Santa Clara Uni Vs Lafayette College

College Search & Selection
1

<p>If a decision has to be made between Santa Clara of Silicon Valley and Lafayette at Easton near New York, for pursuing studies in Engineering, which one will u choose?</p>

<p>Aid is not a factor because the student is prepared to pay full tuition.</p>

<p>Factors to be considered: International, safety, Internship Ops, Climate, Preparation for admission to a prestigious institution in US etc</p>

<p>I have to take a decision at the earliest and intimate. I would value any inputs greatly, thank you.</p>

2

<p>Santa Clara. Easton is a hole.</p>

3

<p>barrons,</p>

<p>Please elaborate. Thank you.</p>

4

<p>Here is what I wrote in a Santa Clara thread:</p>

<p>My D applied to SCU without visiting, and wasn't that excited when she was accepted. Just in case, we flew down Friday to tour, and, as often happens in the weird world of the college admissions process, she did a complete 180. </p>

<p>I don't know what they put in the water at SCU, but all the students we met were smart, engaged, kind, involved and HAPPY. The campus sparkled, there were kids on the lawn working on their Solar Decathalon project, there were kids pouring out of and into the library (new and amazingly gorgeous), everyone smiled at us, and everyone cheered on the prospective students with Go Broncos. My D loved the fact that you can take a class from the CEO of SUN AND from one of the Jesuits. </p>

<p>My D will remain on one other University's waitlist, but at this point SCU may have moved from last to first. </p>

<p>Good luck to everyone and if you do end up at SCU I have a feeling you will have a phenomenal four years!</p>

<p>Santa Clara is very safe, excellent for internships, and I am assuming you must be from outside the states if you ask about the climate (ummm...perfect?) </p>

<p>If you look at where their ’08 Phi Beta Kappa graduates are going you will see Harvard Law, Boalt Law and on and on...if your student takes advantage of their time at SCU, they will be able to go to any graduate program they choose (which is true of a LOT of schools. It is really up to the student to work hard and distinguish themselves during their undergraduate years.) </p>

<p>My D is still hoping to get off the waitlist at another school, but my overall impression of Santa Clara was that this is an amazing university!</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

5

<p>barrons -- If you think Easton is a hole, then you have obviously never been to a real hole. I would be tempted to write you off as another Fairfield County toff, but you've been posting here long enough that I think you've earned a measure of respect. That said, what is it specifically that you mean by "hole?"</p>

6

<p>I grew up about 15 miles from Easton and used to go shopping there as a kid. My dad worked in Easton so I have been there countless times. It was an OK city in the 50's and then went into urban decay in the 60's and remains pretty much that way today. The best thing about Easton is the Crayon Museum and a certain hot dog stand near the college. By a hole I mean the downtown is dead, there are few good restaurants or nightspots and the crime rate is high for a small city. Much of the town looks rundown.</p>

<p>Restaurant</a> Reviews: Jimmy's Hot Dogs of Easton, Pennsylvania - Associated Content</p>

7

<p>I agree. Go to Santa Clara. It's in a nicer area, and everyone there seems pretty happy (my friend visited and loved it).</p>

8

<p>A snip about the new mayor about Easton</p>

<p>"A proud product of Easton's Delaware Terrace, Sal knows what tough times are like. Even today, he only lives a few blocks away on Easton's tough south side, where the Lil' Rovers dominated Allentown's East Side Lil' Huskies this year. (Obviously steroids). </p>

<p>Now Easton is going through some tough times of its own. It's in the red. More than half of its housing is rental units. Its tax base suffers as both Northampton County and Lafayette College gobble up property after property. To make matters worse, it has become a hub of late-night gang and drug activity.</p>

<p>Sal's bio glosses over the tough times he faced. But he's faced adversity, although you wouldn't know it from speaking to him. He's made it through, and is currently the chief administrative officer at Stausser Enterprises. And he's retained his love of music, his fondness for history and a passion for public service. He represents everything that is right with Easton.</p>

<p>Unlike county council candidates John Maher, Lamont McClure and Tony Branco, he engaged in no negative campaigning. As he mentioned in his famous Debate at the State, he is running for mayor, and not against his opponent.</p>

<p>He shared some of his ideas over the past ten days at Easton Undressed, where he and city council candidates answered some of the tough questions. Collecting taxes and fees? "Delinquencies will be reduced with collection calls being made in the first 30 days of non-payment when an effort can be made to pay them. We cannot allow a delinquency to go beyond 60 days because they become harder to collect by the city and harder to pay by the customer." The importance of an individual neighborhood? "Our city is a city of neighborhoods; they are the lifeblood of our city. The strength of those individual neighborhoods creates the vitality of our city. Each neighborhood has its unique characteristics and needs. I am a product of our neighborhoods." He even developed a 12 month budget development program.</p>

<p>Easton's best hope lies with one of its own - Sal Panto."</p>

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<p>Barrons -- I'll challenge you on the crime rate. It's about at the national average according to the most recent national crime stats (which are several years old).</p>

<p>Actually, College Hill, where Lafayette is located, is a very nice section of town, with several bars, pizzerias and restaurants within a couple blocks of the quad. Downtown didn't look too bad when I was there a few weeks ago. No, it's not a place I could see a student spending much time, but there are a decent number of restaurants and pubs in the vicinity of Centre City that students occasionally patronize. Nightspots? Not really, except for the new Lafatette-owned nightclub, The Spot, which is open only when a student group reserves it for an event.</p>

<p>I don't know much about Santa Clara, although that part of California is beautiful. Lafayette is located in a typical small northeastern city that is still trying to find its way in the post-industrial world. The Lehigh Valley as a whole is finding traction, however, and has even been growing thanks to continuing out-migration from NYC. (This, in turn, has brought some sketchier newcomers to the LV).</p>

<p>I wouldn't rule Lafayette out based on any posters' impression of Easton (barrons or mine). It has a nationally respected engineering program, an excellent track record in placing its graduates in top grad programs and professional schools and a sizeable international population among the student body. The weather isn't bad for the northeast (it beats anyplace in NYS north of Katonah), the campus is very safe and the school has a strong internship program utilizing a very active alumni base.</p>

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<p>Bump.....more opinions please!</p>

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<p>Mean SAT of 1210 at Santa Clara Vs 1280 at Lafayette? Ofcourse, Engineering students,on exclusive basis, appear to have higher mean SAT.</p>

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<p>It's a fine school but no need to spend 4 years in a crummy environment either. There are dozens of schools similar to Lafayette in better locations.</p>

13

<p>MKWORD, what kind of engineering are we talking about here--EE, CE or SE?</p>

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<p>It is Electrical Eng. Thanks.</p>

15

<p>I think you'll find finding a job easier at SCU. A student from SCU told me a class of roughly 30 EE students all found a job within 3 months out of school.</p>

16

<p>I feel uniquely qualified to answer this question. My D attends Lafayette and we live just a few miles from SCU in San Jose.</p>

<p>First academics, Lafayette has a close student to prof tradition. SCU on the other hand is in Silicon Valley with close ties to the industry. </p>

<p>Climate, SCU is in California, which is much warmer than Pennsylvania.</p>

<p>Regarding Easton, it is no worse and probably better than New Haven Conn. (Yale), Poughkeepsie NY (Vasser) or Troy NY (RPI). Plus it has close proximity to NYC. Santa Clara is on the other hand is well boring (I know I live there). There is really of nothing of note to walk to and San Francisco (50 miles north) is nice but not New York.</p>

<p>I would advise to to make the selection based on contacts with the department you want to major in. If you have a stong sense that EE is where you want to be, email the department, research the course catalogue and look at research opportunities.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

<p>BTW my daughter is very happy at Lafayette and will be in NYC this summer with an excellant internship.</p>

17

<p>I can only speak to New Haven and Troy. Easton is no New Haven. It is similar to Troy.</p>

18

<p>2007</a> Solar Decathlon team recruits new members - News</p>

<p>This article might be of interest (read all the way for some grad/job info).</p>

19

<p>Let me report what I noticed as a result of my little research on both the choices. Then a feedback from you all would actually put the whole thing in perspective.
Here I go:</p>

<p>Lafayette:<br>
Positives :Great class sizes of around 20 ; Top-notch professors in Engineering; Relatively smarter crowd ( little controversial, but with all its limitations, on the basis of SAT) , Closer to NYC (what more do you want!) and lots of internationals on aid, so motivated to do well.( unfortunately, I wont be one of them because I did not apply for aid as I was not knowing Lafayette offers aid to internationals!)
Negatives: Isolation in a shanty? town-consequently, all the restlessness of students as revealed in drunken arrests of students last year(Laf of 04/06/07) and misbehaviors and all kinds of mishaps( latest reported in Laf- the student newspaper), most of the students from Tri-state area, proximity to NYC useful to ’Business & Economics’- the popular major and not Engineering(am I right?). I was also shocked to note that the Trustees had no confidence in each other and in the small class sizes. Laf, the student newspaper carried an expose of a “Strategic Plan” which was leaked. ( Issue dated 01/26/07). Finally, I would feel out of place when all other internationals are studying there on aid and I am not. </p>

<p>Santa Clara:
Positives : Great location; as has been pointed out, close ties with industry; small classes of around 35; I have been told of plenty of internship ops; shall I say- Bay Area being more accepting of internationals(?); of course, good prospects of employment.
Negatives: Administration appears to be absolutely indifferent to the accepted students. This is because they do not cajole you to commit to them in anyway-meaning they do not give any information which helps students in their decision making process. You go to Facebook- SCU class of 2011 and you find students confused about what it means to be accepted to honors course etc. So mainly SCU is indifference lit large, at least to those who are yet to reach the campus.</p>

<p>Finally, may I ask ‘safisher’, what is your daughter’s major?</p>

<p>Please keep the comments coming, your comments would decide my decision, which is to be made fast!</p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

20

<p>mkword -- Where did you get the idea that all of the international students attending Lafayette are on aid? That is anything but the case.</p>