I had quite a few friends who excelled in Science and Tech in highschool and went on to MIT, Stanford, Virginia Tech, GA Tech, Purdue, UofI Urbana, etc.
My parents were over 500k in debt when I was applying to colleges and I had a pretty good idea what I wanted to do with my life, so I opted for an associates degree from a community college and to start my career as a computer programmer as soon as possible. I was making enough money I made it a point to travel to visit my friends and they all seemed miserable, stressed out, disappointed with their choices, frustrated, lost...
All except my friend who went to WPI. He was as enthusiastic and happy as ever eating bad Chinese food, bent over 30 half assembled hacked gameboys, same as when I'd last seen him 3 years ago.
Its the first place I want to take my son when he's looking at colleges.
I have some qualms with WPI but overall I wouldn't change anything about my college experience. You are correct, most of the kids there are passionate about what they are studying. This is an attribute I found disturbingly absent in many campuses that I visited during my college years. WPI, at least in the CS dept, is very focused on "learning how to learn" which is why I think this happens.
Another aspect is the "WPI Plan"[0]. Over the years there have been talks of getting rid of it. But if they don't, definitely encourage your son to consider WPI. Without the plan, I'm not sure what the point of going there would be...
Also... Worcester as a city tends to get a lot of shit. This is from people who have never been there or never put in the effort to go off the beaten path there. The "mainstream attractions" in Woo are pretty lame, no doubt. But Worcester is a city that rewards the open minded and creative, not those who enjoy "plug it in and it works" activities. To a certain degree WPI is the same way.
Not sure how far off you are from the college touring experience but feel free to shoot me an email (in bio) if you have ever any questions about WPI.
My parents were over 500k in debt when I was applying to colleges and I had a pretty good idea what I wanted to do with my life, so I opted for an associates degree from a community college and to start my career as a computer programmer as soon as possible. I was making enough money I made it a point to travel to visit my friends and they all seemed miserable, stressed out, disappointed with their choices, frustrated, lost...
All except my friend who went to WPI. He was as enthusiastic and happy as ever eating bad Chinese food, bent over 30 half assembled hacked gameboys, same as when I'd last seen him 3 years ago.
Its the first place I want to take my son when he's looking at colleges.