<p>Some questions to help with decision -</p>
<p>Will professors reach out to kids or do they wait for kids to come to them?</p>
<p>I know the work is hard and that is fine, but does it feel overwhelming and cutthroat?</p>
<p>What other schools are you considering? I am trying to decide between a technology school like RHIT and a more liberal arts with strong math.</p>
<p>Thanks for all help!</p>
<p>I’m not 100% sure what you mean by professors reaching out to kids, but I’ll give you my thoughts. Professors make every effort to be available to students: all professors have official office hours (usually at least 2 hours per day) that they are guaranteed to be in their office. But, anytime a professor is in their office, even outside of office hours, they encourage you to come ask questions. Additionally, some professors give out home phone numbers or other means of contacting them outside of normal business hours…I know one of my professors right now maintains various instant messaging accounts and is on them most nights so that students can get quick help on homework or when studying for exams. </p>
<p>Past that, there really isn’t much that they <em>can</em> do. It comes down to the student, of course…if the student doesn’t ask questions or go to the professor’s office, they can’t help much. But, the professors do everything they can to make themselves available and make sure that you understand the course material.</p>
<p>Aside from standard coursework help, professors do take an active role in helping students. I’ve had professors reach out to me with invitations to join research groups, unsolicited recommendations for internship opportunities, or even just “recruiting” me to take specific classes that they think I’d enjoy. But, a lot of this is because I take responsibility for my learning in their classes. Since my freshmen year I haven’t taken a single course where I didn’t talk to the professor outside of class multiple times - either for homework questions or just to talk about the material (well, with one exception: Technical and Professional Communication…). Consequently, I have very good relationships with a lot of my department’s faculty. There’s nothing special about me - the faculty are ready to help any student who makes the effort.</p>
<p>The work is hard, but not cutthroat. The environment is very conducive to cooperation, and “cutthroat” is the last word I would think to describe it. I’ve studied with many fellow students and we all try to help each other succeed. I’m not aware of any courses that grade on a “bell” curve where you are pitted against your classmates for grades. Some students may find the work overwhelming at first - especially when you hit some of the core engineering courses sophomore and junior year - but I think that’s normal in most engineering curricula. If you work hard, don’t wait to start until the day before a project is due, and use the resources available to you, it is definitely manageable. The school provides various resources to help you with coursework (ex: see [The</a> Learning Center](<a href=“404 | Rose-Hulman”>404 | Rose-Hulman)).</p>
<p>I’m a current senior at Rose. My college search focused on technical schools as opposed to LACs (CMU, RPI, WPI, Caltech were some schools I looked at). The very focused technical curriculum drew me to Rose, and is a significant difference with many LACs. But, I do know many people compare Rose to technically-strong LACs because of their similar environments and educational approaches.</p>