I am a Junior and I need to decide on my MQP!

Hey Everyone!

Hope C term is going well! Today I wanted to talk to all of you about the senior project at WPI, known as the Major Qualifying Project (MQP).

The MQP is usually done in your senior year and you basically take all the skills you learned throughout your college and utilize it for this one project. It is done in a group, and depending on the project, you could be working with students from the same major or different majors. Most of the MQPs solve real world problems that this is definitely a great experience and a fantastic resume builder.

There are many options for the MQP, in terms of the project topic and where you want to do it:

Option 1: There are certain majors that can go off-campus to work on their MQP. The process for this begins early in Junior year, so if this something you are interested in, make sure you speak with the Interdisciplinary and Global Studies Division (IGSD) office soon! The application is very similar to that of the IQP, if you did that off-campus. These MQPs will usually last for 1 term and no other classes can be taken at the same time.

Option 2: You can work on-campus for your MQP. One option is to go on the WPI MQP Opportunities website: http://www.wpi.edu/academics/ugradstudies/find-projects.html . Advisors/Professors go on this website and input their project ideas, as well as the group size they are looking for and the terms they want to work on this.

Option 3: A third option is to create your own project proposal, especially if there is something that interests you, and then find an advisor who is willing to work with you and guide you through the project.

Option 4: Finally, another option is that sometimes, companies are willing to help sponsor projects. They register through the CDC and once an advisor has been found for the project, they start searching for students. Almost every major on campus has a specific project pitch day, when all the faculty come together and pitch their/company ideas to the students in the major.

For options 2, 3, and 4 listed above, you can either sign up with the advisor in a group, or you can apply alone and the advisor will help create groups. Make sure that your advisor is okay with either option.

A few tips!

• Start searching early. If you are planning on going away, that starts end of A term and into B term of Junior year.
• Find out when your major specific project pitch day is!
• Make sure the project you select is something that you are interested in, and will showcase your strengths.

Hopefully this was helpful! We are now in The Towers; please read the Career Development Center section and the articles are written by Peer Advisors! Thank you for reading and until next week,

– Omesh