Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, New York | Admissions Phone: 518-276-6216
E-mail: admissions@rpi.edu | Website: www.rpi.edu
ADMISSION
Admission Rate: 43%
Admission Rate - Men: 41%
Admission Rate - Women: 47%
EA Admission Rate: Not Offered
ED Admission Rate: 47%
Admission Rate (5-Year Trend): +2%
ED Admission Rate (5-Year Trend): -6%
% of Admits Attending (Yield): 20%
Transfer Admission Rate: 57%
# Offered Wait List: 5,769
# Accepted Wait List: 3,845
# Admitted Wait List: 3
SAT Reading/Writing (Middle 50%): 640-720
SAT Math (Middle 50%): 690-780
ACT Composite (Middle 50%): 29-33
Testing Policy: ACT/SAT Required
SAT Superscore: Yes
ACT Superscore: No
% Graduated in Top 10% of HS Class: 64%
% Graduated in Top 25% of HS Class: 92%
% Graduated in Top 50% of HS Class: 98%
ENROLLMENT
Total Undergraduate Enrollment: 6,628
% Part-Time: 0%
% Male: 68%
% Female: 32%
% Out-of-State: 66%
% Fraternity: 30%
% Sorority: 16%
% On-Campus (Freshman): 100%
% On-Campus (All Undergraduate): 57%
% African-American: 4%
% Asian: 14%
% Hispanic: 9%
% White: 50%
% Other: 6%
% Race or Ethnicity Unknown: 1%
% International: 15%
% Low-Income: 15%
ACADEMICS
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 13:1
% of Classes Under 20: 52%
% of Classes Under 40: 83%
% Full-Time Faculty: 90%
% Full-Time Faculty w/ Terminal Degree: 94%
Top Programs
Architecture
Business
Engineering
Computer Science
Game Design
Information Technology and Web Science
Physics
Retention Rate: 92%
4-Year Graduation Rate: 62%
6-Year Graduation Rate: 86%
Curricular Flexibility: Somewhat Flexible
Academic Rating: 
FINANCIAL
Institutional Type: Private
In-State Tuition: $54,000
Out-of-State Tuition: $54,000
Room & Board: $15,580
Required Fees: $1,378
Books & Supplies: $2,858
Avg. Need-Based Aid: $38,861
Avg. % of Need Met: 82%
Avg. Merit-Based Aid: $21,836
% Receiving Merit-Based Aid: 36%
Avg. Cumulative Debt: $34,595
% of Students Borrowing: 63%
CAREER
Who Recruits
1. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
2. Etsy
3. GlobalFoundries
4. Apprenda
5. American Airlines
Notable Internships
1. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
2. NASA
3. Pfizer
Top Industries
1. Engineering
2. Business
3. Operations
4. Information Technology
5. Education
Top Employers
1. IBM
2. Pratt & Whitney
3. Google
4. Boeing
5. GE
Where Alumni Work
1. New York City
2. Albany, NY
3. Boston
4. San Francisco
5. Washington, DC
Median Earnings
College Scorecard (Early Career): $82,000
EOP (Early Career): $84,100
PayScale (Mid-Career): $134,100
RANKINGS
Forbes: 113
Money: 217
U.S. News: 50 (T), National Universities
Wall Street Journal/THE: 122
Washington Monthly: 78, National Universities
Inside the Classroom
Founded almost 200 years ago, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is America’s first technological research university and still one of its best. Fittingly situated on the eastern bank of the Hudson River in the Industrial Revolution hotspot of Troy, New York, RPI is the proud home of 6,628 of the brightest and most innovative technical undergraduate minds anywhere. This is merely perpetuating a long history of producing high achievers in the tech world. Including both faculty and alumni, Rensselaer claims eighty-five members of the National Academy of Engineering, five members of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, and a Nobel Prize winner in physics.
There are five undergraduate schools within the larger university: The School of Architecture; the Lally School of Management; the School of Science; the School of Engineering; and the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. All students take what is known as the HASS Core, a six course, twenty-four-credit foray into the humanities and social sciences. Beyond that, the academic programs are tailored to different schools and degree programs. There is no foreign language requirement, although the school does offer coursework in Mandarin Chinese for interested students.
The student-to-faculty ratio at RPI is 13:1, and with only about 1,300 graduate students to serve, there is plenty of time and attention left for undergraduates. Students will encounter various class sizes over the course of their four years of study. A solid 51 percent of sections contain fewer than twenty students; 13 percent will have fifty or more students. Being a research institution, RPI attracts $103 million in research funding each year, meaning that the school’s 500 faculty members are constantly in the middle of projects that require student assistance. Students can participate during the academic year for credit or during the summer when select individuals receive $4,000 to work full time in a lab. International study is also encouraged at one of the school’s affiliate universities in thirteen countries including Australia, Finland, and Singapore.
Engineering is the most commonly conferred degree area, accounting for 54 percent of 2018 graduates. Computer and information sciences was second (17 percent), followed by business/marketing (6 percent), engineering technology (5 percent), and biology (4 percent). The School of Engineering has a brilliant reputation with employers worldwide and is always near the top of the rankings for its programs in mechanical, aerospace, computer, electrical, and biomedical engineering. Physics, architecture, and computer science are also strong. Graduates do not apply to prestigious fellowship programs in droves, but the school does capture an occasional Fulbright or Truman Scholarship. RPI does, however, typically produce more than one annual National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship winner.
Outside the Classroom
The school’s 296-acre suburban campus only houses 57 percent of the student body as many upperclassmen seek off-campus apartments or join fraternities or sororities. Slightly over one-quarter of men and women elect to join Greek organizations. Those numbers are down after several chapters were suspended or dissolved in recent years. For a technical school, RPI boasts a highly athletic student body. Sixty-three percent of incoming freshmen participated in varsity athletics in high school, and forty-two individuals were the captains of their squads. There are twenty-three varsity men’s and women’s sports teams, twenty-two of which compete in NCAA Division III. The exception is men’s hockey, which is one of the oldest and best teams in the entire country, having produced a long list of NHL stars over the years. Including the university’s thriving intramural and club programs, 80 percent of RPI students are involved in athletics. With over 200 student organizations, students have their pick of non-sports/Greek sources of camaraderie. For example, the RPI Players has put on 300 theatrical shows over its ninety-year history, and there are nineteen service-oriented groups that serve the local community. In addition, fitness classes run by professional instructors are available just about every day at the Mueller Center. Troy itself may lack excitement, but the state capital of Albany is only ten miles away, and scenic retreats like the Berkshires or Catskills are under two hours away.
Career Services
The Center for Career and Professional Development consists of eight professional employees, which calculates to a student-to-advisor ratio of 796:1, a bit higher than the average school featured in this guide. However, that less-than-deal statistic is not at all representative of the exceptional work done by RPI’s career services staff. Other numbers tell a different story, such as the ninety-five annual events hosted by the school that draw almost 1,900 undergrads, and the 1,912 one-on-one counseling appointments that take place. And that doesn’t even include the employer recruiting numbers that are even more eye-popping.
In the 2017-18 school year career fairs drew 403 employers to campus, and 102 employers conducted 1,923 on-campus interviews. Companies also hosted 132 information sessions for RPI students that same year. Companies that recruit on campus include Cisco, the Blackstone Group, Deloitte, Johnson & Johnson, and Credit Suisse. Rensselaer Alumni Connect is a platform with over 2,500 active users, 79 percent of whom are willing to introduce others to connections while 83 percent are willing to answer industry-specific questions. Internship and co-op opportunities abound, and large numbers of students land co-op positions at Hasbro (27), NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (10), and Walt Disney World (7). Thanks to an endless parade of recruiters flowing into campus, high starting salaries, and plenty of individualized attention, the CCPD has earned a reputation for stellar work.
Professional Outcomes
As they receive their diplomas, 55 percent of RPI grads have already landed a job, 24 percent have committed to a graduate school, and 16 percent are still seeking their next destination. The largest numbers of 2017 grads were hired by companies that included UnitedHealth (17), United Technologies (16), General Dynamics (16), Boeing (14), and IBM (12). Massive numbers of alumni hold leadership positions in corporations like Google, Pratt & Whitney, General Motors, GE, and Microsoft. Geographically, 68 percent of graduates remain in the Northeast, 10 percent head to the West—primarily to Silicon Valley—and 8 percent land in the Southeast. The Class of 2017 enjoyed an average starting salary of $69,220. By midcareer RPI alumni have achieved one of the highest median salaries of any elite college, slightly ahead of other tech powerhouses including Caltech, Carnegie Mellon, and Lehigh University.
Of the nearly one-quarter of 2017 grads who were entering an advanced degree program, many were headed to some of the nation’s best schools. Recent grads have been accepted by the likes of Carnegie Mellon University, Duke University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, Texas A&M, and the University of Chicago. Those intent on medical school have the option to apply to RPIs seven-year BS/MD program with affiliate Albany Medical College. Recent medically-minded grads have enjoyed acceptances at the likes of Harvard Medical School and Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Those intent on law school also have the option of a combined degree, in this case a BS/JD at either Albany or Columbia University.
Admission
RPI was deluged by applications from Class of 2022 hopefuls, receiving an all-time high of 20,403. While the acceptance rate of 43 percent will do little to scare off prospective students, the composition of the 2018-19 freshman class was an impressive one. The average SAT score was 1409, and 161 netted a perfect score on either the critical reading or math section. A solid 64 percent placed in the top 10 percent of their high school class, 92 percent were in the top quarter, and ninety-five students earned either valedictorian or salutatorian status. The average GPA of an entering freshman was 3.91, and 69 percent of this cohort had a cumulative GPA of over 3.75. Comparing this incoming crop of freshmen to those from five years ago reveals that not much has changed admissions-wise in the recent past.
There is nothing opaque about the way in which applicants are evaluated by the Rensselaer Admissions Committee. The most strongly weighted factors are GPA, test scores (72 percent submit SATs), class rank, and the rigor of one’s high school coursework. Of secondary importance are application essays, recommendations, extracurricular activities, and character/personal qualities. Unusual for a tech school, males and females have fairly similar acceptance rates. In 2018, men were accepted at a 41 percent clip, and women were welcomed 46.5 percent of the time. The yield rate at RPI is around 20 percent, which means only one of five admitted students goes on to enroll. However, applying early decision provides only a modest advantage; 47 percent of ED applicants were admitted into the Class of 2022. Also of note, transfer students fare well at this institution as 57 percent of the 496 applicants were accepted in 2018. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is looking for students with GPAs above a 3.75 in most or all honors and AP courses and who scored in the 95th percentile on standardized tests. The criteria is fairly simple.
Worth Your Money?
Rensselaer’s annual cost of attendance is a pretty high $73,816; the good news is that starting salaries for graduates just about matches that sum. Over one-third of entering students do get an offer of merit aid that averages almost $22k, and more than half of attendees qualify for a need-based grant with an average value of $39k. Attending a STEM-heavy school like RPI is almost always a good bet for getting an excellent return on your educational investment, even if the up-front cost is quite high.