<p>Ahh a little different than how I interpreted it. I saw it as classifying the program as being Penn State or WPI level, when it is higher than that.</p>
<p>But yes, Cornell or Berkeley (or CMU and Michigan) are a lot better known to the general public, but Rose and the like have equal or better reputations in the realm of academia or industry.</p>
<p>In terms of research and industry connections I agree that Rose would be a horrible graduate school. However, for undergraduate students you are not going to need a research institution and Rose has the industry connections to get a job or co-op/internship.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Rose is comparable and on the same level with places like Illinois and Notredame. But the reputation of Berkeley, Cornell, and Notredame are higher.
[/quote]
As an Illinois alumnus, I must object. UIUC is a consensus top 5 program in Engineering, while Notre Dame is barely ranked in the top 45! In my entering class of EE grad students at Stanford, there were about 8 to 10 students from Illinois (out of maybe 100 total from the U.S.), which rivals only Berkeley in representation, while no one admitted to being from a LAC or similar institution (perhaps they were absent that day, who knows?). Now you may say, that's not fair, Rose and those other schools have much smaller student bodies. That's exactly my point, that's why they don't have much of a reputation outside their geographic regions.</p>
<p>
[quote]
However, for undergraduate students you are not going to need a research institution
[/quote]
If you're going to grad school, you sure as hell need a research institution. Recommendation letters can make or break your application, and having them from 3 top researchers in their field is a whole lot better than from 3 people nobody has heard of because they don't do research. You also can't get as good a research experience as an undergraduate.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
Now you may say, that's not fair, Rose and those other schools have much smaller student bodies. That's exactly my point, that's why they don't have much of a reputation outside their geographic regions.
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<p>That is what we are trying to differentiate. Small schools don't have a big reputation with the general public but they have a big reputation with the academia and industry.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
If you're going to grad school, you sure as hell need a research institution. Recommendation letters can make or break your application, and having them from 3 top researchers in their field is a whole lot better than from 3 people nobody has heard of because they don't do research. You also can't get as good a research experience as an undergraduate.
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<p>I may have worded that wrong. What I was trying to alliterate was that you don't need to go to a research university that does 100s of millions of dollars of research every year to get research experience. Look at Harvey Mudd... despite one of the lowest research expenditures out of any college in the nation, 40% of its students go on to graduate school. In fact, only CalTech produces more students who end up earning a PhD. I wouldn't call Harvey Mudd or other LACs (Swarthmore also comes to mind) 'research institutions' yet they have the highest number of students go on to graduate school percentage wise.</p>
<p>Earlier I said that Notredame's rep. was higher than UIUC's which was actually typo. UIUC is ranked top 5 in the country and yes, way ahead of Notredame. I just wanted to say that Rose was on par w/ Notredame.</p>
<p>Ok now, really, a couple of you guys are saying how vital undergrad research is to get into grad school. I would like to go on to grad school, I think, and one of the undergrad colleges that I'm looking at is RIT, which really has very little research(if any). So, honestly, how do you know that it is so important to go to a research institute, because frankly, everyone on this board overemphasizes things like this.</p>
<p>research experience can be a vital factor that comes into play if your grades are a bit sub-par, both in getting into graduate schools and if your going into industry. just like when you were in high school applying to college, undergrad programs were interested in your community service, extracurricular,s research/internship/co-op demonstrate that you have a strong interest in the field you are pursuing and you have actively worked in an area you have studied. it's really the same idea, just they're interested in you doing things at a higher level.</p>