Hi, S22 recently did a summer program at Rose Hulman and is considering applying. At pick up, a parent of a current sophomore told us how poorly the last year went for his daughter and others. He said none of the marketed supports materialized. His daughter failed multiple classes.
In one class, every student failed except the few who were repeating the course. Profs wouldn’t meet with students outside class and tutoring was not widely available. His daughter’s roommate dropped out entirely, as well as another freshman on their floor.
This kind of feedback is very concerning, especially because the school seems to pride itself on being challenging, but supportive.
I’m curious if there are any recent experiences that could help confirm or deny what we were told? Feel free to PM.
I would get onto a Facebook group or the like associated with Rose and do a deeper dive. Never heard of a school not meeting with or helping students. Even during the pandemic. If there is lot more of similar stories then I would stay away. The people I know that went there enjoyed their time there. But it’s a really hard school, no question about that.
His son was in the summer program. I guess I’ll try FB. This man’s comments were red flags in an area of particular importance. I know the squeaky wheel makes the most noise, but I am particularly sensitive to hearing about kids dropping out due to lack of support!
The unfortunate reality is that not everyone’s kid is going to make it through engineering, regardless of how many supports are in place. Engineering is tough and at a school like Rose, there aren’t many other options to transfer into if a student wants to change major.
I would also highly doubt that “everyone” failed. That would be a big red flag for administration if a prof failed his entire class. That’s the kind of thing a kid tells a parent to make them feel better.
We had a parent like that in our parent group my D’s freshman year who was plastering the page saying that “everyone failed” the final. Turned out D was in the same class and section and said that only a handful of kids (out of 300+) failed the final (profs post the grade distributions and stats). Also turns out that D knew this kid personally and said he was a partier, never showed up to the mandatory recitations, nor review sessions, nor office hours.
My son did the summer camp last month as well. I ended up on a tour on both the first and last days. I asked questions about how last year went and both tour guides said it went well with some in person and some online, but professors willing to help as needed. No big complaints.
If this was true, I’d expect it to show up in the Rose-Hulman subreddit. I read posts for different schools for insight about culture and other issues that need to be watched. Kids are not shy about exposing things that aren’t right. Example: Read the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute posts about their ARCH program.
I’ve never seen anything for Rose-Hulman like what this father is describing. I see lots of posts about the academic rigor. But inevitably it resolves to, “You’ll work hard and Rose-Hulman provides support all the way. I’ve loved it.” If something of this magnitude was occurring, no one has talked about it.
Agreed! And is the implicit message, “You’re in”? They don’t say so outright, but that surely seems the implication. S22 will be pleased to see that email.
It’s a compelling incentive, for sure! They will receive an application from S22. I may do more digging into the rigor/support situation, but otherwise this school is a pretty good fit.
Can’t speak to how RH handled Covid, but my neighbour raved about how well her son did there prior. He was an uninspired B student in HS, but blossomed there due to the attention that he received.
It’s a legitimate question to ask how they handled the COVID year. Also they don’t give away a lot of full scholarships but with a decent GPA /Act /Sat they will give away many half scholarships. My son got one but decided he needed a bigger school atmosphere.
I agree, especially as the 2021 school year starts and Covid is not a distant memory. I know Rose Hulman did better than some schools in terms of staying open and managing cases. WPI has some worrisome comments here on CC and I know Michigan has not been lauded for their response, but large universities were particularly challenged. It’s hard to tease out the real story outside of FB parent groups. Once S22 has some acceptances, we’ll dig deeper.
“Rose-Hulman Parents’ Group” on Facebook allows prospective parents to join. It is a very supportive group and I have learned lots. They are honest about the academic rigor, but also about the support that students receive. A great place to double-check about these classes.
This guy talked my husband’s ear off and clearly needed to vent. Who knows what really happened with his daughter’s class.