The University of Toledo is celebrating transfer students as part of National Transfer Student Week.
Ryan Egan walked away from one of the most prestigious engineering schools in the country — and he says it’s the best decision he’s ever made.
Ryan Egan, a senior in computer science and engineering, transferred from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology to UToledo after realizing he thrived in a more collaborative, accessible environment.
The Arlington Heights, Illinois, native transferred from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology to The University of Toledo after realizing he thrived in a more collaborative, accessible environment.
“I wanted a bigger school with more opportunities to work with people from different backgrounds and interests,” he said. “UToledo checked every box.”
That shift in environment helped propel Ryan, a senior in computer science and engineering, to two co-ops at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory — including a return this past summer as a team lead — and reaffirmed his belief that the right setting can make all the difference in a student’s success.
Ryan’s engineering journey began with the same curiosity that once drove him to dismantle his toys as a child just to see how they worked. At Rose-Hulman, his summer jobs — from lifeguarding to stocking electronics lab kits — didn’t bring him closer to his goals. But in 2022, he used his downtime to teach himself Java and research hundreds of companies. The persistence paid off when he landed an interview with MIT’s largest research group.
“During the interview, I showed my natural curiosity and desire to understand how things work,” Ryan said. “Through some amount of luck, and many hours of learning, researching and applying, I got my first real internship.”
At MIT, Ryan immersed himself in a culture of curiosity. He sought out world-class engineers, asked them what he needed to learn to understand their projects and followed through on every recommendation. Even though his first project was entirely Java-based, he voiced his long-term interests and his supervisor connected him with people who could guide him toward his dream role.
As a Rocket, Egan has had two co-ops at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory.
That openness led to a return offer — this time in a position perfectly aligned with his career goals.
Since transferring to UToledo, Ryan said he’s been encouraged by professors to collaborate in high-level classes, something he rarely experienced before. He’s also found a strong community through Phi Kappa Psi, where he was welcomed during Rush Week shortly after arriving on campus.
This past summer, as a returning co-op at MIT, Ryan led a prototyping team working on a research proposal for a linear algebra accelerator — technology designed to improve performance for large data centers and scientific computing.
“Transferring to UToledo was the right move for me,” Ryan said. “It gave me the collaborative environment I needed to grow — and the opportunities to take my career to the next level.”
For more information about UToledo’s campus events for National Transfer Student Week, read the UToledo News story.
