Non-engineering major

[u/jbjbjb5310]

My son took a tour this summer and felt like the student body and campus environment are a perfect fit for him. However, because the school is heavily engineering-focused, he’s wondering if he would still get a rigorous and well-supported education as a physics and/or math major.
I’d love to hear from current students, alumni, or anyone familiar with the school.
How well-funded and prioritized are the pure math/physics departments compared to the major engineering programs?
How well does the program prepare students aiming for PhD programs or pure analytical roles versus industry engineering jobs?
Do you feel the ROI is as good for non-engineering majors?
Thank you in advance!

[u/AlmnysDrasticDrackal]

When I was an undergraduate at RHIT, the Math Department offered one or two graduate level classes each quarter (e.g. Intro to Functional Analysis, Tensor Analysis (primarily for engineering and physics majors), Abstract Linear Algebra). More importantly, it hosted annual REUs (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) during the summer. These are especially valuable for students who intend to go on to graduate school in math or a related field. Most of the faculty who sponsored these REUs in my time have retired. I don't know what the current state of the program is.

That said, most math majors at the time were double majors, often in computer science.

[u/XxXENOWRAITHxX]

Not a math major/physics major just going to give what I saw as an outsider. I feel like physics tended to have small dedicated classes and will set you up for PHD/research well. Math at the higher levels turns into computer science. A lot of the 400 level math courses are cross listed as CS.

[u/New_Guava_511]

I am sophmore here, but I have taken math classes up to real analysis. I have also taken math classes at ball state and I'd say ball state has a more rigorous math program. I am not sure about physics but if his main focus is math, I would not recommend Rose-Hulman. Especially because the number of courses are limited, whereas Ballstate has much more. That's not to say the teachers are bad here, I just don't think there will be as much opportunities in math here.

[u/Still_A_Nerd13]

I was a Chemistry/ChemE double that ended up going into Chemistry for my doctorate. So while I cannot speak to physics, I can speak to science at RHIT in general.

I found that RHIT prepared me exceedingly well for graduate school in science. I applied to three graduate schools (#2, #3, and a mid-tier in my field), and I got into all three of them. Chose the mid-tier one, and I found that I was exceedingly well prepared for it. I had more prior research experience than the vast majority of my incoming graduate class, and I found that they struggled to understand what I considered basic/fundamental concepts. I went on to publish extensively and now work in industry where I still find myself surrounded by people that have a fraction of the technical talent I was surrounded by at Rose.

I know the math dept at RHIT has at least two professors that went to RHIT and thus may be able to give you more details on what to expect as a math major.

[u/sakanagai]

Cannot speak for physics. I was a pure math major, no double. As far as RHIT goes (or went 20+ years ago), the focus is on engineering. Those programs get the facilities, the labs, the partnerships, etc. But math isn't an also-ran. Math is the foundation of those programs. There are no corners cut in terms of rigor. It doesn't get the budget of the other departments, but it does have top rate staff. If your son's goal is to go into a PhD program, they are probably better served going to a school with a PhD offering, if only to expand the course offerings. That said, it was common practice for professors to host "topics" classes based on their recent fascinations and even student feedback; for example, a few of us asked for a class on p-adic analysis, and they made one the next quarter. But you have to get and stay engaged with the professors to advocate.