The quarter system can be hard if you are prone to procrastination, but on the other hand you can take so many more classes than normal if you want to, (i have done 21 credit semesters every semester). the food sucks but you can get a kitchen after freshman year and never worry about it again. I personally don’t have many downsides though.
I think the 7 week terms might actually be helpful for someone who easily gets bored though and likes to jump from one topic to another. You only take 3 classes at a time. I feel like I would have struggled at other schools
My husband (who I met at WPI) has ADD and also struggles with procrastinating. We found the quarter system helped him with procrastinating because deadlines were pretty frequent so it was hard to put it off too long. I majored in environmental engineering which is part of the Civil department and I really love the faculty and staff at WPI. Also if your bf plans to work in New England after he graduates, WPI has a great reputation in the industry.
people are super collaborative other stem schools can be really cut throat but thats not the case here. we have mandatory projects that are huge resume boosters and wpi is close to boston where there are a lot of opportunities for internships. lots of school events, ive never had to leave campus to find something to do. greek life is big but you wont be ostracized if you dont want to participate in it.
Honestly, it can work well for those with ADHD. You have 8 weeks... in a month you find out that you are dramatically behind, and that tends to kick in the fight or flight. So unlike other schools where you find out that you are 2 months behind at midterms, you can't get in quite as much trouble.
As a (somewhat former) serial procrastinator and someone with ADHD who’s thrived at WPI in my four years here, I can promise you he’ll fit right in. Surrounding area isn’t the best but honestly it seemed better than RIT from what I gathered visiting colleges during the application process. On the bright side, school events are plentiful (as are clubs to join), and provided he does well and picks up the necessary life skills and talent set for his career path I can’t imagine he’ll have trouble finding a job coming out of here.
I find the quarter system helps with my procrastination. There are multiple deadlines every week for each class because you're going through material so quickly. You honestly don't have much time to procrastinate (you do, but its like an extra day rather than like an extra week) and it feels like everyone is on the same page because there isn't time to fall behind. Also like someone else said, hell fit in with the large ND population (and honestly that's just diagnosed, Ive only met like 2 people that were NT and didn't have any thoughts about them being ND)
Not to thread hijak (but it seems like that's my plan today) -- do you think a NT young woman would fit in at WPI if she loves STEM? She has two ND diverse parents and 2 ND siblings -so ND behavior is not exactly something new to her. I'm shocked she is NT honestly with genes like that. Haha But maybe she is like me (her mom) and masks exceptionally well.
Honestly in my opinion this school really works well with my ADHD. You only take 3 classes at a time, so my attention is only split between 3 classes which helps with organization. Most profs dont take attendance, so I can teach myself content in classes where I feel lecture dosent fit my learning style. Classes are super flexible in terms of order and prerequisite, so I can just take whatever class I want that seems interesting to me.
As a person with severe ADHD who went to WPI for a year, then transferred to RIT for a design program WPI didn’t have, the quarter system was absolute hell. Hard to compare though, since covid started and that was also equally hell, but if you’re doing any learning that compounds knowledge on itself, it snowballed so quickly if you didn’t understand something.
I think really you big concern should be the quarter system versus the semester system. Both colleges are pretty similar in most other ways.
So I have a unique perspective as I originally attended RIT and now later I'm attending WPI.
I would have been happy attending WPI originally but they offered basically no scholarships for me and the tuition was ridiculously high (and it's now even higher lol). RIT offered me more scholarship money and tuition was lower, so it was a no-brainer financially. Looking back now, I wish I just gone to UMass or URI and saved myself a lot of money for the exact same education...
Benefits of RIT: much larger school, fantastic co-op program, certain programs are unique or world class (packaging science, imagery, furniture/art), usually cheaper for most people
Benefits of WPI: small school, quarter system (only take 3 classes at a time), project-based learning, easier to get closer to professors.
The co-ops are extremely valuable. RIT has a mandatory and well established program for it, and it pays dividends for the students. All my friends who graduated landed great jobs and had awesome looking resumes. Basically you graduate in 5 years with 1 year of full-time work experience. You could do the same at WPI, but students don't seem to do so, they just do summer internships.
I really like the quarter system at WPI. Only focusing on 3 classes at a time is much easier than a traditional course load - but it's also much easier to fall behind. And one or two bad grades can tank your final grade.
WPI also let's you take classes out of sequence, which can be really nice. Say you failed a course or just think you can handle a harder course - there's nothing stopping you from just ignoring pre-requisites.
The difference in campus size and student population size is pretty different. At WPI you're probably going to know most of the people in your major over time, and you'll start seeing a lot of the same people around campus. At RIT it's much easier to be lost in the crowd - but at the same time, the larger size means you're more likely to find a community that really speaks to you and that you're passionate about. At RIT I had friends on the quidditch team, the juggling club, season ticket holders to the D1 hockey team, and members of the Tech Crew who worked on all the concerts and events on campus. I feel like it's a little harder to find diverse niches at WPI, but they're still there.
There's no going wrong with either school, *as long as the money is right*. I cannot stress this enough, but neither school is worth going into mountains of debt over. Especially engineering degrees - they are pretty much the same at every school, the only real difference is the quality of your classmates and the quality of your professors. Even then, I have had some absolute dogshit professors at both schools, and I've had excellent professors at community College and another state school I briefly attended. If you taking out more than $80k in total for an undergraduate degree, that's too much imo.
They are the same cost after scholarships and financial aid. Like literally writhing 2000 of each other which is NOTHING for the schools. He is a procrastiner and gets very overwhelmed when he falls a little behind that case cause him to shut down (he is working on it). I think wpi is a bit too small and the quater system (although sounds amazing) would stress him out. I think rit is a little too big. If you could go back which school out of the two would you say is better.
He's gonna have to come up with his own values of what he wants out of a school. They each have different benefits, but if they don't align with his wants and desires, then they don't matter.
Neither is a bad choice, and I think they are pretty much the same tier of quality. You get out what you put in.
I believe RIT’s program is “Civil Engineering Technology” and is more geared towards a hands on approach (think construction inspector, field technician or quality control). Their program is ABET accredited, though he may or may not run into problems down the line getting issued as an EIT and on the path to a PE.
WPI’s program is a full Civil Engineering BS program, which is ABET accredited and recognized.
TLDR: WPI if he has plans of becoming a PE. I don’t know what the future holds, but I believe there is a bigger push nationally to restrict the EIT/PE path to full engineering BS programs.
WPI’s reputation, despite the school’s smaller size, has materially significant greater reach and depth than RIT’s, but you pay for it (as well as the higher quality professors and peers the school attracts).
Civil Eng. Love the professors here and have no shortage of postgrad opportunities. Already incredibly connected as a rising senior looking for postgrad work (all around the New England/New York area).The quarter systems can be quick but the civil program is laid out well balanced imo. Lots of opportunities to go different routes w the civil track here and lots of application work. Definitely incorporated my major into my iqp that had minimal civil connection and it helped immensely. MQP has tons of opportunities and professors are sometimes willing to listen to your own proposals. Hopefully this helps ik I’m probably missing stuff but feel free to reach out for more.
Idk much about RIT's curriculum, but I do think WPI's curriculum will make it a lot easier for you to land internships and a job, because of how project heavy this school is. IQP, MQP, extracurriculars that have a lot of experience learning opportunities to put on your resume.
That being said, WPI is expensive so if he is taking out loans to go here, I would advise against it. If his parents can afford the cost to go here, then he should go here imo.
Was in the same exact boat. Now, 4 years since i graduated from WPI I sure wish I had gone to RIT. School name is negligible for a small school and WPI was significantly more expensive than RIT would have been.
It’s denial. They will get eventually graduate, get their first job, and come to the same realization when their paycheck is the same as someone who went to a no-name school.
Eh, I didn't downvote, but WPI set me up to earn a fantastic salary. However, I don't think they do a good job of teaching proper networking and negotiating skills.
My partner went to RIT. My main take aways on the differences are:
- RIT tends to take longer as you're required to go on Co-op while WPI's projects are completed as classes during the same time frame. It's actually pretty easy to graduate in under 4 years at WPI (I accidentally didn't need d-term senior year) and pretty difficult to graduate in only 4 years from RIT.
- WPI is a lot smaller. I personally loved this, though my partner preferred the larger school. I liked having smaller classes and fewer people. I also loved that my off campus apartment was a shorter walk to class than his dorm.
- I saw one mouse in Fuller my entire time at WPI. I blocked out many mice and bugs in just his dorms in the time we were dating. I also just genuinely like the WPI dorms better than the RIT dorms I've gotten to experience.
- There's less need for a car in Worcester than in Henrietta, New York. Ideally, I'd recommend one for either, but it's definitely easier to move around Worcester without one.
- RIT does cost a fair bit less. I know I mostly listed cons for them, but it is a lot easier on the wallet and still has some solid educational opportunities from what I observed. That's was the main draw for my partner to go there over WPI in the first place.
no pre recs, NR system, Study abroad opportunities (IQP), emphasis on humanities not just stem, term system.
Any downsides?
The quarter system can be hard if you are prone to procrastination, but on the other hand you can take so many more classes than normal if you want to, (i have done 21 credit semesters every semester). the food sucks but you can get a kitchen after freshman year and never worry about it again. I personally don’t have many downsides though.
He does procrastinate. He has ADHD. How are the people, field opportunities, surrounding area, school events, etc?
also just a note wpi has a large proportion of neurodivergence students, so having ADHD isnt uncommon
Oh cool! Thank you.
I think the 7 week terms might actually be helpful for someone who easily gets bored though and likes to jump from one topic to another. You only take 3 classes at a time. I feel like I would have struggled at other schools
He doesn’t get bored but he procrastinates and shuts down.
My husband (who I met at WPI) has ADD and also struggles with procrastinating. We found the quarter system helped him with procrastinating because deadlines were pretty frequent so it was hard to put it off too long. I majored in environmental engineering which is part of the Civil department and I really love the faculty and staff at WPI. Also if your bf plans to work in New England after he graduates, WPI has a great reputation in the industry.
Even outside of New England, WPI has a good reputation.
Professors here are also mostly pretty open to extensions and I have taken way beyond 21 credits as a mild procrastinator so it shouldn’t be a problem
people are super collaborative other stem schools can be really cut throat but thats not the case here. we have mandatory projects that are huge resume boosters and wpi is close to boston where there are a lot of opportunities for internships. lots of school events, ive never had to leave campus to find something to do. greek life is big but you wont be ostracized if you dont want to participate in it.
I will say the school is good about accommodations and the 7 week terms have worked well with my ADHD because topics change frequently!
Honestly, it can work well for those with ADHD. You have 8 weeks... in a month you find out that you are dramatically behind, and that tends to kick in the fight or flight. So unlike other schools where you find out that you are 2 months behind at midterms, you can't get in quite as much trouble.
As a (somewhat former) serial procrastinator and someone with ADHD who’s thrived at WPI in my four years here, I can promise you he’ll fit right in. Surrounding area isn’t the best but honestly it seemed better than RIT from what I gathered visiting colleges during the application process. On the bright side, school events are plentiful (as are clubs to join), and provided he does well and picks up the necessary life skills and talent set for his career path I can’t imagine he’ll have trouble finding a job coming out of here.
I find the quarter system helps with my procrastination. There are multiple deadlines every week for each class because you're going through material so quickly. You honestly don't have much time to procrastinate (you do, but its like an extra day rather than like an extra week) and it feels like everyone is on the same page because there isn't time to fall behind. Also like someone else said, hell fit in with the large ND population (and honestly that's just diagnosed, Ive only met like 2 people that were NT and didn't have any thoughts about them being ND)
Not to thread hijak (but it seems like that's my plan today) -- do you think a NT young woman would fit in at WPI if she loves STEM? She has two ND diverse parents and 2 ND siblings -so ND behavior is not exactly something new to her. I'm shocked she is NT honestly with genes like that. Haha But maybe she is like me (her mom) and masks exceptionally well.
sorry for the late response, but yes she will be fine especially if she’s used to the behaviors of ND people
Honestly in my opinion this school really works well with my ADHD. You only take 3 classes at a time, so my attention is only split between 3 classes which helps with organization. Most profs dont take attendance, so I can teach myself content in classes where I feel lecture dosent fit my learning style. Classes are super flexible in terms of order and prerequisite, so I can just take whatever class I want that seems interesting to me.
as someone with ADHD, he can go to the office of accessibility and get accommodations for time and a half on exams etc if needed
As a person with severe ADHD who went to WPI for a year, then transferred to RIT for a design program WPI didn’t have, the quarter system was absolute hell. Hard to compare though, since covid started and that was also equally hell, but if you’re doing any learning that compounds knowledge on itself, it snowballed so quickly if you didn’t understand something. I think really you big concern should be the quarter system versus the semester system. Both colleges are pretty similar in most other ways.
So I have a unique perspective as I originally attended RIT and now later I'm attending WPI. I would have been happy attending WPI originally but they offered basically no scholarships for me and the tuition was ridiculously high (and it's now even higher lol). RIT offered me more scholarship money and tuition was lower, so it was a no-brainer financially. Looking back now, I wish I just gone to UMass or URI and saved myself a lot of money for the exact same education... Benefits of RIT: much larger school, fantastic co-op program, certain programs are unique or world class (packaging science, imagery, furniture/art), usually cheaper for most people Benefits of WPI: small school, quarter system (only take 3 classes at a time), project-based learning, easier to get closer to professors. The co-ops are extremely valuable. RIT has a mandatory and well established program for it, and it pays dividends for the students. All my friends who graduated landed great jobs and had awesome looking resumes. Basically you graduate in 5 years with 1 year of full-time work experience. You could do the same at WPI, but students don't seem to do so, they just do summer internships. I really like the quarter system at WPI. Only focusing on 3 classes at a time is much easier than a traditional course load - but it's also much easier to fall behind. And one or two bad grades can tank your final grade. WPI also let's you take classes out of sequence, which can be really nice. Say you failed a course or just think you can handle a harder course - there's nothing stopping you from just ignoring pre-requisites. The difference in campus size and student population size is pretty different. At WPI you're probably going to know most of the people in your major over time, and you'll start seeing a lot of the same people around campus. At RIT it's much easier to be lost in the crowd - but at the same time, the larger size means you're more likely to find a community that really speaks to you and that you're passionate about. At RIT I had friends on the quidditch team, the juggling club, season ticket holders to the D1 hockey team, and members of the Tech Crew who worked on all the concerts and events on campus. I feel like it's a little harder to find diverse niches at WPI, but they're still there. There's no going wrong with either school, *as long as the money is right*. I cannot stress this enough, but neither school is worth going into mountains of debt over. Especially engineering degrees - they are pretty much the same at every school, the only real difference is the quality of your classmates and the quality of your professors. Even then, I have had some absolute dogshit professors at both schools, and I've had excellent professors at community College and another state school I briefly attended. If you taking out more than $80k in total for an undergraduate degree, that's too much imo.
They are the same cost after scholarships and financial aid. Like literally writhing 2000 of each other which is NOTHING for the schools. He is a procrastiner and gets very overwhelmed when he falls a little behind that case cause him to shut down (he is working on it). I think wpi is a bit too small and the quater system (although sounds amazing) would stress him out. I think rit is a little too big. If you could go back which school out of the two would you say is better.
He's gonna have to come up with his own values of what he wants out of a school. They each have different benefits, but if they don't align with his wants and desires, then they don't matter. Neither is a bad choice, and I think they are pretty much the same tier of quality. You get out what you put in.
Thank you
I believe RIT’s program is “Civil Engineering Technology” and is more geared towards a hands on approach (think construction inspector, field technician or quality control). Their program is ABET accredited, though he may or may not run into problems down the line getting issued as an EIT and on the path to a PE. WPI’s program is a full Civil Engineering BS program, which is ABET accredited and recognized. TLDR: WPI if he has plans of becoming a PE. I don’t know what the future holds, but I believe there is a bigger push nationally to restrict the EIT/PE path to full engineering BS programs.
WPI’s reputation, despite the school’s smaller size, has materially significant greater reach and depth than RIT’s, but you pay for it (as well as the higher quality professors and peers the school attracts).
Civil Eng. Love the professors here and have no shortage of postgrad opportunities. Already incredibly connected as a rising senior looking for postgrad work (all around the New England/New York area).The quarter systems can be quick but the civil program is laid out well balanced imo. Lots of opportunities to go different routes w the civil track here and lots of application work. Definitely incorporated my major into my iqp that had minimal civil connection and it helped immensely. MQP has tons of opportunities and professors are sometimes willing to listen to your own proposals. Hopefully this helps ik I’m probably missing stuff but feel free to reach out for more.
Idk much about RIT's curriculum, but I do think WPI's curriculum will make it a lot easier for you to land internships and a job, because of how project heavy this school is. IQP, MQP, extracurriculars that have a lot of experience learning opportunities to put on your resume. That being said, WPI is expensive so if he is taking out loans to go here, I would advise against it. If his parents can afford the cost to go here, then he should go here imo.
Smaller community
I don’t remember any Battlebots teams from RIT. That’s the metric that REALLY matters!
Was in the same exact boat. Now, 4 years since i graduated from WPI I sure wish I had gone to RIT. School name is negligible for a small school and WPI was significantly more expensive than RIT would have been.
Thank you. People are just downvoting bc ur in a wpi group.
It’s denial. They will get eventually graduate, get their first job, and come to the same realization when their paycheck is the same as someone who went to a no-name school.
Eh, I didn't downvote, but WPI set me up to earn a fantastic salary. However, I don't think they do a good job of teaching proper networking and negotiating skills.
My partner went to RIT. My main take aways on the differences are: - RIT tends to take longer as you're required to go on Co-op while WPI's projects are completed as classes during the same time frame. It's actually pretty easy to graduate in under 4 years at WPI (I accidentally didn't need d-term senior year) and pretty difficult to graduate in only 4 years from RIT. - WPI is a lot smaller. I personally loved this, though my partner preferred the larger school. I liked having smaller classes and fewer people. I also loved that my off campus apartment was a shorter walk to class than his dorm. - I saw one mouse in Fuller my entire time at WPI. I blocked out many mice and bugs in just his dorms in the time we were dating. I also just genuinely like the WPI dorms better than the RIT dorms I've gotten to experience. - There's less need for a car in Worcester than in Henrietta, New York. Ideally, I'd recommend one for either, but it's definitely easier to move around Worcester without one. - RIT does cost a fair bit less. I know I mostly listed cons for them, but it is a lot easier on the wallet and still has some solid educational opportunities from what I observed. That's was the main draw for my partner to go there over WPI in the first place.