banjoken - Posted - 04/19/2012:  12:30:41

Howdy!

Any engineers out there in banjo land? Any thoughts on RPI - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute? My son is trying to decide between RPI and a few other Engineering type schools and at the moment we are thinking RPI.

How is the Troy area? Anything to be concerned about? Saw some crime warnings posted on off campus housing that has me slightly concerned.

Thanks!

 

Ken

Dagnabbit - Posted - 04/19/2012:  13:10:11

RPI is top notch and noted as a good value. MIT on the Hudson. 

BrianBanjos - Posted - 04/19/2012:  13:24:50

quote:

---

Originally posted by banjoken

Howdy!

Any engineers out there in banjo land? Any thoughts on RPI - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute? My son is trying to decide between RPI and a few other Engineering type schools and at the moment we are thinking RPI.

How is the Troy area? Anything to be concerned about? Saw some crime warnings posted on off campus housing that has me slightly concerned.

Thanks!

 

Ken

---

 pm sent

banjoken - Posted - 04/19/2012:  13:25:17

Hi dave,

Thanks! It is rated very high, and we very much liked what we saw on our visit. It is quite expensive though. :( Decisions decisions.

Dagnabbit - Posted - 04/19/2012:  14:20:02

Value is not just cost, of course. RPI is a great engineering school. According to the data, 100% of new students last year had grants averaging almost $20k which offset a portion of the cost.

Is it worth $15k a year more than Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech or Penn State? How do you answer such a question? I must have worked with hundreds of engineers and supervised, managed and hired some dozens. I've seen superlative engineers from rather pedestrian schools and pedestrian engineers from superlative ones. 

A prestigious name on a diploma can be a good boost out of the gate but ultimately, other considerations with carry more and more weight. Good luck with whatever you decide!

banjoken - Posted - 04/19/2012:  15:19:21

Thanks again Dave! What you wrote makes perfect sense.

As far as the grants, my son got a very nice scholarship from RPI, as he did for a lot of other great schools, but we did not meet financial requirements for any grants, not that we have a lot of money. :(

We are going to do our best to get him there, but as you said. It also has a lot to do with what you do at the schools. I know he will get a quality education at most of the schools he got into.

Thanks again Barry for your help!

Ken

BanjoLink - Posted - 04/20/2012:  13:07:04

I'm prejudice, but you couldn't do much better than sending him south to Clemson University  -  an outstanding engineering school.  The only problem is that after four years at Clemson he will want to stay in the south and you won't see him very often!!!!  It is also getting to be difficult to get in Clemson, but if he can get in RPI, he may be able to get in.  Years ago it was cheaper to send to southern state run universities and pay out of state tuition that it was to stay in state for private colleges.  That may not have changed since all colleges seem to be ridiculously high.

Dagnabbit, no doubt has worked with many Clemson engineers.  I also wouldn't rule out places like The Citadel if he would take to the military regimen.  I have never met a Citadel engineer that I didn't think was top notch!