<p>mkword -- Enginnering is the most "popular" major at Lafayette. Roughly 12% of declared majors are in Economics & Business. Mechanical engineering alone is the declared major of 8% of the student body. But keep in mind that Lafayette also offers the B.S. in Electrical & Computer Engineering, Civil & Environmental Engineering and Chemical Engineering (as well as a B.A. in Engineering Studies).</p>
<p>Another consideration is the graduation rate. Both Lafayette (88%) and Santa Clara (79%) do pretty well in this regard compared to most schools. The percentages, btw, are the 4-year graduation rates.</p>
<p>Shanty town. Not at all. Easton has a couple rough neighborhoods which account for a disproportionate share of the crime in town, but the college is no where near those areas. I think Easton is more similar to Poughkeepsie than Troy, although Po'keep has a higher violent crime rate than either Troy or Easton. By no means does this imply that Vassar is unsafe, however.</p>
<p>I don't consider Easton exactly next-door to NYC. It takes a little work to get there- or even to Phila for that matter. You ARE near the Poconos, which is good for hiking, lakes etc. (I'm sorry, but I don't consider Poconos skiing "real" skiing).</p>
<p>I can't help but ask...what difference does it make if other international students receive aid and you do not? Most college students don't sit around talking about their financial aid packages. If they did you might just end up being envious that it's costing you more.</p>
<p>Rankings, I feel, tell the past and not the future!</p>
<p>My calculated guess is Santa Clara's rankings might shoot up in the foreseeable future due to the following: 1)A brand new $90 million library has recently opened,2)A new building for business school is coming up,may be before this fall,3)Their soccer stadium has been spruced up to national standards,4)A Professor from Stanford has recently taken over as Dean of Engineering etc</p>
<p>And the School of Engineering took bronze in the Solar Decathlon-Centenary of the School is being celebrated in 2012!</p>
<p>Thanks to internet,one can gather lot of information frpm across the world,isn't it?</p>
<p>Inspite of all this information,college decision is tough because of the nagging feeling that u might be missing something.</p>
<p>Several people say to pick Santa Clara because of the location. Umm, why? I live in Silicon Valley, and I love this area, but Santa Clara University is in the middle of boring, ugly suburbs, office parks and freeways. </p>
<p>Nothing against the University itself, but the location leaves a lot to be desired.</p>
<p>LOTS of great schools are in areas that are "less" than desirable. USC? Yale? Tufts? The Claremont schools are in a sweet but REALLY boring area. Santa Clara is a dull town, but students have access to mass transit to get places, or cars after freshman year (if they have one.) </p>
<p>We lived in San Carlos for four years, a few towns north of Santa Clara, so I appreciate the description of Santa Clara as a boring town, and Silicon Valley as an uninspiring area to live in (that sunshine is sooo expensive; we moved to Seattle) but I wouldn't care too much about the surroundings of this wonderful little gem. Its safe, livable, and once they are juniors/seniors I bet they are off exploring beyond the immediate area.</p>
<p>I agree with mkword-something big is going on at this place. It looks like the alumni have stepped it up on the donation front. If they keep attracting top students with merit $$, the new facilities get finished, their schools keep getting recognition, and the state goverment keeps making budget cuts that affect the UCs and the state colleges, I think the word will get out.</p>
<p>Again, I know zilch about Lafayette College, so I am just giving info about one school, not arguing for one against the other.</p>
<p>Well, I have decided in favor of ...Silican Valley. </p>
<p>I had earlier dropped Case Western Reserve and now I have dropped Lafayette. </p>
<p>Now the lurking fear is, I might appear small in social circles with the 'lowly address value' of SCU in comparison to the 'rankings' etc of Case Western/ Lafayette College!</p>
<p>Remote chance-fruition of a wait-list-thanks to Domino Effect(?)</p>
<p>Don't know why you'd say that. Even if you use USNWR as your gospel (big mistake), isn't SCU second in rank among western Masters level universities?</p>
<p>mkword, congratulations on making a decision! Take some time to enjoy the outcome of all your hard work!</p>
<p>Post again if you do get in somewhere from a waitlist, but, if that doesnt happen, then just jump feet-first into your years at SCU, do your best work, make amazing friends and take full advantage of what the school and the area has to offer! </p>
<p>Santa Clara School of Engineering-Year-2007</p>
<p>Applicants<br>
A. Number of undergraduate applicants to the engineering college: 1,000
B. Of those in (A), how many were offered admission? 745
C. Of those in (B), how many were enrolled in the fall? 179</p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind for SCU yield is that many SCU applicants are from in-state (and thats a huge number of kids) and these kids also apply to all the UC schools. Once in-state students get their results, no matter how good a private U SCU is, the UC system is often just too reasonably priced to pass up.</p>