Lafayette Questions and Answers Part III (2013-2014)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Lafayette College
61

<p>All direct costs (Tuition, Fees, room & Board) as well as an estimate of indirect costs (books, travel and living expenses) are part of total cost. </p>

<p>Once your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is calculated from FAFSA/CSS data, the “need” is the difference between the total cost and EFC. Your EFC is not what your family CAN pay, Its what the FAFSA/CSS thinks you SHOULD be able to pay (i.e. it is often more than what you can come up with, especially if a family has a lot of debt or there are extraordinary travel costs, etc.). </p>

<p>Aid towards meeting need can include subsidized loans and work study (“self-help aid”). If you can’t come up with your EFC, parent loans (PLUS) or unsubsidized loans might be required to cover that gap. Just because a college meets 100% of “need” doesn’t mean you won’t have borrow. Some colleges will offer to meet 100% of need loan free for all students (extremely rare) or for students below a certain income threshold (Say household income of <$50K/yr.)</p>

62

<p>Hello All,
-I am a current student at Lafayette that is more than willing to answer any questions you may have.
-I am a freshman from New England, and am majoring in Civil Engineering.
-I was in the same exact spot as you guys last year, doing the same stressing and waiting, and I am happy to answer any questions that may help put your mind at ease.
To give you a sense of what kind of student I am:
-I was very engaged/intrigued with the entire college search and application process.
-I visited 22 different colleges. Applied to 10, got accepted at 9 and deferred from the other.
-Attended Public High School.
-3-sport varsity captain.
-Am a member of many different clubs on campus, such as Student Gov. and various club sports.
-I know everything about all the dorms.
-Have friends in practically every major, so I can give you a sense of how they like it.
-Engineering division tour guide.
-I absolutely love Lafayette.
-I know alot about similar colleges in the region and can hep compare.</p>

<p>Simply reply to this post if you have any questions, I would love to help
LafEngineer</p>

63

<p>Hello LafEngineer,</p>

<p>Welcome to the forum! I sent you a private message. :)</p>

<p>Taylor</p>

64

<p>wow Lafayette has so many enthusiastic students :smiley:
There’s a recent question by skriptkid on the last page Lafayette Q&A part II, which also piques my interest. Hope you can provide some insights, dear LafEngineer. :smiley: Thanks a lot!</p>

65

<p>Hey
Can u please tell whether internationals have to send fin aid documents by idoc, or do they have to send them by post?</p>

66

<p>Hi sunny72,</p>

<p>I recommend that you call the financial aid office so they can answer this question.</p>

<p>Lafayette College
107 Markle Hall
Easton, PA 18042
(610) 330-5055
Fax: (610) 330-5758
<a href=“mailto:financialaid@lafayette.edu”>financialaid@lafayette.edu</a></p>

<p>Taylor</p>

67

<p>When did you guys get your receipt of enrollment deposit from the college? I used Wire Transfer so I don’t know if Lafayette has received my money or not (I still haven’t got the receipt; it’s sent via mail, right?). My bank does not report anything, so I hope the transfer is fine.</p>

68

<p>^^^if you want to be certain you should call or email Lafayette to confirm.</p>

69

<p>If I was trying to find out more information about club sports at Lafayette what department should I contact? I didn’t get an answer from admissions and the club contact for soccer didn’t respond either…so wasn’t sure who else to go to. I was very interested in mens soccer…and am hoping they have a competitive club team.</p>

70

<p>Hi collegecrazies,</p>

<p>I would try contacting Bruce McCutcheon, our Director of Athletics, at <a href=“mailto:mccutchb@lafayette.edu”>mccutchb@lafayette.edu</a>. Hopefully he can help you.</p>

<p>Taylor</p>

71

<p>Hello Captain Clueless (and anyone else) --</p>

<p>I have read enough commentary here and elsewhere to be impressed with Lafayette’s programs in science and engineering.</p>

<p>My question for you is this: How does Lafayette stack up in the humanities, such as English/history/political science/international relations? I am looking ahead for my eldest child – still a year or two away from seriously looking herself – but I am trying to do my own “due diligence”.</p>

<p>Thank you for your consideration of my question.</p>

72

<p>Hello gandalf78,</p>

<p>I’m Taylor Brown, a junior neuroscience major and admissions ambassador at Lafayette.</p>

<p>First, I’d like to give you a little explanation about Lafayette’s strengths as a whole, and why you have read so much about Lafayette’s science prowess. What makes Lafayette a unique institution is the academic dynamic we have. Lafayette is first and foremost an undergraduate only liberal arts college. We strive to give our students a well-rounded education. However, what distinguishes us from other LACs is that we have a very strong engineering division within the liberal arts context. As such, strengths in the maths and sciences radiate from that engineering division. Many LACs are known for being strong in the humanities, but weaker in the STEM fields, which is why we heavily advertise our engineering as a distinct strength among our peer institutions. By having that engineering and liberal arts combination, we possess very well-rounded strengths in all four of our academic divisions (engineering, natural science, social science, humanities). Along with those well-rounded strengths, we try to maintain balance in our student body–every incoming class has roughly 25% intending to pursue majors in each division. Going right along with that, Lafayette is also known for placing a high emphasis on interdisciplinary learning. There are no “schools” within the college- just divisions. Students do not apply to a specific program or major, because all of our departments are very much integrated. There are courses co-taught by professors in different departments, research collaborations by students in very different majors, and faculty who encourage their students to expand their horizons beyond their primary discipline. I know some people here who are double majoring in subjects such as art and neuroscience, or English and physics-- subjects you wouldn’t ordinarily think about together. Lafayette’s balance of academic strengths, along with our interdisciplinary emphasis, is what makes Lafayette stand out. That is what I refer to when I speak of our unique “academic dynamic.”</p>

<p>With that said, let me tell you a little bit about each of the humanity/social science departments you listed…</p>

<hr>

<p>INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS is a major here that has grown in popularity very quickly over the past 10 or so years. This major is particularly strong at Lafayette because it is discipline that really encompasses a wide variety of topics, so therefore it is a program jointly coordinated by multiple departments. Students take courses in government & law, foreign languages, history, and other areas, as well as courses specifically designated for I.A. students. To read about what our I.A. program emphasizes and entails, see this link–> <a href=“https://internationalaffairs.lafayette.edu/”>International Affairs · International Affairs · Lafayette College. Seeing as I.A. has been growing in size and strength, we have decided to construct a new building for them! The Oeschle Center for Global Education is currently under construction, and will have classes starting next spring. It is a state-of-the-art facility that we are very much looking forward to having completed! So if your child chooses to major in I.A, he/she will have many classes in a brand new academic building! This is what it will look like when completed–> <a href=“http://www.lafayette.edu/about/news/2013/04/08/photo-gallery-lafayette-breaks-ground-for-oechsle-center-for-global-education/”>Lafayette College. Below is a description of the building from our website…</p>

<p>“A signature three-story building modeling Lafayette’s approach to education in the 21st century, the Oechsle Center will be a dynamic, collaborative learning environment and a hub of interdisciplinary interaction. It will house the International Affairs Program and the Department of Anthropology and Sociology and will be a center of activity for area studies programs, including housing the Africana Studies Program. State-of-the-art instructional facilities will include a 60-seat lecture hall, two 40-seat classrooms, a conference room with videoconferencing capabilities, and other teaching and learning spaces with the flexibility to be used in various ways by faculty and students. The cost of the project will be approximately $10 million.”</p>

<p>I.A. is definitely a “hot” major here, that is getting stronger every year. If you would like me to connect you with an I.A. student, I’d be happy to do so.</p>

73

<hr>

<p>GOVERNMENT AND LAW (what we call political science) focuses on four subfields- American government, international relations, comparative politics, and political theory. It has an additional focus on politics and law, and also places a strong emphasis on teaching students the philosophy of the practice of government and law. That’s my quick overview of the department, but you can read about it more in depth here-> <a href=“http://govlaw.lafayette.edu/”>After Graduation · Government & Law · Lafayette College. Lafayette has several gov-law majors, and many of them go on to law school, PhD programs in political science, and careers in public administration and other related fields. </p>

<p>The department is housed in the Kirby Hall of Civil Rights, which is an excellent facility best known for the Kirby Library. This library (while open to all) is specifically designed for gov-law majors, containing 30,000 volumes on the subject. This gives gov-law majors a significant extra academic resource that other majors do not have. The library is also touted as being one of the most beautiful in the world…you can see for yourself–> <a href=“http://twistedsifter.files.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2011/10/kirby-library-lafayette-college.jpg”>http://twistedsifter.files.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2011/10/kirby-library-lafayette-college.jpg&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Like IA, I know a few gov/law majors I can connect you with if you wish.</p>

<hr>

<p>HISTORY is a department defined by 7 main ideas that our faculty have decided upon that all of our history students should master by graduation. They are outlined here–> <a href=“The Seven Essential Things All Lafayette History Majors Learn · History · Lafayette College”>Alexander (Alec) Imel ’12 · History · Lafayette College. They place an especially high emphasis on teaching students about the practice and politics of history–How is history studied appropriately? How do we make predictions about the future using our knowledge of the past? etc. An overall description of the department is here–> <a href=“http://history.lafayette.edu/”>http://history.lafayette.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>This department is particularly well known for a few very highly distinguished faculty members. One of them is arguably the most famous faculty member at Lafayette-- Donald Miller. Dr. Miller is a prestigious historian and one of world’s leading experts on WWII. In addition, he spreads the knowledge of history to the general population through entertainment media. In 2010 he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Series (The Pacific) and he has done work with the History Channel for TV specials, including a collaboration with Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg for the HBO miniseries “Masters of the Air.” He is also a 3-time Pulitzer Prize nominee as well as a 3-time nominee for the National Book Award. Perhaps most importantly, he is known at Lafayette for being one of the most enthusiastic and entertaining teachers. He has won the Marquis Distinguished Teaching Award several times (the winner is decided upon by the students). There are two other very well known professors in the history department, but I imagine at this point you get the idea! The quality of faculty is high at Lafayette, but this is especially so within the History Department. </p>

<hr>

<p>ENGLISH incorporates a few different components. First, English majors may choose a literature concentration or a writing concentration. Each prepares them for different types of careers, so it is nice to have those options for those who have a clearer idea of what they want to do after Lafayette. In addition, the English Department coordinates the Theatre Major, one of Lafayette’s newest majors due to growing popularity (our first Theatre majors graduated in 2012- one of them is a good friend of mine who I’d be happy to connect you with). There are also many campus opportunities for English/Theatre majors- they can write for The Lafayette (our newspaper), contribute pieces for our literary magazine, get involved in the theater groups we have, and compete in writing competitions we hold on campus. </p>

<p>Our English Department is also distinguished by the fact that it was a pioneered in the 19th century by Professor Francis March, the first person in the world to hold the title of Professor of English Language and Literature. He proposed many ideas about the role of LACs in higher education and formulated many of the essential components of the English Department’s emphases that we still have today. </p>

<p>To learn more about the English Department, see the general description here–> <a href=“Major and Minor Programs · English · Lafayette College”>https://english.lafayette.edu/program/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<hr>

<p>Just to sum things up, know that Lafayette is quite strong in the humanities–as I mentioned previously, Lafayette is first and foremost a liberal arts college. Those are our roots, and we still have strengths in the liberal arts today. It is our additional strength in engineering that is highly unusual among LACs, which is why we advertise it as much as we do. I highly encourage you to visit our campus to get a better idea of what life is like for the typical Lafayette student.</p>

<p>Hopefully this helps as you begin your college search! I know I just threw a ton of information at you, so if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask!!! You may send me a PM or email me at <a href=“mailto:brownt@lafayette.edu”>brownt@lafayette.edu</a></p>

<p>:)</p>

<p>Taylor</p>

74

<p>Thank you for the responsiveness and thoroughness of your answer! Lafayette is certainly getting its money’s worth (if not more) with you as an “admissions ambassador.”</p>

75

<p>You’re welcome! Please let me know if you have any other questions!</p>

76

<p>great info, captain. thanks. </p>

77

<p>Captain - you need to change your name! Great information. You made a parent of a class of 2018 student feel even better about Lafayette - thanks.</p>

78

<p>You’re welcome! I made my account when I was a sophomore in High School inquiring about colleges, so that’s why name is what it is! You can call me Taylor though :)</p>

<p>Taylor</p>

79

<p>I’m not quite an athletic student but I’ll definitely commit to one sport at college. I visited the goleopard website but my favourite sport - badminton, is not listed there. Is there any chance I can keep playing badminton at Lafayette? If not can you recommend me one that’s fun and easy to play? Tks! :)</p>

80

<p>ursawarrior,</p>

<p>While I am unsure if there is any badminton group at Lafayette, I know that one of the gyms in the Kirby Sports Center can be used as a badminton court. If you would like to start your own badminton club (if no such club currently exists), all you have to do is get a group of interested friends together, make a constitution for the club, and submit it to the Student Government for approval…and you’ve got your club! It’s very simple. :)</p>

<p>Taylor</p>