<p>My son has visited both MIT and Rose-Hulman and loves both schools but felt more comfortable at Rose. He has the right stuff to get into MIT so he has a chance to get accepted. Would it be that bad if he turned down MIT to go to Rose? Both are great schools but MIT has world recognition while Rose is only known by those who really matter. For example, I met a Human resources manager who only hires Rose engineers because they are more effective writers and better understand project management than grads from the larger engineering universities. I also met a rose grad that got a graduate degree at Caltech and is working on some amazing stuff. Any input from those people that are familiar with both schools would be very helpful.</p>
<p>My son visited and applied to both MIT and Rose-Hulman and (thankfully) did not get accepted at MIT. I say thankfully because I did not feel MIT was the best fit for my son, and he had told me that it would be hard to turn down had he been accepted.</p>
<p>While visiting colleges a couple of years ago, we also visited a nearby state school that is considered a “public Ivy” where my son was accepted but never close to his first choice. During our visit, my son spoke with a physics professor who asked where all my son was applying. When my son listed the schools, the professor said that he had gone to MIT for his graduate work. He recommended that my son not go to MIT for undergrad but wait to go there for grad school. His thought was that my son would have more opportunities for research, etc. at a school focused more on their undergrads.</p>
<p>As it turns out, since my son has been taking some sophomore/junior level classes during his freshman year, he has found Rose to be quite challenging. Thankfully, because Rose-Hulman is so student focused, he has been able to get the help he needed - which probably would not have been so easy to do at MIT.</p>
<p>All that being said, MIT does have the name recognition, and some students do quite well there. It really comes down to what is the best fit for the student. Good luck to your son! It’s an exciting time in his life!</p>
<p>Thank you for your reply. It was very helpful. Rose would probably be a better fit for my son too. Everybody seems to agree that Rose students work their butts off and love their school. Good luck to your son also, and thanks again!</p>
<p>Our son applied to both Rose and MIT last year and we were in a very similar situation. He was accepted at Rose, but not MIT. He was looking for an excellent engineering school, but something that had a smaller/more personalized approach. We found that while there are many excellent engineering programs, schools that meet those requirements are not easy to find. He was also looking to participate in a D3 sport. His list eventually included Rose, MIT, Wash U, Case Western, Univ of Rochester and RPI. In the end, he had several choices and decided to attend Case. We visited Rose and were extremely pleased with the reception we received, the kindness of the staff, student attitude and interest, etc. While Rose provided some merit aid, Case was much more generous (than all of the other schools) and had some other programmatic and intangible benefits related to commute, sports involvement, urban/community/cultural life, etc. Many good choices here - I do agree that “fit” is most important.</p>