Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

[Tom]

My youngest is interested in the school.  All I know is what I can find on the internet.  Any thoughts from the general WG population.  This would be a long shot for him.  Besides freezing himself during the Winter.  Wondering about the school in general not the specific curriculums.

[ITSec]

Don't know much about it but I do know it has a good reputation for its academics. Don't forget to check the party-school ratings too - UW Madison is a perpetual winner there!

[Tom]

Thanks for the academics answer.  Party school is out.  Oldest went to SDSU and transferred to UH Manoa.  Too much partying.  He learned the hard way when he got arrested for "drunk & disorderly conduct" on the American side of the border coming back from Tijuana.  I told the Boss that he was lucky that he didn't get arrested in TJ.

[oldbike54]

Don't know much about it but I do know it has a good reputation for its academics. Don't forget to check the party-school ratings too - UW Madison is a perpetual winner there!

  Years ago a small state school in NE Oklahoma gained a national reputation as one of the top party schools . I had some friends that attended the small university , and they were all highly disappointed over the moribund state of extra curricular activities 

 Dusty

[Tom]

Winters, The students at Univ. ID in Moscow party/hang out in the heating tunnels that connect all blgs. to the physical plant.  The maintenance guys don't mind as long as they clean up after themselves and don't damage anything.

[oldbike54]

 A small group of us spent a weekend in Stillwater OK , the home of Okie State . We wandered into the party district on Sat eve , and drifted in and out of a few bars that had live music , generally having a great time . One member of the group had a few too many , and was having a bit more fun than the rest . He had a daughter that was a HS senior , and was considering Okie State as a college. Someone asked our inebriated companion what he thought of his offspring attending State , he said " I am having a great time , love this place , but no way in hell was his daughter attending school here" 

 Oh , Tom , as for the question re Rensselaer , it is supposedly a great school , dunno .

 Dusty

[Lannis]

Back when I was hiring engineers and technical staff (last 10 years ago), RPI had a good reputation among our recruiters and hiring managers for providing us with people who knew what they were doing right out of the gate.

Lannis

[Demar]

Back when I was hiring engineers and technical staff (last 10 years ago), RPI had a good reputation among our recruiters and hiring managers for providing us with people who knew what they were doing right out of the gate.

Lannis

I agree with Lannis.... I've heard good things about Rensselaer engineers. Not too many of them out here on the West coast.

[Tom]

So far so good.  He's currently working on the application.  Deadline for early acceptance is the 1st.

[lucydad2]

Worked with many RPI engineers.  Absolutely first rate technical school.  Don't expect a well rounded education.  Very competitive and also expensive.  I say go for it, but be ready for a real grind, then stellar career openings.

[Tom]

This is more of a reaching for the stars type of school, so was Cornell.  Cornell has a graduate program out here near Sasquatch Jim's town where he lives.  Rensselaer is in that category.  Narrowed it down to RPI, east of the Mississippi.  Univ. Nev. Reno, west of the Rockies but east of the West Coast then Univ. Hawaii, Manoa then Univ. Hawaii, Hilo. 

Told him that he'll be going away to "university" but it'll be a matter of looking for the right school.

[Bob Wegman]

Tom, RPI is a few hours away from my home,  but if your son ends up enrolled there, and needs help with unforeseen circumstances, consider me as a possible asset.  I'm a lot closer than Hawaii.

[ITSec]

Winters, The students at Univ. ID in Moscow party/hang out in the heating tunnels that connect all blgs. to the physical plant.  The maintenance guys don't mind as long as they clean up after themselves and don't damage anything.

I've got friends who've been teachers there for years (going back to the 70s, in fact), as well as a few across the border at Pullman. Yvonne and I used to attend Moscon every year (the science fiction convention held in Moscow). It was around the end of September, so it was still warm enough we didn't have to use the tunnels 

[rboe]

Has a very good rep among the few physics circles I ran with back in the day. Old info though.

[Tom]

Tom, RPI is a few hours away from my home,  but if your son ends up enrolled there, and needs help with unforeseen circumstances, consider me as a possible asset.  I'm a lot closer than Hawaii.

Good to know.  Thanks, Uncle Bob. 

[PeteS]

RPI has had the reputation of being one of the best engineering schools in the east going back to at least '60s. I applied and was accepted but ended up at a New York State University due to tuition costs. RPI is private and the cost would have been 30 times as much back then.
Depending on your son's interest Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT here) is similarly ranked. Its very strong in technology  and computer sciences.  Weather not much better here though.
As Lannis points out both produce students ready to work at graduation.

Pete

[charlie b]

Interesting mix of choices.

A good friend and fellow instructor at West Point was an RPI grad.  He liked it, but, he and wife were both from the east coast.

Reputation wise it is as good as any of the other 'gold' engineering schools.  Just was wondering why RPI was the only one considered?  Why not MIT, Cal Tech, Illlinois, Georgia Tech, etc, etc?

[blackcat]

With decent riding around there, you will need to stash a bike near by.

[georgemii]

Our oldest son considered RPI; chose Milwaukee School of Engineering.
(This was 20 years ago.) MSOE was excellent for his education and
career. Not that there would be any partying in Milwaukee.......

[Tom]

Interesting mix of choices.

A good friend and fellow instructor at West Point was an RPI grad.  He liked it, but, he and wife were both from the east coast.

Reputation wise it is as good as any of the other 'gold' engineering schools.  Just was wondering why RPI was the only one considered?  Why not MIT, Cal Tech, Illlinois, Georgia Tech, etc, etc?

It was high hanging fruit.  We considered some other schools in the NE.  NJIT, Widener Univ., Colorado School of Mines, UNM, U of Denver,  U. of OR., U. ID Moscow, U of Montana, ASU, U of A, NAU and many more. 

One of the factors is that I still have airline privileges so he can come home to Hawaii on any break at a pretty big break on airfare. 

[keuka4884]

+2 on RIT. Rochester NY tech/engineering school highly rated. And, you get to eat at Dinosaur BBQ. Great fringe benefit.
Does he have any particular field of interest yet?

[ITSec]

Depending on the exact field he's considering, another well-regarded school in the engineering area is the University of Missouri campus at Rolla. It has a history (as the Rolla School of Mining and Technology) going back to 1870. It's often overlooked, but worth considering by anyone looking in the STEM subjects.

[oldbike54]

 Sul Ross State University in Alpine TX . Don't laugh , an undergrad degree from their will get him a job , or into Harvard .

 Dusty

[Demar]

Tom,
What does he want to study? It sounds like he wants a technical education. I'll throw out Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. It's got a very good reputation of graduating Engineers/IT that are ready to work, very much like RPI. It's not a "party" school and it's a public university but you would have to pay out of state tuition if you don't live in CA. In some ways that may be a benefit to acceptance as the school has very high application rates but blocks off spots for out of state students.

[Tom]

He's not 100% sure.  He leans towards the hard sciences.  Chemistry and mathematics.  We'll see.  He started looking last year.  The high school he's attending has good counseling services.  We eliminated a lot of schools and areas of the country for college.  There is a possibility of overseas schooling too.

[Demar]

He's not 100% sure.  He leans towards the hard sciences.  Chemistry and mathematics.  We'll see.  He started looking last year.  The high school he's attending has good counseling services.  We eliminated a lot of schools and areas of the country for college.  There is a possibility of overseas schooling too.

If he's not sure then Cal Poly is not a good choice. You have to declare a major of study going in and you start taking core classes your first quarter as a freshman. If you are accepted as an ME, for example, you start ME classes fall, winter and spring quarters. They are only offered once per year and are sequential so if you change majors you lose a year. It's a good school but not for someone who wants a GE course their first two years then decide on a major of study.

[Tom]

Had a nephew that was being recruited to go to MIT and CAL Poly.  He had a full academic scholarship offer to both.  He asked what I thought.  I told him that if he graduated at the bottom of his class, he would still have a diploma from MIT.  The distance was too far from Hawaii.  He went to Cal Poly.  I was the only one recommending MIT.  He still got a great education.

An addendum to the story.  Gabriel, while in middle school got some grief from a teacher when my cousin dropped him off at school for being a passenger on a motorcycle.  The teacher didn't say anything to my cousin but tried to "bully" my nephew.  When the dad found out what was going on.  He went "ballistic".  We discussed the situation.  I offered my assistance as a graduate of the same school to help with the teacher and the administration. 

He took the direct approach and confronted the teacher when he dropped Gabe off at school.  He asked her what the problem was.  She explained about the safety "problem" etc.  She didn't know that she was addressing one of the local AMA reps.  He finally told her to stuff it and that he wasn't breaking any law.  If she objected to the legal mode of transportation to call the police. 

Seems Gabe and his two younger sisters never had any problems with the legal mode of transport that the Dad wanted to use. 

[oldbike54]

 So... that is why Gabe attended Cal Poly instead of MIT ????

  Dusty

[Tom]

He attended Cal Poly because it was closer to Hawaii and warmer climate than the NE.  Big factors for a Hawaiian kid raised in Hawaii.  If he had been raised in Seattle or Las Vegas, the decision may have been different.

[rboe]

We always had fun with out of town students (especially out of country students) attending college (Duluth and Winona Minnesota). Poor folks from Nigeria, Ethiopia - your typical warm climes - getting all bundled up - and the snow has yet to fall. We asked what they intend to do when it gets really cold. 

Most schools, if you go with the hard sciences and engineering programs the first two years are remarkably alike what with them sharing the core pre-reqs. E.g. Calc and diff-EQ, freshman physics etc. If you take the core classes, kill off all your lib-ed requirements then you can declare a major and take the upper division classes in the field of your choice. I've seen some folks double major (math and physics for example, but I had one classmate that tripled majored in physics, theater and something else. totally unrelated degrees - very bright but a tad unhinged - good people though).

Most of the science degrees don't mean much until you go on to a Masters or Phd. Especially biology. In Minnesota you can't throw a stick with out hitting three biology majors and six Olsons.  (my wife had both!). So if more schooling after the BS degree is not appealing then Electrical or Mechanical engineering (possibly civil......) are the way to go. I'm partial to physics degrees myself. With a BS there, it's a pass to a lot of other degrees - but not all that useful by its' self. Mainly HR has no idea what to do with you.  And it can be a deal breaking when trying to find a girl friend - unless they are a lonely biology major, but I digress. 

I'd recommend declaring a degree, if he must, in one of the sciences, then after a year or two, after dipping his toes in some of the classes,  a direction may present its' self.

I also highly highly recommend finding an internship in industry during the summer. That is HUGE when it comes to getting job after college.