For Three Quick Questions, I send the same three questions to admissions representatives at colleges all over the country (the subject line of the e-mail is “Three quick questions”), and then I hope to hear back from them. When I do, I post them on Apply with Sanity. It’s that simple.

The three questions are meant to probe some of the things that make a school unique but that aren’t easily captured as a stat to go in a book or web search.

This response is from Theresa Abbott, Associate Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

What is a course, tradition, program or event that is unique to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute?

A unique event or tradition that Rensselaer hosts every year is GM week. GM week is a week of activities that surround the election of the Grand Marshal, President of the Union and rest of the student government representatives. This election process dates back to 1865 and is a cherished tradition on campus. Many Rensselaer students participate in the GM week events every year.

Naturally every college wants to recruit the perfect student--high grades, high test scores, involved in their community, leadership...everything. But what kinds of imperfect students tend to flourish at RPI?

Rensselaer has a holistic review process where we don’t look at just grades and test scores. We take letters of recommendation, extra-curricular activities, personal essay and a portfolio (for some majors) into consideration. At Rensselaer we use an internal strength of curriculum ranking to evaluate a student’s transcript. While the best indicator of academic success at Rensselaer is their strength of curriculum ranking we find that many students who are successful at Rensselaer are hard workers and have the resilience to overcome academic setbacks. Rensselaer is a challenging institution, even for students who come in with a strong strength of curriculum. Their ability to overcome these setbacks, seek resources and support services plays a large role in their ability to be successful throughout their four years at RPI.

When people come to visit Troy, what's a place off campus that you recommend they check out while they're there?

There are a lot of great restaurants in the downtown Troy area. My favorite restaurants include the Whistling Kettle, Slidin Dirty and K-Plate. I also enjoy going kayaking at Grafton State Park, and exploring the trails and waterfalls at Peebles Island which are both no more than 15 minutes from campus.

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Photo by Angela Elisabeth. [The banner photo is not of RPI. I use the same photo for all Meet the Class posts so you can spot them easily.]