<p>Hey! I am a female wanting to major in civil engineering and Lafayette is one of my top choices. My only problem with it is what I call their "preppyness" for lack of a better word. This past spring my family and I did the Lehigh, Lafayette, Bucknell loop and liked Lafayette the best of the three. Basically the reason I liked Lafayette the best because it had the least amount of 'preppyness'. I go to an middle-upper middle class public high school in upstate NY and I find it very 'preppy'. I'm the type of girl who just likes to where a tshirt and jeans all the time and isn't into the clicky gossipy stuff that goes on in high school. I know college is different but I kinda got that vibe at all three schools (Lafayette the least). The second my mom walked onto lehigh's campus she said "there's too much louis vitton". It's my only LA with engineering school on my list and I know it's a great school (one of the best one's I'm applying to). Honestly I'm leaning towards a more techy school like WPI but was wondering people's input on the campus vibe.
Thanks!</p>
<p>You’ll definitely find all kinds of people, anywhere you go. At Lafayette, there are a decent number of the “preppy” type that you described. However, you won’t be a minority by a loooooonnnnggg shot if you’re not into all that, and especially not in the engineering department. When you’re spending so much time in lab and shop (as an engineering major, you will), you’ll pretty much be wearing T-shirt and jeans (for safety and what not). </p>
<p>I’m currently a student at Lehigh and I think that although Lehigh is a very preppy school, its not only preppy. Many of my friends don’t dress in the typical vinyard vines and polo clothing that you’d expect. No one really judges you based on what you wear.
People at Lehigh do tend to come from money, but again, it doesn’t mean that everyone is a snob or a jerk. It’s mostly a product of the relatively high admissions cost.
In summation, most students do fit the stereotype of a easy coast prep, but if you aren’t no on really notices that you aren’t. You’ll still fit in fine and have friends who are preppy and those who are not.
About the engineering, however, you should recognize that Lehigh has a world renowned college of engineering with many famous professors and good job oppirotunities after college.</p>
<p>One key difference between Lafayette and WPI is the type of community one would be in. WPI is full of tech oriented people. Lafayette has a broad mix of students with a mix of students interested in science, engineering and humanities. I’ve been on both campuses several times and did find that while WPI’s engineers facilities are excellent, (this is expected at a polytechnic), Lafayette offers a classic liberal arts experience where students explore ideas, development themselves as people, and learn their craft. As far as Lafayette vs Lehigh goes, there are a number of threads on that already. In my view, Lafayette College is a more intimate learning community than both WPI and Lehigh. </p>
<p>Lafayette at my very preppy high school is where the preps are trying to go. Lehigh is the school wear the jean and sweatshirt wearing students want to go. (I have no idea if this helps its just an observation I have seen). Again I do not know much about the topic, hopefully I was helpful in some way?</p>
<p>Here is an old thread on the Laf/Lehigh comparison which is still valid today. <a href=“Lafayette vs. Lehigh - Lafayette College - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/lafayette-college/486891-lafayette-vs-lehigh.html</a></p>
<p>Bottom line, Lehigh = University, more people, has business major, known for bigger parties. Lafayette = Smaller College with a more tame social experience, a more traditional small Liberal Arts experience. </p>
<p>@poetrymusiclover - you will have a great experience at Lehigh, it is an excellent school. However, the perspective you shared from your HS classmates is not universally shared. </p>
<p>+1 @worldspirit </p>
<p>@poetrymusiclover I’d definitely not take that as a rule. Lafayette has preppy students, yes…but there are lots of students who are the “Jeans and Sweatshirt” type. If you can, stay overnight and check it out yourself, specially the engineering program.</p>
<p>correcting my previous post… I meant to write that Lafayette offers “a more traditional small Liberal Arts <em>College</em> experience,” considered by many as the gold standard in undergraduate education.</p>
<p>Thanks… it was just an observation. It was all I have had to go on. considering I live in Massachusetts and I cannot visit very often. I did visit both school and what I saw there truly did confirm my thoughts. Because I saw lots of preppy students at Lafayette but not many at Lehigh, I do not really have a problem with preppy. I feel its the same with punk clothed people, I do not care what you wear. Truly preppy is better than slutty. I still liked Lehigh better, but I do worry about the party scene.</p>
<p>It is all a matter of personal preference. My D was turned off by Lehigh from the moment she stepped foot on campus and felt that she could not relate well to the students she met while on campus. In contrast, she felt at home at Lafayette from the first visit, was drawn to the LAC experience, and loves the school now that she is a student. I consider Lehigh and Lafayette to be academically equivalent institutions so it is really a matter of finding the school that is the right fit for each person. I’d agree with @worldspirit assessment in general and we all felt that Lehigh was a good bit higher on both the “preppy” & “party” scale as compared to Lafayette.</p>
<p>I was considering WPI vs Lafayette when I was originally considering colleges as well. Besides distance from home, what swung me to Lafayette was the atmosphere here as well as the integration with the Easton community, both of which I did not hear good things about for WPI because it is isolated from the outside, and there are a lot of techy students that are very similar. Here at Lafayette, there are a lot of chances to get involved in the community for almost any cause, which draws all types of people together on and off campus. Also speaking of on campus, since this is a liberal arts college with a specialty in engineering, you will almost any kind of person here, so fitting in as a preppy girl or someone that likes to wear a sweatshirt and jeans to class is easy. I totally can relate to you thinking you might not fit in with your style because I had the same impression coming to school knowing the high status of most students at this school, but I have found my niche here and I love it, so as long as you look for the right people and try to get involved with what interests you, you will be fine and love it here. :)</p>