Rowan Engineering very competitive to get into for class of 2024

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rowan University
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Unweighted GPA?

From that page, it looks like going from Gloucester to Rowan engineering majors requires a 3.5 college GPA (3.0 considered, presumably competitive admission if space is available). For non-engineering majors, the college GPA needed is 2.0 or 2.5 (arts majors require portfolio or audition).

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That would qualify under my comment “it’s a LOT harder to transfer for engineering than any of the other majors.”

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Hi there,
My son is a 2025 Electrical & Computer Engineering major at Rowan University. He entered Rowan with 12 credits (from AP Physics & AP Cal). He earned all A’s this semester except for one B in clinic. He also has a full merit scholarship that covers his tuition.

Last night we had a big talk and he said he doesn’t feel “challenged” at Rowan; he also said he doesn’t feel the course work is being taken seriously by the professors. He is now looking to transfer to a college that is more challenging.

Since your son went through the program at Rowan, I was wondering if he ever felt the same way? Or is my son feeling this way because it was only his first semester. Does it get better as time goes on? My son’s first semester consisted of Computer Science & Programming, ECE, First-Year Eng. Clinic, Elementary Japanese 1 and Cal 2.

Obviously, I don’t want to see him make such a huge decision because of one semester. However, he feels the program is not taken as seriously as he thought it would. But again, it’s just his first semester.

He is looking to complete transfer apps to MIT, University of California (Irvine), Duke, and North Carolina University.

Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated.

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Thanks for asking. I’m not going to attempt to delve into his feelings or expectations, just share my and my son’s experiences. I showed him your message and he shared his thoughts. He’s Civil Engineering Class of '13, now 30 with a wife, two kids, a nice house in MD (thanks to Rowan’s grants). Loves his job, which nowadays is all kinds of site design - large residential and commercial and government projects. He has worked and led projects with engineers at all the schools you mentioned (other than MIT and Cal/Irvine) plus Cornell (at which he was also accepted), Bucknell, Lafayette, Virginia Tech, and others. Doesn’t feel that they know any more than what he learned at Rowan. His wife is a biochemist/molecular biologist who works at the Baltimore lab with Johns Hopkins types. COVID front-liner soup-to-nuts. They’re affable nerds.

Not sure if my son (#3 or 4 of class of 500, three of top 5 went to Harvard) ever felt unchallenged. There was an element later on that he struggled with (by that I mean that a C was a likelihood). Can’t remember the class, but I suggested he take his lumps and, if need be, retake the class with another prof in the summer. He did and aced it. It’s not the A that counts - it’s the command of the material, and the comeback.

Freshman year is a transition time, toes in the toddler pool. It’s a club school, not a frat school. It’s not just about the 16 hours in the classroom but managing the 152 hours/week outside the classroom. Rowan wants students to be involved. Son and daughter absolutely crushed that part. Son played club soccer rather than varsity to free himself up for other stuff. Worked at the Rec Center a lot. Intermural sports & games. Was engineering rep on student government for a time. Was a PRO (peer referral & orientation crew). Roomies (two of them EEs) had a magnetic whiteboard on the fridge: “Where’s ____?” Then a list of checkboxes (“at the library”, “at the Rec Center”, “at the fields”, “at the lab”, “at Trivia Night”, etc.). It was funny.

Does “better” mean more demanding and challenging? Absolutely! If my son felt unchallenged, he’d find something to challenge himself. Did I feel that way when I was a freshman in 1974? ABSOLUTELY YES! But my major wasn’t nearly as demanding. Parts of it were a joke.

My vision of college (since my parents didn’t get to go) was what I saw on the old GE College Bowl. I wanted to one of them. For a career, I wanted to be a polyglot broadcaster or a writer - someone capable of doing hard news, features, sports, weather, etc. What did I do about it? I talked to my advisor.

What did my advisor do? “I see you’re taking advanced German.” He whipped out a 180-page book of the German director’s notes of a classic silent film called “Sunrise”. “Could you translate this for me?” “I’ll try,” I said. I flew through the typewritten notes, but much of it was hand-scrawled. Got it done. Then the advisor let me watch the movie.

We then mapped out a plan to basically create my own major, but within the framework of the core curriculum. Complicating that was Rowan (then Glassboro State) moved from a flat tuition schedule to a per-credit system. I didn’t have that kind of money (a whopping $22 per credit), but some professors (with help from my advisor) let me sit in their class off-the-books. One of them was a legend named Richard Mitchell, an English & Philosophy prof who wrote a renegade newsletter called “The Underground Grammarian”, which chided those using (and misusing) flowery phrases to disinform rather than inform . Two subscribers were conservative pundit George Will and talk show giant Johnny Carson. I actually got to help Dr. Mitchell prep material for one of his Carson appearances.

Rather than taking a theoretical TV production course, for example, I ventured often to the old KYW-TV studios at 5th & Market in Philly to hang in their newsroom or at a Mike Douglas Show taping. My “in” was Jessica Savitch, the first glam national female news anchor. Met her at my Mom’s church women’s club meeting, where she was a guest speaker. It was a Golden Ticket. Was also heavily involved with WGLS and, to a lesser degree, the newspaper (The Whit) and magazine (Venue). I also was a “stringer” for local newspapers - attending meetings (like planning board snorers) that reporters didn’t like to go to. If I got something newsworthy, I’d write it up and get paid a few cents per column inch plus a “For the /publication name/” byline for my portfolio.

That’s how it’s done. Walk into your advisor’s office and tell him/her your concerns. If he/she blows you off, switch advisors. This is where Rowan blows other schools away. You can do that. At other schools, profs don’t deal with undergrads. They concentrate on grad students. You’re liable to get a Grad Assistant. They’re helpful to a degree, but it’s not the same. Also, don’t be afraid to talk with upperclassmen. They’ve been in your shoes.

I was the world’s first gig worker for many years - Radio, TV, PR. I fell into technical recruiting almost by accident. Made enough $$ during the early '80s recession to buy out my bosses. I still continued my paid hobby as a radio morning clown until my daughter was born in 1994.

Back to your son. Not sure if you know about the clinics, so here goes: They’re interdisciplinary. You’ll have a team consisting of an EE, a CE, a ME, etc. to work collaboratively on a project. Freshman 1st semester, for example, they’ll be handed a circuitboard with some sensors and resisters, etc. and asked to create something that meets or exceeds certain specs. Each semester, the clinics get more elaborate and time-consuming. Every student in these things thinks they are the ones who do all the work and the others are slackers. Sometimes it’s true. But that is real world stuff. Engineering is collaboration. And the best engineer is not always the best presenter. Hiring managers don’t really care about where you went or even your grades. They care about the projects you worked on.

From my and son’s and others’ experience (not just at Rowan), 2nd semester Soph year is when the demanding stuff starts. Profs start testing & weeding out those who are in it for real, in it for their parents’ bragging rights, or just in it for the money. Helps the profs get their class sizes down, too. Soph year major changes and existential nihilism (thanks uncredited philosophy classes) are common. Don’t think your son fits that.

My guess is that he wouldn’t learn anything at Cal, Duke, or UNC that he wouldn’t learn at Rowan. His entry level position would probably be the same: a tester more than a developer. He also might need a 5th year to complete his degree. That’s expensive.

One of the big differences in my son’s major and your son’s (and my daughter’s) is that grad school is not nearly as important for a Civil Engineer than obtaining the Professional Engineer designation in whatever branch he chooses. EEs often need grad school to get to their goal. Borrowing money unnecessarily for undergrad really limits options, educationally, careerwise, and lifestyle wise. College is a path, not the end. A loan-free four-year degree is a major shortcut.

By the way, I’d highly recommend keeping a Project List journal in Excel or a database. Column A, name the project. Column B the goal. Column C the obstacles. Column D the remedies. Column E, the results. Column F what you’d like to improve next time. Column G, the contact info of a person who would vouch for it. Makes resume writing and interview prep that much easier. Companies do it to get more jobs; why don’t workers do it to get better jobs? I’m stumped.

Not sure about how COVID restrictions have affected your son’s ability to do this but back when my daughter played soccer, we’d venture over after Saturday night games to the engineering building to see what was going on. There was always something going on in the labs. Don’t be afraid to ask “Whatcha doin’?” If they don’t want to be bothered, they’d tell you. 90+% of the time, they would tell you exactly what they’re doing, explain it in mind-spinning detail, and with incredible enthusiasm. Always gave me hope for the world. Try it.

All that said, a closing note from my son: “If he can transfer into MIT, go for it.”

Thanks for reading this late-night diatribe.

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Did he take calculus in high school? When we toured with my son in the electrical engineering dept, the professor told us he read every essay himself and he decided who got into EE. He also said if you didn’t take Calculus in High School, you really needed to impress him with a really good reason because it was more than likely he would not admit you.
Otherwise, l can’t see why they would deny your son direct admission with those stats.

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We can agree that engineers are among the highest paid college graduates.

The problem with this post I’ve quoted is that it is comparing apples and oranges. From the payscale lists it’s linked is the following:

Stevens - 76% STEM majors
Rutgers - 31% STEM majors
Rowan - 22% STEM majors

Stevens alums have the highest salaries because they are disproportionately STEM majors, mostly engineers.

Given the choice that the OP presented, Rowan was the easy winner for me.

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This is great to know. I will definitely give him a heads-up on creating a spreadsheet of his projects and will be letting him read your response. I’m not quite sure what he was expecting, but I am hoping this semester is a bit more “challenging” for him so that he will stay. My thought is finish out the 4 years at Rowan and get your degree debt free and then transfer to another school for your masters. He did recently apply for a Google summer internship that is located in either Ireland or the UK–they give them a $9000 bonus and pay $27 p/h–not bad but I’m sure the applicant pool is huge but you never know.

His first semester he played club volleyball and archery. This semester he is gearing to join as many EE clubs as his schedule will allow and also try out for the club baseball team. I mean he likes the school and the friends he’s made. I think the biggest disappointment for him is that he doesn’t think the professors take their jobs seriously or that the EE program is not being taken seriously. Honestly, I just don’t know. But I think in time, he has to get more challenging as he goes along–it never gets easier. But again, I thank you so much for sharing your family’s stories and taking the time to get back to me. I will let you know what happens.

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Hello, my son is considering Engineering @ Rowan and I’m wondering how things turned out for your son who was considering transferring? Did he feel more challenged this year? What are his thoughts of the overall program at Rowan? Just trying to gather some information from several schools so that he can make an informed decision
 if not comfortable sharing here, we can connect privately. Thank you in advance!

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I think it depends on where you live and how far your student is willing to travel. Lockheed Martin hires mainly Rowan engineering students, but we live in East Brunswick and he doesn’t want to travel that far. However, my son had no problem getting an internship last summer that paid $42 per hour; the company asked him back for this summer. So in other words, he didn’t need to use the school for job placement, he did it on his own.