Should I go to RPI or Wentworth Institute of Technology for industrial design?

College Search & Lists
1

I am stuck between either RPI for their design, innovation, and society/mechanical engineering dual major program or industrial design at Wentworth Institute of technology. Here’s the main issue…

I really love Wentworth’s industrial design program (it’s exactly what I’m looking for!), but I’m concerned about the school and student body. It seems like it’s pretty easy get into Wentworth, their standards are low, and I really want to be surrounded by people who are 110% motivated and passionate about learning. I am in the top 10 of my class and I learn best when I am surrounded by people who actually care about their work. At RPI, this was extremely evident! People there were EXCEPTIONALLY nice, and everyone seriously loves to learn. It felt like RPI was finally the place I’ve been looking for all these years. Unlike at Wentworth, I felt this whole new sense of community when I visited, which is exactly the type of environment I want to be in.

However, the program at RPI (design, innovation, and society) is not exactly “industrial design”. They focus more on the innovation of products, different approaches to design, and the human/social aspects of design. Compared to Wentworth, there are much fewer actual design classes. That said, you also get a mechanical engineering degree, but the reason I decided to go into industrial design (I switched from mechanical engineering to industrial design while filling out all my applications) was because mechanical engineering seemed too technical. I don’t nearly have as much interest in becoming a mechanical engineer as I do in industrial design. I need that creative aspect of design, otherwise it feels like I am doing work. However, I’m not THAT into art that I would go to a school that offers a BFA for industrial design. Math and science are some of my favorite subjects and I 100% understand that it’s more than just making products look nice - you also have to make it work, which is the technology/engineering aspect of design.

So what do you think? What are your thoughts on all this? If the student body at Wentworth was more accelerated I would totally go there, but the social aspect is a major factor for me. I really want to be able to connect with likeminded people (it just seemed right at RPI), because I might go crazy if I end up at a college like my current high school xD Wentworth just seems like a lower university, especially compared to RPI. On the other hand, I loved everything about RPI (the actual campus, the people, the sense of community) except I wasn’t crazy about the program for my major… which is pretty important. I think I would still have a great time at RPI, but the focus on my major isn’t exactly what I pictured. I don’t plan on getting an engineering job, but I do see how it would be helpful in designing products. What do you think about all of this? (I also attached a pros/cons list below). Thank you so much to anyone who replies! :slight_smile:

WENTWORTH

Pros
• Perfect industrial design program
• Great teachers
• Studio based classes
• Work areas for industrial designers
• Good labs and spaces
• Laptop with all programs and adobe suite

• Study abroad to Europe and take classes in Berlin, Germany
• TWO Co-ops

• Colleges of the Fenway (take classes at other schools and an orchestra)
• Ski club
• Accelerate program entrepreneur

• Smaller school with small classes
• Price = $28,473
• Located in Boston (close to my home) – and lots to do
• Meal plan - pay as you go
• Job placement rate
• Nice dorms, especially as an upperclassman
Cons:
• No campus, city is scary
• Student body is not accelerated
• Community?
• 80/20 male to female ratio
• Diversity
• Must take classes in summer of junior and senior year
• No Wentworth school prestige

RENSSELAER

Pros:
• Love the people and student body
• Sense of community
• Male to female ratio
• Diversity

• Study abroad to Singapore
• Co-op is built into school schedule?

• RPI Prestige
• Academic quality – great education
• Dual major with engineering (wider possibility of jobs)
• Interdisciplinary studies – creative design, manufacturing, marketing

• Ski club
• Orchestra/pep band/percussion group
• Free laundry
• Campus is a campus and is very nice
• Bigger school, more services, clubs, and more to offer
Cons:
• Program is not industrial design (and more engineering classes)
• No studio work space
• Price = $44,292
• Troy, NY is a bit sketchy and further from home

• Dorms are small and kinda old
• Not a nice kitchen area or lounge
• Food is ehh

2

If a program is too specific (Wentworth), it will feel like trade school. Which is fine, but the majority (especially your key priorities) of what you posted suggests you should attend the highly respected RPI. (If Troy is “sketchy,” I don’t know it to be dangerously sketchy.)

3

Neither school has any particular reputation in the ID field (I agree that RPI is a highly respected school but it’s not known for industrial design). If you really intend to have an industrial design career you’d be better off with a BFA program. Of the two you listed, at least the Wentworth program is actually an ID program with NASAD accreditation. But if you think you might prefer engineering, by all means choose RPI.

4

It sounds like you’ll be happier and more motivated at RPI, so I’d recommend you go there. It has a smart, motivated student body, which makes a big difference. Plus it’s a highly respected uni and a degree in engineering will help in job searches. You could dual in MechE and DIS to get both aspects of what you want (challenging, but you seem to want a challenge) and could provide you a broader set of options coming out of college–engineering and design are related and having a degree in the former can help you perform better in the latter and makes you more versatile.