpa of 3.3 or so, and then ive seen a college that isn't very selective saying their freshman had an average gpa of 3.8.

-560 verbal, 710 math, 560 writing SAT scores: Writing doesn't really matter because it has not been established enough to have average scores and most colleges aren't going to pay attention to it. I took the SAT's again last weekend, and hopefully they will be more like a 600+/750+/600+. I was actually sick that first time I took them :(.

-pretty strong courses (all honors and ap except freshman year history), 5 ap courses this semester. AP Calc this year and AP pre calc last year. Decent grades in them (B+ last year, probably about the same this year)

-other things that will affect my chances: not that many extracurriculars, but very interested in sailing and they are trying to build a sailing program so that will help. Also, I've shown some interest (visited already, and will be visiting again for the open house before I apply). I also might talk with someone about their sailing program and stuff. And I might be able to talk with a professor who knew my grandfather, or just any professor (see next comment for why). And applying early decision should improve my chances.

-the last thing... My grandfather was head of the math department at RPI for a while back before I was born (he died before I was born), so this could very well affect my chances a lot, but I don't want to be relying on this.


I was applying to colleges three years ago, so I thought I'd give the perspective of someone who went through the process recently...

GPA/class rank: Unfortunately for me, this was/is the biggest factor in a school's decision. I was just 20th in a graduating class of ~270, so I was passed over by MIT in favor of the 4th person in the class. From my experience, when considering your GPA, you also have to take your class rank and the academic reputation of your high school into account.

Standardized tests: Probably the second biggest consideration for the colleges. Your projected SAT scores probably fall just above the median for the schools you're applying to, so you should be OK there. I don't know if RPI requires them or not, but consider taking the SAT II subject tests if you think it'll strengthen your application. From what I remember, Math IIC and Chemistry were pushovers (i.e. no reason to score below 750) for anyone with a good grasp of precalculus and introductory chemistry.

AP classes: IMO the only ones of consequence are the sciences and calculus. Most of the colleges I looked at had no freshman history requirement and the freshman writing course requirement couldn't be waived, so AP History/English were more or less useless. Depending on how comfortable you are with the material and the college requirements for a subject, you might choose to take a course that you could've bypassed. When I used my BC calculus credit, it just meant that I was doing Taylor Series, field theory, and Fourier transforms my first year instead of basic single variable differentiation/integration. -_-

College essays: I don't know how much a great essay would help you, but a poor essay can really screw you over. Unless you feel that you're borderline and need all the help you can get, just go for something simple and safe. Whatever you do, don't write an essay about how great it would be to live the lazy life of a dog like one of my classmates did.

Interview (if applicable): Same as the essay, just be yourself and don't try too hard to impress.

Extracurriculars: These look nice on the application, but I'm not sure how much the colleges value these unless they're directly related to your intended field of study. If you have any field related research, job, or volunteer experience, those will generally be more impressive than extracurriculars.

If I had to make a judgement on the info you've given so far I'd say you have a fairly good chance of getting in, although it's not a mortal lock.

Edit: I forgot to mention affirmative action, which (sadly) means your ethnicity affects your chances of acceptance too since all the schools want more of the under-represented minorities in their student body. To put it in a blunt and less than politically correct manner, you stand a better chance if you're not Caucasian/Asian.

[slappy sam]

Woot! I got my SAT scores today. They went from this:
560 Critical Reading
710 Math
560 Writing
1830 Overall

to this:
630 Critical Reading
790 Math
620 Writing
2040 Overall

:clap: YAY! Haha, and my dad got a new computer today :D.

P.S. I wasn't feeling well the first time, so that probably accounts for some of the difference.

[Wraithan]

Strong SATs will get you into a lot of schools I scored 730 Writing 750 math, but my GPA was (and I greatly regret this) 1.2. The two schools I wanted to go to PSU and OIT both accepted me, but I didn't get any scholarships, or atleast not enough to pay for enough for me to go. So I am getting my associates at a community college (and bringing up my GPA) then I am going to reaply at PSU and OIT and then choose (I don't care either way for which school, so I plan on going to the one closest to where my GF goes) My college GPA so far is a 3.8, so I shouldn't have a problem.

Well enough rambling about my life. You have good scores, is that 90 percentile, or higher? With your class load and GPA you should get into any school you want, or atleast 99% of them. You need to just visit the schools, met someone(atleast one) at each one and find out if you would like it there.

[Shagsbeard]

Picking a school is a lot like picking a spouse. Don't ask other people what they think of your choice. Go to these places and see if you could stand to be there, pretty much like deciding if you could live with another person. Realize that no place is going to be perfect, and that most places are going to be fine.

Taking classes at the school over summer is really a good way to decide, but you might not have that option.

Money matters. If there's a huge difference in tuition, talk to who ever is footing the bills and negotiate for nicities. Your undergraduate degree is not going to be as school dependant as a graduate degree would be. A B.S. in physics from one school, is pretty much the same as from another.

[Humphrey]

Interesting. In the country, it does matter what university you get your degree from. Employers will much prefer a degree from Oxbridge than the same degree from Bath Spa (I'm sure there are much worse universities than Bath Spa, no offense to anyone reading this who goes to Bath Spa).

[Quickdeath]

I went to RPI for both my undergraduate work and my graduate work.

Its a great techncial school. Your SATs are similar to mine (674 English, 796 Math) and I did just fine - a 3.48 in undergraduate school, majoring in Physics. You'll do fine.

RPI years were the greatest years of my life and have set me up very well for a living (I make a very handsome living in research now.) Its a nerdy school, not great as a girl-a-day party school by any means, but it easy to form long-lived friendships there.

The Dorms may be old, I guess, but the major differences may be central features in the lobby of the dorms don't measure up to what other schools have.

[slappy sam]

I was gonna pm you quickdeath, but your box is full so...
What years did you go to RPI??

[toolboy]

I just thought I'd add my two cents to the discussion...
I applied to three of your schools - WPI, Northeastern, and Lehigh. I have several friends who went to RPI and I actually visited there too. They're all good schools (though Northeastern probably doesn't belong in there academically speaking).

I think you'll get a great education at any of them, so it depends on what else you're looking for. Northeastern is probably the least "nerdish" of all of them, since it's got a lot more than just science / engineering. Lehigh is in a beautiful area of Pennsylvania, great for outdoor lovers. WPI and RPI are both good schools, but again you gotta be sure you know what the area is like. Philly and Boston are big cities, so I don't know how you feel about them.

I ended up going to Northeastern. I certainly got a good education there, though I'm sure the other schools are better regarded academically. I managed to get into a great graduate school, so it couldn't have been too bad. I do think that you get from school what you want to get. If you're willing to work hard, then you'll probably learn the same things from any of the schools. The best part about NU is their co-op program. It gives you a chance to go out and do jobs that you think you might like, and they even pay you! Other schools talk about their co-op programs, but NU really has the gold standard. Oh, and Boston is an awesome city. Sports, arts, history, it's got them all. Great sailing on the Charles River.

Hope this helps.

[DurfBarian]

I think you should go to Lehigh and throw rotten fruit at Michael Behe whenever possible. :p