<p>Hello, I’m a current CSE student at Lehigh. First, I’ll speak a little bit on the quality of the curriculum. The CS program at Lehigh is comparable to most others in the same tier. It includes all the standard classes important in computer science (data structures, algorithms, computer architecture, operating systems, discrete math, etc.). Likewise, most of these courses use the industry-standard textbooks. I’ve found the CS professors to be of high quality (not perfect, but pretty good). In short, the program prepares it’s graduates as well as most other quality programs.</p>
<p>Job-wise, Lehigh tends to be at a bit of a disadvantage for ‘golden’ tech jobs. The CSB program (Computer Science and Business) is heavily recruited from by financial companies. Last I heard, CSB had a 100% job placement rate. However, top tech companies like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, etc. tend not to recruit from Lehigh. The one exception I can think of off the top of my head is that certain divisions of IBM recruit from Lehigh (I know I received a flyer for attending a presentation by IBM consulting, and I think there have been Lehigh students who have co-oped with IBM). That being said, just because these companies don’t specifically recruit from Lehigh doesn’t mean that you can’t get jobs at them. I’ve heard of a few people who have gone to work at Google, and I know students who have interviewed with Microsoft, so these companies aren’t averse to considering Lehigh students. Placement in other CS/IT jobs (e.g. local, smaller, and/or more niche companies) is pretty good for the CSE/CS/CSB programs (sorry, I don’t have numbers to back this up, though). It might be harder for a Lehigh student to get a job at these companies, but it’s possible if the student is serious about it and does everything in his or her power to maximize success.</p>
<p>There are some networking extracurriculars. There are externships, internships, and co-ops which can be very helpful in obtaining employment. Lehigh’s online job-search service, LUCIE, is pretty good, and there are always companies seeking Lehigh students (for example, while Microsoft doesn’t necessarily come to campus to recruit undergrads from Lehigh, it does post internships on LUCIE). Lehigh also maintains a large database of alumni willing to act as ‘mentors’ for students. I haven’t personally used this service, so I can’t speak to the helpfulness/quality of it. There are also chapters of ACM and IEEE (computers/electronics-related professional societies) that if you raise the desire to bring more professionals as speakers/panelists to campus, they might be able to help. Professors also have industry contacts, so they might be able to help. The best resource for finding out about networking extracurriculars is the office of career services. I suggest you send them an email if you’re still curious or have more questions.</p>
<p>As for summer internships, there are companies that specifically seek Lehigh students, but these are typically local, smaller, and/or more niche companies or financial companies. If you want to know more, feel free to PM me.</p>