School Spotlight: Worcester Polytechnic Institute

There are over 4,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. And while the media tends to focus on just a handful of schools, we at College Coach encourage students to think outside the box during their college selection process and explore a wide range of colleges. As such, we are highlighting a new college each week in our School Spotlight series. Check out the college below, along with the other posts in our series, and you may just stumble upon your dream school! School Spotlight: Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA  Situated an hour outside of Boston, Worcester Polytechnic Institute is known for combining theory with practice, ensuring that all graduates are prepared to use their technical knowledge for the betterment of society. Project-based learning is a hallmark at WPI, as its 4,600 undergraduate students are required to complete both an interactive project (focused on science, technology, and society) and a major project (within their major field of study) in order to graduate. What’s wonderful about WPI’s projects are their global scale. Thanks to the Global Projects Program, forward-thinking students can receive $5,000 to complete their project at one of the 50+ centers around the world, which might entail working on sustainable farming practices in Japan, virtual reality in Switzerland, or environmentally-friendly transportation in Ecuador. Every spring, seniors have the chance to present their major projects to faculty advisors and outside sponsors. Included in last year’s exhibition schedule were discussions on the metabolic mysteries of Alzheimer's and smart home building automation. Looking for more unusual engineering-based majors? WPI has them! Here you can study aerospace, architectural, biomedical, fire protection, and robotics engineering, as well as business-related majors like industrial and management engineering. Photo credit: Top, Courtesy of Worcester Polytechnic Institute