MAIA

Lafayette College, Easton, PA

Class of 2027

Hometown: Cary, NC

Major: Chemical engineering

Schools You Told, “Thanks But No Thanks, I’ve Got Options!”:

Olin College of Engineering

Rensselaer Polytech

Why Did You Choose Lafayette?

For one thing, they gave me the best financial aid package!  It costs me less to go here than it would have to go in-state.  More importantly, I felt that Lafayette was a place where I could grow, getting a rigorous engineering education while still exploring other interests.

What Makes You Happiest About Your Decision?

I’m about an eight hour drive from home and I think that that distance is a really good fit for me – it’s too far to run home every weekend and whine to my parents (Not that I have anything to whine about!)  But it’s close enough that my family can come visit me.  

The other thing I really like is that, going to a small school, it’s very close-knit.  Classes are small, and it’s easy to get to know and work with professors.  At a liberal arts school, there are no grad students, so that means that professors who have research grants hire undergrads – as a first year student, two different professors invited me to work with them.  One recommended me to the Excel Scholars program, so I’ll be staying on campus this summer and doing research on polymers.

Is There Anything that You Would Change about Your College Experience?

People don’t come visit me enough!  Eight hours is really not that far!!  (Yes, J., I’m looking at you!

If You Had the Opportunity to Do Your College Search Over, What Would You Change?

I think I was too hung up on schools having my very specific major – I wanted to do environmental engineering, and if a school didn’t have that major, I crossed it off my list!  And now I’m not even doing environmental engineering!

Also, now that I’m at a liberal arts college, I’m really glad that I didn’t go to an engineering-only school.  I love that the arts and social sciences are taken seriously here, and that I’m being challenged to think in new ways all across the curriculum.

Do You Have Any Advice for High School kids about applying to college?

You may think you know exactly what you want to do, but your interests will almost certainly will expand and grow and maybe change.  It’s really hard to know what you want from a college before you’ve even been to college!  Figure out what’s most important to you in a big picture way – you want to do science, or you want a school where it’s easy to get to know the professors, or you want a place with great research facilities, or a fantastic record of getting kids into med schools – and then look for schools where that thing is extremely important to the school!

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