American, Davidson, or Lehigh

Corbett
Fri, 24 Feb 2017 16:52:37 +0000

I did not attend any of these schools, but since there are no other replies, will offer my impressions about student life:

Lehigh is known as a party school, with a “work hard, play hard” culture. Some contributing factors to this probably include a popular Greek system; a lack of off-campus entertainment options; a relatively high percentage (56%) of male students; and a large number of upperclassmen living in nearby off-campus row houses without university supervision.

Davidson also has a “work hard, play hard” reputation, but I suspect that the partying is probably muted compared to Lehigh. Davidson is a liberal arts college, which means that the number of students is small, they nearly all live in university housing, and they are generally subject to greater university oversight. Davidson is one of the smallest schools to play sports at the NCAA D1 level, and so the levels of athletic interest and participation are unusually high.

American is not noted as a party school. Unlike the other two, it is located within a major city, and there are plenty of other things do. Also, AU’s enrollment is strongly slanted towards women (62%), and the school also appeals to gay men; both groups are considered less likely to party aggressively. Of the three schools, AU probably has the lowest levels of athletic interest and participation; for example, it is the only one without a football team.