<p>That is cool about the Quidditch club. I’m not very athletic but I would like to meet other people who are Harry Potter nerds lol <|8)</p>
<p>yes, there is a good number of diehard harry potter fans at Lafayette! I’m a fan myself, but not to that level.</p>
<p>The quidditch club has been a combination of athletes who have never read the books but like the action of the sport and nerds who have never been on an athletic field but loved Harry Potter. This year’s team might have a different configuration. My son was a 4 year varsity athlete who read the books and saw the movies. World cup weekend in NY is a lot of fun.</p>
<p>All happy news…my D is a big Harry Potter fan! She isn’t a great athlete, but in HS quidditch was a very social/fun sport. I’m sure she will check it out when she gets to Lafayette. Thanks for the information.</p>
<p>what would be an appropriate place if ranked fairly on USNEWS?</p>
<p>Is it true that the party scene according to one of the students,is “LAME” ?</p>
<p>Hi doctoribach,</p>
<p>Sorry for the slow response, I haven’t checked the forum in a while.</p>
<p>I personally do not put that much stock into US News and World Report’s college rankings, but Lafayette’s rank is currently #40 (under the liberal arts college category). However, a few years ago, Lafayette decided not to participate in the US News “peer reviews”–a criterion of US News’ rankings. Since then, its ranking became slightly lower than it had been before. Previously, Lafayette’s rank was in the lower to mid 30s. So I suppose low to mid 30s would be the best answer to your question, although I don’t think you should use rankings like that alone to pick a school.</p>
<p>I am not too much into partying, although I have heard a wide variety of opinions from others regarding the party scene. I think it depends on who your friends are and what teams/organizations you’re involved in, as they throw most of the parties. So there isn’t really a definitive answer to that question.</p>
<p>Hope that helps,</p>
<p>Taylor</p>
<p>Thanks for comprehensive answer!</p>
<p>hello.Should students pay for summer programs abroad?</p>
<p>Hi doctoribach,</p>
<p>Whether or not you would like to study abroad over the summer is completely up to you. Although it can be expensive, many people I know have found it to be an invaluable experience, and it is also a good option for those who want the study abroad experience without being away for an entire semester. For those who can afford it, I believe it is an excellent idea. I have no personal experience to share, but I intend to study abroad (in a program designed for premeds) in London next summer. I figure that an opportunity to spend an extended period time in a country outside of your own is something that doesn’t come around often, so it is something worth doing.</p>
<p>Taylor</p>
<p>Hi - Met a Lafayette alum last night, and he described the student body as “jocks”. I realize this is just one person’s opinion, but wondering, would you agree with this?
Thanks.</p>
<p>Hi ReginaPhilange,</p>
<p>As you may know, Lafayette is a Division I school. As such, I would describe a considerable amount of the population to be athletic–so yes, at least a portion of the students might be called “jocks.”</p>
<p>However, this is definitely not the case for the entire school. I am the most unathletic person you will ever meet, and I know several students who are not into sports at all. Many, such as myself, choose to get involved in different things (examples being student gov, various organizations, clubs, community service). </p>
<p>So to answer your question briefly, I would simply say that there are SOME jocks on campus—but that does not characterize the whole student body. </p>
<p>Let me know if you have any other questions.</p>
<p>Taylor</p>
<p>ReginaPhilange, I would definitely not agree that the student body is all jocks. My son graduated in 2011, neither he nor any of his circle of friends - male and female - was particularly athletic. One friend was on the ultimate frisbee team, but I think that was about it. </p>
<p>That said, Lafayette is the smallest college in the nation to be Division 1 in every sport it plays, and it offers a lot of sports, so a significant percentage of the population are athletes. It’s also a school full of high-achievers, so a lot of kids there did play a varsity sport in high school - but many of them have not continued their sport in college (other than intramurals, which are pretty casual).</p>
<p>@ReginaPhilange</p>
<p>As far as I know, 23% of the student body are athletes. I agree that’s a big number, but thats around 550 students. There’s still around 2000 other students on campus. Only one of my friends is a varsity athlete.</p>
<p>Question about new student registration - why do new freshman only register for 4 classes? Isn’t that only 12 credits? Shouldn’t they be taking 5 classes? And I guess the first year seminar is a full 3 credit class? My older son at another school had a FYS that was only 1 credit…</p>
<p>NJfreshman: Full load at Lafayette is 4 courses. This is increasingly becoming the norm at many colleges. Fewer classes, but each one goes more in depth and requires more work than if a full load were 5 classes.</p>
<p>Lafayette’s first year seminar is a full class, it comes with actual work - reading, writing and research, homework, tests, papers, etc. (My daughter attended a different college that had a first year seminar that didn’t involve any homework and was more of an orientation than a class. Lafayette’s first year seminar is an actual CLASS.)</p>
<p>@NJFreshman</p>
<p>At Lafayette, 1 class is 1 credit including FYS. For each semester, a full course load is 4 credits. One or two classes are 0.25 credit (beginners piano-the only one I know). Other than that, every class is 1 credit, including labs.</p>
<p>Unless you are an engineer, you take 4 classes normally as full course load. Engineers take 5 classes starting sophomore year. you can petition and take a 5th class starting second semester of freshman year, provided you meet some GPA requirements.</p>
<p>Hi everyone, my name is Matt and I am an incoming freshman to Lafayette. I have been ecstatic to go to Lafayette the second I was accepted and even before that it was a clear first choice. However recently I have been on some college review sites saying that the partying isn’t really great and some kids were even saying it was terrible and boring, which made me question my decision and kinda put a damper on my feelings. But I have also read stuff about kids thinking it is a party school and are worried about having fun without drinking.
I am a kid that would like to go to a good party (with drinking, because thats what I would consider a college party) about once a week on a friday or saturday with some fun people who are loose but not out of control, and maybe once a month or once every 2 months going to a really great keg party or something that is a little more “crazy” for lack of a better word. Is that a lifestyle that I can have at Lafayette? Thanks and please could you give it to me straight, I’ve heard “the social scene is what you make of it.” far too often and its not really helpful.</p>
<p>to add to that I feel like there is such a split of opinions. Some people think the campus is beautiful, others feel its small and isolated. some people think that you will have a hard time finding people who don’t like to drink and party, some feel that there is not enough to do and that the social scene is terrible. The student review site has Lafayette ranked incredibly low and that people wouldn’t do it again, but the freshman retention rate is really high. Its very confusing and concerning as well.</p>
<p>This is how it’s for me:
I’ve never been to a single ‘party’ on campus and I haven’t gotten drunk ever. slightly tipsy, but never drunk. But a couple of my close friends go out every weekend. They have no trouble finding that. Yes, Lafayette is a pretty small campus but a campus doesn’t have to be big to have variations. Not sure what review site you’re talking about but it is true that you can easily find hard core party-goers and quiet environment all at the same small campus.</p>
<p>I would like to echo what sixstringsrocker said. You can certainly find both the partier atmosphere…and the quiet nonpartying atmosphere. It depends on who you choose to hang out with. I very rarely drink and my group of friends have a lot more fun having small get togethers rather than going to big drinking parties. That explains why you find such a diversity of opinions on the social life of Lafayette. I’ve come to the realization that very few places have a 100% homogeneous population of people in terms of personality. Lafayette can’t be completely generalized. Students determine their own college lives based on what and who they involve themselves with. If you are looking to have a specific lifestyle, I guarantee you that you will find it, whatever it may be.</p>
<p>Hopefully that clears up some of your confusion.</p>
<p>Taylor</p>