<p>The deadline is coming down to the final days for my daughter to pick a school. She is down to these three. She is far from a partier and is going to be a mechanical engineering major. and she is frozen with making a decision. Any insight with the "big" versus "small" school choice here. Lafayette's mechanical engineering student count is about 50. Profs know all of the kids. Her advisor there was driving one of the students to heairport on Monday type of school. No grad students so all research is assisted by underclassmen. Bucknell is more isolated but the same vibe with a university aspect to it. GaTech is 4/5 in the country in engineering. The only point aganst it (from my wifes point of view anyway) is GaTech is a plane ride away - we are from Metro NY.</p>
<p>And the stress level increases every day since I just dropped her off at the airport to go the the FIRST Robotics Championships until Sunday at midnight. So any insight would be great</p>
<p>GaTech would be the best brand name and may give your daughter the best resume fodder going into the future. If she is independent and can take care of herself, this is the obvious choice and would give her the most diverse educational experience and exposure to World class research. I would also assume that she would get early exposure to a competitive environment, which is developmentally required for her to succeed as an engineer in a corporate/entrepreneurial context. Better to get this exposure earlier rather than later if she can adapt.</p>
<p>Bucknell is close to home and has a stellar engineering reputation among undergrad schools whose highest degree is a masters. This school would be a best choice if your daughter needed a more supportive environment and was less independent. I know one kid that goes to Bucknell and he really likes it. You do not mention it in your post above, so I assume that you were not impressed by it. If that is so, take another look at it.</p>
<p>Lafayatte is so small that it worries me. Only 50 students for an entire engineering department. It is not in the top 10 nationally for their category like the other schools. I would worry about job placement post graduation. Choose this school if you have fallen in love with it and can not see yourself sending you daughter anywhere else. Proper “fit” is a big deal. So, if fit is a factor you must take it into consideration.</p>
<p>For my kid, who was not so independent, he went to a school 3 hours away. Perfect distance – far enough away to be completely independent and close enough to be home in half a day in an emergency. His school falls into the same category as Bucknell but is public. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo has been the perfect choice. He turned down the big schools like UCLA and UC San Diego for a smaller environment like Cal Poly.</p>
<p>By the way, the ME departments at all three schools have been accredited by the ABET since the 1930’s. No worries there.</p>
<p>Also, do not forget cost! If any of these schools threw a big chunk of money at her. Go for it! Additionally, I may have been a bit hard on Lafayette for being small. My kid’s school has 500 students in ME and that really works for him. Also, that many students (plus another 5,000 in other areas of engineering) supports a career services center that rocks!</p>
<p>I am 100% confident that my kid will graduate with a great job. Starting salaries for my kid’s ME department range from $60,000 to $85,000 on average (it varies from the mid $50,000 to a top of $115,000). Know these statistics for each school before you choose.</p>
<p>Ga Tech has a whole other feel to it as a school as compared to the other two that are more similar. Does she like that vibe? If that environment is hands down one she prefers, go there, but do keep in mind it’s not just the academics one is buying when it comes to your student going away to school for 4 years. Engineering students often wash out not because of lack of ability but due to lack of support and mental/emotional issues that seem to come up quite a bit in the young adult years.</p>
<p>Your daughter needs to figure out what is most important to her to make this decision.
These choices are pretty different. I think for a true engineering “nerd” student GT is the obvious choice. But is that the environment she prefers?
If she would prefer a small engineering department within a smaller liberal arts school then choose from the other two.
We looked at Bucknell and Lafayette. We all liked the engineering programs at both, but my son’s conclusion was that Bucknell was too remote and there was too much emphasis on Greek life. He liked Lafayette better. And Lafayette does do a good job at getting jobs/internships etc… We were impressed with their Career Center. My son got into both but didn’t go to either one since he decided he preferred a “nerdier” environment ;)</p>
<p>I would go with Georgia Tech</p>
<p>Friends of ours had GT on the top of the list when looking at schools, and when they visited, it went off the list. It was a big tab just to visit as they made that one a family trip–the first college they checked out, heh, heh. I remember her so outraged that it cost all of that money to cross a school off the list. I told her that was cheaper than paying for the first term and finding out that it’s not the right fit.</p>
<p>But, really, there are those who feel it 's just the right place, and those who would be so much happier at Bucknell or Lafayette. I know kids at all three schools, and it all depends on the kids. But don’t ignore the non academic aspects of the schools and your student’s preferences.</p>
<p>Net price after non-loan financial aid at each school? Debt needed, if any?</p>
<p>Large versus small usually has an effect on class sizes and course offerings. If these are important to her:</p>
<p>Check the catalogs to see what courses are offered (particularly in major).
Check the schedules to see class sizes (particularly introductory level) and how frequently each course (particularly upper level) is offered.</p>
<p>She may be far from a partier now, but people change in college. I think it’s more about small vs. big school on this one.</p>
<p>I think for me the choice would be between Georgia Tech and Lafayette. Georgia Tech’s a great school - dead social life, but a lot of the students take advantage of the rest of Atlanta on the uncommon occasion during which they had free time, lol. I’m from Atlanta so a lot of my friends went to Tech. But it’s a great engineering environment.</p>
<p>I went to a small liberal arts college, and I loved it. But LACs are really great for students who want to concentrate on their major while also digging into a lot of other areas. Georgia Tech is going to foster the budding engineer in her, but she won’t necessarily have the opportunity to take classes in a whole lot of other areas. She will probably graduate in 4-4.5 years, though. At Lafayette, she’ll be expected to also partake of the liberal arts, and will get a more rounded education with closer relationships with her professors. Some may be right, though, in that Lafayette would provide a more supportive environment and that may help her if she’s not a technical/engineering genius, just above-average and really interested. Tech is a less supportive environment.</p>
<p>Personally, even though I loved the LAC lifestyle for engineering I’d choose Tech.</p>