<p>Hi all!
I am considering to apply these two in Fall 2006. These 2 stand quite well in US News and World Report rankings
- UT stand 3rd after UC Berkeley and UIUC in the rankings for schools whose highest degree is dotoral’s
- While Rose- Hulman stand first in the ranking for schools whose highest degree is a bachelor’s or master’s.</p>
<p>So, which would you recommend for me. Please clarify for me the difference between these two rankings, cos’ I am an international student and not really know about the difference, and why US News have 2 rankings for just 1 major.
Thanks,</p>
<p>The difference in the two rankings is simply that US News chose to separately rank universities with post-graduate Ph.D programs from colleges without such programs. The reason is mainly that US News felt like doing it and believed it would sell better that way. It does similar things in the rest of its rankings like ranking separately universities from Liberal Arts Colleges. US News is a magazine and its rankings are designed to sell magazines. You should not place huge weight on those rankings in choosing a college. </p>
<p>What you really need to do is find out as much as you can about the two colleges to determine if you may want to attend. In other words, gather info on them either on-line or through the college. In that vein, I can give a little information:</p>
<p>No matter what college you go to for engineering in the US, the course material you will be taught is mostly the same. Where Rose-Hulman excels over most colleges is in its quality of teaching. Its teachers get tenure not by doing research and publishing articles that no one reads but instead by teaching experience and quality of teaching. Its professors also do research and use undergrad students to aid them but tenure does not depend on it; Rose-Hulman professors are also known for actually writing a number of the text books that are used in undergraduate science and engineering at other universities. If you want to be taught by mostly very good and experienced professors who make themselves readily available after hours to meet and help students, then consider Rose-Hulman. It has a very pretty but small campus, decent dorm rooms and good athletic facilities. However, an international may view Rose-Hulman as having downsides he might want to avoid. First, it is in Terra Haute, Indiana, a small, very conservative, midwestern US city that has minimal places for entertainment or culture, is surrounded 50 miles in any direction by farmland, forests and a few tiny towns, and gets very cold and usually snowy in the winter. Second, it has a male to female student ratio of 4 to 1. Third, most students at RH are white and from the central US and it has only a small number of international students or minorities. Note, it does not try to be that way because it spends huge amounts trying to recruit more minorities and internationals, but has had only limited success.</p>
<p>University of Texas is a large university in Austin, Texas, which is also a very good engineering school, although, like many universities, its ranking is significantly influenced by its graduate programs and research activities rather than its actual teaching of undergrads. Texas is mostly a culture of its own, where many actually wear cowboy hats and boots, actually carry shotguns in their pick-up trucks, and there are even places where you can go watch hundreds of tarantulas march down the street en masse during their mating season. The thing about Austin though is that many claim it really is not like the rest of Texas. It is actually in a hilly, scenic mountainous area unlike most of Texas which is fairly flat terrain. It has a lot of non-Texans who now live there and it is a city well-regarded in culture facilities and entertainment. The university is a research university, meaning many of those full professors with names in their fields won’t be teaching many of those classes you will be taking because they are busy doing research. You will have RA’s (grad students) teaching a number of your courses or labs but often those are actually good teachers. You can have a very active college life on campus and off.</p>
<p>Wow, drusba gave great info. If i’d have read it before applying the choice would have been clear for me between the two (UT). I was first admitted to RH, which at first sounded like a great school. But, the cold winter and lack of things to do around the area turned me off from the idea of attending. </p>
<p>I ended up choosing Berkeley for CHE, but I was between GA Tech and UT Austin if I didn’t get in. It depends on what you are looking for. If you are comfortable living in the middle of nowhere for a few years, and won’t mind the winters and would rather have a school where people know your name, go to RH. If you would rather be around a research facility, have more resources available to you, and more to do in town, Austin may be more for you. Not to mention that RH is mad expensive and UT is one of the most affordable schools you’ll find. </p>
<p>also, fwiw, I had a friend that went to RH for his first 2 years, he transferred out stating he would have committed suicide if he had stayed any longer. Didn’t give reasons, so take it fwiw. </p>
<p>Good luck!
-A</p>
<p>Thx Guys!
Your info. is so helpful.
I like metropolitan life rather than a suburban life in RH. So I would probably choose UTA. Furthermore, 4 to 1 men - women ratio is something I do not expect to experience in U.S.
Thank you both once again!
Have a nice day!</p>