<p>How strong is Lafayette's engineering department? How good is their placement record? What schools would you compare it to?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Bump - any Lafayette engineers out there?</p>
<p>I’m still a student (rising junior), so not sure if I can completely answer your question. If you have any specific questions though, I can answer it.</p>
<p>I suggest looking at the website:
[Program</a> Division of Engineering Lafayette College](<a href=“http://engineering.lafayette.edu/program/]Program”>Programs · Engineering · Lafayette College)
Lafayette is well-respected for their engineering, especially in the northeast. However, since they don’t offer degrees beyond BS, they are not as well-known as the major research universities. Even though the major universities get alot of the research funding, there is much competition to get involved and grad students ordinarily would receive preference over undergrads. Lafayette has research opportunities specifically oriented towards undergrads:<br>
[EXCEL</a> Scholars Program Academics Lafayette College](<a href=“Curriculum Offerings · Academics · Lafayette College”>Curriculum Offerings · Academics · Lafayette College)</p>
<p>Placement record:
[After</a> Graduation Division of Engineering Lafayette College](<a href=“http://engineering.lafayette.edu/after-graduation/]After”>http://engineering.lafayette.edu/after-graduation/)</p>
<p>Career Services:
[Career</a> Services Lafayette College](<a href=“http://careerservices.lafayette.edu/]Career”>http://careerservices.lafayette.edu/)</p>
<p>Many companies, including major national ones such as Exxon-Mobil, AT&T, Amazon, Merck, Turner Construction, Texas Instruments, have hired recent graduates and visit for on-campus interviews.</p>
<p>Lafayette is rather unique in that it is a Liberal Arts College (LAC) with strong engineering. About 25% of students major in one of the engineering fields. There are few advantages of this structure, including:
- If a student is not sure that (s)he wants to major in engineering, there are many other choices at Lafayette ( [Departments</a> and Programs Academics Lafayette College](<a href=“http://www.lafayette.edu/academics/departments-and-programs/]Departments”>http://www.lafayette.edu/academics/departments-and-programs/) ), and it is easy to switch majors, without having to apply to another “college” within the larger university. Engineering is difficult, and it is not uncommon for students to switch into another major.
- Low student to faculty ratio (11:1) permits smaller average class size and more chances for interaction with the faculty, compared to larger universities.
- Offers a well-rounded education that allows engineering majors to take elective classes from a wide range of other course offerings.</p>
<p>There are other LACs with engineering, including: Bucknell, Swarthmore, Trinity (CT), Union (NY).</p>
<p>@LC82 Thanks for the great info. A LAC with a strong engineering program is of most interest. How big is the engineering dept (#grads/year, #faculty)? Do students earn a degree in a specific area like Mech E/ChemE or a general BS in engineering?</p>
<p>Some of the other LACs with engineering, like Swartmore, only have 14 grads per year so they’re really small. Bucknell’s pretty substantial but I haven’t looked into Union or Trinity.</p>
<p>There are around 130-150 (roughly 25-30% students are engineers) engineering grads per year across 5 disciplines. I’m not sure of the exact numbers, but there are usually 40-50 Mech Es, 30ish Chem Es, 35 ish Civil Es, 10-12ish ECEs and some Engineering Studies (A.B Engineering - this is not a common major). Not exactly sure about the number of faculty either but you can see for yourself in the website of the specific departments, going under “faculty and staff”:</p>
<p>Mechanical Engineering: <a href=“http://me.lafayette.edu%5B/url%5D”>http://me.lafayette.edu</a>
ECE: <a href=“http://ece.lafayette.edu%5B/url%5D”>http://ece.lafayette.edu</a>
Civil Engineering: <a href=“http://ce.lafayette.edu%5B/url%5D”>http://ce.lafayette.edu</a>
chem engineering: <a href=“http://che.lafayette.edu%5B/url%5D”>http://che.lafayette.edu</a>
engineering studies: <a href=“http://es.lafayette.edu%5B/url%5D”>http://es.lafayette.edu</a></p>
<p>you start taking your major specific classes starting sophomore year (not all of them are specific to major, that starts junior year).</p>