Colleges Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute www.rpi.edu

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is a private institution that was founded in 1824. Its 296-acre campus, in Troy, NY, is nestled in an ideal location for nature lovers. The school overlooks the Hudson River, where waterfront activities abound, and is close to Grafton Lakes State Park, Lake George, and the Adirondack Mountains. For an urban experience, Albany is nine miles away. RPI was founded on the principles of bringing science to everyday life, and that ethos is still prevalent today. About a quarter of students are involved in Greek L.I.F.E., as the fraternity and sorority scene is known at the school, which stresses Leadership, Innovation, Fortitude and Evolution. There are also more than 200 student organizations. Freshmen must live on campus, usually in dormitories that only house first-year students.

Academics

RPI is organized into six main schools which contain 37 departments, with emphasis on science and technology. It is classified among R1 Doctoral Universities: Very High Research Activities. In accordance with its specialty, RPI has a highly ranked engineering program. The school also uses its scientific specialties to offer unique accelerated programs such as the BS/MD Physician-Scientist Program, completed in seven years, and the BS/JD in Science, Technology and Society Law, which takes six years to finish. The student-faculty ratio at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is 12:1, and the school has 54% of its classes with fewer than 20 students. Popular majors include Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, and Aerospace Engineering.

Special Highlights

Student Life. Given the university’s proximity to the Berkshires, Green Mountains and Adirondacks, the Ski Club and the Outing Club are some of the largest groups on campus. The Ski Club offers weekly trips to local ski areas during the winter months, while the Outing Club offers trips on a weekly basis for a variety of activities. The Rensselaer Polytechnic is the student-run weekly newspaper, and there is also a popular student-run magazine called Statler & Waldorf which is produced each semester. RPI has an improvisational comedy group, Sheer Idiocy, which performs several shows a semester. There are also several music groups ranging from a cappella groups such as the rusty pipes, Partial Credit, the Rensselyrics and Duly Noted, to several instrumental groups such as the orchestra, the jazz band, and a classical choral group, the Rensselaer Concert Choir.

Science & Technology Studies. The B.S. in Design, Innovation, and Society at Rensselaer provides creative, socially conscious students with a broad education in design. It’s a unique liberal arts-focused and studio-based design program. Design studios are complemented by a sequence of humanities and social sciences courses, which explore the social, environmental, political, legal, and cultural dimensions of design and technology in modern life. Through the integration of social and humanistic inquiry into a creative and technical studio-based curriculum, students learn how to use design to address real-world problems. DIS provides all of the elements necessary to put students’ creativity to work as leaders of design and innovation to address big social and environmental challenges with creative approaches.

School Mission & Unique Qualities

RPI is the nation’s oldest technological research university. Since its founding, it has maintained its reputation for providing a transformative education of undisputed intellectual rigor based on innovation in the laboratory, classroom, and studio. The Institute’s motto is: “Why Not change the world?” The first civil engineering degrees in the United States were granted by the school in 1835, and many of the best remembered civil engineers of that time graduated from the school. The university hosts technical events like the annual GameFest, a showcase of computer games designed by students. These kinds of technical skills have led Rensselaer graduates to successful careers as entrepreneurs, inventors, scientists and more. The institute operates an on-campus business incubator and the 1,250-acre Rensselaer Technology Park.

Student Reviews…

“In terms of academics, it’s pretty tough and most professors are good. There’s lot of diversity and people are generally nice. Social life depends on what you make of it. You need to put in effort if you want to make friends. There are plenty of clubs here in RPI. Be ready to search for internships on your own, but you will be more than ready from your experience.”