LAFAYETTE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Part I!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Lafayette College
1

<p>Greetings CC'rs,</p>

<p>Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Taylor Brown, I'm 18 years old, and I am a freshman at Lafayette College from central New Jersey. My current intended major is neuroscience, and I am a premedical student. Throughout my college search, I used all sorts of sources in order to make the most informed decision. Books, websites, visits/tours, and friends all contributed to my decision to come to Lafayette. However, one of resources that helped me most was the massive question and answer forum started by Justin Sayde (Candyman). Despite the fact that he ended his forum posts in 2009, his words of advice and student perspective surely still help high school students in learning more about Lafayette. I absolutely love it here at Lafayette, and I would like to help give students information about the school the same way Candyman did! I intend on becoming a tour guide here at Lafayette, and plan on learning more and more about the school as I go along. I also have plans to be on the Ski Team, Health Professions Club, and possibly more.</p>

<p>I know I have big shoes to fill, as Candyman was able to answer questions in great detail and was very helpful. However, as it has been a couple of years since his posts ended, it's time for someone else to answer questions on Lafayette's behalf. </p>

<p>And with that, I say, ASK AWAY! I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you have!</p>

<p>Sincerely,
Taylor Brown
Class of 2015</p>

2

<p>Hi Taylor</p>

<p>I was wondering if Hofstra has a good nursing program? I am thinking of applying this year, but I just found out about Hofstra and think that it would be a good match.
Thank you,
Samina S.</p>

3

<p>Sorry Taylor,</p>

<p>I actually meant Lafayette!
Thanks for your time
Samina S</p>

4

<p>Hi Samina,</p>

<p>No, Iā€™m afraid Lafayette does NOT have a nursing program. While Lafayette specializes in the sciences and has several pre-med students, there is no nursing program or major. There are other schools however that have a similar atmosphere and admissions selectivity that do have what you are looking for. From what I hear, Villanova University offers a nursing program, and is culturally similar to Lafayette except that it has a strong Catholic affiliation. I would ask around about Villanova.</p>

<p>Best of luck in your college search!</p>

<p>Taylor</p>

5

<p>Taylor,
Great to hear from a current student who wants to ā€˜pay it forwardā€™ and follow in Justinā€™s footsteps to help prospective applicants in their college search. As you can tell from my screen name, I am an alumnus who graduated many years ago. I help the Admissions Office as an Alumni Admissions Representative (AAR) and meet with applicants who attend a local high school in place of (or in addition to) an on-campus interview. The college has a network of AARs across the country, and a few overseas. Since it has been many years since I attended Lafayette, it is great to have a current student to share what Lafayette has to offer now.</p>

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<p>Thanks LC82! Iā€™m always happy to help.</p>

<p>Taylor</p>

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<p>Taylor,
Thanks so much for doing this. My D is hoping to come to Lafayette as a pre-med/neuroscience major next fall. We are going back to campus next week so she can interview and she is considering applying ED to Lafayette. I was curious about a few thingsā€¦
-How do you find the atmosphere for pre-meds on campus - is it cutthroat, or are the students supportive of each other?
-She loves the sciences but has other interests as well (ex. community service, music). Is there a chance she can get involved in these types of activities and keep up a pre-med curriculum?
-What are weekends like at Lafayette? Are there things to do for kids who are not big drinkers?
THANKS,
A grateful mom</p>

8

<p>Hi Grateful Mom,</p>

<p>Glad to hear youā€™re daughterā€™s interested in Lafayette! Based on what youā€™ve said, she is probably similar to me in terms of what she is looking for in a college. I applied ED to Lafayette too.</p>

<p>-So far (Iā€™ve only been here for a month now), I do not detect any cutthroat nature in the pre-med students. They seem supportive of each other, which is something I myself was looking for when applying to schools. I asked many current students the same question before I applied, and have received positive answers from everyone. Students here tend to be collaborative, and very friendly towards each other. The premeds in particular, however, have not really formed a tight-knight group just yet, simply because we are in a very early stage. The classes premeds take first semester of freshman year are very general, and similar to schedules of all science majors (including engineers). Therefore, most of the science majors have not really branched off yet. But the short answer to your question is ā€œno, they are not cutthroat; they are supportiveā€</p>

<p>-Lafayette has a wide variety of extracurricular activities for those interested in pursuing them. A community service program known as Landis offers most of the volunteering opportunities available to students. They often have students volunteer in Easton by tutoring students, cleaning the town, etc. As for music, Iā€™m less familiar with that, but I do know that they have several different musical groups/bands to joinā€¦Keeping up with a premed curriculum while doing extracurricular activities is most likely do-able as long as your daughter has good time management. In fact, I have been told that those involved in extra-curricular activities have shown to perform academically BETTER than those not involved. I imagine this might be due to the fact that these students donā€™t ā€œsit aroundā€ for long periods of time doing nothing. I have yet to find the balance between schoolwork and extracurriculars since most of the extracurricular programs havenā€™t started up. Iā€™m undoubtably nervous since I know the GPA standards for premeds is very high. If you wish, I can send you private messages in the future regarding this matter as I learn more.</p>

<p>-Weekends are fun here (when youā€™re not doing homework!). They have a club just off campus called The Spot, where students go to have fun late at night on Fridays and Saturdays. They have free food, dancing, and pool tables. Alcohol is not served here since it is run by the school. I am not a drinker at all and have had a perfectly good time there just playing pool with some other guys there. Other offerings on the weekend include entertainment from time to time, such as comedians. As for the general party scene, I have not really been to any since most of them are thrown by fraternities and sororities (which freshmen are stricly prohibited from getting involved in). As you can probably tell, Iā€™m not much of the party/drinking type, so I just prefer hanging out with small groups of friends on the weekends. Just dinner get-togethers and whatnot. I think students can make their weekends whatever they want them to be. Just being with a few good friends makes a weekend all the more enjoyable. </p>

<p>I hope that answers all of your questions. If you want to know anything more, just let me knowā€¦</p>

<p>Taylor</p>

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<p>Thanks for your honest and thoughtful answers Taylor. My D sounds a lot like you so Lafayette seems like it would be a really good place for her. Hereā€™s hoping she has a great visit and interview on campus next week!</p>

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<p>Great! Best of luck!</p>

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<p>you mentioned that freshmen are not allowed to go to fraternity or sorority parties - is that for the entire year or just first semester?
thanks for your help</p>

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<p>Hi mrb3,</p>

<p>Freshmen are not permitted to be involved in greek life for the entirety of freshman year, both first and second semester. The first opportunity for any student to rush a fraternity or sorority is within the first few weeks of sophomore year. Until that time, no student is allowed to be involved with greek life.</p>

<p>Taylor</p>

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<p>thanks for the suick reply - i understand about rush being soph yr, but i am surprised that they wonā€™t let freshmen attend a party all year - thatā€™s rough on the social life!<br>
besides school sponsored events, where do freshman hang out if they canā€™t be at frat parties?
thanks for your help!</p>

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<p>Well since Iā€™ve only been here for a month, Iā€™ve yet to see how strictly they enforce the ā€œno freshmen at frat partiesā€ ruleā€¦although from what I have seen so far, they seem to abide by it.</p>

<p>Freshmen (along with everyone else) hang out at the Spot, the night club right off campus that I mentioned in a previous post. The school owns it, but itā€™s not heavily controlled; itā€™s made for students and from what I understand, it is primarily run by students as wellā€“thereā€™s just no alcohol.</p>

<p>Apart from that, freshmen can go to parties that are unaffiliated with frats. From what Iā€™ve seen so far, clubs/teams hold parties for their members. For example, I recently attended a party held in a seniorā€™s private apartment for the ski team. This party was not at all ā€œschool sponsored.ā€ </p>

<p>Besides partying, for just ā€œhanging outā€ students tend to go to Gilbertā€™s, a restaurant open late at night (8PM-1AM), as well as simply hanging around in their friendsā€™ dorms. Freshmen are definitely not ā€œbored to deathā€ here, rest assured. Between the Spot, the occasional party, and some of the cafes/restaurants here, freshmen have places to hang out with friends.</p>

<p>Taylor</p>

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<p>hi mrb3! taylorā€™s right on the money about all of the social life offeringsā€¦freshmen are not allowed to join frats or sororities, but sometimes freshman girls can get into the parties first semester and guys can get into them second semester as a bit of a preview before rushing starts sophomore year. freshman guys though are not usually able to get into greek events first semesterā€¦but thatā€™s true for most colleges/universities where you have to be a sophomore to rushā€¦sports teams run parties every weekend though, so thereā€™s always that, which taylor mentioned along with many other things :slight_smile: good luck and thanks taylor for continuing candymanā€™s work!</p>

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<p>What can you tell me about the followingā€¦.

  1. Course registration ā€“ (how tough to get classes you want?, etc)
  2. Grading ā€“ fair, tough, curves?
  3. Quality of professors
  4. Library & other study space available (is there enough? How about during
    midterms/finals?)
    Interested econ, history, political science in particular
    Thank you!</p>
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<p>thanks all for the fraternity feedback!</p>

<p>one more questionā€¦is anyone willing to help with a quick overview of each of the fraternities - who tends to gravitate to each - do they have open parties or mostly mixers with sororities or closed parties - reputatation, etc - this is really helpful info for someone interested in greek life
thanks!</p>

18

<p>Hi mrb3,</p>

<p>1) Course registration is a fairly simple process for new students. After you are accepted to Lafayette, you will be asked to fill out an online registration form in June. You request which First Year Seminar (FYS) you want (itā€™s a required course but with a variety of options), as well as 3 other courses. I personally got all of the classes I wanted, and many people were able to get their desired classes as well. However, there was a group of students who had trouble getting registered for the FYS they wanted. On the online registration form, everyone had to rank their top 5 seminar choices, and yet there were a few people who didnā€™t even get one of their top 5. Other than having some students getting less-than-desired FYS choices, most people I know have been able to get the classes they want. I imagine that upperclassmen have priority for course selection. But again, for freshmen itā€™s not too bad. MOST people tend to get the classes they want. Besides, most of those classes are general intro classes anyway, which Lafayette makes sure they have plenty of sections for.</p>

<p>2) Gradingā€¦the professors here are definitely fair, but their classes can be challenging and they have high expectations for their students. So far, none of my professors have done any curving. The following information may help to give you an idea of the grades hereā€¦
The class average on my first General Biology exam was 71%
The class average on my first General Chemistry exam was 83%
The class average on my first Calculus II exam was 69% (the professor said that
the first test in his class is usually the worst one)
Overall, if you put in the time and effort into a class, you should be able to do well. It can be a challenge, but it is certainly possible. </p>

<p>3) I have been very pleased with my professors. They seem to be very dedicated, and they really do enjoy teaching. They all have office hours for students who have questions, and they would be more than happy to schedule an appointment with you if you need it. All of my professors have distinct (often fun) personalities and in my opinion, they teach the classes well. They like to get to know their students well (youā€™re a name, not a number to them). Of the things I hear about Lafayette, one common recurring comment is that the professors here are great. The small class sizes also make the classes alot better as well (easier to ask questions, etc). Professors are without a doubt high quality here. Their students appear to be their top priority.</p>

<p>4) There is plenty of study space available at Skillman Library, the main library on campus. They are open very late during the week (1AM I believe) and on Friday and Saturday nights they close at 10PM. However, during the final exam period, they are open 24/7. Most people seem to prefer the library for doing hw and studying, but if you so wish, you can always study in your dorm (if a little bit of noise doesnā€™t bother you).</p>

<p>** As for your fraternity question, I am not too familiar with the specifics of each fraternity. I know that there are currently 4 fraternities on campus, each being unique in their own way. Give me a couple of days to ask around for more information, and Iā€™ll be sure to get back to you!</p>

<p>Taylor</p>

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<p>About course registration. First semester freshmen do NOT choose the time slots of their classes. However, it is my understanding that all other students get to choose the times of their classes depending on what is available. The earliest classes are at 8AM, and the latest classes can finish as late as 10PM. </p>

<p>Taylor</p>

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<p>thank you!</p>