Dante’s inferno is what some people may like. If you’re exceptionally well disciplined, brilliant or have no need to party, and want to learn the specific things you’ll be studying, then it could be that it is for you. If you want to take a year abroad, learn a new foreign language, “minor” in anything in the humanities, play a varsity sport, “test” a couple of different engineering disciplines before concentrating - engineering combined with Haverford may not be for you. Good luck!
@CollegeLife2015 , if you are smart enough to go to a place like Haverford, use college as a chance to find out what you love and how to think…not as the funnel to a job.
You’re smart enough to get a job…what you want to find are the passions that make you want to get out of bed for the next 40 years. Find that, and the money will take care of itself. Haverford, and the elite LAC’s can help you find those passions if you let them.
^^^Only if you can AFFORD that process, which could end up being a very expensive journey.
collegelife - are you waiting to hear from anyone else besides Haverford and Lafayette?
Good luck on getting in and then people will help you from there
My d is a freshman at Haverford. She is also an athlete and will likely major in bio. IMHO Haverford is a not so insignificant academic step up from Lafayette. Given this, if Engineering isn’t definite or could be persued in grad school and costs are similar, I would choose Haverford.
I can appreciate the prestige associated with Haverford. My concern is translating my college experience into a solid career path.
I guess another way to look at the prestige issue however is that Haverford has no prestige in the engineering area at all – because it has no program. I’ve worked with enough engineers to know that Lafayette is very well respected in engineering with employers. Tough decision.
@CollegeLife2015…there is no longer such a thing as a solid career path. If you’re going to college in the hopes of landing a job afterward, any college you’ll attend (based on where you’re looking) will provide that. If you love engineering (a specific brand of engineering…chemical, mechanical, etc…), then every school can help you land a job.
Once you get there, do you want to keep “being” the engineer, or might you want to expand your role over the next 40 years? Would you like to be management? How about run your own firm? Is it possible that investment banking or venture capital utilizing your skills? If so, or if you’re not sure, then I would suggest you go to college for an education…not a job.
I typed something similar above, to which replied about being able to afford such a plan. I see it another way…can you afford not to? Anyone who suggests to know the specific skills you’ll need in 20 years is a fool. Instead of learning a trade, learn to think. You can do that a hundreds of colleges, so what you have to decide is where you fit in best and will feel the most comfortable. Your career has no path.
I’m all for a liberal arts education, but I think you’re being overly simplistic @EyeVeee. Just graduating from a prestigious college is no guarantee that you’ll find gainful employment immediately.
One can earn an engineering degree (which is a rigorous education and should not be dismissed solely as a “trade”), get a job following graduation, and go back to school later if he so desires to earn a master’s degree. Sometimes the employer even picks up the tab! Or you can enter a doctoral program or go to medical or law school. You’re no more limited in what you can do in the future than a liberal arts grad unless you decide you want to pursue graduate studies in the humanities.
OTOH, if you’re looking for an engineering job with solely a bachelor’s degree, you better have a bachelor’s in some form of engineering.
@LucieTheLakie, you continue to proffer generalizations about getting a job after college which apply to the majority of kids. I’m offering advice to one (and if others agree or disagree so be it). The reason that it’s important: my answers are based on the assumption that this person has a choice between Lafayette and Haverford. The kid with those options isn’t average, and accordingly may be asking questions in a place like this because he or she knows what everyone tells them, yet it doesn’t feel quite right.
You are 100% correct, if you want an engineering job out of college, you’d better have an undergrad engineering degree. In the limited discussion here…the answer is Lafayette. But that’s obvious, and the the posting on a Haverford page is a sign to me (rightly or wrongly), that this kid is struggling to prioritize perceived quality with “doing what’s expected”.
I’ve never been on Haverford’s campus. I visited Lafayette twice in 2013, looked at the engineering program in detail, and really…REALLY…like the school. The Marquis scholarships are an attempt to buy competency, and I think for a fixed period of time it’s a valid strategy. It’s a beautiful campus, and the kids seemed generally very nice. Given a choice between being a physics major at Haverford and an Engineer from Lafayette, my gut is that the Haverford grad has more potential for long term success. Getting a job first year out of school…edge goes to the Lafayette grad (in Engineering), but planning should be done to get you where you want to be in your 30’s and 40’s…your 20’s are all about learning.
I went to a large state university. I have a degree in a “trade”. I stopped hiring kids with my background a few years ago in favor of smart, liberal arts grads in math, physics, and general engineering to do finance work. It’s so incredibly successful, that other people want to know how I keep finding these kids. The best part…not a single one of the hires could have predicted before college what they’d be doing for me. @CollegeLife2015 strikes me as someone unsure of what they want to be. If that’s the case, my advice is to be smart first…and everything else will work itself out. Smart includes your peers, and the exposure to others at Haverford (IMO) enables a broader experience.
I acknowledge that cost is a huge factor in determining options, but appreciating the goal of getting an education is universal… regardless of alma mater.
@EyeVeee, the OP’s posted stats are GPA: 3.35, SAT: 1300/1500 (1900/2400). I’m not sure how you define average, but that’s 25th percentile for accepted students at both Lafayette and Haverford. Rather than “proffer generalizations,” I was trying to offer advice to a specific student posting an honest question.
What “trade” is your degree in? Because lots of top engineers get hired for finance jobs these days. Also, one can have graduated with a degree in engineering and still be a very well-rounded student, especially from a school like Lafayette.
As I said, I have nothing against liberal arts degrees; I have one myself from a much-ballyhooed-on-CC university. So I know that, in general, if you don’t have top stats coming out of college, you’re not getting into any of these top grad programs or being recruited for a great job in finance.
Given his interests and profile, I don’t see how Haverford is the better choice for the OP than Lafayette. He can get “an education” at either.
son2hereagain, this is a little off topic, but I thought what you said about the drinking should be addressed. I’m not sure where your son is hanging out on the weekends, but there is plenty for a sober kid to do there. Has he gone to the Nerd House events or the other events they run on campus? My son and his friends don’t drink either, and they are busy every weekend with other sober people, having a great time.
As for the Engineering degree, I would tend to agree with the others that say Haverford probably isn’t the best place for that. It’s a stronger academic environment than Lafayette for sure, but it may not be the better option for that particular major.
I love Haverford, but think this is a no brainier. You should pick the college that offers your major. Go to Lafayette.
You don’t say if you are male or female. If you are female Bryn Mawr actually has much stronger sciences and STEM than Haverford, with the same 4/1, 3/2 options.
Not sure I agree with that last post. Bryn Mawr classes are not always as difficult as those at Haverford, especially for the ones that are not typically female options, like comp sci, although they may be better in other areas.
megan12- I can appreciate your support of Haverford, it is in many ways, a great school. And yes, our son has gone to Nerd house for events, sometimes he and his friends have enjoyed them, but sometimes they are a bit to juvenile for his tastes. Perhaps some of it has to do with where he lives. My son is housed at the north dorms, which are mostly athletes, and known as partying dorms. Certainly, I am sure not everyone is drinking all day every weekend, but there is a whole lot more of it going on then my son expected. I believe Haverford has always turned a blind eye to the excessive partying and drinking, but I think this year they have been threatening the students with taking some action, since last year was a particularly bad year, as several students were taken to ER for alcohol poisoning and a member of the fencing team was arrested for selling drugs. (He no longer is at Haverford, I believe he was asked to leave). My son does enjoy many of the good aspects of the school, and he is close enough to come home many weekends to get away from the stuff he does not.
Welcome to college! Every college has their issues with drinking and drugs, and Haverford is not immune. I’m sorry he thought it would be better there and was disappointed. Kids will always be kids no matter where you go. Is he a freshman? Next year tell him to get a group of friends together and get a block of rooms in another dorm. That’s what my son did. Hopefully, that will help make him feel more comfortable.
I was surprised to hear that a fencer was involved in last year’s scandal, and an épée fncer, no less! DS is not a drinker and asked the team if there was peer pressure to drink. They told him that there isn’t. Megan thanks for the housing tip. I think that if he’s accepted he will want a single in Triton. I am still trying to understand why DS who says he wants to be an engineer has Haverford as number 2 on his list of colleges (after Brown). It truly is about the Honor Code and community for him. The fencing team isnt the strongest, they dont offer his major as an undergraduate, and yet it just feels right to him (and to me too).
That’s so funny, Brown was my son’s #1 too, but he was denied. Unfortunately, Freshman don’t get to choose their dorm so you’re kind of stuck with what they give you, but after that, you’re free to choose. And getting a bunch of people together to apply for a block of rooms helps to ensure that you’ll be with people you know you can live with. Plus, there are certain dorms that are known for partying more than others so you’d want to stay away from those.
DS was deferred in the ED round at Brown, and it’s unlikely he’ll be accepted RD. The Haverford coach is recruiting him, and he loves the school. If he’s accepted, and matriculates, I’ll be asking more questions I’m sure. Thanks!