<p>You guys are correct about the giving rates for Holy Cross and Colgate. They have great alumni support, too. I will mention that Lehigh, though, is classified as a "National University" by USNews and is rated at 6th nationally..and they have ranked as high as 2nd in recent years...while the other schools are considered LACs and are grouped accordingly. Suffice to say Lehigh, Colgate and Holy Cross all have strong alumni loyalty.</p>
<p>Trinity does still have a Greek system. They also have an excellent engineering program including an option for a 5 year masters program.</p>
<p>Holy Cross and Colgate are consistently ranked higher than the others by US News and Forbes.</p>
<p>Which Trinity? Trinity San Antonio is small, but in a very friendly town (San Antonio) with better weather. Both Trinities are well regarded - US News rated Trinity University in San Antonio #1 Liberal Arts College in the West, but Trinity College in Connecticut is also well regarded and probably a little harder to get into.</p>
<p>They are all really excellent schools. Iâd really recommend that, if possible, you visit them and see which is the best match. Donât discount gut feeling as part of this process. We visited most of these schools and they had very different âvibesâ to my D. She felt Trinity was very preppy and didnât love the location in Hartford, Lehigh was a bigger school than she wanted plus she hated the hill and just didnât feel that she fit in with the people she met there and the people she knows from her HS who go to school there, and she is now at Lafayette and loves it (and one reason she liked it was she felt the school was strong in many different disciplines and she wasnât sure of her major when she started college) But another person could visit the same schools and come away with different feelings. We canceled our visit to Holy Cross when she decided she didnât want a Jesuit school with a large core curriculum (although my S went to a Jesuit school and had a great college experience) and we didnât see Colgate. If you have any specific questions about Lafayette, feel free to send me a PM. </p>
<p>And for many of these schools there is a definite advantage of applying ED, although I really think a person should only use the ED option if she/he has a clear top choice.</p>
<p>âHoly Cross and Colgate are consistently ranked higher than the others by US News and Forbes.â</p>
<p>Not a good reason to pick them over Trinity, Lehigh and Lafayette as all these schools are similar in terms of reputation and academic quality.</p>