Any parents of currents Mechanical Engineering Majors or graduates at Cooper Union, Stevens, Lafayette, or RPI? My son is trying to make a decision, machine shop and hands on experience is very important to him as is a collaborative environment. He is interested in only competing against himself and enjoys working within team. Good, bad, ugly welcome!
I have a son who graduated, a junior there now, and one starting next year. They are all MEs. As parents, we have been thrilled with the education they have received. My sons would definitely say the atmosphere is more collaborative than competitive. The study abroad program for engineers was fantastic and I think my boys developed life-long friends from this experience. The lab class sizes are small. For the senior design projects, one of my boys was in a team of 4, while the other is in a team of 7. They will get a lot of hands on experience. The machinery is fairly standard across the different undergrad engineering programs we saw. Lafayette has a couple of upgrades donated from alums affiliated with the companies that make them, but I would imagine the other programs have similar alumni.
A significant number of students participate in research with the professors through the Excel program. With no graduate program, the undergrads are the only ones there to help the professors.
@bp0001 - wow, is it buy two get one free? 
I wish. My wife and I have no prior affiliation with Lafayette, but all my kids love it.
My son is ChemE but is friends with a bunch of MEs and they all seem to love Laf.