Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Reviews

"I write this in regard to another review that the number of credits and the pace is "a ripoff". It dismisses all the reasons why a tiny school like Rose-Hulman is rated #17 in the country in the WSJ 2023 college rankings. The quarter system is not for everyone. Instead of taking 5 classes at 3 credits each for 2 semesters per year, you take 4 classes at 4 credits for 3 quarters per year. Rose covers 15 weeks of material in 10 weeks by meeting 4 times per week instead of 3. Instead of taking 10 (5x2) clases per year, you take 12 (4x3). I consider this a 20% bonus if you are comparing schools apples to apples, considering cost, quality, merit scholarships, etc. And your butt will be in a classroom seat about the same number of hours per week (15 vs 16). It's like magic if you value full on immersion learning. Over the course of 4 years, you will end up with 8 more semester equivalent classes than most other schools. With this, you can do what I did and take some graduate level classes in your undergraduate degree. Or you can redo a class or two that you'd like to drop, grade replace, or grade average. Or you can swing a double major without having to go to summer sessions or bring in a ton of AP credits. There are other programs too. There are a lot of great schools who use a semester system and maybe a slower pace with more subjects is better for some kids. The advantages of quarters are significant, though. Coming out of freshman year, you will have more classes that fully relate to your major because there are 2 additional classes which at many schools would be taught in sophmore year. This is a major advantage for post freshman year internships because recruiters know you can do real projects. You quickly get used to learning at a faster pace, which sticks with you your entire career. Thirdly, you likely have more breadth and depth to your education because of the quarter structure. As and added bonus, because they don't have a PhD program, you'll never get lectured by a Teaching Assistant, just the real deal professors you paid for. It's not for everyone, but if your jam is to get best education possible from professors who only care about educating undergrads, it's hard to go wrong. The cons. It's a small school and its in Terre Haute, IN. They work you pretty hard, but really no harder than any other tier 1 school. The other question to ask...."will my scholarships stay in place if my grades take a turn for the worse?" Many schools will drop you out of your program and take your money. Rose guarantees their merit scholarships for 4 years and won't kick you out of your program if you stay in good standing. (there are some large ticket competitive scholarships that do require maintaining GPA)"

"I went to Rose for 2 years, but I decided to transfer. Before you commit to this school you should really look at what you are getting into because it is ALOT of credits to graduate. To be specific, with whatever major you choose you will need to complete about 60-80 more credit hours during your time there as compared to most other schools. The school moves in quarters, so there are three terms throughout the year. Things move pretty quickly, so ALL of those extra classes that you will take due to having an extra term more than most universities, are for nothing. There is no benefit to pushing yourself and going at such an accelerated pace. The curriculum is designed to be completed in four years and 12 semesters, with each semester requiring about 16 credit hours. Compared to most S.T.E.M. degrees elsewhere, you are only going to need to complete 8 semesters at about 16 credit hours to graduate. So yeahhh Rose is a great school, but also a rip-off just to get a bachelor's degree."

"I got an excellent education. The professors take their time to work with you in all classes. There is a lot of work so it's not like other colleges."