<p>I know Rose-Hulman is tied for first place with Harvey Mudd on the no doctorate engineering ranking. Harvey Mudd and Cooper Union both sound at least a little difficult, but I've haven't heard much about Rose-Hulman being rigorous. Perhaps that's just because I haven't heard a lot about Rose-Hulman in general. What does everyone else think? Is it as hard as Harvey Mudd and Cooper Union? Thank you for your input.</p>
<p>Well, I personally think Rose-Hulman is like a private version (thus with more individual attention) of Purdue or University of Illinois, both highly regarded engineering schools. However, I think schools like Harvey Mudd, Cooper Union, or Olin Engineering, offer quite a non-traditional curriculum. For instance, at Harvey Mudd, the common engineering core seems a little more than the set of common required classes here. I think if you are comparing Rose to Mudd, it’s almost like comparing the traditional engineering curriculum to one that’s unique only to Mudd. That is, you have majors in Electrical engineering, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, etc etc at schools like Rose, Purdue, GaTech, but not at Harvey Mudd. All they have is a well-rounded major called Engineering (besides computer science, mathematics, etc etc).</p>
<p>Thank you for pointing that out.</p>
<p>In that case, how about Rose-Hulman in comparison with Georgia Tech? As to the schools you mentioned, the impression I have of Purdue is that it’s not very rigorous, but I do consider UIUC to be rigorous. Of course, I could be wrong, those are just the impressions I got from my college visits. So would you say Rose-Hulman falls between those two?</p>
<p>ipopova, I am currently a junior mechanical engineering major at Rose, and I’ll tell you about my experience. On paper Rose’s curriculum may look very similar to other schools, but Rose focuses on hands-on experiences and projects to complement the lectures. I am taking classes now that are basically all lab with very little traditional lecturing. Rose also structures its classes differently. Most majors take the “Sophomore Curriculum” which teaches the problem solving framework and approach that is applicable to all majors and incorporates multiple disciplines, rather than focusing on one field and picking up pieces of the problem solving skills along the way. This was developed by Rose and the Foundation Coalition and is being implemented at other schools. As a current student my opinion is that Rose is very rigorous, and several times professors have mentioned that we are learning material above an beyond what the ABET accreditation requires because they have gotten feedback that the material is important. It is also worth noting that at smaller schools like Rose, no one can fall through the cracks, in other words everyone must meet the same, high standards to graduate. Ultimately the opinions of prospective employers are the ones that matter, and the excellent job placement rates and heavy campus recruiting indicate that they believe Rose provides a rigorous education.</p>
<p>Thank you. That was very helpful in trying to get a sense of Rose-Hulman.</p>
<p>But still, I would say Rose is a different kind of rigor compared to Harvey Mudd. In my opinion, Rose caters students with the intention to go into the industry and specialize in an engineering field, whereas Mudd caters students that hope for a more well rounded science/engineering education. In overall, if you are more interested in the sciences, probably Harvey Mudd is a better place, but for engineering, I would say that’s where Rose’s strength lies. Nevertheless, you won’t go wrong with either small school, but just that these two schools have two different focuses.</p>
<p>I see. Thank you.</p>