Daughter accepted to Robotics engineering schools [WNEU vs RPI vs Vermont]

[RoboticCollegesearch]

@twoinanddone

My daughter was in engineering at a male dominated schools (at the time the ratio was 70/30?). Although she was a captain on an team sport, she did not like group projects and those were the only things she really had a problem with. Three on the project, only one would be a woman. She liked to get things done weeks before they were due and the others didn’t. It did prepare her for her job situation, where she is the only woman on her team, all her bosses are male, etc. She does her work, her bosses like her, and her bonuses reflect that.

Thankfully my daughter prefers to work with men rather than women as she finds their interests more in line with her own. She likes group projects but I could see how that could be a problem regardless of gender if they have different work styles (ie: procrastinators vs planners).

[twoinanddone]

@RoboticCollegesearch

Thankfully my daughter prefers to work with men rather than women as she finds their interests more in line with her own.

I would have said that too of my daughter in high school and in her sports activities. College was a different story. She had to learn to be more forceful when it had never been necessary before. She also didn’t get to chose her partners but was assigned.

A friend’s son also didn’t like group projects but found his ideal partner with a military guy, who was also organized and driven to get stuff done on time/early. The son was an athlete and always on a tight schedule.

[OctoberKate]

Just here to be a WPI booster. My son is a current sophomore, and really likes it. He chose WPI over RPI, even though RPI offered better merit aid, because he really preferred the “vibe” of WPI, and the idea of the IQP project abroad. In terms of the four, seven week terms - this has actually been a benefit for the way his ADHD brain works. There’s no opportunity to procrastinate, it’s go go go, and there’s only three classes to try to balance, so it’s a little easier for him to figure out how to plan his time. It’s correct that the gender imbalance is a thing (and the current freshman and sophomore classes are worse than the current junior and senior) but I haven’t gotten the impression that the women feel uncomfortable (my son might not know, but I’m sure I’d hear about it on the parent pages). Freshman are able to get some good club experience - as a freshman my son was in the high power rocketry club. No, he didn’t get the more “sexy” assignments, but he also didn’t know how to do that level of math and engineering yet, so that made sense. If she’s at all interested in study abroad, the junior year IQP program, where you don’t really “study” in the way of taking classes, but more work on a real-world project, abroad is a great opportunity. I just checked, and the do have programs in China. If you have any WPI questions, I’d be happy to try to answer.

[RoboticCollegesearch]

Thank you so much! That is really helpful information, especially regarding ADHD. That was my feeling as well, that it would be more manageable, yet still very challenging and stimulating. WPI is my top choice for her but of course it is ultimately her decision

[BoroDad]

Normally I would agree 100% on WPI or RPI over the others.

But if you are concerned about ADHD, call each schools mental health centers and ask them what services they offer, if there are accommodations, etc.

Though we loved the school, I could see the WPI system being difficult with the very short sessions. On the tours, they always said if you got sick for like a week you could miss a lot. I could see that also being a factor if there was ADHD or other issues.

But, just ask. This ended up being very important for us unexpectedly, and it turned out that our older kids were in good colleges with lots of support. we had researched it somewhat when they picked schools But probably not enough.