But the real reason for my writing is to let you know that our WPI application is now live—as is the Common Application—so you’re now able to apply to WPI for fall 2011 admission! But don’t rush, our first application deadline is still a few months away on November 10, and the final deadline is February 1. Who knows, you might start your WPI career in 364 days!

To each member of the Class of 2014: Welcome to WPI, and good luck! Make the most of your experience at WPI in and out of the classroom. You’ll have endless opportunities here—some will come to you, and others you’ll have to seek out. Finally, enjoy every moment. Here’s to you:

Jonathan, Jeffrey, Trevor, Megan, Ipek, Olive, Xiao, Alaina, Devon, Christine, Sarah, Samuel, Michael, Tareq, Daniel, Molly, Katie, Anthony, Nicholas, David, Dana, Joseph, David, Rachel, Zeynep, Joseph, Elvis, Anthony, Devin, Sarah, Ehab, Molly, Rebekah, Andrew, Jose, Sonja, Daniel, Taoning, Jerome, John, Matthew, Wai Phyo, Emily, Grace, Brandon, Joseph, Soe Thet, Spenser, Sebastian, Christopher, Nathaniel, Catherine, Kaitlyn, Deniz, Yuchen, Karen, Katelyn, Nicholas, Cameron, Christopher, Brendan, Joseph, Giovanna, Erik, Sarah, Edward, Moe, Nathan, Scott, Stephanie, Courtney, Eric, Matthew, Alexander, Edward, Weitai, Ryan, Naida, Cecelia, Brendan, Nathan, Marlisa, Hunter, Tyler, Christian, Ran, Edmund, Armir, Justin, Scott, Lee, Anqi, Irene, Melissa, Arianna, John, Tuan, Kailyn, Paul, Laurel, Jeffrey, Thomas, Sanjeewa, Stephen, Christopher, Alyssa, Jacob, Sean, Daniel, Nicholas, Joseph, Christopher, Alexander, Amanda, Emily, Anthony, Robert, Brian, Ryan, William, Jacob, Kristen, Alex, Holly, Brittany, Katelyn, Joseph, Brendan, Abdulaziz Mohammed, Matthew, Eyleen, Joseph, Merlin, Joseph, Nicholas, Joseph, Michael, Sarah, Kevin, Kara, Andrew, Graham, Katrina, David, Ran, Emily, Ryan, Mark, Devin, Huan, John, Elizabeth, Juliana, Sean, Andrew, Lauren, Alyssa, Bryan, Nicholas, Danielle, Corinne, Kristin, Jeremy, Jordyn, Michael, Carly, Salim, William, Remy, Jeffery, Benjamin, William, Patrick, Leo, Robert, Brooke, Matthew, Kaitlyn, Benjamin, David, Newell, Taymon, Andro, Jordan, Taylor, Caroline, Shawn, Samuel, Raj, Christopher, Jamie, Inhwan, Connor, Minh-Tri, Kirk, Calvin, David, Jacob, Daniel, Daniel, Keleigh, Mariah, Julia, Elizabeth, Michaella, James, Matthew, William, Harsha, Jeffrey, Katherine, David, Caitlin, Kyle, Nicholas, Travis, Melanie, Thomas, Rory, Giancarlo, Julia, Peter, Jean-Luc, Adam, Visit, Andrew, Caneshia, James, Theresa, Michael, Christina, Benjamin, Kyle, Brittany, Kristin, Katlin, Julia, Wenbo, Rachel, Victoria, Andrew, Danielle, Ian, Jeffrey, Charles, Michael, Weifan, Shikha, Courtney, Claire, Kai, Adam, Chenbo, Melissa, Jared, Kelly, Kevin, Charles, Aaron, Liyang, Eric, Samuel, Samuel, Mary, Matthew, Mary, John, Nicholas, Damien, Steven, Talal, Sean, Lamyae, Dwight, Sarah, Danielle, Rebecca, Grant, Keegan, Bertan, Dillon, Jesus, Shawn, Jennifer, Nicole, Doran, Brandon, Adam, Gregory, Cory, Elia, Ethan, Ritesh, Bo Rim, Mengxi, Johanna, Aleksandra, Ryan, Kyle, Ali, Thomas, Dennis, John, Daniel, Gregory, Kate, Brooke, William, Andrew, Zhengyuan, Sarah, Jefferson Ching Hoi, Nathan, Antonio, Ryan, Alexander, Charvi, Patrick, George, Mohammad, Lauren, Matthew, Ngan, Samantha, Xavier, Patrick, Caitlin, Jonathon, Luke, Yanchen, Kristin, John, William, Rachel, Xinxin, Devin, Sarah, Madeline, Nghia, Timothy, Nicholas, Kelly, Andrew, Tracy, Arman, Yilan, Elena, Christopher, Jordan, Matthew, Diana, Emily, Vivek, Solomon, Alex, Bansari, Marc, Samuel, Asher, Erin, Tara, Pedro, Ethan, Raphael, John, Margaret, Jay, Charles, Brianna, Shane, Rose, Richard, Camden, Chelsea, Benjamin, Amber, Mohammad, Ziqing, Poonam, Michael, Olivia, Emily, Joseph, Erica, Nicholas, Peter, John, Emily, Stephen, Britney, Nicole, Brittany, Charles, Matthew, Olivia, Catherine, Rachael, Jarred, Andrew, Ryan, Elisabeth, Daniil, Bielinsky, Laura, Michael, Kimberly, Victoria, Nathaniel, Zachary, Melissa, Ali, Courtney, Caitlin, Amanda, Meaghan, Gregory, Ankush, Brishell, Jack, Thomas, Ian, Thomas, Christopher, Christina, Tyler, Janelle, Stephan, Ian, Madeline, Paige, Anthony, Sarah, Alec, Jaime, Phillip, John, Matheus, Stephen, Qiyang, Zibo, Joseph, Jessica, Chi, Alan, Jessica, Gregory, Julian, Congji, Michael, David, Anselm, Myo, Julian, Veronica, Shakhizada, Edmund, Laura, Matthew, Kevin, George, Luis, Wesley, Christopher, Philip, Jennifer, Timothy, William, Ronald, Alan, John, Francis, Andrea, Erin, Gizem, Amanda, Brittany, Devyn, Marshall, Yang, Elif, Christopher, Allen, Lindsay, Monolina, Joon-Ho, Matthew, Mihnea, Quanquan, Stephen, Corinne, Meghan, Nicholas, Brandon, Michael, Benjamin, Nina, Kristen, Holly, John, Matthew, Landon, Matthew, Henrique, Logan, Christopher, Stephen, Sean, Gary, Gregory, Shelby, Kelsi, Jeremy, Merrielle, Zachary, Dominic, Tatiana, Kathryn, Evan, Justin, Jose Luis, Meghan, Brittany, Allison, Naim, Yao, Brent, Wut Yee, Sarah, Michael, Timothy, David, Louisa, Arnab, Evan, Hannah, Kevin, Stephany, Sean, Oliver, Leoul, Peter, Rocio, Kevin, Nicole, Jessica, Andrea, Karen, Hagop, Jillian, Bryan, Eric, Christopher, Ian, Michael, William, Darcy, Xuyu, Carlyn, Arjun, Jordan, Eric, Alula, Justin, Victor, Zachary, Cory, Mariana, Andrew, Marissa, Dillon, Joseph, Connor, Susan, Caulin, Robert, Maris, Alexander, Benjamin, Michael, Robert, Kristina, Amy, Janell, Maura, Michele, Jacob, Kexin, Thomas, Ryan, Jonathan, Jennifer, Haoyang, Vincent, Matthew, Ditton, Rachel, Christopher, Nicole, Dennis, Michael, Jessica, Sam, Matthew, Natasa, Emily, Tyler, Matthew, Alexandra, Caryn, Jerrod, John, Connor, Jose, Timothy, Da, Likai, Christopher, Joseph, Sarah, Alex, Yunqoiu, Kathleen, Phillip, Ariane, Jake, Adam, Kyle, John, Chadwick, Casey, Kimani, Jack, Megan, Kevin, Steve, Kevin, Melissa, Rachel, Peerapas, Douglas, Jason, Nicholas, Michael, Irma, Edward, Zhongxiu, John, Paul, Lucas, Michael, Erik, Anh, Sydney, Adam, Corey, Xavier, Joshua, Iliana, Gregory, Benjamin, Mark, Alexander, Nguyen, Brian, Dylan, Trevor, Ximena, Thanacha, Daniel, Austin, Zihan, Elena, Timothy, Olivia, Sarah, Timothy, David, Erik, Jennifer, Natasha, Eric, Brett, Jiye, James, Patrick, Michael, Nicholas, Joseph, John, Andrew, Lucas, Aung, Wen Qing, Adam, Qiaochu, Dominic, Gary, Michael, Anthony, Alexander, Ryan, Jennifer, Brian, Katherine, Victoria, Danielle, Wesley, Quinn, Brianna, James, Stephen, Michael, Tyler, Tyler, Frank, Randy, Madalyn, Timothy, John, Ryan, Andrew, Christopher, Alex, Megan, Stephen, Jennifer, Amanda, Andrew, Emily, Ryan, Kelsey, Matthew, Timothy, Adrienne, Muyeedul, Emanuel, Brandon, Travis, Kathleen, Trevor, Siena, Randy, John, Julia, Bethany, Jason, George, Lindsay, Jeffrey, Ashwin, Temirlan, Charles, Elizabeth, Yu, Andrew, Ralle, Taylor, Marissa, Joao, Zachary, Evan, Enrique, Samantha, Paige, Samantha, Hasith, Samuel, David, Amy, Eric, Daniel, Nicolas, Michael, Louie-John, Joseph, Matthew, Juan, Jacob, Paul, Ashley, Brendan, Sarah, Eric, Alan, Samuel, Jason, Kelly, Andrew, Brianna, Paul, Ross, Juan, Ransom, Allison, Tyler, Peter, Caroline, Uyen Ngoc Thao, Eileen, Courtnae-Symone, Zachary, Natalie, Khalil, Casey, Mra Kyaw, Brian, Michael, Tara, Bin, Ani, Dominique, Marina, Jared, Jacob, Steven, Amanda, Elizabeth, Audrey, Marco, Jeannette, Enrique, Joshua, Ilya, Taylor, Rodrigo, Shane, Mark, Alexander, Frederick, Chietara, Alexander, Bolin, William, Veronica, Stephen, Evan, Anthony, David, William, Kelin, David, Yijun, Michael, Timothy, Adrian, Sayok, Gabrielle, Robert, William, William, Alexandria, Julien, Mauricio, Seth, Jennifer, Hongling, Han, Samantha, Heidi, Zhaolong, Kevin, Eduardo, Mariel, Aaron, Nicholas, Michelle, Stephen, Brad, Andrew, Adam, Ryan, Kevin, Charlene, Angela, Anthony, Sylvia, Luke, Yarzar, Brian, Steven, Katie, Brianna, George, Christopher, Sitthipat, Corinne, Walter, Nicholas, Quan, Lindsay, Kelsey, Agatha, Jeffrey, Nichole, Michael, Sarah, Ryan, Diego, Alexander, Rebecca, Elizabeth, John, Anthony, Casey, Danny, Micah, Camille, Erik, Ashley, Jennifer, Lauren, Eric, Phyo, Stephanie, Ryan, and Brian.

In short, the article is about Mount Olive High School in New Jersey where a recent change in the grading policy eliminates Ds leaving only As, Bs, Cs, and Fs. Similar to WPI, but not quite the same: we also don’t have Fs.

Huh? No Ds? And no Fs? Of course, if you have visited WPI or done your research you already know about this policy. If not, you might be shaking your head. That’s right, the only grades WPI students can receive are As, Bs, and Cs.

But why?

We want (and require!) students to achieve at least C level mastery of material in all of their classes in order to move to higher level coursework and graduate as scientists, engineers, and professionals poised to lead and innovate in the scientific and business communities. You’ll probably agree that students barely getting by with Ds are not mastering the material, and aren’t the leaders and innovators that are going to make great contributions to society.

The change at Mount Olive too was rooted in wanting students to achieve stronger grades:

“D’s are simply not useful in society,” said Larrie Reynolds, the Mount Olive superintendent, who led the campaign against D’s as a way to raise the bar and motivate students to work harder. “It’s a throwaway grade. No one wants to hire a D-anything, so why would we have D-students and give them credit for it?”

From the student perspective, it makes sense too:

“People are going to have to try harder,” [a student] said. “It’s not like a nice college is going to see all D’s on a report card and want to accept that student.”

I bet graduate schools and employers feel the same way. The ones admitting and hiring WPI students see only a combination of A-B-C.

Questions about our grading policy? Let me know!

On our website, you can always find the most current information about applying to WPI.

• On my second monitor, I keep visible the constructions cameras for the new Sports and Recreation Center. The progress in just two months is amazing!
• In June I saw Seth Godin speak in Boston. He told the audience that we should blog every day. I don’t agree that I should blog every day, but certainly I need to do better than once every few months.
• The second session of our summer program Frontiers began yesterday. I created a video slideshow of session one that was shown at the closing ceremony on Friday.
• Starting tonight we’re hosting welcome BBQs for the newest members of the WPI community, the Class of 2014 and their families. I hope to see you at some of them! By the way, did I mention that classes start one month from today?
• We’re also welcoming hundreds of families to campus for our Summer Academic Visit Days beginning this morning.

So a quick catch up post to get back in the swing. Stay tuned for much more as the academic year approaches!

This year, I created two time-lapse movies of Commencement; one is of the day of the ceremony itself, and the other is a few days prior capturing the event setup.

Commencement day:

Commencement setup:

Not to be outdone, this year some students came into the office early this afternoon, sat me down, made an announcement, and performed an original song in front of the staff and visitors in the office! Check out the video below.

There’s a constant in both of these: Admissions Intern Kristen. Kristen is only a junior, so I better stay on my toes for next year. Check out her blog for more fun.

• Valentine’s Day: February 14, strong positive and negative associations depending on the situation.
• Academic Advising Day: February 18, no classes.
• Last day of C-Term: March 5, self explanatory!
• Spring break: March 6–13, self explanatory.
• First day of D-Term: March 15, last term of the year & exactly two months before Commencement.
• Robert Goddard Day: March 16, celebrating the first liquid fueled rocket launch by WPI alumnus Robert Goddard.

Let’s hope for some snow mixed in with what remains of winter. I know I will be.

You are probably familiar with the recent especial US Senate election in Massachusetts. This election on January 19, 2010 was surely one of the most if not the most publicized and contested in my time living in Massachusetts. Even with the hype surrounding the election, I was very surprised when I learned that the Democratic candidate, Martha Coakley, selected WPI as the location she wanted to hold a rally just days before the polling. Normally I’d have thought that having such an event on campus would simply add a little buzz on a Friday evening, but this event was to include former President Bill Clinton!

The inclusion of Bill Clinton was really something special—a former president coming to WPI and speaking in a building I can see from my office! Politics aside, I had to go to this event! The Great Hall of Alden Memorial was nearly at capacity on Friday evening, January 15, and I went armed with a camera. You can see some of the photos I took below including some very close-up shots to President Clinton. Unfortunately I was just a few feet too far back in the crowd when he was shaking hands at the conclusion of the event.

Seeing (just some) of the logistics of this event was my favorite part. Security was, of course, especially tight. WPI, Worcester, and State Police were visible all afternoon in addition to Secret Service. What is usually a building that’s free to roam through, Alden Memorial was on lock down. In my opinion, a minor inconvenience for such a rare event!

I know that there were many students in attendance at the event, and since it was open to the public, some of them were right up front and had the chance to meet the former president. When you get to college, make sure you study and keep up with academics. But don’t fall victim of not taking advantage of all of the wonderful opportunities outside of your classes—you never know what type of event will be happening or who will speak on your doorstep!

Please note that WPI did not endorse a candidate in the election, and Martha Coakley’s campaign independently reserved the space on campus and paid for all associated costs. I am writing about it as an example of an intriguing event on campus that WPI students, faculty, and staff had the opportunity to attend.

We want you to make us work! Our office processes and thoroughly reviews every application we receive, so the more we get, the more work we have to do. Your applications will keep us busy for the next several months, and that is just what we want!! Serious. :)

Apply now!

Photo courtesy of bionicteaching on Flickr.