Why Lafayette

Colleges and Universities A-Z Lafayette College
1

I would love to know why you chose Lafayette. What makes it special to you?

2

I chose Lafayette for four reasons:

  1. Small school academics mixed with the social life of a bigger school (we have lots of clubs, a pretty active Greek life scene, and D1 sports to cheer for - but only 2500 students).

  2. The offerings in the Economics department - they have a ridiculous amount of finance courses and are known for having one of the better programs for liberal arts colleges. As someone who is looking to get work in finance after Lafayette, this was a necessity.

  3. The close proximity to major cities. I haven’t gone anywhere yet (still only about seven weeks into my freshman year), but I like knowing that I can get on a bus and be to NYC or Philadelphia in just a shade over an hour.

  4. The tight-knit community. People are simply just good-natured here. There’s no other way to describe it.

Those four things led me to apply ED to Lafayette almost instantly after learning all of this - I knew right away this was the place for me.

3

I can speak for my D who is a recent graduate. Some of the appealing things to her were:

–Size of school – she was focused on LACs and was looking for a small school where only professors taught classes.
–Students she met – hard to quantify but it just felt right to her – there is a very good mix of people at the college. She shadowed a student for a day and really liked the people she came in contact with.
–Academics – she wanted a strong STEM program in an environment that was cooperative rather than cutthroat.
–Research opportunities – they are very present on campus (my D worked on 4 research projects in her time there).
–Location – convenient for us-- not too close and not too far from home – she did go to NYC a couple of times a year with the school
–Misc. – The D1 sports and rivalry with Lehigh is fun; Greek Life that is present but not overwhelming, lots of opportunities to get involved in an array of ECs.
–Overall vibe – during a fall visit she saw a couple of classes being taught outdoors, professors talking to students on the Quad etc. – bottom line is that she just got a positive/happy feeling whenever she was on campus.

PS She graduated last May and had an absolutely wonderful 4 years at Lafayette. And got into her top choice program for grad school. Lafayette was just a great fit for her.

4

^^ pretty much what they said above. My DD is a first year and she chose Lafayette because after touring a lot of schools, she saw that the students actually knew the faculty and staff when they passed them on the quad, which was impressive. Campus was beautiful and not too big not to small, and the kids seemed really down to earth and friendly (which they’ve turned out to be in her opinion). She has had a whole slew of things to do each weekend - this past one was the 1000 night formal for freshmen and fall fest on the quad, plus always a party or something else going on and she liked Easton. Not close to us but there is a bus from campus to Boston so that has been convenient.
She is so happy there I’m really so grateful!