Lehigh and Lafayette

In late September I had the chance to visit two wonderful colleges in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania, and it was easy to picture GPS girls on both campuses. In fact, we have two students currently attending Lehigh, and it has been an exceptional experience for both of them.

But let's start with Lafayette College in Easton, and perhaps there's no better place to begin than with engineering.  Most prospective students don't get the opportunity to spend an hour with the dean of the college, but he was almost able to convince me of a career in the field, and I am not a math person at all!  I was particularly struck by one particularly question he posed: "Since almost every engineering school teaches the same content, what makes one stand out over the other?"  At Lafayette, I feel like students will get both the technical content and the opportunity for innovation, broad thinking, and interdisciplinary studies.  This is one school where everything is about the undergraduate, and upon graduation, students can think "non-technically."  Students at Lafayette do not graduate as the stereotypical engineer, and they do exceptionally well in the job market.

It's not all about engineering however.  Global education is an important part of Lafayette's mission, and they are in the midst of building a new Center for Global Education.  The EXCEL program provides funding for student research opportunities with professors.  Another thing I liked about this school was their career services program.  Starting freshmen year, there is also a full Saturday event just for sophomores.  Oh, and then there's the January and summer interim.  And finally, I got the chance to sit in on an Introduction to Political Science class.  While on the day I was there it was mostly a lecture, it was easy to tell that the students were engaged (and by the way, not on laptops) an curious.  You can tell so much by sitting in a class, so I encourage all students to try to make that arrangement when visiting colleges.

Even with traffic, it's only about a 20-25 minute up the road to Lehigh University. Another top engineering school, they also offer an Integrated Degree in Egineering and Arts and Sciences (IDEAS).  For example, you might combine engineering with Chinese and political science, or you could combine environmental engineering with economics or religion and philosophy.  It is a rigorous program, one that asks students to take risks and explore their creativity.  There is also a Computer Science and Business degree, one that merges business and technology.  One of my favorite programs at Lehigh was the Mountaintop Experience, a summer program that allows students from any discipline the chance to take their ideas and do something with it.  They could be entrepreneurial in spirit or a chance to solve real-world problems, but regardless of their nature, the Mountaintop Experience offers students an enriching and enngaging learning experience.  And on a side note, Lehigh has changed the name of their career placement report to the First Destination Report. After all, students these days will change jobs twelve times on average in their lifetime.

I don't know if every student who tours Lehigh and Lafayette is able to enjoy student and faculty panels, learn all of the unique degree programs, and talk to a variety of professors and staff members, but you can make your college visit come closer to the tours that I take.  Tomorrow I will give you some tips to do just that.