StudentsReview :: Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Extra Detail about the Comment
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Worcester Polytechnic Institute

How this student rated the school
Research QualityD Research AvailabilityD
Research FundingD- Graduate PoliticsD
Errand RunnersC Degree Completion-
Alternative pay [ta/gsi]D- Sufficient PayB
CompetitivenessA- Education QualityD-
Faculty AccessibilityB Useful ResearchC
ExtracurricularsD- Success-UnderstandingD-
Surrounding CityD- Social Life/EnvironmentD-
"Individual" treatmentD FriendlinessB-
SafetyB- Campus BeautyB
Campus MaintenanceC- University Resource/spendingD-
Describes the student body as:
Friendly, Approachable

Describes the faculty as:
Arrogant, Condescending, Unhelpful, Self Absorbed

Male
Lowest Rating
Research Funding
D-
Highest Rating
Competitiveness
A-
He cares more about Research Funding than the average student.
Date: Dec 31 1969
Major: Computer Science (This Major's Salary over time)
I completed my undergraduate education at WPI and was more than pleased with the quality of education. So it was a no brainer when heading back to graduate school - I took the easy/safe way and opted for WPI which required no GRE's, waived the application fee, and had a fast decision turnaround time for alumni. That was a decision I feel I will regret for many years to come.

My views are about the Computer Science department since that my major and the only portion I am qualified to have an opinion on. (By word of mouth, the other departments are more popular / less loathed by their graduate students).

The CS department had a faculty crunch when I enrolled. They had been on a failing recruitment drive for a while, in addition to which many current faculty members were on sabbatical. Students had the opportunity of paying full tuition to be taught by part time instructors (_not_ professors) for approximately 40% of the courses being offered in 2001/02, and this trend is continuing in the 2002/03 academic year. Most of these instructors are poorly qualified to teach, they are unable to explain concepts, disorganized with course materials, and not held accountable for student dissatisfaction. WPI has had a course/teacher evaluation process in place for years (the results of which are even available on the web); however, there is no transparency as to what action is taken based on these surveys. A quick glance through the evaluation results identifies professors with significantly lower ratings than their colleagues, but these same professors are responsible for even higher course loads than in the previous year. In addition to awful faculty and course quality, WPI also stiffs graduate students' resources.

There are no dedicated computer labs for tuition paying graduate students. Example: For the multimedia course requires computers with (1) sound output equipment (2) sound input equipment (3) TCP and UDP connection to the internet (3) a choice of multiple development environments such as Java, VC++, C. There were a grand total of 3 such machines for 10+ groups. It was possible to find some haphazard combination of the aforementioned features in other computers on-campus, and this was done through time-consuming trial and error since there was no centralized documentation of available resources. This theme continues with other academics related resources, and the situation deteriorates even further for non-academic facilities which also applies to undergraduates. Examples: gym, extramural activities, career development, etc.

All in all this is a completely mercenary university unconcerned about the quality of education it provides to graduate students. International students in particular should be wary since their flexibility and options are limited once in a graduate program.

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