RPI worth the debt?

whydoicare
Sun, 29 Aug 2010 11:57:42 +0000

I am glad freshman orientation went so well for everyone. It brings back memories. My son also had a great orientation at Pitt, which they do in two stages called PittStart and then early move-in. On move-in day we had “Arrival Survival” staff on hand every time we turned around. The students later had a cool experience led by the Provost ([Thousands Make Flashlight World-Record Try In Darkened Petersen Center - Sports News Story - WTAE Pittsburgh](http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/sports/24770414/detail.html)). Pitt has a good engineering school, medical and nursing schools, a coop program, much lower tuition, fairly high USNWR ranking, and more choices if things don’t work out in the first choice of major. Most states have at least one alternative like Pitt.

For me, RPI was worth it because I had the Medal Scholarship. I did well there and afterwards. But I saw people graduate from RPI with GPA in the low 2’s have trouble finding jobs. If a student runs into worse academic trouble there, it won’t seem so friendly. On the other hand, in my career, I’ve seen scads of people graduate with high GPA from public schools, go to grad school at RPI or elsewhere, and do extremely well.

Another thing to bear in mind, RPI’s reputation has arguably slipped over the last 30 years. Jackson is trying to turn that around, and breaking some eggs in the process. This affects the value and perception of an RPI degree.

My point is to shop wisely, especially before taking on a lot of debt. If you are thinking “well, RPI is better than Pitt or VA Tech” that’s quite debatable. I say that having attended all three.