They may have considered Lafayette to be a safety but just about every site I’ve checked shows the two schools to be either incredibly even in rank or scores or actually shows Lafayette slightly ahead. So reality looks a bit different.
@bkablik24
Good luck ! Great school
@WaitingDad
Does your comment about Lafayette have anything to do with the fact that you have skin in the game- 3 kids who went to Lehigh? Lehigh is a great place and it’s nice to have pride in your school, but in doing so, no need to provide inaccurate info on other schools. In another thread you said Lehigh was ‘just a notch below the Ivy’s’ Again a great school, but that’s a bit of an embellishment too.
I’m sure WaitingDad is probably just trying to inject a little good natured ribbing based on the longstanding sports rivalry that the two schools have. I went to Lehigh but know these are both very good schools which can prepare you very well for your next phase of life if you take advantage of what they offer.
Congrats, Ben… best of luck! As for Lafayette, my 2 cents is that Lehigh, Bucknell, Lafayette, are all in the same ball park in terms of metrics of students, with the one caveat that I would argue Bucknell and Lafayette are stronger in the liberal arts, Lehigh stronger in engineering. Otherwise, it’s just a question of the type of experience and environment you are looking for.
Oh, the sports rivalry is so much fun! It creates such a wonderful sense of school spirit! There was a Facebook page for incoming Lehigh freshman when my son was starting Lehigh. Everything was going so well and then a couple of LaFayette students appeared on the page and started teasing the kids! Oh, it got all the incoming students so fired up and excited! It was adorable! I think the rivalry is one of the most special aspects of attending either school!
If you Google “The Rivalry” one of the top entries should be:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rivalry_(Lehigh%E2%80%93Lafayette)
There is even an ESPN 30 for 30 sports documentary about the rivalry. I don’t even like sports that I got so excited about the rivalry I actually went to NYC and went to the Lehigh/LaFayette football at Yankee Stadium! It was magical -and we lost the game!
Sorry, my error - the documentary was produced by PBS
“The football game is usually sold out months in advance and has inspired books and a PBS television documentary narrated by Harry Kalas. In 2006, ESPNU ranked The Rivalry No. 8 in their Top Ten College Football Rivalries, and Sports Illustrated has told its readers that seeing it “is something you have to do once in your life.”[1]”
I would say prestige wise it now goes like that his:
1 Villanova
2 Lehigh
3 Bucknell
4 Lafayette
Haha! Happy Holidays, Villanova!!!
Yes, indeed…Villanova’s basketball team is more prestigious!
All kidding aside, Villanova is very well thought of in my South Jersey area (and not just for basketball) and school hats and sweats are commonly seen. The others, not so common but all are highly regarded schools.
Interestingly, clothing from the tip-top schools is almost never seen around here except for the occasional item from UPenn.
As kikkydee said, Happy holidays!..and best wishes to the incoming class of 2021! Make the most of your experience!