Not sure how I missed this post the first time around. My D is a recent graduate of Lafayette College and had a wonderful experience there. I do think that the school has found that “secret sauce” where students are academically challenged yet can find time to pursue EC activities, research with professors, and have some fun. My D was a psychology major and loved the department. She took on a major role in 2 research projects with professors one of which had results published in a peer reviewed journal. She also had some friends who were very happy history majors there – two of them did research with Donald Miller who is a well-known historian/author (he worked with Tom Hanks on some HBO projects) who is a professor at the college. And FWIW it is pretty easy to double major or have a major and a minor at Lafayette due in part to a very flexible core curriculum.The opportunities to develop close relationships with professors and get involved in research on campus abound.
Socially, there is Greek Life but it is not overwhelming – my D joined a low key sorority and a few of her male friends joined frats. An important aspect of Greek Life at Lafayette is that people don’t pledge until sophomore year so firm friendships are established before that process even starts. My D found time to pursue a wide range of activities on campus and had friends involved in everything from varsity sports to theater.
The campus is lovely. I have to say that the dorms are OK – some are nice and others are in need of a facelift. But I don’t think that is a huge deal if a student is happy and engaged at college. My D’s freshman year dorm was one of the ones in need of a facelift – yet she wouldn’t trade her experience there and the friendships she made in the dorm for anything. I don’t know a lot about the food because they got a new provider when she was an upperclassman and by that time she went down to having only a very small meal plan.
We visited a number of other schools on your list as well. Skidmore she felt was too “artsy” for her tastes (but she has friends who are very happy there), F&M was a school that was very high on her list, and Dickinson she liked but didn’t love (and I don’t know why).
Anyway, good luck with the search. If you have any particular questions about Lafayette that a mom can answer feel free to PM me at any point in your search.