I would highly advise any student considering Lehigh (Especially for Computer Science) to reconsider

25% of CS department professors have left in this past year, while enrollment is growing exponentially. I’m in my junior level CS courses and the smallest CS class I’ve been in thus far is 55. It’s really hard to get any individual attention, even office hours are crowded, which is quite worrisome when you’re paying extra to go to a private school.

Furthermore, the administration is changing the parking rules, and this change means that professors will no longer be able to park near their buildings. Thus, many CS professors have elected to hold their classes next semester in a building on a separate campus. It’s about a 15 minute bus ride away, but this means you can’t have a class directly before or after as it’ll make you late. Furthermore, the capacity in this new building is around 30. This, compounded with the scarcity of CS classes available means it will be quite difficult to get into your desired classes and the ones you can get into will make it hard to fit anything else into your schedule.

The administration here is completely neglectful to its current students. This past week, they blasted music across campus during class hours (1045-12 noon), making it difficult to here your professors and impossible to get a strong grasp on the material. Upon complaint, I was ignored and essentially given the response that the desire for alumni money supersedes giving the students a semi quiet environment to learn.

Furthermore, the administration just announced that Juniors and Seniors will no longer be allowed to live on campus next year. You might think that this is a reasonable notice for a heads up, but off campus housing for the upcoming year is gone by September, leaving us with few to no choices. Many are electing to rush a fraternity/sorority for the sole purpose of being allowed to stay on campus (this university prioritized Greek life and athletes over traditional students). They have announced a new non Lehigh affiliated building nearby for people to stay, but the only rooms there left cost between 10500 and 12000 per year depending on your lease. This is over 3000$ more than on campus.

The administration here is absolutely terrible, especially given the fact that this is a private university. They are trying to gain a stronger reputation by raising tons of money, yet they are neglecting their current students in this effort. I would highly advise student to reconsider coming here and think about some of the points mentioned above. I know if I knew what I knew today, I would be somewhere else, yet I am pigeonholed here (no point in transferring for a final year).

Thank you. I was highly considering the business/CS major at Lehigh but with your post it seems like it might not be the best decision to go to Lehigh for CS.

Is this the only downside of the CS program?

This and many of the students here in CS are completely disinterested in the material and are here for the big pay day. This makes the professors go in less depth than usual. The classes that aren’t required courses are phenomenal as it’s only the students who truly want to be there, but with electives dying out, it’s rough.

This and many of the students here in CS are completely disinterested in the material and are here for the big pay day. This makes the professors go in less depth than usual. The classes that aren’t required courses are phenomenal as it’s only the students who truly want to be there, but with electives dying out, it’s rough.

@equationlover You let a single posting from a disgruntled student change an important life decision?

@TomSrOfBoston I would suggest both you and the poster above to do your own research and make decisions based off of that. The CS department talks very openly about this; I know one of the professors remaining who is thinking about leaving due to above reasons. I would be happy to share his email with you; he would be more than happy to discuss the current climate of the CS department.

@TomSrOfBoston No. I have heard other things about Lehigh as well that makes me question wanting to apply. It’s definitely not just this one thing. I will take the OP’s post and any additional info (such as this professor’s email) that would help in making a decision. I just know that it’s important to hear from the faculty and students of all types, particularly those in your intended major.
@ninjakiwi I would be willing to talk to him. Can you PM me?

My teacher spoke highly of the business/CS program at Lehigh. It seems more like Lehigh focuses on business than engineering based off what I read, but it’s still interesting to me. It’s the Greek life, partying, ECT. that is turning me off. I have also heard other stuff about the CS department. More information is welcome!

Hello! Lehigh is my number one choice school, and your post has raised some red flags for me. When will Lehigh officially announce that juniors and seniors can no longer live on campus? I always prefer the security of knowing you can live on campus if all else fails, and this worries me.

https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf/2018/10/lehigh_to_upperclassmen_were_o.html

https://thebrownandwhite.com/2018/10/29/trembley-upperclassmen-housing-academic-year/

Lehigh has recently revised it’s announcement about the upperclassmen housing situation for next year.

And to be clear, the original announcement was not that they wouldn’t be ALLOWED to live on campus. But rather that the main upperclassmen apartment complex on campus was being demolished to build new housing. So the result is the same, no upperclassmen housing for the 2019/2020 academic year, but the implication of saying they wouldn’t be allowed to live on campus is a bit misleading.

https://thebrownandwhite.com/2018/10/31/trembley-park-will-remain-open-for-upperclassmen-through-2020/

Lehigh’s computer science department is in shambles because they can’t keep good teachers.
https://thebrownandwhite.com/2018/12/02/lehigh-computer-science-professor-fired-department-short/