@bkamber I think you should be a strong candidate. Hopefully your great ACT math score will offset the issues you’ve had with your math courses. No idea on how long it takes to get a decision, unfortunately. Maybe @RHITAdmissions can help.
@higgins2013 We visited Rose-Hulman this week, and I thought they did a good job making a case for themselves. However, I am not an engineer, so if they do not have certain facilities that would be beneficial to students and their peer institutions would typically have, I would not know.
If you could share specifics of what lab facilities, labs, or equipment we should be looking for or asking about, I would appreciate it. I am also interested in any specific courses, topics, or information that Rose-Hulman does not cover that students in more highly ranked programs would learn.
I could easily differentiate programs in my area of expertise, but not in engineering. If an engineer could provide some pointers, or suggestions, that would be great.
They presented well and did a very good job making a case for themselves, in my opinion. DD2 was fairly impressed too, other than the student that took us on the tour. DD2 thought that student was “not the brightest.” lol The claimed an over 80% engineering retention rate, and that 98% of last year’s grads were employed or admitted to grad school. Emphasized 22 person average class size, classes that are taught by actual professors, professors who are focussed on teaching, professors who know all of their students, and excellent resources to support any students who are struggling with a class. I thought it sounded good.
Students I talked with said that the biggest adjustment to Rose-Hulman was that they got quite a bit of homework and they were actually expected to do all of their homework. From a parents perspective, I thought that was good. 
I was also amused that our tour guide “didn’t know” whether the student cafeteria had fresh fruits and vegetables, but that is more amusing than a real negative, I think.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
@Much2learn The fruits and vegetables are pretty much just like you’d get anywhere. The bananas usually start out pretty green, that’s for sure. Apples & oranges are also usually available every day. Canned peaches or applesauce are in the salad bar every day. Lettuce quality is usually good, as is the spinach.
About the classes, if you were to compare the plan of study for a typical mechanical engineering student at MIT vs. a typical mechanical engineering student at Rose, you’ll see that they really do take the same classes. The number of subjects/topics required for ABET (Accreditation Bord for Engineering and Technology) accreditation is too high for there to be too much creativity in the undergraduate curriculum. What sets schools apart is how this material is presented and how it is applied, that is Rose’s main advantage.
@RHstudent2017 Thank you for the information. If you would continue with your post, I would appreciate it. Specifically, “…how this material is presented and how it is applied, that is Rose’s main advantage.”
You have my undivided attention. Please tell me more!
P.S. I was only amused, not concerned, about the fruits and vegetables. As a parent, I just thought that if my student did not know about the ARA cafeteria’s fruits and vegetables after a year at the school, it would mean they had not been eating healthfully.
Mom of recent RHIT grad here… While Rose has a mix of professor styles like anywhere, most professors have an open door policy and even enjoy spending extra time with undergrads who seek them out. It’s not unusual for a prof to stumble upon a group of students in a study session and pull up a chair and join them for a while. Because their classes are so small and they don’t use GSIs, they know all their students by name and can usually tell when a class needs more/less attention. The classes are rigorous and there are students who struggle or don’t seek the available resources, however I’d describe Rose as having a challenging but very supportive culture. My spouse and I are both engineers, and we’ve been quite pleased with the quality of the education and the facilities/labs.
FYI, we also have a rising sophomore at UMich who’s thriving in that much larger/different environment - just as her sister thrived at Rose. Both of them chose schools where they felt they really fit in, and I think that helped their transition and their learning experience.
Re: the RHIT cafe. It gets its share of typical complaints (not enough variety, some things are bland/poorly cooked, etc.), but the students survive nonetheless! Some get quite creative with the pasta and salad bar and the sandwich station.
@Much2learn Sorry about the wait for a response, been busy with my internship. I can only speak specifically about my program of study (Civil Engineering) but there are a few things that I have noticed cross all majors.
Everyone does a freshman design project. This allows you to synthesize the coursework completed in your first year in a professional way. Civil students are all assigned projects from real clients (Local government, nearby colleges, industry) and many of them end up evolving into senior design projects if the project is sufficiently complex. The work done in freshman design has a good chance of contributing to a project in “real life” (Your mileage may vary with other majors, some projects never leave paper). This is not to say that other colleges don’t have freshman design- some do.
As for how the material is presented, I don’t know any professors at Rose that don’t have several years of industry experience in their fields. The professor that teaches you structures has designed and built structures professionally. The soils professor has geotechnical engineering industry experience, etc. etc. Again, not to say that other colleges don’t have professors with industry experience, many do. However, it’s not uncommon to find professional academics who are more concerned with their research than the needs of their students. As a student at Rose-Hulman, you are your professor’s #1 priority.
I will second what @MomOf2TeenGirls said about students thriving in different environments. If Rose is right for your child (young adult!), they will know it in their gut.