Yes, other schools are a cake walk. I'm getting an engineering degree from a state college. I'm in my fourth year and I can skip classes half the semester and still end up with a B.

It's kind of sad really. Explains a lot of the non-sense that goes on in industry.

The funny thing is this - the only place I ever got good grades was WPI. Go figure. I blame it all on Amy.... why not?

Rant:

Those rankings are so subjective, they can't be trusted. Last year, WPI was #11 nationwide in "schools where theatre is big" (which of course people 'round here have translated into "one of the top theatre programs in the country" - hah!).

These folks (the interviewers) come on campus and somehow manage to corral the most bitter students to take their survey. Inevitably, they're the ones who are too dumb and/or lazy to be able to handle a whopping 3 classes (probably the ones on academic probation)and an extracurricular, so they complain and whine and blame all their ills on WPI. By contrast, I and many others I've known can handle 4 or even 5 classes per term, plus 3-5 activities and sports.

I do some recruiting of students through our alumni ambassadors program and I am upfront with prospectives about the fact that WPI is challenging, fast-paced, and not suited for everyone. You have to be a certain type of person - smart, self-motivated, fast learning, organized, and energetic - to succeed at WPI. I tell them about our quarter system, how they'll end up taking more courses than the average college student when it's all said and done, and about the projects. I tell them that at WPI, you're master of your own destiny - you plan your program, and you execute it.

Some people can't deal with that. They come to WPI because they want to go abroad, or because their mother's brother's girlfriend went here, or whatever. They get here, find out what it's really like, and are miserable. They either transfer out or sit around here being angry at WPI for somehow cheating them out of their education.

The point of the college search is to find the college that's right for YOU. Too many kids these days are making the mistake of going on prestige or financial aid, rather than best fit.

I remember how mad my parents were when I selected WPI - I got less financial aid for WPI than any other school I applied to, and it was the most expensive school too. But it was the best fit for me - I'm still here!