WPI

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Dc Was offered $103000 over 4 years. Other schools ranged from $120000-140000.

Before taking any of those offers, read carefully about what gpa you need to keep the money and then read what happens in engineering grading at that school. All of our kids were good students in high school.

Thanks for the advice.

+1

That said, realize that WPI has one NR a year set into their curriculum. You can also make-up any classes in the summer term for a huge discount. The professors really work and help the kids. One of the nice perks about NOT having freshman engineering classes in the hundreds. You aren't just a number. They don't want you to fail out. It is hard, don't get my wrong, but you aren't forgotten. My DC has a 3.7 GPA right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just wanted to say that my DD is a sophomore there and is having the time of her life. Club sports, sorority life, and engineering? Not many schools you can fit it all in. The students are smart, but there is no prestige there. It was everything she thought it would be. The term cycles are hard, but the breaks make it worth it. And because of terms, many kids are graduating in 3 to 3.5 years when you count AP's. Some with good scholarships still stay to do their masters which takes another year, maybe a bit more. Most kids have no problems getting jobs.

Good luck!

This is very similar to my daughter who is a freshman at WPI. The current freshman class is 38% female. She did really well her two first terms there and is currently in C term now. She will have completed 40 credits when the year is done. She rushed a sorority in B term and is loving that. Never would have done that in a big school, but these sororities are much more chill and philanthropy. She is part of multiple clubs, goes on a lot of the social sponsored outings on the weekend (tubing, Boston, Escape Room, ice-skating.) There is a train right into Boston from Union Station about a mile away. The campus has a shuttle to it and also offers Friday night shuttles to a huge shopping/restaurant/movie complex and shuttles to grocery shop on weekends. There are plenty of places to eat in walking distance though. She lives in a 6 person suite and they share a bath. She has a single and loves that. She got a part time job there and has made a lot of friends. The girls are much more down to earth there than they were in the DC metro. It definitely suits her. The breaks between terms are great and between the 4 airports there and 3 here, I get great deals on flights. Haven't paid over $150 for a round trip yet! Another perk - she has a paid internship this summer already. That can be tough for freshman

I have heard the merit isn't as good this year which I guess is good and bad. Good because it is getting a bit tougher to get in. Bad because it can be pricy to go. My daughter received the leadership merit award last year. I think it was $32K total a year. She also received 5K in a separate scholarship outside of WPI. And I think all kids get a $5K IQP scholarship still. She did get hers and will use it her junior year. This year is the priciest because they have to live on campus. Once you get off sophomore year, rents are in the 400's a month plus utilities ($50-80/mo) so that makes it MUCH more reasonable.

I will try and come back if anyone has any questions.

Can I ask a shallow/mean question?

My ds is interested in WPI, but he’s afraid it’s dorky.
He’s a very social athletic popular guy. He doesn’t usually get along with other computer/engineering types. He’s the kid who has had a tech internship every summer and is already building great business connections but won’t join the robotics or cyber security team at school because he swears its social suicide. He’s hesitant to attend a tech school because he’s afraid everyone is playing quidditch and dungeons and dragons and he’s never going to find his people.

What is you take on that as a parent with a kid there?

My daughter thought the same thing and is very similar to your son. She was a 3 season athlete, very social, but would never join the robotics team. She was positive she wanted a big university for sporting events/socialization and to be able to remove herself from the "engineering kids" when needed. That all changed when she went to accepted students day and did a female in stem overnight. She met so many people like her and how they all had a bit in common. The secret kids were finally at home and happy. They have fraternities and sororities, parties, and lots of events. A lot of recruited athletes and the teams are really good. My daughter said there is a lot of weed around since it is legal there. Is it like Animal House? No way, but my daughter didn't want it like that anyway. They have over 250 clubs of every kind. Sure, there are going to be introverted kids that only want to stay in their rooms and game, or D&D groups. But they also have pop trivia nights, sporting events, karaoke nights, and sledding down the school hill and viscous snowball fights when it snows. They have ultimate frisbee, co-ed IM volleyball leagues, flag football, club rugby, etc... They actually don't have quidditch there. But they also do some "nerd" events she does like, like 72 hour board game on 3 day weekends, meaning one hall set up with tons of games and junk food. You can go in and out as much as want all weekend. My daughter wouldn't dare do before, but was always a closet board game fanatic (not D&D, lol!!) She is up eating pizza and playing Secret Hitler at 3am. Sure, not everyone's thing, but she loves it. Even though there are only about 6K kids around campus, there is plenty for everyone.

Most students have to socialize because there are so many group projects in engineering, especially there. But my daughter's friend is at UMD and has a lot of group events too. So I don't think he will be able to avoid some of the computer/engineering types no matter where he goes. She was very close to choosing Purdue. That school and WPI seemed like the two most social and outgoing engineering schools. Case Western and UMD were mid level. RPI and CMU were by far the worst. She hated them both very much. Not only the nerd introverted factor, but the ones that weren't introverted were the ego kids outdoing one another. He will have to go and hang out for the day to really get a feel for it. He could always find someone on their reddit page to show him around too.

Good luck

Thank you!

Sounds like it may be a lot better than he’s expecting.

Thank you for the information. My daughter sounds very similar to yours and you addressed all my fears about WPI. Definitely going to attend admitted students day and try to get an overnight for her. These types of responses are why I continue to check into this Forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just wanted to say that my DD is a sophomore there and is having the time of her life. Club sports, sorority life, and engineering? Not many schools you can fit it all in. The students are smart, but there is no prestige there. It was everything she thought it would be. The term cycles are hard, but the breaks make it worth it. And because of terms, many kids are graduating in 3 to 3.5 years when you count AP's. Some with good scholarships still stay to do their masters which takes another year, maybe a bit more. Most kids have no problems getting jobs.

Good luck!

This is very similar to my daughter who is a freshman at WPI. The current freshman class is 38% female. She did really well her two first terms there and is currently in C term now. She will have completed 40 credits when the year is done. She rushed a sorority in B term and is loving that. Never would have done that in a big school, but these sororities are much more chill and philanthropy. She is part of multiple clubs, goes on a lot of the social sponsored outings on the weekend (tubing, Boston, Escape Room, ice-skating.) There is a train right into Boston from Union Station about a mile away. The campus has a shuttle to it and also offers Friday night shuttles to a huge shopping/restaurant/movie complex and shuttles to grocery shop on weekends. There are plenty of places to eat in walking distance though. She lives in a 6 person suite and they share a bath. She has a single and loves that. She got a part time job there and has made a lot of friends. The girls are much more down to earth there than they were in the DC metro. It definitely suits her. The breaks between terms are great and between the 4 airports there and 3 here, I get great deals on flights. Haven't paid over $150 for a round trip yet! Another perk - she has a paid internship this summer already. That can be tough for freshman

I have heard the merit isn't as good this year which I guess is good and bad. Good because it is getting a bit tougher to get in. Bad because it can be pricy to go. My daughter received the leadership merit award last year. I think it was $32K total a year. She also received 5K in a separate scholarship outside of WPI. And I think all kids get a $5K IQP scholarship still. She did get hers and will use it her junior year. This year is the priciest because they have to live on campus. Once you get off sophomore year, rents are in the 400's a month plus utilities ($50-80/mo) so that makes it MUCH more reasonable.

I will try and come back if anyone has any questions.

Can I ask a shallow/mean question?

My ds is interested in WPI, but he’s afraid it’s dorky.
He’s a very social athletic popular guy. He doesn’t usually get along with other computer/engineering types. He’s the kid who has had a tech internship every summer and is already building great business connections but won’t join the robotics or cyber security team at school because he swears its social suicide. He’s hesitant to attend a tech school because he’s afraid everyone is playing quidditch and dungeons and dragons and he’s never going to find his people.

What is you take on that as a parent with a kid there?

My daughter thought the same thing and is very similar to your son. She was a 3 season athlete, very social, but would never join the robotics team. She was positive she wanted a big university for sporting events/socialization and to be able to remove herself from the "engineering kids" when needed. That all changed when she went to accepted students day and did a female in stem overnight. She met so many people like her and how they all had a bit in common. The secret kids were finally at home and happy. They have fraternities and sororities, parties, and lots of events. A lot of recruited athletes and the teams are really good. My daughter said there is a lot of weed around since it is legal there. Is it like Animal House? No way, but my daughter didn't want it like that anyway. They have over 250 clubs of every kind. Sure, there are going to be introverted kids that only want to stay in their rooms and game, or D&D groups. But they also have pop trivia nights, sporting events, karaoke nights, and sledding down the school hill and viscous snowball fights when it snows. They have ultimate frisbee, co-ed IM volleyball leagues, flag football, club rugby, etc... They actually don't have quidditch there. But they also do some "nerd" events she does like, like 72 hour board game on 3 day weekends, meaning one hall set up with tons of games and junk food. You can go in and out as much as want all weekend. My daughter wouldn't dare do before, but was always a closet board game fanatic (not D&D, lol!!) She is up eating pizza and playing Secret Hitler at 3am. Sure, not everyone's thing, but she loves it. Even though there are only about 6K kids around campus, there is plenty for everyone.

Most students have to socialize because there are so many group projects in engineering, especially there. But my daughter's friend is at UMD and has a lot of group events too. So I don't think he will be able to avoid some of the computer/engineering types no matter where he goes. She was very close to choosing Purdue. That school and WPI seemed like the two most social and outgoing engineering schools. Case Western and UMD were mid level. RPI and CMU were by far the worst. She hated them both very much. Not only the nerd introverted factor, but the ones that weren't introverted were the ego kids outdoing one another. He will have to go and hang out for the day to really get a feel for it. He could always find someone on their reddit page to show him around too.

Good luck

Thank you!

Sounds like it may be a lot better than he’s expecting.

Thank you for the information. My daughter sounds very similar to yours and you addressed all my fears about WPI. Definitely going to attend admitted students day and try to get an overnight for her. These types of responses are why I continue to check into this Forum.

Good luck! If you can’t get an overnight, my daughter would be happy to take her around for a bit: the non-PC tour. She can get all her questions answered.

[Anonymous]

Will let you know if we make it to the admitted students day!

[Anonymous]

What is WPI?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is WPI?

I think if you tried just a bit you can figure it out..without waiting for a reply.

[Anonymous]

My daughter was accepted to WPI for the Fall of 2022. After reading most of your texts, I think this might be a great fit for her ..she is gifted in math, a geek as she says, 8 years on s winning robotics team ..I want her to grow and have more of a social life s as me it sounds like WPI might have it all ..they gave her $120,000 merit scholarship over 4 years which I was very impressed by ..so is it possible for her to spend a couple of days shadowing a student, staying over to see if this is a good fit ?
Thanks CJ

[Anonymous]

Looking for recent experiences with WPI. Good or bad.
Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Son is there now, class of 2026. Really has found his people there. Loves the open curriculum, 7-8 weeks terms also are working out very well for him (it seems most of the major classes seem to have weekly quizzes and a final exam, some lab work). They get a full week in October off between terms, as well as March. He is a smart kid who was uninterested in most high school classes. He studies now a lot more than high school but has gotten As in all 6 classes so far, and has taken two major classes and one minor class already. AP credit is generous and he is technically already a sophomore credit wise--if he doesn't fail any classes he will be able to get a BS/ MS within the 4 years. (any class below a C is an NR, so it doesn't impact your GPA). They get one term abroad/domestic location during junior year that is all project based, no regular classes during that term, so very unique. Senior year has a required project also. He does not care for the food and the school could do better with that (only one place open past 9pm, for example). He doesn't venture off campus hardly at all but that is because he is lazy more than anything else. Freshman are guaranteed housing but they have increased their housing over the past two years for sophomores and up. He plans to find an off campus place to live--most are in triple decker houses, 3-4 bedrooms per level.

In my research females typically get more merit than males, which has helped the male-female ratio more than other engineering schools. He has plenty of female friends, a lot of them are biotech/biomedical engineering although he also knows a few Robotics Engineering and Aero females. Plenty of extracurriculars to be found for those who want to be involved. From my observations, lots of kids from Connecticut, MA, New York, Maine, and California. Handfuls from the DMV. Flights are easy out of Boston with multiple transportation options to get to/from Logan. He has flown home from Logan twice and Hartford once (roommate dropped him off).

hope that helps.

[Anonymous]

For those who's kids got in, first, congratulations. Second, how is your child's mental health? WPI is a true pressure cooker - there were 9 suicides last year (my own student is a recent grad). Please make sure your child knows they don't have to be perfect, and that you are there if they need you, for anything.

[Anonymous]

The suicides were, in large part, a product of the ridiculously Draconian Covid rules in place, all of which were completely dropped in Feb 2022. The school really listened in this regard. They also have one day per Term as a Wellness Day with no class and positive mental health activities available. They just opened some sort of Wellness Center but i don't know much about it or what's available there bc my child hasn't gone. The new President will be starting next Term so we will see what will come with that, if anything.

[Anonymous]

Hard for an 18 yr old to know for sure they want to be an engineer. Mine was really put off by visiting a similar school and ended up choosing an engineering program within a university that offers everything. He’s possibly going to change majors so we extra happy he did that.

[Anonymous]

What is Worcester like as a college town? Several colleges so guessing there’s a lot around them (Holy Cross, WPI, Assumption)?

[Anonymous]

Clark College is also in Worcester.