@collegeandi then you should really look at WPI. The president is female and she is adamant about leveling the playing field of women vs men in the area of STEM. The last few years they have focused the majority of their merit awards to female applicants The result is a more even female to male ratio on campus and there are more opportunities for girls to get involved in hands on research there than ever before. We live close by and have been to the school for all sorts of events.
My son really likes it there, especially some of their academic programs. The campus is nice, and Iâd say itâs pretty safe. Worcester isnât the most beautiful place in MA, but it has enough stuff for college students to do such as theaters, movies, shopping, good eateries, coffee places, access to water and mountains. Itâs a pretty easy ride, right off the highway. They are building some new buildings and refurbishing some dorms. A lot of kids do an overseas semester or summer program.
The kids coming out of there are all doing very well in terms of getting jobs. There are plenty of STEM related in jobs and internships throughout MA.
Feel free to message me with any questions, good luck.
Thank you for bringing up the finer points, @RightCoaster ! Though she did not like the city of Worcester in our first visit, she was comfortable during our second visit to WPI. She never liked Troy but liked RPI a lot. Her best friendâs boyfriend graduated from RPI last year. She is fence sitting on that one. She was comfortable with RIT. Loved everything about Northeastern.
Does quarter system in WPI get heavy to handle?
@collegeandi My D has similar interests and stats. Sheâs recently eliminated two of our super reaches for various reasons Mudd and Vanderbilt, but I thought especially Vanderbilt was a good option for a female in Engineering. Iâll assume youâve looked at Rice, but of course all three are merit chasers, temporarily ignoring the acceptance rates. We both loved Auburn despite not looking for a big sports school; might be too isolated for your D. And we have friends who rave about NC State. You may have already considered and/or dismissed these, but good luck.
@homerdog - I havenât really followed that many on social media but I have subscribed to a few admissions blogs and those can be pretty useful.
@collegeandi I understand not wanting to you daughter to choose a school " just because itâs free". My DS16 is attending his top choice for free and thriving there. Donât discount a school that sees the potential in your daughter and is willing to reward her for it.
@collegeandi all of the Wpi students i know say they are happy and never complain about the school in any way, even the funky terms.
My older son looked into Rpi and it was a contenddr , lost out to Northeastern. So I have a pretty good understanding of all of these schools. I like Northeastern the mosf as it offers significant opportunities for the kids thru co-op and living in the city. But Northeastern is hard to get in, they love great stats, but are not known to be very generous with merit and aid.
I know a few kids at RIT but I have not been there. My kids would probably like it, but there are other schools closer that offer the same thing.
@collegeandi A young lady I know is going into her senior year at WPI student biomedical engineering. Loves everything about the schoolâŠkids, classes, profsâŠfeels very prepared for whatever her next step will be. My son is looking at RPI. I lamented the lack of things right by campus but he didnât mind. Troy isnât great but it isnât as bad as it was even a couple of decades ago. Iâm a fan of Northeastern as well. My oldest was considering it but he was accepted NUin so the running coach said he couldnât run with them until sophomore yearâŠso that killed that one! That said, Northeastern is just darn hard to get into these days! Good luck!
Does anyone on this thread know much about Pitt? I was thinking about it as a possible safety for S and because of the merit possibilities in case he is not happy with the in-state options in the end. I have been doing some reading and I know they have a big med school focus. However, S would likely be an Economics major and take a number of classes in the social sciences. Any input would be appreciated.
@peachActuary73 , thank you for suggesting those colleges. We were looking for close by colleges initially, but not anymore. She has always been open to going to any school in almost any region except the mid west (some personal reasons, no offence intended to the region or the colleges there). I never thought of Auburn for some reason before. Will definitely look in it further.
Did you visit Mudd? They encourage girls to pursue STEM, offer a lot of scholarships as well. We visited it a while back but dropped as it did not resonate with D. I loved it a lot.
Completely agree with you, @carolinamom2boys . We are not going discount a school if it checks most boxes. I mean we are not going to consider a school just because it is free- even if it does not come close to her selection criteria. I am happy for your DS16 that he got in with such scholarship to his top choice!
@elena13, Check the parents 18 board. I think someone from our group is going there.
@elena13 My D16 is currently attending Pitt and is an economics major with a Chinese minor. She loves it. She is currently on a summer study abroad in Shanghai. Do you have any specific questions?
Pitt does have merit scholarships for high stats kids. FWIW, my D did not get one. If you look at the threads from last year in the Pitt forum, you can get an idea of what it takes to get a scholarship. It doesnât seem like it is strictly stats based. I remember that I read about two kids last year with the same stats and one got merit money and the other didnât. Pitt has rolling admissions so it is best to apply early if it is on your list.
I got the same impression about Northeastern, @RightCoaster . D is not stuck with it though she would love to attend it if she gets in. I donât suppose she will get that kind of $$$ from them in merit aid.
RIT is similar to many other tech schools, a little more preppy that WPI but not as much as Northeastern. D found them to be more friendly, honest, and co-operative than couple other schools.
That helps, @SwimmingDad , thank you! Yes, Northeastern is hard to get in and so are so many other colleges, especially for CSE. That is the reason why she needs to cast a wider net. We are working towards it.
@elena13 , I donât really know about the Economics program in Pitt but we all liked Pitt as a school. Pittsburgh is a big city, quite safe for the size. The students looked engaging, and happy. The food is good. The campus is beautiful.
@elena13
Dâs high school sends several kids to Pitt (and PSU) each year. I donât know anyone who hasnât liked it there.
@elena13 S17 is also looking at Pitt as a school where he would likely get accepted an receive some merit money. Each year, lots of kids from our HS apply, are accepted and about 4 or 5 attend. All of the kids I know that go there love it and most got merit aid and not all were high stats. One is doing a 5 year business program. My friend took her daughter for accepted students day and was blown away. Her daughter received merit aid and will start there in the fall. Son will likely visit in August with a friend. As a Ravens fan, it is hard for my son to think about liking anything to do with Pittsburgh, lol.
Home from our Southeast college road trip and ready to report. We had so much fun, and I loved all the schools. Here is our summary take on each one (some I posted about before):
Elon University â So beautiful! Loved the admissions presentation and the tour, even though guide was new. Meets S19 goal of pre-med prep (75% acceptance >507 score), high retention rate. Did not like: On their own for housing after two years. They are building more dorms though, so wondering if there will be more for juniors? It seems that its not too hard to get housing though. S19âs #1 school so far. D20 not applying â liked it but did not see living there.
Clemson â Great campus, also beautiful. Liked that buildings seemed close together and made large campus feel smaller. Liked the history and everyone truly seemed happy (voted one of the happiest campuses). Seemed a little too sports-minded for our kiddos (versus VTech which seemed more rounded in focus even tho itâs also very sporty). This made S19 question if he could see himself there. He wants to play club baseball but sports are a small hobby for him. He is more interested in hiking, fishing, and video games which I am sure Clemson has. Will probably apply and give another look. D20 loved it, even though she has no athletic ability and has social anxiety. She just felt at home and will apply. Go figure!
Furman UniversityâPretty campus â seemed very spread out. Maybe it was the (fun) golf cart part of the tour that made it feel that way. Nice science building. Tour guides/staff showed their love of the campus. Info session was okay, kind of lack luster after seeing all the other colleges. It was nice to see kids names on the welcome TV board. Big shpeal about how they WILL get busted for alcohol â even if 21 and someone else had it in their room. Dorms were nice. Neither kid disliked anything but neither are applying.
College of Charleston â Loved the campus, in the heart of the cityâŠwe walked to Fort Sumter tour in 15 min I think. And visited a Cat CafĂ©
Trying to get to the rest but this post not saving the rest of the text. Will try another post. 
Part 2:
College of Charleston (continued): info session was very informative although speaker wasnât the best. Really liked the trivia slide show we saw while waiting for program to start. Neat graduation set-up on the grounds all in white. Dorms were standard/doable. Programs all seemed good, including Pre-Med assistance. Business school really cool â including entrepreneur program. Practice fields seemed a bit far away if I recall, but since S19 just doing club baseball, that works. Loved the honors building and S19 hoping to get in for honors. Both kids definitely applying.
Virginia Tech â Another beautiful campus! Loved that walking the whole campus one side to other only takes 10-15 minutes. Loved surrounding area for food, etc. and best tour guide. Talked a lot about their being voted best college food. A lot of clubs (almost 1,000), majors, and things to do. Only thing did not like again was the no guarantee after freshman year to live on campus. (I think this is just something we will have to deal with in all of these colleges.) Both applying.
U Richmond â Loved (of course). Buildings seemed a little farther apart. Cafeteria looked yummyâŠ.dessert always available! Beautiful lake and campus. Really loved the option of getting paid for internships/coops through the school if the internship does not pay. Great programs, everyone seemed very happy. Reach for S19, probably off the table for D20. S19 applying. If he makes it in, I think we will really give it a good look.
Emory UâIt felt so home-y and quiet in the middle of the cityâŠsuburban but not. Loved the grounds and the museum, which we went to afterwards. Free for students who tour, $8 for parents. Worth it! Best info session â counselor was so articulate. Great pre-med info given. Interesting Engineer program â 2 years at Georgia Tech. Dorms were fabulous! Large, air conditioned (of course). D20 loved it but probably out of reach. D19 liked it but couldnât see himself there (not sure why), so not applying.
Wake Forest - Ended up not going (up/down/up/down) because he didnât want to worry about the interview or lack of merit as he is on the cusp, and now there are so many other good options.
Summary: I loved every college. S19 applying to: VTech, URich, CoC, Elonâ and these are his top four over the other colleges applying to: TCNJ, Stockton, Quinnipiac, maybe Villanova. (Might add a few other colleges). Clemson may stay on list/may come off.
D20 applying to: Clemson, VTech, CoC and whatever else we tour next year.
Furman off the list for both â gorgeous and nice school â I think it just felt too spread out and too small (although Richmond still staying on list for S19 even though small).
Hope that helps!