Hey Guys,
I am having quite some difficulty in choosing between Cooper Union and RHIT. Before last year, I could see clear winner - Cooper attractive financial aid and high competitiveness, however after the tuition raise and the increase in acceptance rates, I cant seem to decided between these schools. If the tuition costs did not matter, which college do you guys think is better for Engineering?
P.S. I am an international Student.
They are both great schools. You should consider where they are and the culture as possible distinguishing factors. Where are you from?
They are both good. Look at other factors as well–do you want to be in the city or on a more traditional college campus?
They are both great schools - and they are completely different from each other! It’s a great choice to have, and you can’t go wrong with either one, so it really gets down to where you think you’d be more comfortable. I’d guess Rose has a much more cohesive student body than you’d find at Cooper - 60% of the Rose-Hulman students live on campus, and only 20% at Cooper. So what do you want - the more traditional college experience (RHIT) or the independence of living on your own in NYC?
One other thing to consider … . attending college in NYC is going to be expensive. And I don’t mean tuition, or even the cost of housing, but just day-to-day living - going out to meals or a movie or whatever. None of it is going to be cheap!
@dsterlin‌: Thank you for your advice! As an international student, who has never been to the US, it is difficult for me to gauge the cultures in these two different institutions. I will definitely need consider factors like culture and location.
I am from India however I spent most of my life in the middle east studying in international schools with really diverse student bodies.
@dodgersmom‌: On one hand, I do sort of prefer the cohesiveness and the closed campus life of RHIT but yet I remain in a dilemma, as I feel the reputation of The Cooper Union is much more and that recruiters may be more impressed by a cooper union degree than that of RHIT. Do you think Cooper Union still holds a recognition which is more pronounced than RHIT? As an international student, I had never heard of these colleges before I did my college search so I am not truly aware of how these colleges perceived in the local scenario especially by the recruiters.
My understanding is that engineering is one of those fields where skills count for a lot more than where you went to school. But I’m not an engineer, nor do I have any personal experience with the hiring of engineers. I will say, however, that, from everything I’ve heard, being an engineering student is extraordinarily difficult, so, if you have a choice, pick the environment where you’ll be more comfortable. No sense in making these four years any harder than they need to be.
Both schools are well respected “small” Engineering Schools. Having lived in both New York City and Terre Haute Indiana, I would recommend Cooper Union. Terre Haute can be a very depressing small town, with very little diversity and not much going on in that City.
I’m curious as to why you have selected these two small, expensive ( COA > $64K/year) Engineering Programs?
@dodgersmom‌ I agree with you regarding the importance of the study environment. In fact that is the reason I have applied to small engineering schools and LACs like Lafayette and Union.
I noticed that your S/D is also pursuing engineering, would you mind sharing his/her experience as an engineering student and what college he/she is in? I noticed your thread as you made the decision between LACs and traditional engineering schools. How did you decide between the two different college experiences? Thank you.
@Psata82‌: Thanks for the pointers on Terre Haute!! Thank god they have a campus otherwise it would have been dreadful for rose students to stay there. Anyways thanks I will keep that in mind.
The reason I chose these small engineering schools is because I like the small classroom environment.
Btw just to clarify Cooper Union would cost 41K after the half-tuition scholarship they offer to all admitted students.
While rose hulman would cost 55K after they give their scholarships.
For $56K difference, looks like Cooper is the smart choice.
Both solid schools, with the small classes your are looking for.
Good luck!
Other financial considerations:
(1) Flying into NYC will be cheaper than flying into Indiana.
(2) Where will you stay during school breaks (like Thanksgiving & Spring Break)? Campus housing at Cooper Union is apartment-style, so it’s open from the start of the school year ’til the end. At Rose, you’d be in a dorm, so you should find out what arrangements they have for international students - will you be allowed to stay in your dorm over breaks if you want to, or will the dorms be closed? (This info is probably on the RHIT website.)
I’d vote for Cooper, even that $56K for four years will soon be eaten up by the expensive living cost in the NYC. But I think NYC has lot to offer during the school days on jobs and interns and Cooper is a silightly better name in STEM fields.
Cooper’s engineering program is significantly more selective, but significantly smaller (about 4x) with fewer specialties offered.
If you are not a US citizen, make sure you fully understand the restrictions for non-citizens working in the US when making your decision. Reputations tend to be regional and programs tend to reflect the needs of the region’s job market, so job placement tends to be stronger within the region. If you can work in the US, would you rather work in the Northeast or the Midwest?
Cooper is really more of a specialty pre-professional school combining engineering, architecture and art. Rose Hulman is more of a non-research version of Georgia Tech. Cooper culture will tend to be more “artsy” than Hulman, but more “pre-professional” than an engineering department embedded in a liberal arts college (which will have a large population of students majoring in the humanities). Engineering departments in liberal arts colleges can vary dramatically in size and emphasis (theory vs. application of theory).
Hulman’s engineering department is actually bigger than a number of small research universities - it just performs less research.
You can play around with the ASEE (Society of Engineering Education) database to compare the two programs. Just select the area of interest from the column on the left.
http://profiles.asee.org/profiles/6556/screen/19?school_name=The+Cooper+Union
http://profiles.asee.org/profiles/6556/screen/20?school_name=The+Cooper+Union
http://profiles.asee.org/profiles/6488/screen/19?school_name=Rose-Hulman+Institute+of+Technology
http://profiles.asee.org/profiles/6488/screen/20?school_name=Rose-Hulman+Institute+of+Technology
Some other highly selective specialty schools:
http://profiles.asee.org/profiles/6579/screen/21?school_name=Olin+College+of+Engineering
http://profiles.asee.org/profiles/6134/screen/21?school_name=Harvey+Mudd+College
http://profiles.asee.org/profiles/6486/screen/21?school_name=Webb+Institute
Some Liberal Arts Colleges with engineering departments (i.e grant mostly batchelors degrees)
http://profiles.asee.org/profiles/6604/screen/20?school_name=Bucknell+University
http://profiles.asee.org/profiles/6600/screen/20?school_name=Lafayette+College
http://profiles.asee.org/profiles/6477/screen/20?school_name=Union+College
http://profiles.asee.org/profiles/6503/screen/20?school_name=Trinity+College
http://profiles.asee.org/profiles/6637/screen/20?school_name=Swarthmore+College
Some highly regarded “Masters Universities” with engineering departments (i.e. grant a reasonable number of masters degrees)
http://profiles.asee.org/profiles/6482/screen/20?school_name=Villanova+University
http://profiles.asee.org/profiles/6198/screen/21
Some small “Research Universites” with engineering departments (i.e. grant some Phds)
http://profiles.asee.org/profiles/6099/screen/21?school_name=William+Marsh+Rice+University
http://profiles.asee.org/profiles/5981/screen/21?school_name=Tufts+University