Harry H.
Yelp
I have not yet graduated, but I attended WPI in high school through the Mass Academy of Math and Science, as well as two years after wards. I left and eventually moved to Manhattan after attending other colleges in Worcester and Boston. After taking two years off of school, I decided to rejoin the WPI community. No school I've been to compares.
There are four terms, each 7 weeks long. The classes (3 per term) are kind of like other schools in concentrate form, you learn a lot at once because the terms are so short. Although the classes aren't very long, a lot of the teachers are understanding that you're getting a lot crammed in at once and will allow you to redo certain homework or take home assignments if you want to try again and do better. Time management is key. Once you are behind, by the time you get caught up it's already finals week.
The academics are tough, but because we're all going through it at the same time, there's a great feeling of community. The extra curricular stuff is fun; everything from SocComm to the radio station to the fraternities also share that tight knit community feeling. Let me be clear though, they're not tight knit in an exclusive kind of way, but very close groups that are also very welcoming to new people, especially freshmen.
There are all sorts of people that go to WPI. When I first attended, the ratio of guys to girls was predominately male, but it's gotten better every year. You'll find all sorts of people including hippies, nerds, geeks, jocks, and plain old normal people. No matter what you like or what you do, you'll find someone else like you.
It's a school that you can definitely party a lot at, but not the kind of school that you'll last long at if you just party all the time and don't focus on school. I consider myself pretty smart, not a genius or anything, and even so, there are definitely some classes that kicked my butt. The terms are really short, so if you screw off all the time, you'll sink pretty quick. Definitely a lot of ways to have fun and you can always find something to do. If you manage your time, you can have plenty of fun and partying and still do really well.
The campus itself is great. I commuted my first year, and the campus center is a great place to hang out between classes. There's a couple of places to eat, pool tables, and some quiet spots to get work done upstairs. When the weather is nice, the Quad and the fountain are awesome places to hang out, skate, or play frisbee. There's also wifi everywhere, which is pretty sweet. Never lived in the dorms, but I never heard bad things about them. If you're commuting, you'll quickly learn the seasonal schedule of when you can get parking depending on what time your classes are. It's tougher in the winter because of the snow, but you'll learn.
Overall, I think that WPI is a great school. The people, campus, and groups are what I enjoy the most. The academics are tough, but since almost everyone I know that has graduated WPI works from everywhere to top pharmaceutical companies to NASA, I think that getting a degree from WPI will help you get places in life.