Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Date: Jun 01 2004
Major: Computer Science (This Major's Salary over time)
I am no longer enrolled, due to the rising costs of tuition, and a lack of affinity for enough of my coursework to, well, not be getting enough out of it. I have moved to another university, where I am pursuing a completely different degree. That being said, however, WPI is an excellent school. It was a better school when I began, in 2000, than it was when I left, in 02, because the school has been attempting to compete with MIT, to the point of TV advertising that is flat out rediculous. However, the long and the short of it is, mechanical and electrical engineers, physicists, etc. will probably do very well at WPI. It's engineering disciplines in particular are excellent, centered around groupwork and practical applications, which will serve anyone in good stead. I would recommend this school to any aspiring engineer. The Computer Science program needs a little work, but most of the things you could hope for can be found if you take the right classes with the right professors. The theater program is still one of the best I've ever encountered. The student body has begun to degenerate, however, as the school lets in more and more mainstream students. When I was a freshman, even the most hardcore of the jocks and fratboys were geeks at heart, passionate about what they were learning. The school, in attempt to braoden the student body, has begun letting in a great deal of students who either don't have the brains or don't have the interest, and these students are bringing the whole university down. If you aren't passionate about what you want to study, if you've never been up all night working on something, this is NOT your school. There is alot of work, and the socializing is practically vacant unless you're a total geek, like me, in which case, good news: this is where they all go. Home to such random projects as the attempt to build a flying model rocket out of a motor and an old aluminium can (we were bored, and it worked rather admirably, if you don't count landing by a busy road and blowing up…). This is a geek school, and there are few better for geeks, but normals don't do well. Final note, and apologies for the longwinded review, the work is hard, the projects are as useful and relevant as the students designing them, and graduation takes 4-5 five years on average. Have money, it's not cheap.