I was accepted into all three of these school (Lehigh, Emory, and Villanova) this Spring and was wondering if anybody could give me some insight into which school would give me the best return on investment, job placement, name recognition, and overall professional advantage as well as discuss the social life at any of these schools. I will include some background about how I feel about each of these schools already below, but would love to hear what you guys think of all of these schools.
For Lehigh: I think that Lehigh’s IBE program is the most prestigious program that I was accepted in to, but I am worried about how rigorous it may be and about the social aspects of attending Lehigh. I hope to have an active social life in college and want to be able to go out, join clubs (possibly greek life), and do more than just study, but the IBE program seems extremely competitive and demanding. I am worried that with all of the extra coursework will make it hard to have fun there. Additionally, I am kind of intimidated by the greek-dominated social scene and don’t know if I would fit in with the typical Lehigh student. If anyone can talk about the benefits of Lehigh’s IBE program, if my concerns are unwarranted, or anything else it would be greatly appreciated. Also just by the way I have visited Lehigh and could see myself there, but am mostly just worried that the school is super fratty/preppy.
For Villanova: Right now Villanova seems like a much less valuable program than Lehigh’s IBE program, however I received a 10k Villanova Scholarship from them and have visited and liked the campus a lot. Villanova is ranked lower than Emory in terms of business schools, however I was very impressed by VSB’s high employment rate after graduation and I felt as though both schools would give me a great business education. Also, Villanova has great sports and school spirit and I think that I would fit in better with the people who go there than the people at Lehigh.
For Emory: The two big draws to Emory for me right now is that Goizueta has an amazing reputation as a business school and that it is a lot more diverse than either Villanova or Lehigh. I am from Chicago (actual city not suburbs) and am used to a very open-minded and diverse student population so that is a plus for Emory. I also like the fact that Emory is in another big city (Atlanta) and the good weather nice (albeit not a deciding factor). I wish Emory had better sports, but it isn’t that big of a deal and I feel as though the student population finds lots of other ways to have school spirit. I will be visiting Emory in the next two weeks which will hopefully help me make this decision.
Any input from anybody with familiarity with these school’s academics, professional benefits (job placement, internships, name recognition, etc.), or social life is greatly appreciated. Thank you.