<p>We are trying to help our son choose between these three schools. He is undecided for a major, but he is probably leaning toward liberal arts or a pre-law field. Any advice will be helpful. </p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Without knowing much about your son, it is not easy to offer advice. I think there would be a huge difference between WVU and the other two. My son is a sophomore film studies/history major who graduated from Pgh. public schools. I think one of the advantages of Laf is its location between NYC and Philly. He has gone to both cities and from the college newsletter, it seems like there are numerous opportunities for internships. After a brief adjustment period (maybe a few weeks), my son has been very happy at Lafayette. The down side of that is that he doesn’t want to come home for the summer. If you have any more specific questions, I would be happy to try to answer from a parent’s point of view.</p>
<p>Thanks. He is very quiet and reserved. That is why we are looking at the small liberal arts schools. </p>
<p>The benefits to WVU are the cost and distance. We have the Promise Scholarship in WV which covers the tuition. He has another scholarship toward room and board. </p>
<p>We are visiting Lafayette next week. I didn’t go the first time. I am excited.</p>
<p>Quiet and reserved does not scream WVU IMO…</p>
<p>lafayette for my money…or even Allegheny</p>
<p>Visiting is the best thing you can do. It sounds like the classic case of do you go to the better fit school (which sounds like a LAC) or the less expensive school. Only you can say what you can comfortably afford knowing that there could be three years of law school in his future. My D will be going to Lafayette next year (we didn’t look at Allegheny). Congratulations on having some really great choices.</p>
<p>As happy1 says the best thing to do is visit. I can say that we first visited last summer with my Younger son and attended the Open House they had. Both of us were totally won over by Laf, but felt that it might have been due to the format of the day and the extra time spent on campus.</p>
<p>Older son then decided that he was interested in transferring there after hearing us talk about it. He and I visited at the end of March and we had the more normal tour and info session, but he came away just as enthused and excited about Laf. Both boys tend toward the reserved side of things. Older son is thrilled to be transferring to Laf next year.</p>
<p>Thanks. I am excited about the visit this weekend.</p>
<p>Thanks again to everyone who offered advice and suggestions on Lafayette. We enjoyed our visit and we loved the school. He had a few hesitations over the distance (5 hours), but he decided last night to enroll. We are excited for him!</p>
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<p>Wow, I would never put those three schools in the same sentence.</p>
<p>Unless Lafayette is a lot lower than I always thought it was.</p>
<p>Mark Bass,
I didn’t expect someone to cut down all three of my son’s choices. I hope you feel better about yourself for insulting a 17 year old. </p>
<p>I think Lafayette and Allegheny are great schools.</p>
<p>Hi, I don’t think he was really putting down the choices, just saying that he didn’t think that they were necessarily comparable. From what he wrote, I think he feels that Lafayette is just a better choice (by his definition) than the other two. </p>
<p>Thus he would think that your son’s choice was spot on…</p>
<p>Great news for your son. I bet you are all relieved that it is all settled…</p>
<p>Gva,
Maybe I misunderstood what he meant by saying lower than he thought it was. Thanks for your take on it. I will assume that he always had a high opinion of it and not the others. </p>
<p>So, to Mark Bass, I am sorry for spouting off if I did misunderstand you about Lafayette. This has been one of the most stressful parenting duties so far! </p>
<p>I have to say that I was totally impressed with Allegheny. It is in the Colleges that change lives for a reason. Every student we encountered was so impressive and involved with every aspect of the school. I also saw it on a list of
Under rated schools. Truthfully, the students, faculty and staff were the best of all the schools we toured. </p>
<p>As far as WVU, I’m sure it is a great school too. He had almost a full ride for it so we had to keep it in the mix. Ultimately though, he chose Lafayette because it feels like the best fit. As I stated earlier, my only concern is the distance. </p>
<p>Yes, I have felt very relieved today to be able to move on to the next
phase.</p>
<p>@CrosbysMom - Congratulations! Looks like our kids will be classmates!</p>