I typed this post up on my MacBook Pro in the back seat of a car on the way home from RPI; it’s fresh from my head and notes. I had a fun day, it’s a great school, I grabbed much more than a course guide, and I took plenty of photos and notes to share. Today, I share my notes.
After arriving in Troy, my parents and I found our glorious destination of a welcome parking lot where we were shuttled to the main facility for the Summer Visiting day. There, my parents and I were given the option to eat luxurious food. We chose turkey wraps, which my parents loved and I merely tolerated.
Then, my family and other families were greeted by the Dean of Admissions and Aid at RPI. He was a really nice guy, funny and genuine, too. He offered advice about getting admitted to RPI and other ’selective schools’, defined as schools with an admission rate under 50%.
He started with the notion that admission is a game of chance, and not to take it personally in case of rejection. He joked that he could kill everyone in the Freshman class, replace them with those who were turned down, and no one would notice. He explained that RPI does a holistic review for the admissions process including high school transcript, SAT scores, a recommendation letter, and extracurricular activities. The Dean said that every piece counts, but clearly stated that the high school transcript is the most important component at RPI. “What you took, and how you did,” he put it. Here’s the rest of his talk, broken down by category: Continue reading ‘Lessons from RPI’
When WordPress publishes this page, I’ll be up at RPI, dealing with my crappy camera for this videoblog. I’m tired of dealing with it. I’ve been thinking about buying a digital camera recently, one that does decent digital video and still photos. I’m at a consumer or prosumer level, not professional, and have a few hundred dollars to spend.
I know I have plenty of digital photography mavens out there. Suggestions? I’d appreciate options, expandability, and excellent image stabilization to compensate for my inability to remain still for any length of time. I don’t think I’m at the level of shooting RAW yet, unless the cost has come down.
Due to my own doubts bolstered by some feedback (an email with a useful link) from Christopher Penn of the Financial Aid Podcast and a comment from Kim, I won’t be taking video of my tour tomorrow. The audio is horrible, I can’t hold a camera steady, and I have little battery power in video mode on this camera. In lieu of this, I’m going to take a bunch of pictures, write notes, and craft a video together using them. On a technical note, this seems right up iMovie ‘08’s alley. I have another visit to RPI planned on September 8, a day reserved for Rensselaer Medalists.
I’ll be heading up to Troy, New York tomorrow (Wednesday) to visit Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for the first time. Right now, my main school focuses are RPI, Lafayette, Tufts, and UCONN. I’m hesitant about RPI because of its price tag, alleged lack of aid, and status as a ‘tech school’, to spite my scholarship there. What makes those hesitations difficult to accept is that people tell me all that time that it’s an excellent school. I still haven’t concluded on the open discussion of tech school against general school, however, I’m slightly favoring the latter right now. I need to add some schools to the mix; four simply isn’t enough. Lafayette and Tufts deserve visits, as do my summer homework assignments.
I’m always looking for suggestions and thoughts. Anything I should look out for specifically for while touring RPI?
The first college video on my college admissions blog is here. UCONN Tour, on YouTube.
Huge thanks to Exposay member Kyle who gave me, my family, and Mike the tour of the University of Connecticut. Excuse the janky audio, I seriously need a new camera.
I’ve lived in Dover for a while now, many years. Yesterday, I took a trip to the ‘Stone Church’ in Dover for the first time, and it’s surprising it took me so long. I can hardly believe that there’s something that beautiful in our own town. Outstanding.
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