<p>I have been reading on different threads or have heard through different sources that Lafayette has sort of a high school feel to it. Does anyone have any experience with this or see this as being an issue at Lafayette? I am gathering that this means that there may not be as much freedom when it comes to making decisions, that students may not be treated as adults. If anyone has any feedback on this, we would love to hear from you. S is considering Lafayette, WPI and University of Rochester..</p>
<p>That hasn’t been our daughter’s experience but we have sensed that at other Pa institutions.</p>
<p>S is at Lafayette and I don’t believe he’s ever felt it’s like high school. </p>
<p>The only thing I can think this might refer to is that virtually all students live on-campus. Personally I think that is a big plus. But for a student who is eager to live “on their own” in an apartment, they may feel limited.</p>
<p>D is a freshman and it definitely is not like high school. She comes and goes as she pleases. Her courses are rigorous. She never cuts a class but says that students do. Lafayette was a good choice for her.</p>
<p>Thanks all. I guess it seems that some of this may be pertaining to the RA’s. My S doesn’t drink or party at all so the lack of such activities is not a big deal for him (we are hearing that Lafayette is becoming very strict about such activities), but we were also hearing that the RA’s are strict in general. Are they on your case if you have people over night or restrictive in any other way? Thanks again for everyone’s feedback ; )</p>
<p>Thought I might jump in here since I’m an RA.</p>
<p>RA’s at Lafayette are no more or no less strict than those at other schools. Of course, each RA has a different style so what you might be hearing from others is simply a comment on one or 2 stricter RA’s on campus. The students on campus are adults and we treat them as such. I’ve never heard of RA’s being on someone’s case for having people over.
At the start of the year, each floor + RA comes up with a set of Community Standards or Rules for everyone on the floor to follow (eg: no dirty dishes overnight, no loud music past midnight) and along with that each roommate pair is encouraged to come up with agreements about guests, music, etc. The only time an RA might intervene is if you go against any of these previously agreed to rules and it affects others on the floor negatively.</p>
<p>This is all very helpful… Thank you. We are going back to revisit Lafayette next Monday and so far my S has been very impressed with the engineering program. He is, however, a very “do things his own kid of way” person - doesn’t go with the flow so to speak, so we just wanted to make sure that he fits in and feels comfortable at Lafayette. No heavy duty drinking and late night partying is fine by him. He really just wants to be at a school where he will get the best education possible yet also get some one on one attention. As a side note, does Lafayette have theme dorms or floors, ie. quiet, wellness, drug free, computer? He is a computer/graphic arts/film maker type of person in his spare time. Anyway, thanks again for everyone’s feedback…</p>
<p>smraff, sent you a private message with more detail in it.</p>
<p>Here is a link to a cc thread with a synopsis of the dorms. Hope it is helpful.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/lafayette-college/649823-ask-questions-here-part-iii-8.html#post7882175[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/lafayette-college/649823-ask-questions-here-part-iii-8.html#post7882175</a></p>
<p>Yes, Lafayette has “themed” housing. </p>
<p>These links are from the Residence Life website:
[Residence</a> Life at Lafayette College: Special-Interest Houses](<a href=“http://reslife.lafayette.edu/on-campus/living-groups/special-interest-houses/]Residence”>Special-Interest Houses · Residence Life · Lafayette College)</p>
<p>There are also substance-free floors.</p>
<p>Themed floors or what we call Special Interest Floors are only open to Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors. All the interest floors are completely student run, although they do have a faculty advisor and the floor president has scheduled meetings with the Residence Life contact person.
Also worth nothing, if your son has an idea for a special interest floor he would like to start himself, he can talk to Residence Life and they are open to the idea of adding new interest floors. In previous years, we used to have interest floors for computer enthusiasts and a movie appreciation floor which died down due to lack of student interest. He could definitely try to restart those for his sophomore year.</p>
<p>For first years, we do offer wellness or substance free housing options. From what I know, there will be two or three floors next year that are first year wellness (although this might change). If he is interested in wellness, he should mark that on the housing survey that Lafayette will be sending.</p>
<p>If he is into film making, I would suggest checking out the Arts Society. They are a group of about 15 students interested in the Arts who live in a block of off campus college housing and plan and participate in Arts related activities.
[Lafayette</a> College Arts Society » Arts Houses](<a href=“http://sites.lafayette.edu/artssociety/arts-houses/]Lafayette”>http://sites.lafayette.edu/artssociety/arts-houses/)</p>
<p>Is this themed floor dead, and if not can you link a contact or link a link to a contact?</p>
<p>[C.A.F.E</a>. Floor » Interested?](<a href=“http://sites.lafayette.edu/cafe/interested/]C.A.F.E”>Interested? | C.A.F.E. Floor)</p>
<p>I don’t know if the floor is dead or not. The link you posted has an email for the floor presidents. Just get in touch with one of them and they will be able to answer your questions.</p>