Classes at RPI are tough, but they are tough elsewhere as well. Those schools with 95+% job placement also have “low” GPA students, yet they have jobs.
My rising Junior daughter wants to study engineering, and currently attends an engineering magnet school (so she knows she enjoys it). Academically, RPI would be fine (I was accepted early to MIT, and ended up choosing to attend RPI instead, my husband is an alumnus as well). We are more concerned with the situation involving the President, and the attempt to take control of the student union. Having attended in the 80’s we experienced a well-run student union, that supported a myriad of activities. The heavy-handed tactics of the President make me feel that the culture at RPI could be heading more in the direction of MIT, without quite the same rigor or reputation. The culture was one of the main factors that impacted my choice.