Less selective schools “similar” to MIT

[Anonymous]

more like 33%

https://web.mit.edu/annualreports/pres95/19.1.1.pdf

look at final apps (preliminary is what they sent out per request - final apps is what came back)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't it likely because there are no grades first year (or just pass-fail) (or course I am basing that entirely on an instagram reel I watched because I don't have a STEM kid)? I wonder is any other STEM heavy schools take a similar approach.

WPI does something different but has similar results. They have the NR---if you do not earn a C or better in the course, you automatically get the NR. So you don't get a bad grade to drain your GPA. You simply have to retake the course. You have space for 3 NRs I believe and can still graduate in 4 years with a single major.
I think it helps take the pressure off of kids. Lets you go thru the final and try, learn the material and see if you can get a C or higher. If not, your gpa is not tanked.

I am curious...can you take the C and just move on if you want? I appreciate the spirit of why they do it, but perhaps a kid tried really hard and received a C and would rather not retake that specific class.

Yes, absolutely. The NR is if you don't get a C.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WPI is the poor man’s MIT.

WPI is indeed a good alternative, but it's not cheap. It's around $80k per year before aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't it likely because there are no grades first year (or just pass-fail) (or course I am basing that entirely on an instagram reel I watched because I don't have a STEM kid)? I wonder is any other STEM heavy schools take a similar approach.

WPI does something different but has similar results. They have the NR---if you do not earn a C or better in the course, you automatically get the NR. So you don't get a bad grade to drain your GPA. You simply have to retake the course. You have space for 3 NRs I believe and can still graduate in 4 years with a single major.
I think it helps take the pressure off of kids. Lets you go thru the final and try, learn the material and see if you can get a C or higher. If not, your gpa is not tanked.

Thanks for this info - sent it to DC. Will definitely add WPI to the list to look at.

You can take the C if you want. You just need to have a B average or above overall to graduate. My son goes there and definitely picks 30% easy A classes to offset the B/C engineering courses that may rock his world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Really Liked:
Lafayette -- more of an LAC but excellent engr dept. Lots of emphasis on collaboration and cross-discipline approach. More balanced campus (but not sure about STEM specifically)

Liked:
WPI -- also emphasizes collaboration and creativity. Encourages projects abroad that they have some grant support for. Medium sized student body and campus. Also one of the higher female percentages.

You may also consider:
RIT -- also known for being collaborative, not as equal in ratio

I think these are very good points, agree totally. Also, Lafayette has students that look like they should be at UVA or Dartmouth. WPI has students that look like they could be at Berkeley/Carnegie Mellon/Oberlin. That should give you a sense of the vibe at both places.

RIT has a lot of great qualities but it just looks like the Annandale NOVA. Just didn't seem to have a community. I could be wrong, who knows?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MIT grad from the late 1900s - heh. It was tough to get into but didn’t have the level of perfection that seems to be required.

Back in my day it didn’t feel competitive. Partly because the first year was Pass/No Record, partly because the kids I hung out with were all convinced it was a an administrative error that got us in.

BUT - really it was partly because it was so prestigious and selective, it didn’t matter if your were first or last - you were still an MIT student and that carried a lot of weight.

My brother went to another highly but not as highly ranked tech school (think CMU, RPI) and it was much more competitive. I got the same impression from the graduates of those schools.

Anyway - I have no idea what other schools are like that, OP - I was at a few other schools for graduate degrees and it never had the same feeling. My recommendation is to not look at the schools that are the fall backs for the kids who didn’t get into MIT - because a good % of them they will always have a chip on their shoulder.

Visiting schools back in the day - I really liked Swarthmore and Bryn Mawr.

in the 1990s, MIT admissions rate was 40%

More like 20 percent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hard to believe MIT is all that collaborative despite what impression you got on your tour.

This. MIT has been a lottery for decades. And “kind” is not an adjective ascribed to their students ever, I think.

Huh?? Ask a Boston cabby. No joke. Day 1 in Boston cabby says, "Ah you MIT kids are wicked smart and much nicer than the Harvard ones" lol.

I went to MIT and it was so hard we had to work together to survive. It was us against the institute. When I got stuck and needed help I ask the upperclassmen or friends that were genius in whatever class that was for help. At our sorority we also created course bibles to pass down and help others.

I am not a grad of MIT or Harvard, but am friends with a bunch of alums of both. Very smart people, but different personalities. MIT grads tend to be dorky in the best of ways and super nice. Harvard grads are a lot more transactional and kind of full of themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hard to believe MIT is all that collaborative despite what impression you got on your tour.

This. MIT has been a lottery for decades. And “kind” is not an adjective ascribed to their students ever, I think.

Huh?? Ask a Boston cabby. No joke. Day 1 in Boston cabby says, "Ah you MIT kids are wicked smart and much nicer than the Harvard ones" lol.

I went to MIT and it was so hard we had to work together to survive. It was us against the institute. When I got stuck and needed help I ask the upperclassmen or friends that were genius in whatever class that was for help. At our sorority we also created course bibles to pass down and help others.

Well, sure - nice compared to Harvard kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Northeastern definitely on top of the list.

- Both emphasize on CS/Engineering, business, design, etc. but also well rounded to attract various types of students.

- Both in urban Boston area with modern looking campus

- Both highly ranked in retention which indicates student satisfaction/happiness
MIT: #1, NEU: #3

- Most innovative schools - https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/innovative
MIT: #3, NEU: #8



- Top Coop/Internship
MIT: #7, NEU: #1

Classes have a lot of group/teamwork oriented projects.
There are many students who had MIT as high reach on their college list.

+100
People are throwing out school names without reasons or just because it's stem heavy.

+1

Be apprised, OP - there are one or two NEU resident DCUM haters who will try to disparage the school, but as far as CS goes, NEU grads are at the top of those we have employed in our large organization. NEU has always had, and continues to have, top CS and Engineering departments, in spite of DCUM. YOu should strongly consider applying, if your DC has strong grades, etc.

Why bother applying to NEU? According to its fanboys here, it’s just as selective as MIT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When i think of intense but fun nerds, i think of places like Olin College, RIT/University of Rochester, Cooper Union (maybe a little less fun tbh), Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Rice (the nicest experience of the bunch imho), Case Western (if johns hopkins students were chill midwesterners who knew how to have fun.)

UMBC and VCU for instate options.

OMG! I love that description of Case! And Case is in a beautiful part of Cleveland.

[Anonymous]

OP here - thank you for the helpful insights. Had DC add all suggestions to the list to check out and start seeing what majors they have/gender ratios etc.

Appreciated the observations by the MIT grads - I think many nailed it and were able to express what we felt on the visit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My DC is able to weed through data to find schools that check the boxes for majors etc and trying to get a good range of selectivity. She is having a hard time trying to find schools that match the vibe she is looking for which is why I posted.

We already visited Georgia Tech - currently not considering it. She thought the Georgia Tech kids all looked somber - it was a nice day when we visited and there was almost no one outside enjoying themselves. That stood out. For state schools we have Penn state, UMD & Virginia Tech on the list to look at.

Her current school is a pressure cooker and not collaborative and she does not want a repeat in college. It has become toxic and she is coming to us for help in finding more collaborative college options. She likes working on groups/bouncing ideas off others. Guidance counselor at HS is not helpful. Very different HS experience than my other DC who is at a different high school.

Have her check out Drexel as a safety. She’d certainly get into the Honors program with merit. My son toured last weekend and came back raving about it. They’re on a quarter system, so it is intense but very collaborative. Good luck to her!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My DC is able to weed through data to find schools that check the boxes for majors etc and trying to get a good range of selectivity. She is having a hard time trying to find schools that match the vibe she is looking for which is why I posted.

We already visited Georgia Tech - currently not considering it. She thought the Georgia Tech kids all looked somber - it was a nice day when we visited and there was almost no one outside enjoying themselves. That stood out. For state schools we have Penn state, UMD & Virginia Tech on the list to look at.

Her current school is a pressure cooker and not collaborative and she does not want a repeat in college. It has become toxic and she is coming to us for help in finding more collaborative college options. She likes working on groups/bouncing ideas off others. Guidance counselor at HS is not helpful. Very different HS experience than my other DC who is at a different high school.

There is no such thing as perfect.

I have a freshman at Rice. STEM. Absolutely great school. Very friendly. Very collaborative.

But DC grinds and works very hard.

Freshman year has weed out classes. All the freshmen engineering and pre-med students taking chemistry are not exactly loving life. It's hard. And yeah, sure, they study together and share their insights. But they are still up at 2 am.

And these are really smart kids. And it's tested to the curve. There aren't any dumbasses to help things along.

Presumably MIT is similar. There's a marginal 4 or 5 percent difference in acceptance rates. But any selective STEMy school is going to be difficult for anyone.

Some schools like Rice and MIT are known to be pretty friendly. And some like CMU and Cornell have the reputation of being a little more cutthroat.

But if you are studying something difficult like engineering or pre-med at a top 20 school, there is no escaping the pressure cooker.

I’d go further and say studying engineering at almost any college that is ABET accredited will be tough. The grading on the curve, weed out classes, class averages of 39 - it all sounds like Lehigh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:more like 33%

https://web.mit.edu/annualreports/pres95/19.1.1.pdf

look at final apps (preliminary is what they sent out per request - final apps is what came back)

All colleges had higher admission rates back then - Harvard and Princeton were around 17%/18% https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1993/5/7/report-discloses-sats-admit-rate-pa/. MITs was twice as high, but it was still relatively low.

Northwestern was ~40%, University of Chicago was 70%, Georgetown and UVA around 33%.

GenX had it easy, baby!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:more like 33%

https://web.mit.edu/annualreports/pres95/19.1.1.pdf

look at final apps (preliminary is what they sent out per request - final apps is what came back)

All colleges had higher admission rates back then - Harvard and Princeton were around 17%/18% https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1993/5/7/report-discloses-sats-admit-rate-pa/. MITs was twice as high, but it was still relatively low.

Northwestern was ~40%, University of Chicago was 70%, Georgetown and UVA around 33%.

GenX had it easy, baby!

and MIT always had the gender thing. woman applying would have been well over 40% in 1990s.