<p>Can anyone give me feedback on each school from a non-academic perspective?
I'm curious about:
1. School spirit,enthusiasm,participation in the school as a whole and in athletics. Do kids go to the games and support the teams?
2. Proximity to town, restaurants, pharmacy, Target -- how easy to get there w/o car?
3. Greek scene - do fraternities live in chapter houses or do they live among all of the other students?
4. Any neat traditions or annual events that the kids get really excited about?
5. Anything else you think is special about the school.</p>
<p>Dickinson has the worst greek and social life scene of the 4, and they are the only one with D-III sports.</p>
<p>Colgate, Bucknell, and Lafayette all have D-I sports and they are an important part of campus at all 3 schools. All 3 schools also have active greek lives with large on campus houses. Bucknell probably has the best greek life. Colgate and Bucknell have very pretty campus’s but are in very small towns. Lafayete also has a very nice campus and is in a medicore small city. </p>
<p>Colgate, Bucknell and Lafayette are very similar socially, but Dickinson is a bit different. </p>
<p>Dickinson is in the middle of Carlisle, a small town to be sure, but my freshman D loves being able to walk into town from time to time for coffee or a bite. There is a Target and Walmart close by (5 mins by car, and the school runs a shuttle.) Greek life is not huge, though if that is the scene you want you will find it. Kids go to the athletic games mostly to support their friends, but lots of kids play on teams. It is an easy school to fit into - lots of different clubs, activities, and types of people.</p>
<p>PS - what is really special about Dickinson is that it takes seriously its commitment to a global education (even pre-meds can go on a semester abroad without screwing up their course requirements) and its commitment to being green (very green for a school of its size, and it has a farm that produces some of the food in the caf.)</p>
<p>Interesting thread, certainly many students are interested in this group of schools including my son. We saw Dickinson and Lafayette and will do a swing that includes Colgate and Lafayette in the Fall. </p>
<p>It is nice to hear some opinions contrasting schools or simply stating things about a school, as Juniper18 did (thanks for that). If you simply look up Dickinson and Lafayette, they could switch many of their stats and nobody would be the wiser. </p>
<p>I don’t know what Leopard03’s point is about D1 versus D3 sports. Certainly D1 sports can give athletic scholarships so that many be an advantage to some. That said, some Patriot League schools are not known for offering a lot of scholarships. IIRC, Lafayette is awarding scholarships in only 6 sports. And others only play each other in some sports. In other words, it’s not like Army is scheduling Colgate for football yet Colgate does schedule Lafayette. In some sports, D3 can be an advantage as students can play varsity sports there versus just watching others play them.</p>
<p>I am awesome, so I chose Bucknell. You should too.</p>
<p>In all seriousness, I can’t speak for the others, but I liked Bucknell the most out of any college I looked at, and I preferred it over Lafayette despite its rural setting. Lafayette is closer to urban areas and has a decent midsize town, though Lewisburg is more walkable, and it is relatively close to Harrisburg, and 3 hours from NY, DC, and Philly.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback. My son is a jr. and at this point doesn’t think he’s interested in the greek scene. I know some schools don’t rush frats until soph yr which is better for kids like my son - they get a chance to make a group of friends. </p>
<p>Irish, I’ve read many threads on the preppiness and greek scene at Bucknell. What is your take on it?</p>
<p>Juniper, I like that Carlisle is within walking distance of campus. There doesn’t have to be a lot to do but at least a place to take a break from campus food…Any ideas about Lewisburg, Easton and Hamilton? Is there a small town within walking distance?</p>
<p>What about school spirit and pride at any of these schools? Are students involved and enthusiastic or ambivalent?</p>
<p>My daughter is finishing her first year at Lafayette. She looked at Dickinson also. She passed on Bucknell and Colgate purely because of location. Both are great schools as long as you don’t mind the relative isolation and, in Colgate’s case, winter. Anyway, she is a science kid who also likes history and theater. She was not looking for a greek scene either. Definitely not preppy, but not a pierced, green crew-cut kid either. She has found a home intellectually and socially at Lafayette because she didn’t close out options based on stereotypes flung around on message boards; I would apply this to all four schools your son is looking at.</p>
<p>As for school spirit at Lafayette, I would say that it is certainly there but not in a University of Alabama sort of way. Lots of kids wear their Lafayette gear with pride – Lafayette togs outnumber clothing identified by greek letters 10-1. Students and alums show up big-time for the traditional rivalry football game with Lehigh, but in much smaller numbers for other contests. I was at a women’s basketball game this year and there were a decent number of students there. Some students are more engaged in the sort of activities identified with “pride” or “spirit” than others. The library always seems to have its share of students, Sunday mornings as well as late at night.</p>
<p>Greek life has seemed muted, and I have have been on campus 3 or 4 times late on a weekend night when we were in town to see one of D’s performances at the Williams Center. Maybe this has something to do with the administration’s crackdown on underage drinking at frat houses. Some may just be changing times. Parties do happen, and my daughter has found the residue of overindulgers a few times in her dorm bathroom. It isn’t a daily occurance, however.</p>
<p>Not very many of my daughter’s friends and associates have a strong interest in greek life (although a slight majority are at least open to the idea of participating in rush next fall). For now they are more content with studying, getting involved with clubs and sports that interest them, hanging out watching movies in the dorm, taking advantage of weekend trips to NYC offered by some student organizations and grabbing a bite to eat off-campus. Downtown Easton has a number of good restaurants (Asian Fusion, Thai, Portugese, tapas & seafood) although they are a bit pricey for regular student visits. My daughter and friends also liked walking down the hill to downtown last fall to go to the regular Saturday morning Farmer’s Market or to shop at some of the specialty stores. The usual mall-type stores and fast food joints can be accessed by taking the weekend shuttle buses run by the college. The College Hill neighborhood right next to Lafayette also has a couple of Italian restaurants, a pizza parlor and a couple coffee shops, as well as an undistinguished neighborhood bar (a really good college tavern for those over 21 and parents would make a nice additional amenity).</p>
<p>OK, family’s back and daughter #2 is requesting the computer. That’s all for now.</p>
<p>ctyankee-- The OP specifically asked about the sports scene in general not playing a particular sport.</p>
<p>Lafayette, Bucknell, and Colgate are in the Patriot Legaue and play each other IN ALL SPORTS. Army and Navy are in the Patriot for all sports other than football, in which they are indy.</p>
<p>Even if the potential student doesnt care to play a sport, D-I athletics change the school’s social scene. Sure the PL schools wont be confused with Penn State, but they have strong athletic traditions. At Lafayette you can watch a Laf/Lehigh FB game with 15,000 fans in college FB’s most played rivarly. You can cheer the Bison b-ball team to the NCAA tourney or watch Colgate’s highly ranked (typically) hockey team. None of this exists at Dickinson. </p>
<p>Also the Patriot League schools are very small. Therefore the % of athletes on campus is very high and you are likely to know the athletes. You may sit next to the star b-ball or fb player in econ class. When you realize he is a nice, humble guy you will feel more compelled to root for the team.</p>
<p>Not quite. 'Gate has been decent the last few years: 1 regular season title and 1 NCAA appearance. Winning record 5/10 years. 2 NCAA appearances in 10 years. All in the 2nd worst conference in collegiate hockey. In 2004-2005, their last NCAA tournament year, they were only ranked 25th, which wouldn’t put them on the page for USCHO (only goes to 20).</p>
<p>Anyway, if school spirit is important to you, Bucknell is the pick.</p>
<p>Diontechristmas. You are missing the point as usual. I admit they arent quite as highly ranked as I said – my bad, but the point is that Hockey is big at Colgate.</p>
<p>Bucknell cares about b-ball but that is really it. They get poor attendance for football</p>
<p>I’ve visited Dickinson, my dad’s visited Colgate, my neighbor goes to Bucknell, and some of my friends considered Lafayette. </p>
<p>All four are small, rural liberal arts colleges. This tends to elevate the drinking and Greek scene, which in turn angers the locals. Dickinson probably has the most unhappy students. It felt somewhat conservative and pretentious. Colgate has a pretty, yet cold campus. Academics are strong there. Bucknell has a big Greek scene and mostly happy, preppy students. I honestly don’t know that much about Lafayette. And that’s a bad thing. </p>
<p>Rankings (which also correlate to admit rate) if you care about them: </p>
<p>Colgate (LAC #18 by USNWR #21 by kiplinger #2 by payscale.com A- by CP)
Bucknell (LAC #30 by USNWR #22 by kiplinger #1 by payscale.com B+ by CP)
Lafayette (LAC #35 by USNWR #18 by kiplinger #4 by payscale.com B+ by CP)
Dickinson (LAC #45 by USNWR #N/A by kiplinger #N/A by payscale.com B+ by CP)</p>
<p>Thanks-- that was a good post. Dont mind me just in a poor mood today, and I dislike when people state opinions here without much context. I appreciate your context.</p>