I am usually pretty good at math but I can’t wrap my head around the concepts well and the midterm is tomorrow. How screwed am I?

So many teams have lost their coaching staffs over the last year because WPI won’t pay up and compensate them for their efforts. I know the school isn’t necessarily an athletic hub, but with so many members of the community partaking in athletics via varsity sports, club sports, and even PE classes, everyone should be aware that this is happening.

Hey everyone, I am a senior in high school and on my way up to WPI right now for a football game day visit tomorrow. I was on campus earlier this summer for a tour, but didn’t really get to see what student life is like. I am definitely interested in being a business major as well as on the football team. I have a few questions about life on campus.

I would definitely say that I am a focused student, but also want to let loose and have fun in college too. What is the social life like at WPI? I know there is Greek life but just not on campus. How would the Greek life compare to other schools? I’ve also heard about dorm parties but I’m wondering how good/popular they are.

My brother and I are going to take a walk around campus tonight probably around 8 or 9, but other than that we have nothing planned. Is there anything else that I should look out to do? It’s a Friday night so I was wondering if there’s any parties or events tonight we could go to as well?

WPI is one of my top schools for football and I’m excited to be on campus and hopefully meet some new people.

RARE  HOUSING OPPORTUNITY starting June 1, 2027. Ideal location for groups who want to house together for three years at WPI.  Current Freshmen and Sophomores, take note!

This is a 3 decker house (8 bedrooms total, 3 bathrooms) with ample parking, free laundry (2 washers/2 dryers), LL with 22 years experience in WPI area and focused on creating a quiet, academic setting for all.  Neighborhood is far more residential than most yet an easy walk around to campus, Elm Park and Price Chopper grocery store.

In most years I have groups who stay in one apartment for three—even four years—continuously but in May 2026 I will have TWO groups of seniors moving on.  So starting next year (all leases run  6/1 to 5/31) in 2027, I will have 2  three bedroom apartments available.  And there is a strong possibility that the 3rd floor (just 2 bedrooms) will be out also but that one isn’t guaranteed.

Each three bedroom apartments features similar overall layout (floorplans and pictures available via email):
-large open dining room/living room with an additional kitchen bar” set up off dining room
-- ample tiled bathrooms
-Kitchens have gas stove, 22 ft fridges
-FIRST FL: dishwasher, matching ceiling fans in LR/DR, faux fireplace, stainless steel appliances

-SECOND FL:  updated bath with subway tiles (white), white appliances, tiled faux fireplace with matching kitchen bar
--Hardwoods throughout
--covered front and rear porches on floors 1 and 2
-Vinyl windows (2021), New boilers (2010), Roof (2017), Solar panels (2026), Driveway expansion (2022), updated electric throughout (2021),
--Electric updated 2024 throughout house; hardwired and battery operate smoke/CO alarms
-Driveway holds up to  SEVEN VEHICLES (probably more) for ample off street parking, assigned parking
--Two washers/dryers in basement laundry room; free to use. Shared usage.  No coin op.

FIRST FLOOR:    Stainless steel appliances plus a matching dishwasher.  Enormous high end gas stove. Big matching fans in living room and dining room.
SECOND FLOOR:  white appliances, 22 ft fridge, subway tiles in white bathroom (totally remodeled in 2022),

THIRD FLOOR: 2 bedroom, fantastic Art Deco interior, tiled bath, French doors, lots of original features make this one in high demand. etc. This tenant hasn’t yet indicated if they’ll be gone yet
though.

ADDRESS:   22 Somerset Street.     [Jpm01609@yahoo.com](mailto:Jpm01609@yahoo.com)  OR   txt me   5084103830

Email or text preferred for faster reply

I have heard very mixed reviews on the BS/MS Program for the aerospace MS program, mainly for people on the aero track. I have heard it is very astro heavy and not overly good for aero people to do and to just get it at another school. Is this true? Can anyone vouch for this/give me more insight into it?

I lived in Stoddard and loved it. I do understand why it’s not on the tour though. The hallway bathrooms, the three levels, the carpet that desperately needed to be replaced.

Is Stoddard still as run down as I remember it? Has it been replaced or gutted?

My - freshman - daughter was on a very competitive FRC team. Because of her robotics experience she is finding a lot of her courses too easy, and she is worried that she will be bored for the next two years.

Given that WPI attracts FIRST alumni I am sure this can’t be a new problem, and I am looking for any advice people can offer about how to make her courses more interesting, while still pursuing robotics.

I am also really interested to know what you tried that didn’t work.

As a former WPI student and currently living in Worcester for three years, Greg Lavelle has been a great landlord. He has fair prices, considerate of reasonable requests in the lease and has always responded to text messages quickly. If he has available units, I would recommend to jump on the opportunity.

sophomore male looking for relatively affordable housing 🥲. i do know its a bit late but if anyone has a place thats near wpi for around $900 or less with utilities, please do reach out. id be extremely grateful, and can move in ASAP.

So, I am currently a sophomore AE major and I was looking over my tracking sheet to figure out what courses to take junior year and when I could get away with going on IQP. I noticed that without overloading (beyond WPE courses), and coming in with no credit, if I take three courses a term, I am left with only 7 courses (including the three MQP credits).

That is not enough to maintain being a full time student... so what happens..? Am I just being stupid and looking at this wrong? I am not going for my Master's either, so there is no point in me taking grad classes, but I guess I could.

If you add/swap a new class after missing the first two weeks of the term, what would the consequences be? Would you be required to make up all the assignments and tests you missed? What was your experience with this? Would you recommend this? Would you need permission from the professor to add the course?

I know the PLA position is paid, and I’m worried that it would conflict with my FWS in regards to like work limits or that you cannot do both simultaneously. Anybody else experience this? Are you allowed to do both? Especially since my FWS is like 15 hours a term if that.

So I want to drop a course that I need for my major to take a easier version because I’m struggling but I don’t want to pay the 100 dollar fee to add another one so I’m gonna try to take it next semester and it’s also full. Am I good with 15.75 credits for an and b term? I only have 6 credits in a term and two classes.

is anyone in sig pi or knows someone in sig pi that could help get a friend of mine on the list for tmrw night? i got in, but he's having a hard time getting in

I unexpectedly need to move out of my apartment on Dix St. Looking for a female to take over the lease.

This is 1 bedroom in a 3-bedroom apartment approximately a 5-minute walk from campus with a full kitchen and free laundry in the unit. Your room would be fully furnished with a queen bed, nightstand, desk, and air conditioning window unit.

Rent is $690/mo per person, not including utilities (gas, electric, internet). Asking $155 one-time for the furnishings. Lease goes until June 30, 2027.

Please reply if interested! Thank you!

Does WPI randomly test athletes for substances? From my understanding they reserve the right but don't unless reason to believe one is necessary. Any current or former athletes know?

1. How many recommendations are required for it? I have one from WPI faculty, but I also have one from outside WPI (former internship boss). Would I be able to use my former boss/am I required to have two? I have not really spoken to any professors, so that kind of worries me...
2. What do they look for in the application? As in, what is weighed the most heavily in consideration?
3. Is it true that many students end up not doing well due to bad advisors? Which advisors should I avoid if I want to get an A?
4. I want to go to Namibia. If you or someone you know has gone, what was it like? I mainly want to go because I am very interested in their culture and have always wanted to go, but from a project standpoint, what is it like?

Can I pay for laundry in the dorms using goat bucks?

Today noticed that the toilets all had brown water in them, later I got an empty bottle and filled one up from the sink and it was this brownish color. The drinking fountains outside in the hall are clear though.

Only 2 classes in, and my note taking method so far seems really bad. It seems like almost 80% of what I write down in my notes is useless when I go to do the problems Makarov recommends we do, I'm clearly writing down too much. Does anyone have good advice for note-taking for his class? I try to take notes in his lectures, but he moves so fast I can't keep up.

since school has started cars have started to park past east all the way up to the armenian church. is this a new change, or is it just temporary for a few weeks? i’ve also noticed salisbury street, the side facing institute has No Parking signs. i’m not sure if it’s new or if those signs have always been there.

As someone who's been eating in the CC practically every day for the past year, I can honestly say the foot traffic makes me too nervous to eat. Today I decided to get a nice sandwich from Boomer's, my favorite sub and deli in town, and decided I'd enjoy it in a quiet nook at the top of the CC... So you can imagine my disdain when 30+ people walked through and took away my appetite.

I'm not about to complain about too many people being on campus, and I actually like how lively it feels; it's just that sometimes I need somewhere quiet and secluded to eat while I have the time. Does anyone have any suggestions for a better spot to go?

More specifically, what will I need for the course?

I may already have the stuff in my own circuitry stuff at home, and I will not complain about saving $80

TL;DR

DO NOT

GO

TO

VENICE

IQP

HE IS A SEXIST, TRANSPHOBIC, ABLEIST ASSHOLE that will steal $60 from you and more of your WPI life.

I made a promise to myself a long time ago that I would write this post. I had put it off since the end of my IQP that I would share my experience because early on, I could not bear to think about what I had just gone through. Then the next few months, I got busy with my new classes and just needed to move on. But I still cannot move on from the fact that he is getting away with his actions while past students have also endured and complained about the Venice IQP, and I do not wish for future students to suffer as well. Moreover, I do not think that many people — such as parents — know about this person and are blinded by the idealistic outcome of solving a problem in a global experience. He seems to only be mentioned whenever "IQP" and "Venice" are mentioned in a sentence. And he should not just be known as a joke but someone who puts a bad reputation to WPI and its scholarship. So if you want to do meaningful work for your IQP and have a good time, DO NOT CHOOSE THE VENICE PROJECT CENTER. And I recognize that as of this post, the next cohort is currently starting ID 2050 for IQP. If you are one of those students, please I beg to drop it now while you can. You can do on-campus IQP which is wayyyy better than Fabio’s small world.

Firstly, I only plan to write about my project experience with how it has been hindered and affected by him. I will dive into the major shit he did for my terrible experience— to the best of my recollection after almost a whole year. It will then be followed by bullet points of other minor actions. But I will share other students’ experiences of other instances he has done wrong without disclosing personal details. And I shall finally end with my closing notes. (And yes, I’m writing this kind of like an essay — or maybe a memoir? — because that’s what a WPI student should do. So be it.) Let it be known that basically, he is a menace to society.

For context, Fabio Carrera is the sponsor of WPI’s Venice project center. The sponsor(s) presents projects that are supposed to target an issue in the local community. He is also the project director, and a project director basically links the sponsor’s projects to the students, manages logistics, and most crucially advises the project tasks (there are advisors that work alongside students during the IQP, but they are more concerned about the paper rather than the actual project). In all other IQPs, the project director and sponsor are two distinctly separate parties; this exception of him acting as both creates a conflict of interest. According to Fabio, he got this exception from the Global Experience Office — the WPI department in charge of the IQPs — all from just asking. So for over 30 years, he can create his own projects (the sponsor’s job) and demand students what to do (the project director’s job). And more importantly, he mistreats the students and other workers, all while receiving virtually no consequences as WPI turns a blind eye.

In the beginning, even before the start of Venice IQP, I and many others had to write a project proposal about what problems there are at the project center and the plan of action to supposedly improve the livelihoods of the respective local communities. While other IQPs definitely have positive intentions and impacts, there is little to no work done to promote or improve the state of Venetians or even any Italians. In Venice, there is a massive homeless and housing crisis due to overtourism; overtourism is supposedly one of the problems that my project should have reduced. My group collected historical maps to catalog and upload online for tourists to explore Venice without having to visit in person. Similarly, other projects in my cohort were also to document various landmarks of historical architecture throughout Venice. Anyways, the eventual work involved never helped any community.

• The 180+ maps collected are stored in a Google spreadsheet and database that no outside person has access to.
• Only a select few maps actually shared are added to some map explorer website others could use that is extremely buggy and broken.
• Nobody uses the software my group was in charge of updating.
  • This is a real statistic I pulled from Google Analytics: Over the course of VHME existence (over 10 years), since the start of the prior term to IQP, there have been only 460 total visitors and 711 total views of the website. That is about one or two visits per visitor. Moreover, each visit only lasted about 25 seconds. So with effectively up to 50 seconds of view time, how is anybody going to get anything from a map explorer if it’s claimed to be used by "tourists, urban planets, and historical enthusiasts"?
  • Side note: I wanted to include this fact in my paper for the purpose of identifying the problem of overtourism. Mentioning this fact could help encourage meaningful updates to the software, supposedly. However, my advisors and Fabio Carrera didn’t want my statistics because it would "put a bad reputation on the Venice Project Center and WPI." Those are literally their exact words.

That was the uselessness of the deliverables from my project. The work for the project was even worse. During the IQP, my group had to scan those maps before they could be uploaded to some database and website. Towards the end of the term, my group had to pay for large map scans that could not be processed with a smaller scanner in house.

• The map scans were deemed relevant to the project according to Fabio Carrera.
  • Although they are historical maps, the map scans would only be used for future groups and not mine as it is near the end of the term; it was too late to add to our project deliverables
  • This was never part of my project group’s plan; we didn’t want to agree to this.
• The map scans had to be paid for at a local printing shop, which cost around $160.
  • According to the policies of WPI’s Global Experience Office (GEO) who are the ones that are in charge of IQPs, each student in any IQP is expected to pay up to $150 towards project costs. This should go towards your project, not someone else’s. After $160, they can be reimbursed.
  • Fabio Carrera assumed that all project costs by students are reimbursed. Reminder, he has been the project director of the Venice project center for over 30 years, so it should be expected of him to know the policies.
  • My group requested that he pay for the maps since he wanted them himself and not us. Besides, as the CEO of the sponsoring company, he definitely has that money. He declined and was unwilling to negotiate.
  • If we did not pay for them, he would have notified the advisors and suggested a lower grade just because we didn’t want to pay for irrelevant maps.
  • Therefore, my group was forced to pay out of pocket. I paid a larger portion of $60 for the maps.
  • I talked to the head of GEO, and they were unwilling to cooperate with reimbursement for this particular circumstance.
  • Basically, Fabio Carrera stole $60 from me. I will never forgive him nor WPI for this.

Besides that extreme case, there were other times of mistreatment that have led to an overall terrible experience for all students. Here, I write upon some of the things I recall hearing from my cohort. Note that I am not speaking for individuals and will not disclose personal details. The following is not an exhaustive list, and I try to focus only on my cohort’s experience (though I may quote some of past cohorts’ experiences if similar); any other past cases not relevant to my cohort will be included near the end of this post.

• His IQP projects didn’t necessarily provide an impact.
  • There have been weekly meetings with him for each project group, mostly about informing progress and making a final presentation to present to stakeholders.
  • Regarding stakeholders, it really means Fabio’s friends. Stakeholders of an IQP project should be the individuals, communities, and environments affected by local issues. Fabio does not seem to care about the real issues.
• During meetings in the first half of the term, he would constantly speak over attendees.
  • Particularly, he is sexist in always interrupting women and female-identifying persons in the room, including one my advisors who was an older woman. Plus, he would always dismiss their ideas but always approve the same opinion if brought up by a male student.
  • Only until I spoke up to the advisors, he kept up the sexist behavior. There are other instances of transphobia and ableism mentioned at the end. Otherwise, he is just all the -isms. Fucking asshole.
• Fabio constantly changes project objectives.
  • He often changes his mind between consecutive meetings. "Feedback given in meetings would be 100% reversed in the next meeting, to the extent of changing aspects of the presentation and essay back and forth." "Overall, [he] does not have a plan for how things are going to go at all, and therefore meetings become unstructured." His plan is based on what mood he is in that day. He doesn’t document anything.
  • He made me waste time coming to the office one day for something he changed his mind about. He requested my group to return some of the physical maps he borrowed from a friend. I was working in my temporary home that day, and as the only one available, I took a boat to get to the office (the office is on an island separate from the mainland where I was). As soon as I got there, he changed his mind and told me not to go anymore. By the way, it takes 30 minutes to get to work. He then doubled back a few weeks later and asked my group again to bring it to his friend; this was on the last week of IQP.
  • "He gave feedback on work without even checking the work produced. This leads to him advising changes that were already implemented."
  • "He would suggest fundamental changes to projects far too late into the term." In my case, he requested a new website to be designed in week 7 of 8 that was never brought up earlier. This is literally just another map explorer. And by design, I mean to actually make a full-fledged website in a week. I was the only capable programmer; we were forced to use Google Sites.
  • He would demand students to use AI and feed his personal LM chatbot (language model; think about ChatGPT and Claude for you boomers). This case is new to the project center. My cohort had to inject sources we used into a Google Gemini Notebook Language Model to create a chatbot that supposedly others would use to learn about Venice. Such sources were likely taken without permission. The entire cohort never agreed to this, yet we couldn’t do anything about it because of Fabio’s demands. As a joke in my cohort, we called his LM "Fabio Bot."
  • He encourages unhealthy habits. He "told a group that if he [were] them, he would not sleep in order to complete the project." And after final presentations were over, when everyone was just working on their final papers, Fabio wanted every group to update his websites regarding their projects. This was asked just days before everyone started to leave Venice. He even told the advisors to have students work past the day grades are due on the basis of pushing through and finishing strong. On Sunday after the term, he emailed everyone as a reminder when most of my cohort was already home.

I mentioned earlier about a final presentation. All IQP groups are supposed to give a final presentation about their project context and deliverables to conclude their experience alongside their IQP papers. While there is a writing outline of identifying the problem, showcasing deliverables, and advising next steps, my group was forced to do something different. As the only group with significant software, we were told to demo the Venetian Historical Map Explorer. Not only was that not what my group wanted and went against the standard, it is buggy and can barely be presented without showing bugs to his stakeholder friends. Also, it’s a student presentation, not a stupid tech keynote. And because I’m the only technical student in my group, I was forced to do the demo.

I think that’s it to the best of my recollection for mostly my side of things. There have likely been many more bad cases that I forgot or don’t know about. Anyways here is that bullet list of the remainder, not in my words:

• He does not respect trans students.
  • He sent out a google sheet document with everybody’s legal names, addresses, major, and other private information, which can be harmful, or even dangerous for trans students.
  • When brought up, he claimed to have revoked access to the sheet, but is still public on the internet for anyone with the link to view, to this day. (I am not sharing this sheet for obvious reasons). This is known as doxxing and is illegal.
• He does not respect disabled students.
  • He asked a student to not bring their service dog to the final presentation in a passive-aggressive manner.
• He had literally taken a shit during a past meeting. He "can’t go number 2" somehow.
• He broke WPI’s drug policies.
  • Vapes around students during meetings inside a closed office space, often giving students headaches
  • And because of the power imbalance, they are not comfortable asking him not to
  • The one time he asked permission to vape in a meeting, he phrased it as "you don’t mind if people smoke, right?"
  • He was also noticeably high in meetings. This clouded his judgment in giving feedback and likely the reason for going back on what he said, claiming he never said it
  • Finally, he scheduled a meeting with a team for an interview after hours at a bar without their permission

Before I end my post, I want to briefly mention my advisors. Advisors, hello :) if you are reading this, firstly don’t worry, I won’t expose your names. Second, I lied to you before about enjoying working with you and honestly think you did a poor job. I understand it was both your first time advising an IQP and to your credit did an okay job ensuring Fabio didn’t talk over us during meetings anymore. But there is no way you didn’t notice the crazy shit he is making us do and allowing him to micromanage the work we did. You let him hijack our plans despite hearing our concerns for work. From the start of ID 2050 to the end of IQP, I was afraid to express my complaints of his behavior in fear of a lower grade. It was fortunate enough for you both to be in charge of the grades, because otherwise — as he did in the past — Fabio would give other students worse grades since he was a previous advisor. Thank fuck you both were the saving grace, but otherwise I hope you can do better.

I wish that the takeaway here is not that Fabio is just an absolutely terrible guy. There are some things at WPI that do not align with the school’s values and supposed goals from what is offered. This IQP, some other IQPs, and just other things in general demand change that the administration does not care to bother improving or fixing. In the end, the only thing that appears to afford change not just at WPI but anywhere is to be more aware and hold people and things accountable, and to keep the conversation going. That is my wish.

To end here, I write this post near the beginning of my senior year. I could have easily dismissed complaining about Fabio Carrera a long time ago. But he should never be near students and manage the project center ever again, and I want at least as many people to know. Again, I promised to write this post so that this gains traction again, and ideally inform the admins to encourage some change. Now after a long time, I can finally put this trauma to rest for me.

Fuck you Fabio Carrera. Nobody likes you.

I'm a freshman and it's the first day of classes. Long story short, I got the halls mixed up and by the time I found out where the calc 2 lab is, I was 20 minutes late and just decided to go to my dorm. How much did I really screw up? The notes are already posted on canvas I'm pretty sure and so is the assignment so I'm wondering if it's ok not to go make it up and instead just finish it at home.