Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts;  Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is the elite east coast engineering school, known for its high academic standard and lengthy history.   Founded in 1861, MIT stresses scientific research and close cooperation with industry.  It boasts over 80 Nobel laureates and is one of the most selective institutes of higher education, with nearly 20,000 applicants per year and an acceptance rate of 8%.  It’s current campus covers 168 acres along the north bank of the Charles River.

The open source movement has spawned the now infamous MIT OpenCourseWare, an initiative to put all of MIT’s educational materials from its undergraduate and graduate level courses online, free and available to anyone, anywhere.  Now in its 11th year, with over 2,000 courses available online, the initiative has inspired more than 250 other institutions to make their course materials available as open educational resources through the OpenCourseWare Consortium.  MIT is truly the leader in Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).

MIT is the one of the only institutions of higher education with its own on-campus nuclear reactor.  It is one of the most powerful university-based nuclear reactors in the United States. The prominence of the reactor's containment building in a densely populated area has been controversial, but MIT maintains that it is well-secured.  Other notable campus facilities include a pressurized wind tunnel and a towing tank for testing ship and ocean structure designs.  We were not allowed access to the reactor on our admission tour.

What we did find most interesting is the grading system for freshmen known as the “Pass/No-Record”.  The system relieves some of the pressure for freshmen to achieve, resulting in a grade of “Pass” or “No Record” for each class taken in the fall term of their first year.  In the spring term, passing grades (A, B, C) appear on the transcript while non-passing grades are again not recorded.  There are also alternative learning communities for freshmen such as Experimental Study Group, Concourse, or Terrascope.  One can’t help but wonder when the “kid gloves” will come off and students will actually be accountable for the amount of effort they put into each course.  Nevertheless, we were very impressed with the rigor and reputation of MIT’s curriculum.  MIT is ranked first in the world for its School of Engineering by U.S. News and World Report.  MIT counts astronaut Buzz Aldrin and architect I.M. Pei among its most famous alumni.

Students who applied to MIT, also looked at Harvard University, Stanford University and California Institute of Technology.  

For more information on Massachusetts Institute of Technology, visit  http://web.mit.edu/

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is located at 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139  (617) 253-1000

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Located in Worcester, MA; Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) was founded in 1865 as Worcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science.  It is the third oldest private independent technological university in the U.S.  With internships, co-ops and a vigorous career development center, over 90% of graduates have jobs lined up upon graduation.  Keep in mind, more than half of all WPI students are majoring in some type of Engineering.  So it comes as no surprise that the men to women ratio is skewed 4:1. 

WPI is a world renowned engineering school.  Fans of the Segway PT will be pleased to know Dean Kamen attended WPI (but never graduated).  What sets WPI aside from the other world renowned engineering schools is its founding motto of Theory and Practice.  Students must complete three projects, one in each of their sophmore, junior, and senior year.  A Humanities Project must encompass a Humanities concern in their sophmore year.  An Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP) in the junior year is WPI’s most distinctive academic requirement, and is unique in higher education.  Each student’s IQP must relate technology and science to society or human needs.  Many of the projects are sponsored by external agencies and done in teams of 2-4 students.  The Major Qualifying Project (MQP) where all students must complete in their senior year has many of the students completing their projects abroad.  By the time students complete their bachelors degree they already have real world work experience.  

WPI also has a unique academic system, instead of the traditional two semesters, it has a quarter system.  Each of the four terms is seven weeks long and each student takes three courses each term, with some taking four.  With this quickened pace, an exam occurs every few weeks for each class, so it keeps you constantly on your toes.  The grading system is similarly unique.  There are only four grades available: A, B, C, and NR for No Record.  This is to promote team building, since students are no longer competing with each other over modifiers such as plus and minuses.  Any grade less than a C are an automatic NR, where students may elect to take the course over again.  There is no record of the first attempt on the transcript.

Admittedly, there is much less press on WPI then it’s peer engineering schools of MIT, RPI, and Columbia University.  It is located close enough to the bigger cities of Boston (less than one hour away) and New York City (two hours away), but housing is only guaranteed for freshmen.  Most upper classmen live off campus.  WPI also did alway with open lawn space.  Evidently, engineers tend to hole up in their dorm rooms playing computer games rather than spend time outdoors.   At any liberal arts and science colleges you would expect to find dozens of students outside taking advantage of good weather.  On the day of our visit it was warm and sunny.  We counted two students out on the small lawn adjacent to the Admissions Office. 

Students who applied to WPI also looked at MIT, Cal Tech, and Columbia University.  For more information on Worcester Polytechnic Institute, visit http://www.wpi.edu/

Worcester Polytechnic Institute is located at 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA  01609 (508)831-5000