<p>Both of these schools are in my radar for an engineering degree. I was wondering which one would be better for a student that wants to play golf and get a prestigious engineering degree. Include all of the facets of a college experience in your answer please. Also, it would be nice if any lehigh or lafayette graduates answered :)</p>
<p>Lafayette originated as a Liberal Arts College but evolved into a Liberal Arts College with strong engineering program. If you want to focus on Liberal Arts too, I would not suggest Lafayette because they have already left their identity of Liberal Arts College and most student who go their are willing to get a degree in engineering.
If you are trying to go to a prestigious school for engineering and you have to choose from those two, I would definitely suggest Lehigh.But, you can always apply to both because comparatively, the competition for admission is low at Lafayette which might be a safe side too(not trying to call Lafayette a safety without looking at your stats). </p>
<p>Good Luck! :)</p>
<p>Lafayette has been offering engineering since 1866, but has hardly left their liberal arts identity, offering 47 areas of study across four academic divisions, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering. However, their identity is one of the few LACs with a strong engineering program. Approximately 25% of the students major in one of the four ABET-accredited programs (chemical, civil, electrical & computer, or mechanical). [Division</a> of Engineering: Engineering Majors](<a href=“http://engineering.lafayette.edu/majors/]Division”>http://engineering.lafayette.edu/majors/) I also would not characterize Lafayette’s admission standards as demonstrably different than that for Lehigh (i.e. the stats for accepted students are comparable).</p>
<p>Lafayette is about 2400 undergrads (no graduate students). Lehigh is larger at about 4780 undergrads and 2270 graduate students. Since Lafayette is more focused on the liberal arts than Lehigh, the M/F ratio is more even at 53%/47% vs. 59%/41% at Lehigh. I believe that greek life is more prevalent at Lehigh with 21 fraternities and 9 sororities, vs. 5 fraternities and 6 sororities at Lafayette.</p>
<p>I am a practicing civil engineer and found my undergraduate education at Lafayette to be first rate. I agree that if you are not sure what you want, apply to both and visit. Their campuses are only 20 minutes apart. </p>
<p>Oh yeah, Lafayette’s golf team won the Patriot League title last year and competed in the NCAA East Regional.</p>
<p>thanks for the info guys.</p>
<p>Both are really great choices. I know that in the Lehigh Valley, Lehigh engineering has a great reputation, so if you wouldn’t mind living here you’ll surely be able to get a job. Not as many lay people know about Lafayette’s engineering, but I assume employers would. Some of my friends that are looking at engineering programs looked at Laf and were really excited about it.</p>
<p>Personally, I’m not into engineering. I think in general, Lehigh is sort of the engineering school and Laf is the liberal arts school. I live in the area and have lots of friends at both (also took classes at Lehigh and will take a class at Laf next semester) so if you have any more specific questions about either school you can PM me.</p>