<p>Now, I know that RHIT is ranked #1 among schools without a PhD program, but where should it be placed among those schools that do have PhD programs as far as undergrad? I've been wondering this seeing as it is put in a whole different category. Is it up with the top 10 or so schools on the normal list or would you put it even lower than that?</p>
<p>Also, why does it seem like a lot of people don't even know about the school? It is seen as such a great engineering school, yet it is not at all widely known.</p>
<p>It’s not widely known because it’s small and focuses more on education than research. I’ve yet to meet anyone who went there and wouldn’t recommend the place.</p>
<p>Lower than top 10 I would say. Lets not get carried away with the “focus on education” thing. Small classes and personal attention is generally of little importance in technical fields. In the end, you’ll mostly be learning from textbooks and labs regardless of where you go.</p>
<p>I would have to disagree. Small classes and the support that Rose gives are very important. I know that for a FACT. Take a look at the % of graduation success at these school in the the below link.</p>
<p>Rose is a very different school for that reason. Take a look at the below link and you can see how important it is. </p>
<p>The magazine stated, “Harvey Mudd, Rose-Hulman and Olin have succeeded not just because they are small, but because they are good schools that attract strong students.”</p>
<p>Hands On Education: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s hands-on, project-based focus on engineering education engages students, particularly in their first and second year.
Later, the article cites that “experts contend there’s a need for more American-born kids to find engagement in engineering and the model used by Harvey Mudd, Olin and Rose-Hulman is one that seems to work.”</p>
<p>Design News points out that the small colleges try harder to engage students, particularly in their first and second year, when many lose interest in an engineering degree.</p>
<p>Learning from textbooks huh? That’s definitely NOT my experiences with engineering. In many classes I very rarely opened the textbook for anything other than some homework problems or to maybe look up something small. The bulk majority of the learning happened in the lecture and the associated notes. Labs also helped reinforce some of the key concepts, but there was not 100% overlap.</p>
<p>Thank you for your responses. So, if I had the chance to either go to RHIT or to UIUC in chemical engineering? Which would you say was the better choice? I know it mostly comes down to preference, but I love the idea of small class sizes with a small campus. Also, I plan to go into grad school anyway right after for environmental engineering (most likely) and I would definitely go to UIUC for that. So that’s why I asked for your opinion, not to make up my mind for me, but just to see what you think.</p>
<p>Also, if I was a student at RHIT, do you think it would be very hard to get into UIUCs engineering program?</p>
<p>I would say the better choice depends largely upon your goals and set of circumstances. We can give recommendations and suggestions but ultimately you need to do what is right for you.</p>
<p>Visit both schools. I know RHIT has some kind of summer program that you might be interested in. I never really looked at UIUC so I have no idea what they offer. When will you start college?</p>
<p>What is your financial situation like? If you don’t anticipate much in the way of scholarships and/or you don’t have parents ready to pay for tuition, you might want to look more into UIUC (which I’m assuming is in-state for you). Tuition might just sound like some random number at this point in time, but it will become a VERY REAL number when it comes time to start paying student loans back. Having to pay back $60,000 (just a number I made up, it could be more or substantially less) doesn’t sound like that big of a deal when you’ve never really had to worry about things like rent/mortgage, utilities, etc. but it really is quite a large number and will require you to make some lifestyle adjustments compared to graduating debt free.</p>
<p>This is not to scare you away from student loans and a more expensive school, but rather something you should be aware of. If you visit RHIT and like it and like the idea of smaller classes then it’s probably worth the debt. If you really cannot decide between the two, then the cheaper option is probably the best. Both are great schools and you cannot go wrong with either.</p>
<p>Getting into UIUC for graduate school will depend more on you than the school you choose to attend for undergrad. If you do well you will be able to get in even if you go to some obscure university. The reputation of your school does matter a bit, but RHIT is a well-respected school so you will have nothing to worry about.</p>
<p>Honestly it would probably be in the 50s or 60s. When I was choosing what college to go to I saw RHIT as having about the same quality as WPI or RIT.</p>
<p>The thing was that Rose was too expensive for me.</p>
<p>Ya, that seems to be the problem for me too. It just seems very expensive.</p>
<p>Thank you PurdueEE! I’m in my senior year of high school so I don’t start college for another year. Also, I do live in Illinois. I am definitely going to be under a financial strain too, so i do have to take that into consideration.</p>
<p>How do you think RHIT compares to IIT? IIT is another option for me, so I am also looking into that. </p>
<p>What school would you recommend for engineering to an Illinois student who can’t go very far because of his parents?</p>
<p>If you’re intending to go to grad school, it’s an obvious choice. You have a “hands-on, project-based” school (per cheezwhiz) on one hand, and a real research school on the other hand. Considering that grad school is all about research, it would be better to be exposed to that environment early on. RHIT appears to have some research going on, but there’s a reason why we separate these rankings into doctorate producing schools and all others – it’s just not the same.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t rank RHIT quite as low as 50s-60s as al6200 did but it really is not comparable to the top doctorate producing schools at all. Harvey Mudd and Olin might be though, but their success is also due to having very high caliber students.</p>
<p>Learning to learn from text books is extremely important. When you find yourself working there will be no professors to give you 3 hours worth of prepared lecture every week. Just a co-worker who will go “oh yeah read up on XXXXX” and you’ll need to do that on your own.</p>
<p>Hi,
I’m an RHIT alum and teach at a top 10 research school in Engineering. </p>
<p>I’d say that for me Rose was the best choice. Smaller school let me get highly involved in many many activities in a leadership role. Plus the technical education was outstanding <em>until</em> the senior year when it slid quite a bit. But the teaching was almost always good (one or two exceptions) and people were there to teach you rather than do research. I learned a LOT because the teaching was so good. In my field the senior year was a lot less than it could and should have been. </p>
<p>Would I make the same choice (I too debated between UIUC and Rose)? Yes. But money worked out for me fairly well (parents helped as much as they could) and I got lucky and found a job for a short while that let me live very poorly but pay off the loans in 6 months. And I just had a blast with non-academic things. Not partying, but learning to lead and follow and work with others. Very useful and very powerful for me (a fairly uber geek even today). UIUC might have been just as good, but I’d have been more of a number I think, and for where I was at the time, I think that would have gone poorly…</p>