Hi! I am a high school senior and am currently deciding whether to apply to Lehigh, Bucknell or Lafayette Early Decision 1. I visited the three schools this weekend and loved them all. I really would like to apply ED, but I can’t decide which one is best for me. My concern with Lehigh is that many of the facilities on campus seemed very out of date and that the campus is very spread apart. My concerns with Lafayette are that its student enrollment is too small and it does not have as good of a reputation as Lehigh. And with Buckell, my concerns are that it is very isolated from any cities and that they do not super score Acts. Could anyone address these concerns? Besides that, I like all of the schools equally, unfortunately, as it makes this decision so hard for me. As far as my high school record; I have a 4.3 weighted GPA, Class Rank 22/338, 29 Act super scored 28 Composite and many extracurriculars. Any help or insight would be appreciated on the schools. Thanks!
All three are excellent schools with comparable academic reputations. In the end, it should come down to where you feel is the right school for you.
My D graduated from Lafayette last year and had a fantastic experience. The school was the perfect fit for her on every front. We looked at all three schools but she found Bucknell too isolated and Lehigh was bigger than she was looking for (she really wanted a LAC) and she just didn’t love the vibe there. That does not make Lafayette the right choice for everyone. In fact we know people who were very happy at both Bucknell and Lehigh. IMO only you can choose where you want to be for the next four years.
My Son visited and was very interested in the same three schools. He is a first year engineering major, and is very happy with his early decision to Lafayette.
All three are obviously very good and selective schools. You made some thoughtful observations about each. I do question your statement that Lehigh has a better reputation than Lafayette, I feel all three have a similarly high reputation. My son was drawn to the smaller student population, and that there are no Graduate students being taught or helping to teach at Lafayette.
Best of luck with whatever decision you make.
The three schools are equal in academic reputation, but each has its pros and cons.
When I looked at these college, I learned the following (gonna give a sampling of pros first, followed by some cons)
Lehigh: excellent finance and engineering programs, great alumni network / iffy location, major divide between varsity athletes and everyone else
Bucknell: active social life, one of the few major LACs with a management division (a plus, at least for me as an econ major) / middle of nowhere, engineering program isn’t quite as notable as the other two
Lafayette: engineering program is considered to be one of the very best for a LAC, strong alumni ties to Wall Street / not really much in the way of parties for freshman guys, diversity is a little lacking
Overall, it’s important to note that all three have big Greek life presences - I personally like that, but I know it’s not for everyone.
Obviously, there are more to these schools than I’ve listed, but those were things I considered when I was trying to choose an ED school between the three of those.
Ultimately, I chose Lafayette, but Bucknell and Lehigh are fantastic as well. Good luck with whatever pick you make, and with the college process in general. I went through it last year, so I remember the struggle quite well.