My D Cn not decide ED Lafayette or ED Dickinson
And will study Neuroscience and Swim for the swim team
I believe she has concern about how difficult Lafayette might be.
I can give you my two cents. My daughter is going to be applying RD to both of these schools this year. I have a family connection to Dickinson and live nearby in Carlisle.
Both schools are going to be academically rigorous and challenging (in a good way).
Lafayette might skew a little toward the business and engineering side of the spectrum, It seems very well run and is up and coming. They might be a tad stingy with financial aid if that is a concern. Location is close to Philadelphia and not far from NYC. Greek life is fairly big as well as their football team and rivalry with nearby Lehigh college.
Dickinson is a great and sometimes overlooked choice in PA. It (sadly) has been overlooked in the ratings. They have many choices for their junior year abroad program and lots of opportunities to get to know the professors. Sports is important and all D3. Greek life is not really a big thing.
Both schools are dedicated to the liberal arts college model.
I know a friend who’s daughter grew up in Carlisle and was not seriously considering applying to Dickinson as she wanted to go away to college. One thing led to another and she has ended up attending this year and loves it. She is very sharp and on the swim team as well.
Get those Dickinson apps into the EA pool. It indicates interest and improves their chances.
You believe they are equally challenging academically??
Any feeling About having for credit classes as opposed to three credit classes
Credit scales typically are determined according to each institution’s policies and traditions, and therefore often cannot be directly equated across colleges. Kenyon, for example, assigns half a credit for most of its standard courses.
We looked at I think 12 or so colleges with my D and in the end Lafayette (where she ultimately applied ED and attended) and Dickinson were among the 4 schools she felt she could be most happy at (along with Union and Franklin & Marshall). Here are some of our observations/perceptions.
–Lafayette felt more STEM oriented to all of us. The engineering program did bring that focus, but it was an overall feeling about the college being very strong in both STEM and humanities. Dickinson’s emphasis when we visited was more on global education and overall the school felt more humanities oriented. Again that was our perception (which may or may not be correct) based on the students we met and presentation we heard on the day we visited.
–Dickinson did have a gorgeous new science building but it bothered my D that it was across a busy street (which could probably go into the thread of stupidest reasons your child did not like a college).
Bottom line is I truly think both are wonderful schools. I would have been happy with whichever my D chose. It is a matter of personal fit, where a student feels more at home etc.
Here are a few things I can tell you about Lafayette that might be helpful.
– I do think there is a difference between 4 credit classes and 3 credit classes. Four credit classes gives the students four rather than five classes a semester and I think makes things a bit easier (my S went to a college where he took five 3 credit classes and he generally seemed to have more things to juggle). That said, my D typically had one or two lab classes so even with four classes she had a lot on her plate.
–Lafayette does have Greek Life. It is a part of campus life but students can easily have a full and happy social life without taking part in Greek Life. My D surprised us and joined a low-key sorority but it did not take over her life. A good thing is that students can’t pledge until sophomore year so she had a strong group of freshmen friends (who she kept throughout college although most did not go Greek) and she had an idea of which sorority she would be interested in as she already had some friends there.
–Overall I felt Lafayette found that “secret sauce” where students are academically challenged and yet have some time for fun, for on-campus activities etc. My D worked hard academically but was also very involved on campus. Same with her friends.
–Professors were accessible and generally excellent. Research opportunities are abundant. My D spent two summers on campus (full time, getting paid) and a number of semesters (part-time) doing research with two professors. One project was published in a peer reviewed journal.
–Lafayette students can take advantage of classes in the 5 college consortium. My D’s friend took a neuroscience class at one school, my D took anatomy and physiology at another. The logistics need to be managed (my D’s course was over the summer and partly online) but it is do-able. My D also went abroad for a summer with a program run by the consortium. At a LAC which may not have every class a student is interested in taking it can be helpful.
–The Lehigh rivalry mentioned above is fun. My D graduated and is going back for the Laf-Lehigh game this year. There are a lot of events on campus and it brings out a lot of school spirit.
If you have any questions about Lafayette please feel fee to ask me. Again, they are two wonderful schools. I think a lot of students who like one of the colleges will like the other.
Lafayette is not ‘more difficult’ than Dickenson overall- but it also depends rather a lot on what classes you take. If the thought of hard classes puts her off she might want to re-think neuroscience…
I also think that as a swimming recruit your D needs to pay attention to that part of the equation. Does she prefer one coach/one team over the other? Is the time commitment the same? I think Lafayette is D1 for swimming and not sure but isn’t Dickinson D3? That may be a difference.
And I can’t speak to the difficulty of classes at Dickinson v Lafayette (since my D didn’t take any classes at Dickinson). I think the hard science classes will be challenging at any quality college. My D worked hard at Lafayette and did well.
Thank you very much for your helpful input
My daughter is a neuroscience major at Lafayette.She is not an athlete, but her brother is at another LAC. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.