Villanova vs. RPI vs. Lehigh

hconghoops
Mon, 04 Apr 2011 19:03:08 +0000

RPI for the quality of the engineering program? Do your research people; RPI has absolutely PLUMMETED in engineering rankings over the past 5 years. For example, they used to be a computer science powerhouse, but now, they aren;t even in the top 40. Last I checked, they ranked behind Penn State in engineering. I’m usually not one to obsess over rankings, but a such a steep drop over such a short amount of time is quite scary and indicative of a decline in research opportunities and perhaps a failure to update facilities. Personally, I would go to Penn State over RPI, even if they did cost the same. For Engineering, it’s all about the research and interactions you have with your professors. I strongly disagree with you eliminating Penn State from consideration. They have spend loads on their engineering department, rank higher than ALL the schools you listed above (17th nationwide, and Villanova is certainly not number 9 nationwide, they are in the upwards of the mid 30’s)
[Penn State Engineering Rankings](http://www.engr.psu.edu/AboutCOE/rankings.aspx)
As for the other schools, Stevens is not all that impressive (although geographically, they do enjoy the best location) and SUNY Binghampton isn’t even the best SUNY for engineering. (Stonybrook is the one). I would say to choose between PSU, Nova, and Lehigh. Do your research on RPI; who knows, maybe I’m overreacting, but the fact is, their engineering department has fallen quite a bit in the last 6 years.

That being said, it is more about what you make of your college education, not necessarily where you choose to go. Even an MIT graduate is highly undesirable if he or she has not done any meaningful research with professors and has done little if anything outside of the classroom.