My daughter (1470 SAT / AP CALC, Physics) is looking at colleges. We are from NJ. We looked at Rutgers and was not impressed. The Busch Campus seemed very isolated not being on College Ave. We visited Rensselaer which she liked. Going down to see Virginia Tech in the spring. Understand that Rowan has a good reputation and the school of engineering is making strides. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
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I’m sure it’s fine - but it’s not Va Tech or any number of schools in regards to reputation (including Rutgers). If you’re open, you can do a lot better name wise - not necessarily educationally.
What is her GPA? UW and weighted.
What kind of school is she looking for - small, big, urban, rural, greek, sports - you have a whole variety you are looking at. Is there a specific geography? Like within x hours of home.
What’s dad’s hot point from a cost POV? Not what you can afford - but what do you want to afford? Will you qualify for need aid, etc.?
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We are also from NJ. Our son graduated HS in 2021 with a 4.0 unweighted gpa & 1540 SAT. He is studying electrical engineering now at Georgia Tech, but we seriously considered all the New Jersey public schools because of cost. Of them all, he preferred Rowan by far above Rutgers and NJIT(though NJIT did have a lot to offer). We completely agree with you - the Busch campus at Rutgers is so uninspiring and isolated. It’s slated to be pretty much completely bulldozed and rebuilt in the next ten years or so. It’s a shame because I agree Rutgers has the best ‘reputation’/‘name recognition’ of the NJ public schools, and I’m sure the engineering program is solid. However, I believe that in the next ten years, Rowan will be equally as well-known for engineering. Look up ‘Henry Rowan’ on Wikepedia and you’ll learn about all the money been poured into their engineering program - quite an incredible story!
We toured Rowan twice, and met individually with the head of the electrical engineering department. We loved pretty much everything about it - location, campus, engineering building, students and faculty we met. It was a very very difficult decision to forgo their generous merit offer, and the small, thoughtful, personalized engineering curriculum they have. In the end we let our DS choose, and he preferred the more ‘techie’ vibe that encompasses all of Georgia Tech. I highly recommend going to an Open House at Rowan, and specifically to the mechanical engineering presentation.
Beyond these schools, DS was also admitted to the following, all of which are great engineering schools that you might want to consider: U Maine, Case Western, Colorado School of Mines, Pitt, Rose Hullman, Clarkson, Northeastern, RPI, Stevens, U Michigan, & Cornell
LMK if u have any questions!
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Rowan does seem to be up and coming. Good reports. Because of ABET accreditation, curriculum doesn’t vary much from one engineering school to another. Certainly have to like the price as an instater.
RPI also has a lot to like - especially for a young woman. RPI has a stated goal of increasing it’s proportion of female students from the current roughly 32% and they seem to be lying to put money behind the effort to achieve that goal.
Research has shown that women tend to be treated better by their male counterparts on a campus that is predominantly male than they are on campuses that are 50/50 or are predominantly female - as more and more campuses are becoming.
One other thing to like about RPI is that they continue the same financial aid package for students who choose to continue for a 5th year of graduate studies to pursue their master’s degree (coterminal program). Anyone has to like that opportunity.
I’m super biased because I’m near Rowan and know so many students and families who’ve benefited from their programs including my daughter who has done some music activities (she’s in hs). As a university it’s really only known locally to residents but is well known on the east coast with employers. The new CEO of my company in NJ is a graduate of the business school. The school of engineering is difficult to get into because it’s so affordable and is a great return on investment. Definitely check out an open house and see for yourself if your daughter would find it as a fit. It could be a good match, can’t call it a safety because there’s just so many applicants anymore for engineering.
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This.
When someone is hiring a liberal arts major they’re making a bet on potential because the things they studied in college aren’t what they’ll be doing on the job. The secondary skills, sure (study habits, ability to write well, etc) But not the direct academic classes.
Engineering is different. The material learned in class is used on the job. The skills are testable in an hour interview. And, as mentioned, the engineering classes are to a significant extent similar. Sure there’s a boost to have Caltech or MIT on your resume, but employers view the majority of engineering programs as roughly equivalent.
Pick a school for fit, finances, etc. and also consider the alternative majors if she decides engineering isn’t right for her after all.
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