(RPI) Why didn't anybody tell me? That's what I've been

Educational Quality	F	Faculty Accessibility	C-
Useful Schoolwork	F	Excess Competition	D
Academic Success	F	Creativity/ Innovation	F
Individual Value	F	University Resource Use	C
Campus Aesthetics/ Beauty	D+	Friendliness	F
Campus Maintenance	D-	Social Life	F
Surrounding City	C+	Extra Curriculars	B
Safety	D

Describes the student body as: , , ' color='class=grade' > Describes the faculty as: , , ' color='class=grade' >

Male

1490

Super Brilliant

Educational Quality	F

Extra Curriculars	B

He cares more about Educational Quality than the average student.

Date: Dec 02 2011
Major: (This Major's Salary over time)
Why didn't anybody tell me? That's what I've been asking myself for the last year and a half since I graduated. I knew going in that RPI was a second-choice school for MIT applicants, but I had no idea that it was a steaming cesspool of unmotivated students where the institute does its best to break their spirit. I survived 3 years there and managed to graduate early basically because I hated it so much. It is not a good place to learn. Most of the professors would rather be doing research with their predominantly-international grad students than teaching, the students cheat like crazy, and the administration seems to hate faculty and students equally. RPI has a tradition of "crib sheets," where students can bring one piece of paper with notes into exams. The idea is to let students skip the memorization of forumlas and focus on learning. Instead, kids bend over backwards to squeeze the slides from class VERBATIM in tiny font onto their printed-out crib sheet, then distribute it to their frat bros. Technically not cheating, I guess, but if you don't do it, you will fall down on the curve, because everybody else in the exam has memorized the question bank instead of legitimately learning. Just walk around the campus and you'll realize that this is a place that sucks the life out of you. It's not just the weather--students slog around with this terrifyingly blank stare on their face, people avoid eye contact, and the constant drone of poorly-designed air conditioning systems makes this one of the most depressing places I've been in my life. And I spent 3 years here. I know, I know, your college counsellor says to have a safety school or two on your list. For the love of all that is good, DO NOT ADD RPI. You will not be happy here. Sure, you know you're going to MIT or whatever and this is just a formality. Trust me, I know. DON'T DO IT. You'll be much better off at a smaller liberal arts school, and you'll get the same quality of engineering education.

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