Is RPI or BU better for internships?

For internships, BU usually offers the easier day-to-day access simply because of where it is. Being in Boston means students can reach companies, hospitals, startups, finance firms, labs, and nonprofits during the semester, not just in the summer. That matters a lot if you want part-time internships, research, or professional experience while classes are still in session.

BU tends to fit the student who wants a broad internship market and likes the idea of exploring different industries without leaving campus life behind. If you are still deciding between fields, or you want options across business, communications, health, tech, policy, and research, BU gives you more nearby employers and more chances to network in person. For many students, that translates into more frequent interviews, easier commuting to internships, and more flexibility to build a resume over several semesters.

RPI is appealing for the student who is more clearly engineering- or tech-focused and wants a school with a strong technical reputation in those spaces. It has solid employer respect, especially in engineering, computer science, and related fields, and students do land strong internships.

The main tradeoff is access versus specialization. At RPI, recruiting can be very good for technical fields, but the surrounding location does not offer the same volume and variety of in-semester opportunities that Boston does. At BU, the city itself acts like an extension of campus, which often makes building experience feel more realistic and less dependent on one summer or one career fair.

So if your priority is overall internship access and recruiting across a wide range of fields, BU has the edge. If you already know you want a technical path and you value a more focused engineering environment, RPI can still be a very strong route.