anniezz

I would disagree with the assessment that Rutgers and Rowan are academically equivalent, or that a Rutgers education is not very well regarded, particularly in certain fields. While Rowan has made great strides to improve it's education quality and it's academic standing, particularly in engineering (and a few others) it still does not enjoy the reputation of Rutgers, nor can it be considered equal to Rutgers as a research institution. Especially over the last several years, Rutgers has attracted top-notch students - students who had opportunities to attend ivies, who took advantage of the generous scholarship offers and knew that they were still able to receive excellent educations that would open doors for them. Rutgers has been unable to attract a larger OOS student-body due to it's high tuition cost, but given the education stats for NJ, that has not limited the quality of students that attend.
I would have been happy had my son chose to attend, and I keep urging my daughter to seriously consider it.

As an employer, my company has been very pleased with our rutgers grads (both undergrad and graduate degrees.)

MechE13

davsulli really?!? I won't argue what Rutgers has to offer, I'm sure it is a great school but maybe you need to talk to other people at Rowan. Nobody here regards our school as just a place for "cop or teachers". The people who say that are those partying on a Thursday and coasting through school on easy major's barely getting C's. The Rowan I know is academically rigorous, challenging, and has some of the best professor's you'll meet who are there to support you if you take the time to seek them out. I won't list a whole bunch of reasons, but as a student at Rowan to say our classes are easier or less is just a joke. Come study engineering here for 4 years and tell me how much "easier" they are please.

I don't mean to come off as defensive but I think every school has less academically challenging paths. If you are open to the challenge Rowan in certain majors will offer that to you. I will defend my professor's forever as well, they are fantastic, smart, and inspire me. Not everyone is amazing mind you, but at least in my experience if you seek out help and are a good student they will reward you that back.

sivachevy - Please PM me, I'm a graduate student in Engineering, I'd be happy to answer your questions.

"He won't take any general ed classes as an engineering major, unless he chooses them as electives (unlikely)." - This is incorrect, every engineering major is required to take certain general education classes, it's a University wide policy. It's not many (maybe 5?) and offer a great change to try something else out. You will have to take a 3 credit Art class for example, I took Photography which is a nice break from the rigorous engineering days. Some of those AP classes may count I'm not totally sure but a few Gen Ed's will need to be taken regardless.

I didn't do the honors since as a transfer it would have added unnecessary time to my degree but a few engineers I know did. The honor's only housing is pretty sweet though, it's brand new and is the best on campus.

If you or your son have questions please feel free to PM me, I've been at Rowan since 2008 as an engineering undergrad/grad student.

** I also have posted numerous times on these boards information regarding our Engineering programs and what to expect. I noticed this coming up a lot in this conversation. I hope to make a post detailing information in one location soon, but in the meantime seek out my posts and PM me if you want. Clearly I am a passionate Rowan student! Love the Prof **