<p>Hello prospective students (and their parents!),</p>
<p>My name is Taylor Brown, and I am a junior neuroscience major at Lafayette and an admissions ambassador.</p>
<p>For those of you who attended the Marquis Fellowship Days (i.e. the finalists and their parents), I would like to request a favor. Because the Marquis Fellowship is new this year, the admissions directors are very interested in hearing your opinions on the events of the day. If you would please share your thoughts below, I will pass on your feedback to the directors at a meeting in a couple of weeks!</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Taylor</p>
<p>I enjoyed the Fellowship Day and I found it well organized. I liked how we had many opportunities to interact with other finalists, current students, faculty and staff. However, I would have loved the chance to tour the campus (for the finalists). Also the campus felt a bit lonely because it seemed empty and it was hard to see regular students walking around. </p>
<p>We attended one of the Marquis Fellowship selection programs with our daughter, travelled from out of state, had not visited Lafayette. We were deeply impressed. A few, random thoughts on our experience at Lafayette: The morning of the event, the Admissions Director, Matt Hyde, was standing on the front steps of Oeschle Hall greeting students and their families as they arrived. At the start of the day, the sixty finalists on campus that weekend introduced themselves. These kids were composed, articulate, accomplished. We were humbled [even a little stunned] by the quality of students there. We thought the event was very well organized. We had a chance to see a little of campus and to spend time in Easton at their vibrant Farmer’s Market. I do wish there had been an organized tour of campus during the day. The most powerful part of the program for us, as parents, was the opportunity to hear Lafayette students speak. In the morning, several faculty members spoke alongside one of their students [including a recent Goldwater Fellowship winner at Lafayette, a young woman majoring in experimental physics who has also taught herself to speak ancient Greek]. In the afternoon we heard several more students talk about their travel abroad experiences. Although our daughter will probably major in either neuroscience or anthropology, we’re intrigued by the idea of attending an exceptional liberal arts college alongside engineering students. One thing that we wished Lafayette had emphasized during the day is its relationship with the remarkable Posse Foundation. The tone of the program was right on, as far as we were concerned: it felt low-key, was an opportunity for us to see Lafayette, for the selection committee to get to know our daughter. Although it was a serious event, the day was handled with an easy touch and humor, which we really appreciated. The campus is gorgeous. Our daughter hasn’t made her college decision yet. We’ll be thrilled for her if she chooses Lafayette.</p>
<p>My son and I also attended the fellowship day in March. While the school is a great match for him because of his duel interests in engineering and the liberal arts, we had not visited previously because of the distance. We were very impressed by the caliber of students present and got a very favorable impression of the college. I would echo the sentiments of the other posters that a tour would have been helpful. I know that they were available at the end of the day, but my son was coming down with a cold and was just exhausted at that point. I really enjoyed the parent program, especially the presentation by current students who are doing research and the tour of the archives. I had no idea of the wonderful history surrounding Lafayette, especially it’s early stand on civil rights. It was great to talk with so many parents who were also alumni and had their own perspectives on their Lafayette experience. Without this opportunity we would probably not have seriously considered the college, but as of now it is my son’s top choice.</p>