Worcester Polytechnic Institute: insights

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

What Worcester Polytechnic Institute's own numbers say, from its Common Data Set 2025-26.

Who says yesWorcester Polytechnic Institute

Only 17% of admits enroll, so Worcester Polytechnic Institute admits far more students than it has seats.

Enroll17%

Go elsewhere83%

Source: Worcester Polytechnic Institute's Common Data Set 2025-26

WaitlistWorcester Polytechnic Institute

460 of 980 students who stayed on the list were admitted. Stay on it.

Admitted off the list47%

Not admitted53%

Source: Worcester Polytechnic Institute's Common Data Set 2025-26

The share of women in the first-year class has fallen from 42% to 27% since 2018-19, about 2.2 points a year.
The admit rate has moved up steadily, from 41.6% in 2018-19 to 61.9% in 2025-26. If the trend holds, expect about 67.2% in 2026-27.
980 students stayed on the waitlist and 460 were admitted from it (46.9%).
Early Decision filled about 24% of the 2025-26 first-year class, more than 71% of similar colleges.
After ED, 990 of 1,300 seats were left for 11,958 other applicants: about one seat for every 12.
ED applicants were admitted at 78%, against 61.4% for everyone else: 1.3 times the rate.
Applications rose 17% from 2018-19 to 2025-26 (10,584 to 12,355).

From students' own posts on Reddit and admissions forums: self-reported, unverified, never used in your odds.

Most admits who named a round applied Early Action (about 16 of 23), with a handful of Regular Decision and one Early Decision.
Robotics was the most common activity among admits, often as captain, programming lead or designer.
Many admits had research, papers or publications, plus summer research programs or internships in their field.
Many admits built things on their own, such as apps, games, programming languages, hackathon projects or a robotic arm.
Most admits led clubs, teams or service groups (captain, president, founder), and some logged 300+ service hours.
Students report WPI gives sizable merit scholarships, with early admits citing about $31-38k per year and roughly $20-25k minimum for ED admits.
Students report WPI is not a guaranteed safety: several strong applicants were rejected, and it went deep into the waitlist (about 392 admitted).
Students report WPI considers demonstrated interest, and recent classes were test blind or optional, so scores may matter little.
Students report ED is about 15% of enrollment, with the admit rate roughly 60%, and decision timing announced on social media.
Students report WPI is ending its guaranteed global scholarship in favor of need-based aid, a drawback for some families.