Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Top Questions

Academics are challenging at rose, but it's the price you pay to be #1 in the country. It is definitely doable though, regardless of your major. I'm doing fine in classes, on track to graduate in time, and I still spend more time doing extracurriculars than homework. Most science classes are accompanied by a lab which can be fun and insightful, but also a pain. The weeks usually seem pretty long just because there is so much going on each week. The classes are fairly small in size and are never so big that you won't be able to interrupt a professor in the middle of class and ask a question. Professors are easy to find outside of class, and their offices are integrated into the same buildings that your classes are in, so they are usually just around the corner. The mechanical engineering curriculum is rather in depth and extensive. Everyone takes 9 humanities/social sciences courses. HSS courses totally depend on which ones you take. Some of them can be a breeze, while others can be worse than your engineering courses. I find that engineering is interesting but a pretty dry subject to learn, so i try and take interesting HSS courses which there are plenty of, and also get involved with other things on campus. A statement heard often from employers is that a 3.0 from rose hulman looks like a 4.0 from "somewhere else." Kind of a vague statement but I always hear it at the career fairs

The difference between Rose-Hulman and other engineering schools starts during freshmen orientation, when the President says "look to your left, look to your right, and then promise those people that you'll all walk across the stage together in 4 years' time." Most of our classes have attendance policies; stop showing up and your professor's going to ask why. You'll know your professor and your classmates, especially once you've been here for a little while; that knowledge will make for passionate in-class participation and discussion in classes. We don't have any 500-person lecture halls; in fact, our largest lecture hall (1 of 2) has only 150 seats, and is generally used only for pre-labs and guest speakers. As a proud Software Engineering/Computer Science double major, I can vouch for the excellence of my department's education. The department focuses on the fundamentals of programming and computing, so you're well prepared for whatever language and environment you see in the workplace.

As I said earlier the Professors all know your name and make it a point to be as helpful to you as they can. I've had professors give me their home phone numbers to call if i'm haing trouble. Unlike other prestigous schools rose is not very competitive, students try to help each other out as much as possible. There are no classes designed to "weed out" unworthy students, the school does everything it can to help all students graduate. The classes are extremely challenging to students. However most courses are lab-based to provide hands-on learning for the students.

Rose-Hulman has been the #1 undergraduate engineering school for the last 13 years overall and in every major that is ranked. The classes are all under 30 students with most major classes under 20 people. Students are collaborative, doing homework in groups, unlike what you would expect in such a good school. Rose does an unparalleled job of preparing its students for work in the field.

Academics are RIGOROUS. Students often feel stressed out and overwhelmed, but are never given an unmanageable amount of work. All-nighters are not infrequent, but there is plenty of coffee around campus so people pull through! Honestly, most people who find the academics overwhelming are spread across the gamut when it comes to extracurricular studies. They choose to have fun and be social so sleep comes at a cost! Professors at Rose are the best. With classes ranging from 25-30 people the professors always know you by name and make a conscious effort to see that you succeed and watch out for your well being. They will give you personal phone numbers and see you through anything as long as you are willing to put in the time with them. Professors come to Rose because they want to teach, not for the name or to work on their own research. All professors here have already earned their doctoral degree and invest their time in their students. There are no TAs at Rose, only professors teaching classes. That's a big deal which can make all the difference in your learning material.

Professors get to know you well. They learn everyone's names by the second week of classes. We are competitive against ourselves, but still help each other to get work done efficiently.

Academics are very hard. That said, students can do just as well with a good work ethic as those who just "get it" intuitively - and even if you never needed to study in high school, you will here. Classes are small, usually 15-30 students, and all are taught by PhD professors who will know your name. They're also available throughout the day & very willing to help outside of class. Since Rose primarily offers an undergraduate program, you won't find the harsh competition here that you might at other engineering schools; students are very collaborative.

The academics at this school are very rigorous. Students here do love to learn and the classes are very interesting, but the is a lot of hard work that comes with excelling here. Students do expect to have homework every night, but it generally is not the "I have to write a paper kind of homework" The students are competitive because they all want to do well but there is also a general support from everyone because the students also want their classmates to do well. The classes are challenging, and do require hard work, but the professors are here because they love to teach, and they want their students to excel. I generally can walk into a teacher's office (they have an open-door policy), even if it's not their scheduled office hours, explain my problem, and they are more than willing to help me. They are also extremely friendly and good to talk to.

The academics at Rose are rigorous, I am not going to lie. It definitely is manageable and how you do depends on what you want to make of it, be proactive, hardworking, and goal oriented. Rose really teaches you and turns you in to an engineer, you realize this when your conversations at lunch with friends turn in to nerdy comments about the math and science concepts of your lunch plate.

The academics at Rose are rigorous, I am not going to lie. It definitely is manageable and how you do depends on what you want to make of it, be proactive, hardworking, and goal oriented. Rose really teaches you and turns you in to an engineer, you realize this when your conversations at lunch with friends turn in to nerdy comments about the math and science concepts of your lunch plate.