<p>Just visited the RPI booth at a local college fair. We have RIT high on our list, but RPI is on the radar. RIT is a 5 year co-op program, where all students do at least 1 year of paid co-op and internship work. This often leads to permanent jobs with these firms, or at least builds a great resume. We asked the RPI rep about co-ops and internships. He said some students choose to apply for co-ops, which require a 3.0 gpa so many don't even qualify. He then said they are a little disappointed with their recent recruitment and latest job placement numbers due to the economy. Their latest figures show about 60% of last year's grads have jobs or grad school enrollment. He said when the 6-month figures come out, it should be around 70%. Just then a woman standing there mentioned her son who graduated RPI in May and still has no job.</p>
<p>I have to say I'm concerned about these numbers. I know the economy sucks everywhere, but this placement rate seems low for a reputed top school. Is it the same at others? Anyone care to comment?</p>
<p>My friend’s son graduated in engineering from Columbia in May 2009. He still doesn’t have a job. Frustrating because he did take out some student loans.</p>
<p>Things are bad out there. People actually in it have to adjust their perspectives. Luckily your child will be graduating in a better economy than the one we have now (I’m pretty sure).</p>
<p>Chardo, my nephew is in the 5-year co-op program at RIT (in game design) and has been very happy with the opportunities he’s received there. He hasn’t graduated yet, so it’s too early to know what his eventual “real” job prospects will be.</p>
<p>Northwestern’s McCormick reported that 95% of the 2010 engineering grads had jobs or graduate schools lined up by graduation. Note however, 37% went into finance/consulting. So the high placement rate is partly due to the fact that the students were looking in not only engineering but also finance/consulting.</p>
<p>They have a co-op program with 30% of the students in it. I am not aware of any GPA requirement.</p>
<p>Nearly 30% of RPI’s students are New Yorkers. The school also attracts a sizeable quantity of students from neighboring states. It’s no surprise to anyone that the economy is hurting and large swaths of this region outside NYC and Boston traditionally lag the national economy in recovering from economic downturns. </p>
<p>It has been tough for recent college grads even in engineering, but I am pretty confident that kvilledeac is correct about things being significantly better in 4 or 5 years.</p>
<p>Sam, that’s more like it. I would expect a reputed top school to have a very high placement rate. That’s what concerned me about RPI’s numbers. And finance is a perfectly valid career path for an engineering student. I would expect some RPI’s grads to go into finance, especially with their proximity to NYC.</p>
<p>I would like to know how RPI’s placement rate compares with other top engineering programs.</p>
<p>^Those are decent numbers but if you regress them to 6 months earlier (upon graduation), it means the ones with jobs+grad schools lined up were at most 80% upon graduation. We don’t know how many of the 52% with jobs got their offers after graduation so the % upon graduation can be anywhere from significantly below 80% to close to 80% .</p>
<p>I have heard from my daughter that all of her senior engineering friends at Lafayette had job offers by graduation, but that not all of them were happy about their offers and were hoping for something better to come along. Purely anecdotal as my daughter certainly doesn’t know the majority of engineering majors or even a sizeable plurality. Lafayette does appear to have a very good career advisement program. Can’t say its any better than RPI’s, however.</p>
<p>the vast majority of employers will prefer al alum of a less prestigious college with real experience gained through an internship over a more prestigious college alum who lacks experience (perhaps HYPS excepted).</p>