Lehigh vs. Villanova vs. Lafayette

College Search & Selection
1

I’ve been looking into a lot of colleges in Pennsylvania recently (I’m from Texas), and I’m curious about other people’s opinions on these schools. You can be brief or detailed, whichever you have time for, but I’d love to know more about these topics at each school:

  1. Business Program (specifically International Business)

  2. Social Life (including Greek Life)

  3. Surrounding Area

  4. Average/Type of Student

  5. Class Difficulty/Competitiveness

  6. School Spirit

  7. Study Abroad Options

Also, feel free to leave any other recommendations of what schools I should look into!
Stats:
SAT: 1430 (first try w/o studying, will take again)
GPA: 4.0UW, 4.54W
Hooks: Hispanic, African American, & Native American. CollegeBoard NHRP member.

2

  1. Business Program (specifically International Business) - Both Villanova and Lehigh have undergraduate schools of business which are strong. Lafayette is more liberal arts focused, so those interested in business might major in econ, though they do offer International Affairs as a mjor

  2. Social Life (including Greek Life) All 3 have Greek life, with Lehigh’s being the most pronounced and visible with a big party rep. Villanova has no Greek housing. Lafayette’s Greek life is more low key

  3. Surrounding Area - Lehigh and Lafayette in small cities - they have seen better days, but stuff to do in walking distance of campus and you will have access to malls, resturants etc. Both About 1.5 hrs from NYC. Villanova in a suburb of Philly and about 30 minutes from Philly. Very nice location.

  4. Average/Type of Student - Lehigh - work hard play hard. Lafayette - well balanced kids. Villanova - smart, slightly preppy

  5. Class Difficulty/Competitiveness - At Lehigh engineering is tough

  6. School Spirit - Villanova has a ton. Lehigh rallies around the football team

  7. Study Abroad Options - This is a strength at Lafayette.

3

All three schools are located in eastern PA, and are roughly comparable in admissions difficulty. Different personalities though.

Lafayette is the smallest, basically a liberal arts college, though a bit larger than most LACs and with engineering. The wealthiest of these schools on an endowment-per-student basis; all resources are directed to undergraduate education, no grad students. Reputation for nice facilities. As with most LACs, there is no “business” program, but economics is the most popular major.

Lehigh is bigger, but still small by university standards. More pre-professional than Lafayette, known more for engineering and business than for liberal arts. Comprehensive, undergraduate-oriented business school. On the side of a mountain, lots of stairs.

Lehigh and Lafayette are only about 20 miles apart in the Lehigh Valley and are historic arch-enemies. Famous football rivalry since 1880s. Both are in the Patriot League, which is NCAA Division I. However, the Patriot League (like the Ivy League) is better known for high academic standards than for national championships.

Villanova is about an hour south in the affluent western suburbs of Philadelphia. Has easy access to city by train. Well known for basketball. Academic selectivity has risen in recent years, as the school has leveraged its athletic success. Catholic. Comprehensive business school. Larger, with more graduate programs, than the other two. Not as wealthy, tends to offer less financial aid.

4

You might want to look at Bucknell too, especially if Greek Life is important to you. It’s more rural, but in a very pretty community.

5

All three schools have very good students with an average ACT score of about 30 or 31.

While Lehigh does have a party reputation, Lehigh’s new president, the administration, and campus police have been assertively tamping down the party scene. There are a lot of good reasons to choose Lehigh, but if you choose it primarily for the party scene, I think you will be disappointed.

About 25%-35% of Lehigh students are in the business majors. I am not aware of an International Business major, but they do have a certificate in International Business. They also offer International Relations in Arts and Sciences.

One of the strongest selling points to Lehigh is that they have excellent placement. For business, about 97% of grads either have a job or are headed to grad school. http://www1.lehigh.edu/admissions/undergrad/success/outcomes

Also, Lehigh is actively working to improve diversity on campus.

6

If you are considering Lehigh and Lafayette, then yes, you should consider Bucknell, which is the third Patriot League school in PA. A liberal arts college like Lafayette, but larger. Unlike Lafayette, it has a business school, although it is significantly smaller than the business schools at Lehigh or Villanova…

The distinguishing feature of Bucknell is its relatively rural and remote location in central PA. Not close to any major cities.