Student Profile
Brian
- Class: Senior
- Major: Computer Science
- Gender: M
- High School: Weymouth High School
- Transfer Student: N
Big Picture
WPI is a small school, but not too small; there are typically about 4,000 undergraduates. While WPI has very poor name recognition with the public (I'm sure you'll have to tell friends and family what W.P.I. stands for, then they still have never have heard of it), WPI has excellent name recognition as well as an excellent reputation in science and engineering industries. In other words, the people who matter (the ones who hire college grads) DO know about WPI, and they hold it in very high esteem (some even prefer to hire WPI grads than MIT grads). Worcester, MA is not really a college town, despite the fact that there are over TEN colleges in the city. Honestly, there's really not much to do in Worcester itself for fun, but both Providence and Boston are under an hour away and are accessible by bus and train.
Academic Life
As with most colleges, class participation is very low; professors really have to pull teeth for students to answer questions. Classes are medium in size (the biggest ones that everyone takes can have 100-150 people but most have no more than 30). Overall, the education at WPI is definitely geared towards job training, offering both theory and practice ("Theory and Practice" actually being the school's motto).
Student Body
While there are some outgoing people, many are socially introverted, only leaving their rooms when they have to.
