DD really enjoyed her visit to Lehigh on Saturday.
She was impressed: amazingly gorgeous campus, engaged administrators, and student-focussed professors. She also had the opportunity to speak with several students. They seemed to be working hard at their classes, but also really enjoying the Lehigh experience. It seems like students are able to find a level of balance.
DD felt that it felt more like a community there, and less like just a place to take classes. She is not ready to make a final decision yet, but Lehigh is now the favorite.
Great news Muchtolearn. Thanks for sharing. Son going to Lehigh Life days event on Monday. Plans to study engineering too. I hope he has a similar experience. We were bummed to miss the visit this past Saturday. Can you share any more information regarding the engineering program ie- Research opportunities, class sizes, recommendations about AP credit- use it or not? Thanks
Research opportunities: Are somewhat available, but you have to show some initiative and hunt them down.
Class sizes: Some are large, especially freshman year, but not massive. Students also have some classes that were quite small.
AP Credit: Students recommended using most of your AP credit. Especially if you can avoid Calc 1, which they said is a lot of work, even if you are good at it.
I will be interested to see whether the responses you get are similar to ours, but I definitely felt like people were trying to be honest.
“AP Credit: Students recommended using most of your AP credit. Especially if you can avoid Calc 1, which they said is a lot of work, even if you are good at it.”
I think it is fantastic that you have brought up this issue of when to use AP credits I would strongly advise any student not to use AP credits to get out of any class that is part of their major. An engineering student skipping Calc 1??? There is no way the information taught by a high school teacher is the same information as what is taught in a college class - especially if it one of the fundamental classes that your whole major is based on. All of Lehigh’s engineering course will assume you know every little bit that is in Lehigh’s own Calc 1 class. Professors do request specific information to be included in the Calc 1 class to prepare their students for their classes. Professors spend hours arguing about stuff like this in their faculty meetings! Haha.
But, if you were a fine arts major it would be a really good idea to use the AP credit for Calc 1.
By the way, when my son was a student at Lehigh I brought home a hard copy of the Course Catalog. I spent many nights just reading it. http://catalog.lehigh.edu/ Every once in a while information I had read came in handy. I would recommend following a long with your student each semester to make sure they are taking the correct required classes. Advisors can make mistakes.
Much2learn, Thank you for taking the time to share what you learned at Lehigh!
I had friend’s whose kids went to other engineering schools and the kids had problems getting required engineering classes. My son never had a problem getting into his classes at Lehigh. He had an engineering major and two minors so he really had to have the classes in the correct sequence every semester. (My son did go to summer school to get in all his classes) There was never a problem.
You are doing a great job collecting information. I wish I had talked to some engineers to get their perspective before my son was in engineering school.
@kikkydee-I actually have communicated with a mech. engineering professor at :Lehigh and asked him about opting out of Calc 1. My son is taking BC calc in HS. If he gets at least a 4 he would be able to opt out of Calc 1 and 2.The professor said that most kids in this situation opt out of calc 1 and take calc 2. If my son gets a high enough score that is what he will do
There is some good information on the Math department portion of the website about the different calculus series available depending on major and their recommendations about using AP credits. Here is a link as it is too detailed to summarize.
DD has been admitted to other schools that are academically similar and less expensive.
However, she felt that two primary issues differentiate Lehigh:
First, most of the other schools don’t have the flexibility if she wants to change her major. She is currently interested in Chemical Engineering. In many colleges of engineering, she can’t even change to another engineering major without having to apply and potentially being rejected. CS and business are two other potential interest for her, and those also have to be applied to at most other schools.
Second, the one school that has a similar level of flexibility in changing your major lacked Lehigh’s sense of community. DD felt, and I agree, that Lehigh, conveyed a perspective that viewed the college years as a lot more than just what you learn in classes. The other school provided a great technical education, but didn’t convey the level of opportunities for students to grow as people and be a part of a community. The students she met at Lehigh raved about their college experience, not just their education.
Biggest drawback other than cost:
DD is a varsity swimmer and water polo player who would like to continue to participate in water sports at Lehigh. For a school that has an amazing physical plant, it seems odd to me that Lehigh hasn’t spent the money to provide students with even as much pool space as a typical large high school has. I was told that the pool space is so constrained on campus that Lehigh does has neither varsity water polo teams, nor a club swim team, and that while they do have a co-ed water polo club, pool space is still so constrained that the students have to find their own transportation and drive an hour to Villanova and use the pool there. That seems crazy. It can’t be that expensive for a school of Lehigh’s size to have adequate pool facilities for students. Especially for a school that is otherwise very attractive to athletes.
“There is a big difference between calculus study at Lehigh and calculus at most high schools. A solid high–school precalculus course is necessary background for calculus at Lehigh. Students need a strong foundation in functions (forms, graphs, roots) and trigonometry to really thrive in calculus. Most students who take calculus in high school are accustomed to using a graphing calculator. Calculators are not used in Lehigh calculus classes. A firm understanding of the symbolic and algebraic manipulations used in calculus, without relying on calculators, is necessary for more advanced applications of calculus in mathematics and in other fields. Many students find a summer course in calculus at a local community college to be helpful in bridging from high school mathematics to Lehigh calculus.”
Thank you. That is helpful. I will investigate summer opportunities, and maybe print a final exam from Lehigh for her to see how comfortable she is with the material, when divorced from her graphing calculator.
Thank you PAO2008. I see you are here at the Lehigh site too. Did no realize that graphing Calculators are not allowed in Calculus at Lehigh. Need to check with son about that. Printed up the link for him. @Much2learn - that is such a bummer about the pool issues. My friend’s son who is a freshman this year played water polo and I had always thought that it was on campus. He had a great time playing this past fall. Will check with her.
FWIW, DS is a current freshman at Lehigh in the CSB program and used his AP credits for Calc 1 & 2. He is a fairly strong math student and scored 5 on the AB and BC exams. He was placed into 205 Linear Methods and has finished with his math sequence. He said it was a tough course, but not ridiculously hard and he ended up with an A in the class. There is a really informative session during orientation in the Fall that outlines all your math options and ample time for Q&A about specifics of each course. Good luck to all deciding, he absolutely loves Lehigh!
@KJMT64 That is good to know. My S got a 5 on the the AB exam last year. He has had a ridiculously hard teacher this year in BC (long story but it is not just my S) and he wants to major in math so we are not sure about him placing out of Calc. 2 as a college freshman. The HS teacher is rather obsessed with the kids getting 5s on the AP exam but I’m more concerned about S having the core knowledge he needs to move to the next class. At this point, we are leaning towards having him use AP credits just for Calc. 1 even if he gets a 5 on the BC AP exam. I had asked him whether they use a calculator much in class this year and he said no.
@KJMT64- great information. Is your son planning to be an engineer? How has he found his other classes and the social aspects of school? My son loves ultimate Frisbee so he hopes to keep playing at some level in college. Thanks for sharing. Funny PA02008-I asked my son about the calculator this year in class and he said they had not used them much either. I was looking at his math last night. OMG- it looks ridiculously hard.