RPI Class of 2023 Thread

StudentsR1st · September 2018

There have been a lotof comments by myself and others in the various threads. The purpose of this thread is to enable open discussion regarding decisions to apply to or enroll at RPI as a member of the class of 2023.

AJC · October 2018

Does anyone know when RPI will start releasing early decision 1 notifications?

slimmy · November 2018

@AJC By December 15th although previous years have been by December 10th.
(Source: DEADLINE DATES)

AJC · November 2018

Has anyone researched average financial aid and what is realistic to expect in terms of merit aid?

slimmy · November 2018

@AJC
look at line H2j
RPI is nearly 100% "need met" so whatever you need to make it happen-they will try to provide. According to that link, the average student needs about $40k but that is ofcourse the average. If you need more, they give more, if you need less, you get less.

AJC · November 2018

@slimmy The big question is what RPI considers "student's need." EFC is an unrealistic number that Federal government comes up with to avoid paying need-based aid. For many families EFC is not affordable.

squid23 · February 2019

Does RPI always extend the application deadlines like it did this year? The RD deadline was supposed to be 1/15 but they extended it to 1/28 and I'm pretty sure the extended ED deadlines, too.

BagODonuts · February 2019

It seems to me that RPI, more than other comparable schools, plays admissions games. Constant emails to apply, special applications with misleading wording, RPI marketing medals, and extended deadlines just to name a few. Do they think that students are stupid?

Spark2018 · February 2019

While I understand your frustration, butI think you are being a bit harsh. Having gone through all of the 'fun' 12 months ago, I actually think RPI is a fair actor here. As for the medal, I wish my son got it and had those $s in the bank going into the application process. My only rub with the medal was with our HS, who should award to those who are qualified and likely to seriously consider the school. My son is 2nd semester freshman, who got into the usual NE schools at RPI level, and so far, very happy with the decision to attend. Best of luck.

FLGDAD · February 2019

Son accepted at Purdue First Year Engineering and awarded a nice OOS scholarship. With the starting cost of Purdue at $42K for OOS and RPI starting at $71K, can anyone tell me why I would/should pay more for RPI? I am a parent that didn't have any of the options that my son has but I assume they are both great Engineering schools. Why would you pay more for the same or similar education?

momofsenior1 · February 2019

@FLGDAD My daughter was accepted last cycle to both Purdue and RPI. She was awarded the medal scholarship at RPI so it brought the price way down. She still chose Purdue, but cost was comparable so not the factor.

Purdue is very stingy with OOS scholarships in engineering so I suspect your son will see merit $ from RPI.

FLGDAD · February 2019

@momofsenior1
Appreciate your reply and the info. Visiting Purdue April 3 and will make decision after that trip. Will visit RPI after decisions on March 15. Did RPI award scholarships simultaneous with admissions? Purdue was a week after acceptance.

momofsenior1 · February 2019

I believe dd got scholarship info from RPI with her acceptance.

StudentsR1st · March 2019

I strongly urge people to ask the following questions regarding merit scholarships.
Are they renewable? If so under what conditions? and what is the renewal percentage?
If there are conditions for renewal is there a probation period and/or the possibility for reinstatement?
If there is a probation period what is the percentage who get off probation and retain their merit scholarship?
If reinstatement is possible what is the percentage of those reinstated.
Can I see a percentage by term chart of both students and amounts.
Are recipients expected to fund raise? If so are they penalized for not meeting goals?

Do not accept answers like "every award is different", "every student is unique". Hone in on numbers.

lovemycats · March 2019

Anyone know if RD is coming out tomorrow? I had called & spoke to someone in admissions about another Mather & they told me 3/2 at 7 pm? Sound about right?

spqr70nj · March 2019

When we logged into my son’s status page it said Decision Date: March 9th. Maybe everyone is different 🤷🏼‍♂️

spqr70nj · March 2019

Yeah just checked again and his Decision Notification date is populated on the status page.

gymnast9261 · March 2019

I have March 9th too. Is the release time 7 pm?

spqr70nj · March 2019

@gymnast9261 According to the RPI twitter post decisions will be made March 9th at 7pm. Good luck!

collegemom777 · March 2019

For those who asked about aid, I think it's always a crapshoot but I wouldn't count on RPI being great. Out of 25ish college acceptances that my kids have received, RPI gave us by far the worst aid. Cost to go there was more than 10,000 more than anywhere else, including schools with comparable sticker prices. That said, it all depends on the school's formula. I guess it's possible something in RPI's formula just worked against my family's financial situation, but might work well for yours.

reformedman · March 2019

@collegemom777 I agree with you it's hard to tell what you'll get. Of the 15 schools my kids have applied to including public in state universities RPI was the cheapest. My second kid was accepted early decision and is covered more than tuition and fees and partially room&board so when he moves out of his room&board he will be full paid. It may have something to do with siblings attending together but even my first kid got just room&board plus a little more.

I think it's more to do with demonstrating desire to attend and academic to Major eligibility. RPI will always generate a willing 20,000 student waitlist, most willing to wait. So getting high payers is in their favor to easily get. But demonstrating desire to attend is where the gold is for them. They have funds set exclusively for aid so giving it to just anyone applying gets them no wins in the deal. But giving it to the ones they want to secure really ensures a win for both parties. That method increases retention rate which is a goal for all colleges for many reasons. There are plenty of rich families that are academically capable of attending and then drop or transfer out. I know first hand of one family that had a genius kid attend two years ago and paid almost full price but dropped out after the first semester to become a Twitch gamer. It's my opinion that the key to high aid is not only demonstrated need but also fervent desire.

RPI Class of 2023 Thread

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