What is the real Rensselaer experience; what is the unauthorized, marketing-free version of what it truly means to an RPI student? Every prospective student ponders this question, which has never been fully answered.
Alltrue.com attempts to answer the questions that have eluded many former and current RPI students alike. Their College Reality Guides claim to be "the anti-Barron’s: uncensored window into the life, the subculture, the insanity, and the stuff that’s really going on in colleges."
In the early part of the fall semester alltrue.com producers approached the Institute’s marketing department requesting to work with them to produce The RPI College Reality Guide. "Our job is work with people who will accurately reflect and advance the goals of Rensselaer." Bruce Adams, director of Institute Media Relations, explained.
Matthew Heindl, marketing manager of alltrue.com, commented, "Our College Guides are intended to be both informative and entertaining, unlike the rest of our site which contains jackass prank material."
Although the Institute refused to associate themselves with alltrue.com’s production, they did not deny them permission to film on campus, provided that they respected student privacy and found a student host.
After setting up a freakbox, a fully-enclosed soundproof video booth, at a local fraternity house, alltrue.com stumbled upon student host "Evan," who agreed to lead the production crew around the RPI campus and offer his insights. "They offered me lunch, and so I just did it. It was no real big deal, " said Evan.
The RPI College Guide, which premiered Monday on alltrue.com, begins by asking if RPI’s 75 percent male population and its 44 percent four-year graduation rate are related.
After seeing The RPI College Guide, Bruce Adam stated, "even though the site’s called alltrue.com, its real goal was not to give a truthful picture of RPI but instead to satirize and entertain. The difference between this and the truth is the difference between cartoons and front-page news—you don’t go to the cartoon section to get news."
Adams also points to alltrue.com’s use of the 44 percent four-year graduation rate and the 75 percent male population figures as disingenuous intent. Jack Mahoney, director of enrollment and institute research, commented, "While the 44 percent four-year undergraduate graduation rate is accurate, the most widely used graduation rate figure—the one used by most college guides and the one RPI is required to report the government—is the six-year graduation rate which is 75 percent." The cited 75 percent male population rate includes the total percentage of male students on campus including graduate students, while the undergraduate male population is currently 66 percent.
"Like any organization inaccuracy hurts our credibility. That’s why we check and double check the accuracy of our figures. We are trying to challenge the ordinary ‘campus tour’ perspective of college life," said Heindl.
"From what I’ve seen the guide is probably not an accurate view of life at RPI. It is just a segment of one of my opinions—spots of me talking, some out of context, some not. I’m sure lots of people feel differently than me," offered Evan.
RPI’s was the second College Guide featured on alltrue.com, after Dartmouth’s. The RPI College Guide contains half the amount of footage as Dartmouth’s and by Heindl‘s admission, "we had less time to explore at RPI". Alltrue.com plans feature SUNY Albany next in its College Reality Guide series and to continue its series with 20 other schools from the East and Southeast eventually moving towards the West Coast.
