<p>Respect is earned. I do not respect backtracking.</p>
<p>mcdeb: As a completely unbiased party, I must say that I'm rather shocked at your comments and attitude toward blueangel. She's right; she's entitled to her opinions and you are entitled to yours. Why do you feel the need to attack her views? Perhaps it's time you examined your own motives in this situation.</p>
<p>Opinions are okay. Making sweeping negative statements, i.e. <bethlehem is="" full="" of="" old="" drunk="" men="" and="" poor="" people=""> and then backtracking is not okay.</bethlehem></p>
<p>Thanks pcaz. Mcdeb, I'm sorry you feel that way and obviously I've offended you with my opinions. All you had to do was say and I would have apologized. I'm not here to intentionally hurt anyone's feelings, although I cannot say the same for you. And yes, some days I've said bad things about Lehigh, other times I've said better things. But I stand by my <em>opinions</em> (I'd never call them facts and put them in a handbook). I'm sure everyone has good and bad days with their workplace/college/homelife etc. I could say a lot more about each individual statement, but like I said, I think it would be a waste of time, and I would hope you feel the same. Let's agree to disagree about Lehigh overall and leave it at that.</p>
<p>Playing the victim doesn't fly with me. Reread your first post which had scathing comments about Bethlehem and Lehigh that you then backed down from. Then take a look at the one where you called me a typical ignorant American. I love my country. Lehigh is a top notch university in my country that offered you an education for $5,000 a year as an international student and you don't like it. That's fine; you are indeed entitled to your opinion. But it's not fine to downgrade an entire university and the city where it is located based on your own stated biases. </p>
<p>I stand by my statement that any student who is attending a school that may not be his/her first choice due to not being accepted or finances or family situation or whatever needs to leave the chip on the shoulder at home in August. Even if said student plans to transfer out, said chip will color their experience and their interaction with others who do not share their view that the university and surrounding area has nothing to offer.</p>
<p>It appears that the only person with said chip is you. Again, why can't you let this go? If this were another school, would you be so adamantly opposed to any negative viewpoint? Why do you feel such a strong need to defend Lehigh? If you didn't, would that mean your child was going to a "lesser" school? It's her opinion and she's entitled to express it. Period. You said as much in your previous post, but that seems to only apply as long as she's not disagreeing with you. </p>
<p>Again and again, you have bashed blueangel for not conforming to your view of Lehigh. Isn't it enough that you've expressed how you and your family's experience doesn't match up with hers? It's time to leave it at that and let it go. Your continued disrespect toward her is simply unwarranted.</p>
<p>Just for the record, I am an American (with dual nationality), so I am not an international student. When you were being so rude about me coming from England (reread your posts), I was extremely hurt and upset. Just leave my opinions be, as I leave yours. Goodbye mcdeb, you have wasted too much of my time and energy. Thank you pcaz and others who have stood up for me. For an anonomyous website, some people are uneccessarily rude and hurtful.</p>
<p>I really wasn't rude about you being from England. You compared NYC to Bethlehem, I said London has a lot of the same things NYC does. It does sort of beg the question. I mean, why Lehigh? Why Bethlehem?</p>
<p>Frankly, I'm puzzled by your posts which continue to backtrack, now you've changed your signature and where you are from.</p>
<p>For those who may also be confused: I don't even know what a signature is. I haven't changed where I'm from (I live in Devon --> UK, but I also live in NYC/Bethlehem --> USA), I just changed what it said for fun.</p>
<p>having been following this discussion, i really feel the need to respond to mcdeb's post:</p>
<p>first of all, "I love my country"--why, exactly, is this relevant? as far as i can tell, no one is attacking your patriotism, nor is it relevant.</p>
<p>"Lehigh is a top notch university in my country that offered you an education for $5,000 a year as an international student and you don't like it." unless i am completely mistaken, aren't you making a huge assumption here? i don't believe blueangel stated how much she's paying to attend Lehigh. also, she's stated that she is not an international student--which you seem to continue to overlook.</p>
<p>"That's fine; you are indeed entitled to your opinion. But it's not fine to downgrade an entire university and the city where it is located based on your own stated biases." are you saying she's biased because she has some negative opinions regarding Lehigh? i must say that you seem equally biased <em>toward</em> Lehigh, having a child attending there. the only "neutral" person would be someone with no affiliation with the school, and such a person really would have no context in which to form opinions regarding it. so if you're saying that blueangel can't state her negative opinions regarding Lehigh because of her experiences--well, what else do you suggest she base her opinions on? or are you suggesting that it is unacceptable to have negative opinions regarding Lehigh? </p>
<p>"I stand by my statement that any student who is attending a school that may not be his/her first choice due to not being accepted or finances or family situation or whatever needs to leave the chip on the shoulder at home in August. Even if said student plans to transfer out, said chip will color their experience and their interaction with others who do not share their view that the university and surrounding area has nothing to offer." this is really beyond ludicrous. many, many students attend schools which are not their first choice. this hardly invalidates their opinions of them. and, honestly, that would mean only about a quarter or so of the students at Lehigh (and I feel that's being generous) would be able to have an opinion on the school. </p>
<p>blueangel--don't let mcdeb get to you. you've apologized (which i feel is very generous of you, as there's really no need to apologize for an opinion) and she continues to be rude and attacking. sadly, some people just are that way. at this point, it's clear that she just won't let you state your opinions, so i think it would probably save you a lot of frustration to stop reading this thread. =)</p>
<p><<or are="" you="" suggesting="" that="" it="" is="" unacceptable="" to="" have="" negative="" opinions="" regarding="" lehigh?="">></or></p>
<p>No, I am saying that it is unacceptable to say that Bethlehem is full of old drunk men and poor people. That's leaving aside the obvious value judgment that somehow being poor is inherently bad or dangerous to others. I'm saying that it is untrue that there is a lot of violent crime in Bethlehem. I'm saying that there are many places to go and things to see in the Lehigh Valley if one takes the initiative. I'm saying that while it is fine to say "I don't like Lehigh and I'm transferring out b/c....," it is not fine to downgrade an entire university, its students and the surrounding area. That's insulting on many levels. </p>
<p>As far as why I am offering the flipside of these very negative comments, students and parents come here to read about this school and I don't want them to hear only one side of what I consider to be a biased opinion of a student who really wanted to go to school somewhere else. </p>
<p>Why is it not okay to offer the opposite opinion of a parent of a student who loves Lehigh and whose first choice college was Lehigh? </p>
<p>Oh, and I did take offense to being called a "typical ignorant American" on both a personal and a patriotic level. If my son was offered admission to Oxford as an international student, I would expect him to respect both the college and the country. That's not to say he shouldn't have an opinion about his experience, even if it was negative. But I wouldn't expect him to say that Oxford was filled with nothing but drunks and poor people, that its students did nothing but party and that the entire area was depressed and substandard with nothing to do. That's not an opinion, it's a judgment, and an inaccurate one at that. </p>
<p>Lehigh offers incredible opportunities to its students. It's not the right place for every student but neither is any college. The Lehigh Valley is a safe and beautiful area to live in with many educational, recreational and cultural opportunities. There are several top universities and colleges in the area, it's an hour's drive to Philly, less than that to the Poconos, the Delaware River and the many internship opportunities in large corporations in northwestern NJ. </p>
<p>I understand that someone who is unfamiliar with the area might feel things are less accessible than in a city like NY. But one can express his/her opinion without downgrading an entire region and implicating that it is unsafe and somehow backward. I guess I hear enough talk like that about south jersey, where it is actually true. haha</p>
<p>Allentown is the fourth biggest city in PA, Bethlehem is rated one of the best places to live, and in fact Lehigh Public school turn out tons of students who go to top 10 colleges in the country, as well as many who get into great places like Lehigh and Lafayette in the region as well</p>
<p>We will be doing the Lehigh, Lafayette, Bucknell tour this summer looking for a school for our son. Looks like Engineering may be in his future (strong math. science student) , but one never knows for sure, and, he is expressing an interest in business now. </p>
<p>Could current students/ parents/ alums compare and contrast these schools? I know they must compete for the same students, and each offer something a "bit" different?</p>
<p>They are all fine schools. Bucknell and Lafayette are really LACs, while Lehigh is more of a national research university. For engineering, you will find the depth of classes and research available at Lehigh will far exceed the other two. Still, for undergraduate work, some engineering students would be better off at Bucknell or Lafayette for the smaller, perhaps closer-knit, environment they offer.</p>
<p>Lehigh also offers a combined engineering/business program (IBE) that your son may be interested in.</p>
<p>I thought I'd bump this topic.</p>
<p>Great resource for prospies.</p>
<p>nhs041088, thanks for bumping.</p>
<p>Not sure if this thread is a good resource or if it's going to scare people off. I know it makes me think twice--way more than twice actually. And our campus tour had already made us think twice. We toured Lehigh with our son, hated the surrounding area and the dorms (all of us). And of all our school visits, Lehigh was the only school that felt like it needed to go on at length about what it was doing to keep use of alcohol under control. Don't think that was a good sign.</p>
<p>does anyone have any information about the english/journalism majors here at lehigh? I read earlier in the thread that the english major wasn't great.... but any newer comments?...</p>
<p>I know that Lehigh is strengthening its College of Arts and Science. As a result, this year it was actually more difficult to get into the CAS than it was into the Engineering School. (The IBE is the most competitive of all.) The relatively new Zoellner Art Center - if you haven't visited, you must go inside - demonstrates this commitment to the humanities.</p>
<p>When you say the English department isn't that great, I have to ask, "Compared to what?" No, it's not nearly as good as, say, Princeton's, but it is better than many colleges. If you want to major in English, you'll have to compare English departments from your top choices when making your decision. It's a solid department, but it all depends on what you're comparing it to.</p>
<p>As for Bethlehem, I can speak about the surrounding area better than most here since I live on the other side of the mountain from Lehigh. The Lehigh Valley is currently experiencing a renaissance, and the South Side (where Lehigh is located) is part of it. The hulking, empty steel mill is being prepared for a huge entertainment/commercial complex that will probably not be finished until at least your senior year, but it shows how things are changing. (Parents: there is a proposal for a slot machine casino in that area, so you might want to consider that.) Within walking distance from the campus, you'll have a coffee shop, an ice cream store, a Quiznos, a Subway, one of the best Japanese restaurants in the area (it's pricey), an Indian restaurant, and a host of other small eateries. </p>
<p>Ask me specific questions about the area, and I'll try to answer.</p>
<p>When you are waiti listed, call the school and tell them you really want to go there. Set up another appointment to see them and guess what, they could take you just because you really showed them that you were interested. That is what happened with Harvard and my niece.</p>
<p>This thread has really skethed me out towards Lehigh...It seems like its some run down College now. What happened to the stories that it was a beautiful campus , what happened to their great engineering department? All this bad stuff is kinda making me uneasy about Lehigh...</p>