<p>Hi! As a senior in high school waiting for admissions notifications, I was wondering if anyone had any input on Lehigh, RPI, and Bucknell. If anyone has preferences, opinions, or experience they could share that would be greatly appreciated. I intend on studying engineering (specifically civil engineering). I would love other perspectives on these universities in every aspect: academics, social life, etc. </p>
<p>Thanks! </p>
<p>Come back when you’re admitted to all three…
For what it’s worth, Bucknell would be my pick because the campus layout is easier to navigate than Lehigh’s and it’s more diverse (in terms of majors and students) than RPI but really ymmv.
As for you, the #1 criterion is likely to be “cost out of pocket”, ie., how much do you have to pay once you’ve subtracted grants and scholarships? How much do you need to borrow to attend (if it’s 0 to $5,500, you’re fine. If it’s more, move on to another school).</p>
<p>My son is a freshman at Bucknell and absolutely loves it. Lehigh was also a school he toured and really liked. I think he has been extremely pleased with the social aspects of Bucknell. The other kids are very friendly and personable, and he immediately clicked with a fun group of kids. Leesburg seems like a nicer, but smaller, town than Bethlehem or Troy. The students at Bucknell have great social skills from what I can see.</p>
<p>What are the costs of these three schools to you? This is the most important question unless you’re independently wealthy. Solve that equation first and let it guide a good bit of your decision-making.</p>
<p>Bucknell is closer to having a 50-50 male-female ratio than the other two. That might help with social life. The campus is lovely, neat, pretty. So is Lehigh’s, but RPI’s is more spread out and more modern. Bucknell is in a very small town surrounded by agriculture and pretty far from other small towns. Lehigh is in a small former industrial city and situated on a hillside. Both these schools have pretty campuses–Lehigh’s is more the classic college architecture with quite a bit of Gothic. The Lehigh library is quite nice. Bucknell as I recall is more Georgian brick. I’m not enamored of RPI’s campus and Troy is a rather bleak small city. Fraternities have a big roll to play at Bucknell and Lehigh, but I cannot remember RPI’s frat situation. I suspect that drinking is an important component of the social life of RPI simply because there are far fewer women than men, but I know drinking plays a significant part in the social life at Lehigh and Bucknell. You cannot go wrong academically with these, so consider where you’ll be happiest socially and financially.</p>
<p>A majority of Bucknell students are in fraternities and sororities, while the percentage at RPI is 21% of men and 16% of women. Lehigh’s entry at <a href=“http://www.collegedata.com”>http://www.collegedata.com</a> does not list percentage of students in fraternities and sororities.</p>
<p>Back before combustion engines, I lifted a few horlacher’s and iron city’s (motto: our beer tastes better than our cans) at Lehigh. Trust me, they have fraternities and love beer.</p>
<p>I’ve been accepted to RPI already, and I’m pretty confident in my chances for the other two schools. As for money, I can’t say anything about scholarships until I hear back, but the over costs of all 3 are extremely similar to the best of my knowledge. Scholarships will be a important factor, but I’m curious about the other aspects of the school as well. </p>
<p>You can get an estimate of costs by running the net price calculators. Price is going to be a significant component in which one most of us recommend. So running the npcs is one of the fastest ways to find out what we’ll say. Hint, hint.</p>