Well, the Confederate flags have been taken down and put away.
But there was recently the name controversy.
How racially integrated are the fraternities and sororities there? At many campuses (not just in the south), many fraternities and sororities appear quite racially segregated, which can interfere with inclusiveness and social integration within them (and be problematic for the campus as a whole if participation is high).
If all W&L did was change the name, it would be meaningless. In my opinion, that’s the least of their concerns as the school has a very troubling history, and wrestling with that – and moving the school away from that, is what’s most important. There are way too many things for me to list, but, eg, they are opening an institute to study southern race relations. They have a program that focuses on poverty studies. 10% of each class is awarded a full ride covering everything plus a stipend (so approx 40 kids each year) and this award is being used to increase diversity (among other institutional needs). There’s an active LGBTQ scene. Freshman orientation has a trip that visits important sites from the 1960s civil rights era. Diversity is clearly a top priority for the school.
As for how integrated greek life is, I am certainly no expert. However I observed fraternities with black, white, and asian members. Kids who wouldn’t join fraternities at other schools (because they aren’t the stereotypical frat boys) do join them at W&L. And those kids influence the culture of the greek organizations. That’s one of the ways that paradoxically by being so popular they are more inclusive and low key.
I’ve only read this far in this thread 
but my D’s top 2 were Davidson and W&L. She’s at W&L and very happy. She enjoys parties/socializing and will occasionally drink. Her roomie doesn’t drink at all but accompanies her to many parties. They also joined the same sorority. She has a good many friends who don’t drink and/or didn’t join a Greek organization and have plenty of social opportunities.
My D isn’t engineering but is STEM. She’s very academically oriented (all A’s/one A- first semester… proud mom comment). I understand the need to consider ABET but can’t speak to that since it wasn’t a consideration for us.
Happy to answer any questions since our kiddos looked at the same schools. I’ll keep reading this thread… hopefully this isn’t a repeat of other information.
Very few schools have so many kids academically driven. Wake Forest is another. W&L kids work extremely hard and many “play” hard too. Drinking is part of the scene, but not more than other places.
As @skieurope often notes, the plural of anecdote is not data. It is great that @akin67’s son had such a good experience with Dartmouths 2+1+1+1 engineering program (which does have the benefit of letting students have their senior year at their home institution), and I am certain many others have been similarly happy.
As it happens, the person I know who did 3+2 engineering through Dartmouth did not have a wonderful time of it. That person’s experience was bad enough that she discouraged everybody at her home school from applying (I talked to her directly, so it is first hand). I have other direct or near-direct experiences that relate to various of the possible challenges that I noted above, which I tried to put in as neutral terms as possible. Forewarned is forearmed- same as with movie reviews, you read a bunch of them & evaluate the weight you put on them in terms of the elements that are most relevant to you.
There are frats/sororities that have a more diverse membership than others. My D’s sorority has AA, Asian, Hispanic, international, etc members. Because Greek life is somewhat integrated into the campus social scene it is much more inclusive than my experience at an SEC university (and that stands still from what I hear from friends with kids at larger schools with much less Greek involvement).
I’m not trying to sell anyone on W&L. Like any school, it isn’t the right fit for everyone. But I do want to share my D’s experience as it differs so much from the W&L I knew 20+ years ago. It’s worth looking into the current student experience.
ETA: The thread @ucbalumnus linked was mine. I won’t address that topic unless the OP asks about it. But my D (and many students, parents, faculty) are passionate about improving diversity and inclusivity.
I would not have imagined that a school with an otherwise high reputation like W&L would be running a non-accredited program. That is a giant red flag. If your son is interested in proving himself by setting a big hurdle to overcome before beginning a career, then W&L might be a good pick. Or if he is planning on engineering becoming an expensive hobby. Accreditation comes before prestige in the hierarchy of needs. Accreditation has a purpose - to determine if the school offers the basic requirements of a sound education in the field. If the school is not accredited, it means that the basic requirements are not met. It is a real thing!
I agree - as I said b4, my son said every job he applies for says - it must be an ABET school. It doesn’t say top 10 or top 20 - he said most say 3.0 and ABET to be considered.
I also think - well they’ll go to grad school - that’s a dangerous strategy and an unknown.
That said, W&L is awesome - and here’s how they address ABET. Certainly this will be a question they should ask on their visit and something OP should look more into.
Throughout the long history of our engineering program, we have not sought accreditation through the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). This decision is rooted in our desire to provide our students with a broad range of courses in engineering while allowing students the flexibility to focus on their interests. Though our objectives are in harmony with accredited engineering programs, we believe it is our student-centered approach that affords majors the unique foundation upon which they build success after graduation.
Wow this is awesome insight. Didn’t even really know much about Engineering. I had read the spiel about not being accredited but didn’t realize a BA in engineering is often where the education stops. We LOVED the engineering program at Wake Forest which recently obtained accreditation. The head of that department gave us a tour and was an amazing mentor for my son. BUT, we have heard from too many that Wake is a party school and this was the reason we were looking elsewhere. Also going to visit Case Western. So hard to find the perfect school! We want him to have fun and enjoy the four years.
Tons are party schools - from Harvard to Tulane to Vanderbilt - to you name it. But if you’re not a partier, you’ll find your crowd. btw - most think their kids don’t party - but they do 
I think if you have interest in W&L, then go - but ask the question or ask in advance. The other LACs (well some) that have ABET engineering are Bucknell, Trinity, Union, Swarthmore, Lafayette. Then you have other small schools such as Rose Hulman, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Olin that are specific to engineering - but based on your second note, it’s not a done deal so those calls would likely be more limiting…
You might see if you can get your soon into a week or two week program this summer - such as Purdue’s STEP - apply now - to get them a little exposure to what engineers actually do. That’s the program my son did - but there are others - Rose Hulman’s Operation Catapult and I’m sure there’s some out West.
If you’re looking at schools like CWRU, obviously you have lots of mid size - like Emory, Vandy, WUSTL, Miami, etc.
With engineering - you can’t go wrong - it’s a question of what you want to spend (or can afford) vs. the type of school you want.
I wouldn’t dismiss W&L - it’s AWESOME. But I’d ask the questions - including outcomes. It’s (in my opinion) far nicer than Wake - not to mention smaller. It’s in a cool town - right up the hill from downtown - and such a nicer campus. W&L is great for outdoorsy types.
My son switched from Astrophysics to Aviation to Atmospheric Sciences to Mechanical Engineering - all since Junior year in HS - so getting exposed is a good thing. STEP at Purdue put him over the top - and now he’s a Junior (in at Purude, but chose not to attend although he loved his week).
Good luck.
LOL Wake Forest’s nickname is Work Forest. There are partiers everywhere, but WF is no Dartmouth 
+1 for @tsbna44’s suggestion of the Purdue summer program- it’s great, and so is their engineering program, esp for ones who aren’t exactly sure what direction they want to go.
It definitely does not. My ex-husband is an alumni and I live near it. The area surrounding the schools and the town itself is conservative but the school itself is not. They compare themselves and draw instructors from schools like Wellesley and Smith. Not related to that, but the school mainly pulls it’s students from the northeast, higher income, so there is not a southern vibe on campus. It has a high Greek population, but I do not know if it is an inclusive or exclusive Greek system. That can make a huge difference. My biggest concern it is not ABET accreditated, but within 1.5 hours, you have VT and UVA, which have very strong engineering programs. UVA does have a smaller private college feel (but high Greek)
Oh, those poor Stanford engineers won’t be able to get jobs.
It’s a discussion about W&L - not Stanford.
I did not say their students would not get jobs. In fact, I stated that on the visit or in pre-visit, I would ask for outcomes.
I simply said that my son, as he fills out his job apps or read the descriptions, he said they all ask for ABET and most a GPA, commonly a 3.0.
You’re twisting the narrative. As others have commented, it is a concern to further investigate.
I’d be curious to know what jobs non ABET engineers get TBH - from any school. I know one time someone said they get jobs related to engineering, but not actual engineering - they just need to “know” their subject matter for doing sales or consulting or whatever. That was a data point of 1 though so real info (rather than guesses) from others would be interesting to know.
Engineering folks around us (civil - land use - usually, some structural) definitely have their preferences for state schools like Penn St or VA Tech. I’m nowhere near as familiar with other fields in engineering (mechanical, aerospace, etc).
While a few universities regarded as elite in engineering have dropped ABET accreditation for some majors, that may not apply as well to others like WLU. Also, those who did drop ABET accreditation for some majors retained ABET accreditation where it is more likely specifically needed (e.g. civil engineering or sometimes mechanical engineering).
Let’s move on from debating the value of a degree from colleges other than W&L, and get back to topic.
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Whenever a school places first in the nation by any social characteristic, such as fraternity participation, it would seem this must indicate something distinguishing about its atmosphere: https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/most-frats.
It means that almost 80% of students participate in Greek life.
Beyond that, what exactly is your point? Or question? I’m happy to try to add context as the parent of a current student.