ServinisScores
I'm an Implant Engineer
Re: RPI 2013/14 Part II: The HFH is Covered with Frozen Drivel
My 2 cents (no pun of course)...It'd be hard to quantify the value/ROI down to the dollar level, but I feel I got my $$ worth and then some. For an entry-level BSME job, what I learned, both academically, and working within a team (AML shout-out) outshone most of my "fresh-out" colleagues. Now, I'm on the other side of the recruiting table and I'd say even though it really depends on the kid (I work with really diverse people w pedigrees ranging from MIT to Northeastern), RPI still presents a large number of top-notch candidates, only to be challenged by Cornell, and the occasional Big 10 (Michigan, Wisconsin) candidate we speak to. The economics of today, and the state of engineering in the US, would make you scratch your head a little harder, but alum or not, but for engineering, I'm still a proponent of an RPI education...
Time for me to chime in.
I have a couple of data points, I attended from '75 -'79 (BS in Biology), and tuition was in the $5.5-7K range if I remember correctly. My folks paid for my tuition and R+B, I paid for all incidentals (books, booze, travel), Went from there to Univ of Wisc. for a PhD. I can't say that RPI has been THE critical item in my pedigree, but I can say that it has opened some doors, and it gave me a solid background in chemistry and math which have served me in good stead during my career. I was one of the few biologists that understood differential equations and how to apply them to biological systems; enabling a move over to the biology/computer interface arena a few years ago; a place where some biologists and computer scientists fear to tread. Been gainfully employed for the past ~30 years in pharma drug discovery.
Second data point is eldest son, graduated from the 'Tute in 2010, with a BS in EE. Immediately found a job in his field (during a tough economy), partially due to the name recognition of RPI (several of the Sr. VPs have ties to the school). He got scholarships (leadership and legacy) that brought the cost down to in-state costs at UCONN, so his (mine?) ROI is great.
Regarding how to pay for this, we started planning when our kids were born. We always figured that they would go to post-secondary schooling of some sort, and even then we knew it was going to get really expensive. We set up trust funds for their education prior to their first birthday, and kept kicking in. While this killed any chance for need-based grants, it let me sleep at night. We did the same deal, tuition + room + board, they did the other bits. So our kids got out of 4 year private school with no debt and a promise that they would pay it forward to their kids.
As an aside, my Dad went to Clarkson, and he always encouraged me to go to RPI. I looked at CCT (as it was called then), and just didn't feel the love. It's a good school, but not on the same level as RPI.
My 2 cents (no pun of course)...It'd be hard to quantify the value/ROI down to the dollar level, but I feel I got my $$ worth and then some. For an entry-level BSME job, what I learned, both academically, and working within a team (AML shout-out) outshone most of my "fresh-out" colleagues. Now, I'm on the other side of the recruiting table and I'd say even though it really depends on the kid (I work with really diverse people w pedigrees ranging from MIT to Northeastern), RPI still presents a large number of top-notch candidates, only to be challenged by Cornell, and the occasional Big 10 (Michigan, Wisconsin) candidate we speak to. The economics of today, and the state of engineering in the US, would make you scratch your head a little harder, but alum or not, but for engineering, I'm still a proponent of an RPI education...