Help Rishi with college tuition

Who am I?

Hello everyone. My name is Rushab Patil, though some of you may know me as Rishi. I am a first-generation international student studying Robotics and Aerospace Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). I love learning about robots and things that fly. One of my dreams is to become a leading scientist in the field of robotics, but for this to come true, I need your help.

Why do I need money?

I just finished my fifth year at WPI and will be attending my sixth year even though I was supposed to graduate in May 2021. I had to attend an extra year to finish both majors, which have only a few overlapping courses. With India's high surge of COVID cases in March, all the financial institutions closed and an education loan from India that was supposed to pay for my 2021 Spring semester was canceled. Without this loan, I couldn’t register for the courses necessary for graduation. On top of that, the WPI Committee of Academic Operations (CAO) rejected my petition for double-counting my capstone project for both majors. Even though both my academic advisors approved double-counting the capstone project, CAO asked me to finish another capstone project. All of this has forced me to return to WPI in the 2021 Fall semester to finish my outstanding requirements.

Until now, I was just scraping enough together to pay my school tuition through WPI’s financial aid, family loans, my two part-time jobs, and with emergency help from friends and extended family when this was not enough. Because of COVID and unexpectedly needing to complete another capstone, I can no longer rely on these methods to pay for another semester of school.

Since this upcoming fall semester constitutes my sixth year of school, I cannot receive any financial aid from WPI. With the loss of my mom’s job due to COVID, getting any loan from India is impossible. In my lower-class family in India, my mom was the sole breadwinner of the family. My dad cannot work due to mental health conditions. Unfortunately, since I am an international student, I am only allowed to work 20 hrs/week, which is not enough to make a dent in my cost of living, let alone this tuition bill. To minimize the total amount needed to be paid, I took advantage of WPI’s 50% discount per credit and signed up for six credits during the 2021 summer.

I am so close to finishing my degree, but unless I come up with the money to pay my tuition myself, I cannot graduate. I am using GoFundMe as my last resort to fund my last term at WPI.

How much money I need?

Finances breakdown:

Summer Semester - $ 6419.45

Fall Semester - $15934

Total - $22353.45

Please help me cross the college’s finishing line. Please donate! Even the smallest amount counts. If you are not able to donate, please share this campaign with your friends and families. I greatly appreciate any help. I promise that your help will not be taken for granted.

Thank you!!!