New Inquiry Form and Common App Supplement

The summer brings all sorts of projects...and we've been busy!!

Earlier today we launched a new on-line inquiry form. In addition to being more attractive, all students, whether they are first-year or transfer candidates, will go to the same form and complete only the information that pertains to them. If you been meaning to request some information check it out!!

Our supplement for the Common Application has also gone live. A pdf version will be available on our web site in the next few days. If you've started the Common Application you can access the on-line version directly through their web site. Don't forget our Early Action deadline has changed to November 10th!!

Last but not least our evening information sessions across the country have been finalized. Want to learn more? http://admissions.wpi.edu/Visit/infosessionsoff.html

Ed

Happy Days

You may have noticed the Princeton Review released their 2009 guidebook to the best colleges in the US. They pick 371 of us...not exactly sure how they settle on that number...but once again WPI was included in the prestigious group. http://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings.aspx

What makes for better reading are some of the top twenty lists they compile...jock schools, best college radio station, best party school (we are not on that one!) and Happiest Students!! I am pleased to share that WPI made it to the top twenty for Happiest Students this year!!

If you are a current student reading this glad you are enjoying your 4 years...if you are a prospective student or parent come on out to Worcester and meet some of our happy students:)

Ed

Starting Salaries at WPI

WPI continues to rank near the top of the median starting salary list for US universities. Payscale.com compiles rankings each year that are typically picked up and "presented" by a number of different media outlets including the NY Times, Boston Globe and Forbes. A year ago the Boston Globe recognized WPI for having the 3rd highest median starting salaries of all colleges in New England and the 12th highest in the nation...don't forget there are about 4,000 colleges in the country!!

According to the new Payscale.com rankings WPI is now #2 in New England and #10 in the nation!!

The NY Times has picked up the new rankings info and released an article in the last few days. In addition to recognizing specific schools, they list the "Top 10 majors that lead to high salaries". 7 of the 10 are engineering fields..all offered at WPI and physics, computer science, and economics round out the top 10...all also offered at WPI:)

As I often say it's not all about the money, but great to see our graduates doing so well for themselves:)

Ed

Application Supplement

It's Friday!! But before I head out for the weekend I wanted to share that we are putting the final touches on new supplemental questions for the Common Application, as well as the Universal Application. Starting this fall, applicants to WPI will be asked to complete a few supplemental questions before submitting their application. For those students submitting the common or universal application on-line the questions will be integrated into the application. For those using a paper application there will be a link to a pdf of the supplemental questions which will be housed on the WPI web site.

Why are we doing this? The main reason is to better accommodate our Flex Path Option. Do you know that WPI went test optional three years ago? Students have the option to have their standardized test scores considered by the admissions committee, or if they feel that their test scores are not a good reflection of their potential for academic success at WPI, they can submit supplemental materials to be considered in lieu of test scores through our Flex Path Option. Learn more in our Applying to WPI section.

The supplement will give all applicants a chance to clearly state whether or not they want their test scores to be considered. In addition, we've added a few more questions to help the committee get to know our applicants a bit better.

We don't want to create more work for our applicants, but with applications essentially doubling over the past 5 years a little more information can be very helpful in our admissions deliberations.

The supplement should be live by the end of the month for all you early bird applicants!!

Enjoy the nice weekend:)

Ed

A Quiet Weekend? Never!!

On Sunday over 170 rising high school juniors and seniors arrived on campus for WPI’s 27th annual Frontiers Program. This group represents our largest enrollment in the program’s history. Students arrived from various locations across the country and around the globe, including Greece, Brazil, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Traditionally a two week program, a third week has been added this year which focuses on Robotics Engineering. Participants will have the option to stay for all 3 weeks, or to attend Session I (first two weeks) or Session II (the third weekly only).

More information on the Frontiers Program can be found at www.wpi.edu/+frontiers, including academic descriptions, program schedules, and the “Frontiers Newsletter” for participants.

Ed

Eary Action Deadline for Fall 2010

With the new application season just around the corner I wanted to share that we are making a slight change to our Early Action Round 1 deadline for the coming year. The deadline is moving up 5 days from November 15th to November 10th. We are in the process of updating the web and our admissions publications. We do realize that many brochures and guidebooks already in student hands will list the old date and we are prepared to be flexible for the coming year.

The change should give students a few extra days to complete their applications, which often means requesting first quarter senior grades, and will give the admissions committee a few extra days to review the applications and to be sure we get all our decisions out before the holidays.

Ed

It's July!! Where did the spring go?

Wow I guess it's been a while since I sat down to post...hard to believe it's already July 1st.

What's been happening? Well my son is growing up so fast...he amazes me every day with all the new things he can do. I've taken a short 3 day vacation to the Adirondacks. (Yes I grew up in upstate New York.) We've booked a trip to Disney for 5 days in September..can't wait! And the Red Sox are playing well, despite their shocking loss last night!! Looking forward to a relaxing holiday weekend...word is we'll actually see some sun this weekend!!

We are looking forward to about 900 new students arriving on campus in August. There is a ton of activity on campus. Significant renovations are wrapping up at Goddard Hall and renovation projects in the library and Morgan Hall are underway.

If you are one of the Class of 2013 hopefully you've done the following:

1) Submitted your housing application

2) Set-up your WPI e-mail address

3) Registered for classes

There are a number of other items to take care of, but those are three of the most important!! Now when you set-up that WPI e-mail address don't forget to log-in over the summer...we start sending information to it right away...including important items like the tuition bill:)

And what's happening at WPI? It's the calm before the storm. High school has just wrapped up for students around the world and the visitors are coming!! June was relatively quiet with about 100 families on campus for tours, but between the rainy weather and longer school years for many area schools, it's what we expected. July and August will be a different story with several hundred families descending on campus before school starts up again for the fall.

Thinking of visiting? We've just announced our academic visit days at the end of July and August. This will be the third year that we'll be offering the special visit days which incorporate academic presentations into your day. In addition to the information session and tour, hear from professors in the academic department that you are considering. Learn more at http://admissions.wpi.edu/Visit/summervisit.html. (A little insider tip....attend one of the noon time sessions and you'll get a nice lunch to enjoy during the presentation!)

We've also been busy planning recruitment travel for the fall. We'll be busy travelling throughout the US and around the world. If you are reading this is Tuscon, Arizona or Santa Fe, New Mexico, or Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, we are heading your way!! We are always excited to add new locations to our travel schedule and will be visiting each of those cities for the first time ever!!

Lots more to come on our travels in the coming weeks.

Enjoy your summer.

Ed