<p>Hey,</p>
<p>Congrats to all the accepted intl applicants!
I'm an intl freshman at Lafayette. I'll be happy to answer questions from any of you.</p>
<p>I saw people talking about the lack of diversity at Lafayette, and I wonder approximately how many are students of color or internationals:)</p>
<p>lyjoo0119,</p>
<p>I believe I can be of some assistance!</p>
<p>From the "International Students Experience" portion of the Lafayette website:</p>
<p>Question: How large and how varied is the international population at Lafayette College?</p>
<p>Answer: On average, the international population stands at 5%. Currently, more than 75 countries are represented on Lafayette's campus. With each new class, Lafayette attempts to diversify the nationalities represented in our community. Some of the larger representative groups currently include Bulgaria, India, Nepal, Turkey, China, and Zimbabwe.</p>
<p>For statistics pertaining to the number of students of color on campus, please refer to the following page in the "Intercultural Development" section of Lafayette's website: <a href="http://ww2.lafayette.edu/%7Eintercultural/admissions.php%5B/url%5D">http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~intercultural/admissions.php</a></p>
<p>I hope this answers your question.</p>
<ul>
<li>Justin</li>
</ul>
<p>hmmm ok question .....</p>
<p>now ive been admitted to lafayette. Im very happy and all but its a bit expensive for me they were quite generous with the aid, but it may not be enough. i mean we'll be able to afford it but barely. Is there any way i can aask for more money in terms of financial aid. also my famiy's financial circumstances have changed (slightly) since i sent the ISFAA. My sis is now going to a more expensive uni.</p>
<p>now what can i do is there any way i can ask for and get more money. any comments will be appreicated
Thank You</p>
<p>fsa1,</p>
<p>It couldn't hurt to call up the Office of Financial Aid at (610) 330-5055 to speak with someone about your specific financial situation.</p>
<p>From the Financial Aid portion of Lafayette's website:</p>
<p>"The financial aid office offers both personal and phone appointments. Just call (610) 330-5055 and request an appointment at a convenient time. If you choose a phone appointment, the time will be reserved for you just as if you were coming in personally. This method allows the director to have your information available and ensures no interruptions."</p>
<p>I hope this helps!</p>
<ul>
<li>Justin</li>
</ul>
<p>i can't compete with candyman, he's just too fast haha. fsa1, I agree with Justin, give the people at fin aid a call, they are really great people.</p>
<p>What are Lafayette's particulary strong academic areas?</p>
<p>lyjoo0119,</p>
<p>Lafayette's strongest academic areas include Engineering, Economics & Business, and all of our natural sciences (Chemistry, Biology, Physics, etc.).</p>
<p>However, this does not mean that our Humanities (English, Religious Studies, Art History, Philosophy, etc.) suffer in any way. Our English department, for instance, offers a great selection of courses each semester and has a top-notch faculty.</p>
<p>I encourage you to explore the departmental websites of the majors that interest you. Simply go to <a href="http://www.lafayette.edu/admissions/majors/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.lafayette.edu/admissions/majors/index.html</a> and click on any of the links to the right. If a department has created its own website, the link to it will be listed on the following page.</p>
<ul>
<li>Justin</li>
</ul>
<p>Ediaz,</p>
<p>As a parent of an accepted student, I have visited the campus twice and, unfortunately, did not get to spend time in the dining area to see large groups of students gathering and interacting outside of a classroom. Given our limited exposure, Lafayette struck me as a very "white" campus, albeit very friendly and supportive. I wondered how the experience has been for you living on campus and far from home.</p>
<p>As an international student, how did you find your experience at Lafayette? Did it live to up expectations? Did you find it easy to be integrated into the community? Were there special events for internationals and minorities to gather?</p>
<p>Thanks for you willingness to answer questions.</p>
<p>BandW,</p>
<p>I think that the Lafayette experience is what you make of it. This applies both to international and american students. It is true that Lafayette is mainly a "white" school. But, in my personal experience, I've found the Lafayette community to be very eager to interact with minorities, especially Intl students. There are many clubs and organizations for minorities. As one the biggest organizations on campus, the ISA (International Student Association) is constantly working on increasing the number of intercultural events. For example, Extravaganza (<a href="http://ww2.lafayette.edu/%7Eisa/Forum.htm%5B/url%5D">http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~isa/Forum.htm</a>) is going to take place on the second week of April. We've been working really hard organizing this event, and we are pleased to see the positive response that we've been getting from the whole Lafayette Community. I'm sure this will be an event that is going to show how accepting and united we leopards are. I'm going to be a team captain for the Soccer World Cup that is going to be the Kick-off to Extravaganza, and I'm really excited with the number of Americans that have signed up.
From the other side, I know that efforts are being made by members of some of the Fraternities, to get Inlt students more involved with the Greek Life on campus. </p>
<p>So as you can see, we are all working on promoting diversity on campus, and I honestly think that Lafayette is a great school for anyone interested in expanding his own frontiers. </p>
<p>sincerely, </p>
<p>ediaz</p>
<p>Another good link to get a feel for the many intercultural activities is:</p>
<p><a href="http://lafayette.edu/slideshow/%5B/url%5D">http://lafayette.edu/slideshow/</a></p>
<p>There you can see numerous photos of all types of activities at Lafayette during the past two terms.</p>
<p>Another interesting link:</p>
<p><a href="http://lafayette.edu/news.php/view/10069/%5B/url%5D">http://lafayette.edu/news.php/view/10069/</a></p>
<p>About a senior thesis exploring social awareness at Lafayette.</p>
<p>Thanks, ediaz and joinville. Good to know more of what's going on.</p>
<p>I've Also Heard Lafayette's Government And Law Dept And Psychology Dept Are Very Strong. There's A New Policy Studies Dept That Also Looks Interesting.</p>
<p>almostover,</p>
<p>Yes, that Policy Studies major does seem quite interesting. I encourage all those who are curious to visit the Policy Studies website at <a href="http://ww2.lafayette.edu/%7Epolicystudies/%5B/url%5D">http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~policystudies/</a>.</p>
<ul>
<li>Justin</li>
</ul>
<p>I thought I'd throw in this link to a post by a current Lafayette freshman. It gives some additional insight on issues discussed in this thread:</p>
<p>joinville,</p>
<p>I usually don't inhabit Lehigh's forum (for obvious reasons), but that post by Kyle ("hereticalsaint") is quite illuminating.</p>
<p>Thanks for the link!</p>
<ul>
<li>Justin</li>
</ul>
<p>...but either way, I'm happy to help Justin and Ediaz to answer questions. They've both been extremely helpful here apparently; haha last year Justin gave me a tour of Keefe hall after I was accepted (do you remember me?) Particularly, I can talk about the gov/law or philosophy department, but I can also say a lot about the general liberal arts programs (people look so much at the engineering and business programs, which are both amazing, that they overlook how great the other programs are too). I can also talk about social life stuff (diversity, greek life, etc) if you guys have anything.</p>
<p>Kyle</p>
<p>Kyle,</p>
<p>How could I forget? Even though I meet literally hundreds of prospective students each year, I was fortunately blessed with a keen memory!</p>
<p>Thanks for offering to help answer questions. I believe the thoughts of a first-year student can be quite helpful for those who frequent these boards.</p>
<ul>
<li>Justin</li>
</ul>
<p>yeah kyle, thanks for offering to help. justin was also extremely helpful to me last year. so i guess this is our way to pay it forward. haha</p>
<p>... so there you go people, we are all willing to help. now don't be afraid to ask questions!</p>
<p>ediaz</p>
<p>OK..I'll bite. Can you describe the typical girl at Lafayette? We're worried about the population being focused on looks, dressing up for class, expensive handbags...or and then about the coursework. It's hard to ignore the figure that 45% belong to sororities. Is that number correct? And since rushing can't can't place until sophomore year does that mean 45% of 75% of the girls? Can you tell we're a little worried about this?</p>