<p>The majority of our incoming freshman students are undecided as to which area of science, mathematics or engineering to major in, but they must KNOW it is somewhere in that realm. We don’t expect a 17 year old to even know what Optical Engineering is let alone know that is what s/he wants to make a 40+ year career out of.</p>
<p>Rose-Hulman is not a LAC where graduates are educated in everything and qualified to do nothing. As you note, our name implies an understanding among our students of what they want to do just like at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, California Polytechnic Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology, and so on. We are not a trade school just like the schools listed are not trade schools.</p>
<p>Students typically will choose their major by the end of the first year, but some go even longer to decide.</p>
<p>Hope that helps.</p>
<p>Jared Goulding
Assistant Director of Admissions
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology</p>