Hi everyone! Lafayette is one of my top choices and I applied RD. I was wondering what were people’s (current students or parents of students) thoughts and opinions on the population size of the school. My concerns are that it could be too small compared to other LAC’s who have more than 1,000 students above Lafayette. I like having the small class sizes, but my only concern is that the alumni network might not be as strong since the school does not have more than 3,000 students. What are the advantages of Lafayette’s size? Any thoughts or input would be appreciated, thanks!
Liberal arts colleges typically only have 1,500 to 2,500 students. Lafayette has just over 2,500, so it is actually larger than average for a LAC. Furthermore, Lafayette is planning to expand its enrollment to at least 2,900 over the next several years, so it will be getting even bigger.
There are only a few top-rated LACs with 3,000+ students. The only ones I can think of are Bucknell U, Wesleyan U, and U of Richmond.
The whole point of LACs is that they are small, so bigger is not necessarily better. There are many top-ranked LACs with less than 2,000 students (such as Amherst or Bowdoin) or even less than 1,500 students (such as Haverford or Reed).
Agreed with the reply above – the typical LAC is 2,000 students give-or-take so odd to worry that Lafayette is small for an LAC. It’s small compared to non-LAC’s but on the larger side for an LAC. I’d add Colgate to the list of larger LAC’s, BTW. In general what a lot of those larger one’s have in common are they are not “pure” LAC’s in that they tend to have a small grad school presence whereas most LAC’s are strictly undergrad. Some of the top LAC’s are tiny compared to Lafayette. In addition to those listed above, Swarthmore is ~1,500, Pomona is 1,600, Claremont McKenna is 1,300, etc.
Okay, hands down, Lafayette College has one of the best alumni networks of any LAC. I mean it. I have said this in other posts, but as a current student, I can attest that our alumni network could pass for that of a Big-10 school. I would even argue that because Lafayette is a smaller college (compared to all other universities in the US), it actually creates a great sense of pride and community among its students and grads. This pride leads to a want to give back to the college. It is truly wonderful. Our board of Trustees is also extremely active on campus, and many students know their names/ have met them. Also considering the campus is just an hour away from the major cities of NYC, Newark and Philly, the internship, externship and job opportunities are endless.
My daughter is only a first year so not sure what she’ll think when she’s a senior, but she loves the size of the school. She is always meeting new people yet always running into people she knows all over campus. It may not be the right size for many people - for some 10,000 is too small - but for someone like my daughter - who likes a tight group of friends and to feel part of the community but still get to meet new people - it’s perfect. After all, her HS class was 150 and while she knew of everyone, she didn’t ‘know’ everyone. So with 650 in her Lafayette class, there is always someone new to meet.
MY D graduated from Lafayette last year and never found the size to be very comfortable. In fact my sister who is a professor warned us away from colleges with less than 2,000 students as she felt there would not be a big enough mix of students, professors, and even classes offered. Of course that is just one person’s opinion, but as she teaches in a smaller school we listened to her advice.
She has found the alumni network at Laf to be very strong and it is bolstered by an active career placement office on campus.
It is about finding the school size that is right for you. For my D the size of Laf was just right. Big enough where she was able to continually come across new people, expand her social group etc. Big enough where she had a variety of classes etc. But also small enough where the classes were small, where she could develop close relationships not only with her friends but with some professors as well, where she could easily get involved on campus, where she could do research work with professors etc. Certainly some students may want a larger school and others may want a smaller school – assuming affordability, it comes down to fit.
As noted above, the plan is for Laf to get a bit larger over the coming years.
^^^^^^^^OOOPS…In the first sentence above, I meant to say she ALWAYS found the size to be comfortable. That is what happens when I edit on the fly. Sorry. She loved Laf and if anyone has additional questions that a parent can answer feel free to PM me.
I am a current first year at Lafayette and I can assure our alumni are constantly giving back to the college. From raising 1 million dollars in a day for financial aid to interships and externships, they are always there. In the past week and the week to come, I will have attended 2 workshops by alumni and 2 networking and information panels. I also know of people who have cold called alumni and have gotten a lot of support. So, I definitely think we have a strong and active alumni network.
For me a school of Lafayette’s size was ideal and I am very very happy with it. Small classes and the feeling of community is exactly what I wanted. However, some people might think of it to be suffocating to be around the same people all the time. So, I think it is important to know what you are looking for from your college experience and then decide on the size of school you want to attend.