<p>What school would give me the best options after graduation? I am OOS at NC State, and with the grants and scholarships it will cost about 30k/year at each school. (Pretty much nothing from NC State) I realize that they both have very different atmospheres, but I am the kind of person that doesn't have trouble fitting in and can see myself having a great experience at either school. I just want to know which school would set me up for a better life, essentially haha. Any opinions would be appreciated! Thank you!</p>
<p>NC State hands down</p>
<p>Any particular reason why you feel that way?</p>
<p>NC State has a great engineering program and being a large research universities, you’ll get tons of opportunities for research or whatever you want to do with your college experience as opposed to Lafayette.</p>
<p>Also, in my opinion NC State has a bigger brand name than Lafayette when it comes to engineering.</p>
<p>Lafayette has a great engineering program with small classes and an very active career placement office. The two schools are very different – large state school and small LAC so just go to the school where you feel most comfortable.</p>
<p>I disagree with Pierre. Lafayette is one of the top engineering schools in the country. Its small size allows for lots of individual attention and research opportunities. There is really a strong emphasis on individual relationships with faculty. The alumni network is exceptional and the campus is beyond beautiful. Lafayette seems like a no-brainer to me, but hey, different people like different things!</p>
<p>lol,Lafayette is one of the top engineering schools in the country – give me a break. Maybe for LACs, but the resources and opportunities at NC State far exceed those at Lafayette.</p>
<p>Yes, I did mean for LACs actually. As I previously acknowledged, different people thrive in different environments. Lafayette does an exceptional job of providing students with endless research opportunities and other resources while still allowing students to form personal relationships with faculty and work with an outstanding alumni network. Obviously, the educational environment will be very different in a school with 25,000 undergrads vs. a school with 2,500 undergrads. Lafayette offers a tremendous variety of opportunities and I would argue that Lafayette’s resources per student far exceed those at NC State.</p>
<p>in the end however I think you could argue that more employers on a whole know about NC State engineering than Lafayette engineering</p>
<p>I would certainly agree that nationally, NC State is more well known to employers. I don’t, however, think that Lafayette’s merit as an undergraduate institution should be overlooked. In the end, both schools offer a different set of benefits, and the OP will have to decide which qualities they value more.</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong, Lafayette has an excellent engineering program. Like you summed it up you have a LAC and a large research university. The OP’s decision will def come down to what he wants from his college experience.</p>
<p>What kind of engineering? The (Civil) firms I know personally only hire from large schools - not small. Penn St and Va Tech are the schools of choice around here. I would suspect NC State would be the better option for you. However, I could see other types being different (and I’ve no experience with them), so the type of engineering could really matter. If you really like the LAC, see where they’ve placed recent grads and see if those opportunities would appeal to you. There are all sorts of paths to get someone into their niche.</p>
<p>chris2012, Have you visited both schools? Where did you see yourself best fitting in?<br>
Since it has been established that both schools would offer a good education in engineering,what about the other factors?<br>
Do you like big time college ACC sports? If so, NCSU would be the one for you. NCSU football games are huge… so much fun and the basketball team is on the rise.</p>
<p>Do you think you would be more likely to be successful in small intimate classes? Then maybe Lafayette is your best choice. Some (not all) classes at NCSU are really large but they get smaller as you progress. </p>
<p>I don’t know anything about Lafayette’s location but NCSU’s location in the middle of Raleigh is great. Raleigh is a young fun city. Besides NCSU, there are at least three other colleges in Raleigh. There is a large airport nearby. The weather is nice. NCSU kids come from all over and are generally laid back and friendly. Greek presence is not a big thing. </p>
<p>We are instate. S1 graduated from NCSU in '09 and loved every minute of it.
DH is a NCSU grad. (BS MechE) who has worked in the nuclear power generation industry for thirty years. He has never heard of Lafayette. </p>
<p>I know (from CC) Laf. is a very good school and am not dismissing it as a great option for you. It’s really comparing apples to oranges. You have to decide if you want the intimacy of a small school with more personalized attention or a big state u. that has national recognition.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for the replies! I have visited both schools, and could see myself fitting into either environment. If only this decision was easier! I wish May 1st was a bit further away.</p>
<p>Heres one objective measure (although I’m admittedly not objective):
Percentage of currently enrolled students (seniors) taking the Fundamentals of Engineering exam that pass:
NC State 85%: [Fundamentals</a> of Engineering Exam](<a href=“http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/undergrad/profengr/fe-exam.php]Fundamentals”>http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/undergrad/profengr/fe-exam.php)
Lafayette 96%: [Program</a> Division of Engineering Lafayette College](<a href=“http://engineering.lafayette.edu/program/]Program”>Programs · Engineering · Lafayette College)</p>
<p>There are plenty of employers (large and small) that recruit on campus at Lafayette. See ths link for a recent sample of hiring firms: <a href=“http://careerservices.lafayette.edu/files/2011/05/2010-Selected-List-of-Employers1.pdf[/url]”>http://careerservices.lafayette.edu/files/2011/05/2010-Selected-List-of-Employers1.pdf</a></p>