On a typical day during the academic year, the Troy campus bustles with the usual hallmarks of college life: classrooms filled with discussion and discovery, dining halls teeming with hungry students having lunch and catching up with friends, and a scattering of study groups covering topics ranging from the electronic arts to electrical engineering. But a closer look reveals more: a ballroom dance club competition taking place in the Armory, climbers from the Outing Club working together to ascend a rock wall in the ’87 Gym, a group of student comedians performing in West Hall, or the Scuba Club holding dive practices in the Robison Pool.

Home to a plethora of student-run clubs and organizations, the Institute is transformed daily into meeting areas, practice spaces, or performance venues to support the interests of Rensselaer’s diverse, dynamic, and very active student body. Nearly 85 percent of undergraduate students participate in at least one club on campus. They join to explore interests, make friends, and have fun. They leave equipped with an education that extends past textbooks, midterms, and papers to include practical experience and interpersonal skills that help position them for success in the professional world.