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Is a rigorous university environment such as WPI stressful and what sort of challenges can a student face?
Hello! Thanks for your question asking for information on whether a rigorous university environment such as WPI is stressful and the kind of challenges students typically face at WPI. The best sources I found to answer your question are Princeton Review, New York Times and Boston Globe.
In short, at university campuses such as MIT and Harvard, stress has increased significantly. WPI is an academically rigorous program but the size of the institute and the close-knit environment has helped students manage stress effectively.
Below see a deep dive of my findings.
METHODOLOGY
I started my research on this topic by carefully studying the WPI website. Using trusted media sites, I dug deeper to uncover extreme stress trends on American college campuses, as indicated by number of suicides. Next, I focused my attention on WPI in particular to understand the lifestyle of an average WPI student. I used commonly used student forums to get this information. I also referred to various studies in my research that helped me understand the stress situation in American college campuses.
BACKGROUND
Stress on American university campuses has increased. Almost 31 per cent of students polled in a study of 1000 college-going students, said that they experienced stress 2-4 times every semester while 30 per cent said that they experienced stress through the semester. Most common causes of stress on college campuses are finals or midterm exams, graduation/job future, class/workload, homework, other and family/friends.
The suicide rate among 15- to 24-year-olds in the US increased steadily since 2007: from 9.6 deaths per 100,000 to 11.1, in 2013, according to data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
STRESS AT WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
Founded in 1865, WPI has a total of 4299 undergraduate students enrolled and is housed in an 80 acre campus. According to US News 2017 rankings, WPI is ranked at number 60.
According to a Mental Health on College Campuses study that examined the number of tweets of concern in each US state, Massachussetts (where WPI is located) came a close third for concerned tweets about final exams. However, compared to other campuses located in Massachussetts, WPI is a collaborative campus with strong support systems for students.
At WPI, the suicide rate over the past decade has been one suicide per 100,000 students. In 2011, the college campus saw their first student suicide in 30 years. This is significantly lower than campuses such as MIT (10.2 per 100,000 students) and Harvard (5.4 per 100,000) in the period from 2005-2015. The national average for college campuses is roughly between 6.5 and 7.5 per 100,000 students, according to three independent studies that looked at this data from 1980 to 2009.
LIFE ON CAMPUS AT WPI
Among the 10 colleges located in Worcester, Mass., WPI stands out as a close-knit private school grounded in scientific education. Feedback from WPI students that I surveyed on different forums indicates that students have a social life outside of academics. The student body is actively engaged in campus activities, such as rivalry contests like the gigantic tug-of-war held throughout the year, pitting the freshmen class against the sophomores. In fact, WPI pride themselves on the fact that their students are not only scientists and engineers; they’re also performers, athletes, musicians, and volunteers.
Among the challenges for students at WPI, the major one is managing academics along with all the other activities that they do. However, being a small school, WPI proactively helps students manage academics through the Math and Science Help (MASH) program.
WPI also helps students manage stress. All WPI students are expected to complete AlcoholEdu, a course that "motivates behavioral change, resets unrealistic expectations about the effects of alcohol, links choices about drinking to academic and personal success, helps students practice safer decision making, and engages them to create a healthier campus community."
CONCLUSION
To wrap it up, stress levels across American campuses have increased with student suicide rates climbing from 9.6 deaths per 100,000 to 11.1, in 2013. WPI is an academically rigorous program but the size of the institute and the close-knit environment has helped students manage stress effectively.
I hope this information is useful to you. Please let us know if you have any other questions. Thanks for using Wonder!