Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Top Questions

Describe the students at your school.

Chloe

The classmates at RPI are very welcoming, intelligent, creative, career-fucused students that enjoy having fun with the other close knit students.

Chris

Wonderful smart nerdy people, some of them don't talk much but the ones that do are really fun.

Christopher

Exteremely intellegent.

Jeff

Rensselaer is a particularly diverse school. At roughly 4800 undergrad students, the school has a number of clubs to support the different groups at Rensselaer. Additionally, Greek life and athletics make up a portion of students. It is really difficult to sum up students are Rensselaer besides saying that they are smart and determined people. No matter what you hobbies or beliefs are, there are people and clubs that are interested in the same things.

Emily

There are a lot of Asians, and Caucasians, not some many African American students. The school is expensive so you do see a fair amount of rich kids, although there are also students who come here taking out numerous loans and can barely afford the tuition raises. The spectrum of students ranges from typical RPI "nerd" wearing their red RPI hoodie to the prissy Sorority girl wearing a blazer and heels. I believe no students would feel out of place here, we really do have all kinds of people. Most students are from the New England, and New York region, although we do have students natively from China too. The range of culture at RPI is large, once you come here you will find your group of people and realize you aren't alone.

Carla

I have noticed a large variety of students on the RPI campus. Just going to the activity fair that is held every semester, one can observe the diverse interests of the student body. We have about 206 student union-funded clubs, and any student with enough signatures of interest can start a club. I personally have friends of varying racial, ethnic, religious, and socio-economic background, but none of that matters. I personally love that international students have a large presence on campus. Of course similar interests, personalities, and backgrounds do draw people together as friends, but I have not experienced or observed any bias towards others. Many students are from the northeast, but there is a significant portion of students from farther away as well .One of my favorite aspects of the students is that they are interested in academics, just as I am. Even though we are a technical school, I know many students who share my love of humanities. Many students also love video games and Pokemon.

Sharon

There is no one definition about the type of student at RPI. There are so many cliques at RPI. You will find athletes, LGBT, every religion, hippies, nerds, dancers, actors, etc. There are days where I walk to class and see someone hanging out on a tree, a group of hockey players, and a group of students from the Student Senate. So as far as finding a group of friends to be with for the four years, this is very easy, and rarely have I encountered someone that feels out of place, or has to eat a meal in the dining hall alone. Most of the students are from the east coast, but almost every state is represented in RPI, in addition to many international students.

Alex

If you come here and aren't a "nerd" to a lil extent, you won't fit in unless you can fake being an Internet nerd. See 4chan or Funnyjunk for more info.a

Mackenzie

Most of my classmates are on the nerdy side--result of going to a tech school, but their tech-savviness is convenient--and it's so easy to make friends; of course, there are many socially awkward people here, but that makes it all the more simple to find people with equal interests as you (there are plenty of people trying to make friends who understand them), so it's really nice--but they sure can throw decent parties.

Victoria

My classmates are hard working, motivated, confident, and intellagent poeople how want to make the most out of their lives.

Derek

My classes mate are qurky, odd, fun, often spontanious.

Roger

My classmates are all very bright from among the top students of their high school class.

Delroy

They are truly a group of complete individuals who work together to make this college experience really awesome.

Gregory

Every man for themselves. Sure I'll give you the answer, but I won't tell you how to get it! I'm better than you because I always get perfect scores on exams - and I have a social life! REALLY?!

Katherine

Mostly males, but I like to say that we have a 50/50 ration because half of the guys don't leave their rooms. Students here are very driven to do well. Most students are about the same intelligence but their are deffinetly some exceptional students.

Michael

Hard working but out to have a good time.

Elan

Dorky, awkward, and smart.

Jeff

Some of them are studious, some are somewhat studious, and some are not so studious.

Michael

Many classmates are hard-working, very intelligent, and enjoy many extra-curricular activities. No one on campus doesn't know how to have fun outside the lab, whether that's by singing, dancing, fencing, video gaming, board gaming, writing for the school newspaper, playing an instrument, or playing sports. I'd venture a guess that 95{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the students on campus are involved in at least 1 club or organization, and many of these are involved in 2 or 3.

Roslyn

My classmates within the school of architecture are very tight knit, diverse, fun loving, enthusiastic, stressed and overwhelmed a lot, invested in architecture, hard working, determined, and dedicated.

Kristiina

Positive and hardworking

Amanda

Friendly, always willing to help, strongly intelligent, nerdy, kinda weird (in a good way, usually)

Yu

They're mostly guys since girls are rare on this campus (makes up 30{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of campus).

Chenhui

They are very career oriented and focused, not taking the time to stop and think about any other options.

Charles

My Classmates work very hard at what they do because what they do is important to them.

Kevin

yaddaaa yaddaa hah lol

Christine

These people are the nerdiest, sometimes socially awkward people you will ever meet anywhere, but they are also the most brilliant and I wouldn't want any other sort of classmate.

Ian

They work a bit harder than I do, but I think that hurts them socially.

Jamel

My classmates were ambitious and like-minded.

Vick

This young RPI student is getting seriously worked over by this young lady...but he goes to RPI, so he's got an excuse.

David

The student body has a defined majority of Caucasian nerdy white males, but that doesnt mean other groups dont exist. Everyone seems to get along fine, and everything is laid back when there isnt a ton of work to do. Some students are centered on certain things, but this is the case anywhere, and the spread across the campus seems to me to be a fair distribution of what is like in the real world.

Kevin

RPI has a very diverse student body as far as backgrounds and interests, you are guarentied to learn more about life by learning how others do things differently than you, but you will also be able to fine people that come from very similar backgroud as you.

Kristin

The mix of people at RPI is very multi-cultural. There are a lot of Asians and Indians they tend to hang out in there own groups. I don't think anyone could really feel out of place here because there is so many different kinds of people, maybe the only one who wouldnt fit in is someone who really doesnt care about school and is just there for the good time, but they probably wouldnt get in in the first place.

Gabrielle

RPI's student body is pretty diverse as far as race, religion, and social stereotype are concerned. As far as I have seen, people are very accepting of each other. At RPI you will not automatically be placed in a "group" because of the way you look. This is not high school... cliques are a thing of the past.

Zac

Most people on campus can be very friendly and very helpful. Don't be afraid to talk to people for any reason. Most of campus isn't very cliquey and drumming up a conversation with the person next to you often happens naturally.

Christie

RPI is a very politically neutral campus. I think because it's an engineering school, people are very analytical and don't get caught up in the emotion of issues, just stick to facts and figures. I don't think theres a type of student who'd feel left out in terms of race or religion or sexual orientation alone, the only people left out here are the people who leave themselves out.

Jon

There's a good mix of races and backgrounds in RPI. While there's still a caucasian male majority (and also a significantly higher ratio of men to women), there's a good integration of ethnic groups. Many students are of the electronics culture, which means that many students will be into computers, video games, new gadgets, and the internet. Though, in all honesty, it seems that there's a group of people for every type of person out there. Show up with the best smile from your drawer and an open mind, and you should be fine.

Mel

Architects tend to dress the best on campus. There are four tables in the student dining hall, and they're all filled by freshman eating good food. I'd say that most of the student body is white, but there are definitely a good number of minority students. I think that because many of the difficult majors, such as most of the engineering facets and architecture, draw hard-working intelligent, and also awkward types, there is a niche out there for everyone. The people who are going to have a hard time coping with being at RPI are those ill-prepared to work. Slackers don't do well. There are a lot of schools where you can coast by doing the minimum amount of work... RPI isn't like that - unless you're really brilliant.

Vick

well, most of the student body is white men. however, very nice kids. no racism.

Dylan

One of the things that does disappoint me is the lack of diversity in my friends. I have casual friends of all races, but the ones I see on a regular basis are all white (and largely male). RPI's various groups seem to be fairly clickish. I think this is largely due to clubs like National Society of Black Engrs, Society of Professional Hispanic Engrs, the Bengali Student Association, etc. Not that you HAVE to be black or Hispanic or Bengali, but most people are and simply because they are heavily involved with the organizations, most of their good friends are the same race/religion.

Rina

Most students are extremely casual and I haven't endured any racial discrimination. The majority of the people in the school are caucasians which I love. I am from an asian descent and I generally do not like other asians. They like to stick together in a group and feel that they are too good to socialize with other races.

Courtney

For clothing, people go to eat and class in pjs and sweats. No one here will judge you on how you dress. you can roll out of bed and go to class. There are people of all races and financial backgrounds here. I think that there are more liberals here or at least they are more outspoken than the conservatives.

Mike

There are a lot of "nerdy" people, but if you can't make friends with them for some reason, there are "normal" people too. There really is no problem finding friends. Some people can be annoying, but I think for the most part people are modest about their intelligence.

Heather

Most RPI students are from New England or New York State. They vary greatly in financial and ethnic background. We are famous for our ratio here, about three boys to every one girl, though it is evening out. No one would feel out of place here, there is a niche for everyone somewhere on campus. I have been involved in few political discussion since I have been on campus (not that I take much interest in it) and most ended with, "I just want to work for the governement, not be a politician."

Kate

well, thinking about the student body, its very diverse. the most noticeable, uhm, problem between the students is the economic standing of students and their family. most of the students are here on their parent's money. then there is a small percentage who are here on scholarships. and then there is an even smaller group, that i'm apart of, thats here on mostly loans and some scholarships. the problem with this is that the population of students is very... oblivious. they don't understand that you don't get 500 dollars from mommy and daddy every semester to do with what you please, on top of already getting school payed for, and then them buying food, and anything else their kids wanted. its difficult if your here not on your parents money, because the other kids don't understand why you don't have the things they do. i had one, uh, friend come into my room with me and my boyfriend to meet my parents and he asked if we had cars, and me and my boyfriend said no, i had crashed mine, and his parents had sold his. this kid continued to argue for 5 minutes about why our parents didn't just buy us another. then proceeded to talk about his '08 mustang his dad had just bought him. so... yea. its a little rough to deal with, but if your down to earth, there are a lot of people you'll get along with.

Jason

The student body consists of a very broad range of students from a variety of different backgrounds including local and international. Being a part of the RPi student body will certainly open you up to a variety of different cultures.

Pat

Most students have a a geeky quality or two but are by no means geeks (except comp sci majors). There is definitely a very nerdy community within RPI but it isn't overwhelming. Some majors are very tight groups and stick together a lot but even they have friends form all different majors. The only real exception to that are the architects who are too busy with studio to interact with the rest of the world. As far as race and financial backgrounds go there is a real mix but middle class describes most. There are large amounts of Asians and Indians and most of the locals in Troy are black. Race really isn't too big an issue within the student body but the locals don't like RPI students.

Julian

i dont feel like talking about this subject but ill just let u know alil bout myself because im not ur typical RPI student. im portraying the views of normal guys that come to this school on athletic scholarships, not with the best grades and just find themselves very much outa place with all the nerdy strange kids here.

Rob

RPI's student body is very diverse which is something that I found refreshing. I love meeting people from different backgrounds and swapping interesting stories.

Jesse

Very close knit, small groups of friends.