Should I apply to Rose-Hulman?

[RESmonkey]

I've already applied to Purdue and UIUC. I'm already accepted by Purdue, and waiting for UIUC.

How is Rose-Hulman compared to Purdue and UIUC?
(I'm going for computer engineering, and possibly software for game design ).

Stats:
ACT: 31
Top 5% class rank
ap classes/honors

 

[Savij]

It seems like it's a question of big schools vs small school. I wouldn't care for it, but it's smaller than the highschool I went to...

 

[Sukhoi]

I know a couple people that went there and most of them were really nerdy.

BTW UIUC is awesome, go there.

 

[RESmonkey]

I would love to get an answer from UIUC, but they are still haven't looked at my app.

 

[YoungGun21]

Rose-Hulman is a school that thinks they are better than they actually are. Don't become one of them. Plus, Purdue and UIUC are so much better... If you really want another place to look at then look at Missouri-Rolla.

 

[Pepsei]

It's almost as nerdy as George Underwood Edwards Institute of Technology.

 

[mugs]

I had a friend who transferred from Rose to my college... not a lot of chicks there as I recall...

 

[slackwarelinux]

I'm a freshman CPE at Rose-Hulman, and I don't regret the decision. From what I've experienced so far, their computer engineering classes are great. A Rose-Hulman grad went on to found Xilinx (one of the main Field Programmable Gate Array manufacturers), so many of the computer engineering classes are well stocked FPGAs for labs and projects. I should be working on my design project for introduction to logic design class right now, I'm designing a simple MIDI controller. The computer engineering classes dive right into the application, and are really well taught.

The online application is free, so you don't lose much by applying. You're likely going to get in with that ACT, it is just a matter of how much financial aid they give you.

If you've got the time, come and visit the campus and take a tour; that is how I ended up deciding.

 

[anandtechuser07]

Take it from someone who regrets it badly: go to the biggest, most well-known school you possibly can. When you're interviewing for jobs, you will be partially evaluated on what school you went to. Even if you went to an excellent small school, you don't want to be spending 5 minutes at every interview trying to explain that Tiny University was excellent.

Also, don't fall into the trap where the smaller schools say that their class sizes are smaller. At a big university, you will usually have both lecture and discussion sections for every class, where the lecture section may be huge (100+ students), but the smaller discussion sections will be around 30 or less. As you get into the specialised upper-division classes, there will only be lecture sections, and these tend to be under 30 anyways.

 

[RESmonkey]

I just applied. There was an essay part (optional), but I was like f--- that. I'm applying because it's free and no essay.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

Originally posted by: RESmonkey
I'm already accepted by Purdue, and waiting for UIUC.

You just answered your own question. < $10k/year (assuming you're a Hoosier) to go to an internationally recognized research university or > $30k/year (assuming no financial aid) to go to a school no one outside of the Midwest has heard of...

 

[Aluvus]

Originally posted by: RESmonkey
(I'm going for computer engineering, and possibly software for game design ).

CpE at Rose is very close to EE, but with some additional computer science classes and an extra math class (and no Power, the bastards). There is some talk about this changing substantially in the next few years, but no clear timeline that I know of. A lot of Rose CpEs end up in some kind of embedded work, some in systems engineering, some writing code.

Rose has CS and software engineering programs. CS is for people that want to write code all day, SE is for people that want to talk about writing code all day (I kid, I kid). SE is more architecture/management focused. I have a friend that double-majored in SE and CS, and another that double-majored in CS and CpE, both in 4 years without too much pain. Some people double-major CS and math.

Applying is cheap (or free) and very easy. My suggestion would be to apply and then go take a tour. The tour was what convinced me.

Originally posted by: Sukhoi
I know a couple people that went there and most of them were really nerdy.

Yeah that's pretty typical, lol.

Originally posted by: mugs
I had a friend who transferred from Rose to my college... not a lot of chicks there as I recall...

Something like 20% as of a year ago. Varies quite a bit by major. If you really need female company, ISU is right there I guess.

Originally posted by: YoungGun21
Rose-Hulman is a school that thinks they are better than they actually are. Don't become one of them. Plus, Purdue and UIUC are so much better... If you really want another place to look at then look at Missouri-Rolla.

There's really not much Rose ego. Maybe there's a perception of one, I don't know. But it's a good school. Honestly I don't know that you can give it a fair evaluation without spending a few years there, which is maybe true of any college. Rose is an unusual place.

The very one-sided Rose-Purdue rivalry is mostly a friendly joke (much like the one with DePauw, and ISU). I've known people that went to Purdue and seemed like smart folks. I understand UIUC has a unique (the good kind) culture, but I've never been there.

 

[Aluvus]

Originally posted by: anandtechuser07
Take it from someone who regrets it badly: go to the biggest, most well-known school you possibly can. When you're interviewing for jobs, you will be partially evaluated on what school you went to. Even if you went to an excellent small school, you don't want to be spending 5 minutes at every interview trying to explain that Tiny University was excellent.

The interview for your first job is when your school typically counts the most. And generally (this has been the experience for the past 2 years anyway) odds are very strong that the person you're interviewing with either went to Rose or has a Rose grad on their team. We're like a virus. But in a good way.

Also, don't fall into the trap where the smaller schools say that their class sizes are smaller. At a big university, you will usually have both lecture and discussion sections for every class, where the lecture section may be huge (100+ students), but the smaller discussion sections will be around 30 or less. As you get into the specialised upper-division classes, there will only be lecture sections, and these tend to be under 30 anyways.

Rose has a freshman orientation class that is something like 100 people in a lecture hall, and Sam Hulbert used to teach a class in the auditorium when he was president (maybe 200 people... he was very well-liked, and the class was easy). Some of the Design-type classes that everyone in a major has to take might hit 50 people in a room. And that's about it. Rose doesn't have any regular classrooms that can hold more than 30 people. 25 is typical for core classes. Upper-level electives for EEs/CpEs are usually 5 to 10 people; it may vary some for other majors.

Originally posted by: Gigantopithecus
You just answered your own question. < $10k/year (assuming you're a Hoosier) to go to an internationally recognized research university or > $30k/year (assuming no financial aid) to go to a school no one outside of the Midwest has heard of...

Purdue has much more research and a much stronger graduate program, no doubt. Rose has almost none of either. But the other side of that is that Rose hires professors to teach, not publish, and undergrads actually get to do real labs. A lot of labs, in fact. And projects. Classes are taught by professors, never TAs, and almost everyone in the faculty has a PhD. There's the 5-second sales pitch for undergrads. If you already have a Bachelor's and are looking for a Master's, I don't know that there's anything to particularly recommend Rose.

Rose ain't cheap, and plenty of people haven't heard of it. And it's a hard school. And it's in a town that is pretty lame. Rose has plenty of negatives. But I'd do it all over again.

 

[FoBoT]

i did , back in the day

i was rejected, they were pretty 1337 back then, i assume they still are

 

[thepd7]

yes

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: YoungGun21
Rose-Hulman is a school that thinks they are better than they actually are. Don't become one of them. Plus, Purdue and UIUC are so much better... If you really want another place to look at then look at Missouri-Rolla.

WTF? Better than they are?

I was selected to be interviewed by Rose-Hulman...didn't like the location or student body population and that summer decided against engineering anyway.

It's a good school, expensive and selective.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Gigantopithecus

Originally posted by: RESmonkey
I'm already accepted by Purdue, and waiting for UIUC.

You just answered your own question. < $10k/year (assuming you're a Hoosier) to go to an internationally recognized research university or > $30k/year (assuming no financial aid) to go to a school no one outside of the Midwest has heard of...

Idiots maybe, leaders in the engineering fields know what Rose-Hulman is.