I have a rising sophomore there. She also applied to Tulane and Wake Forest (I think you indicated an interest in those too?). Did not consider Bucknell or Lehigh but I feel like Villanova has a little bit of a SLIGHTLY more than usual southern vibe vs. some of the other mid Atlantic schools. For example they have a hand sign. 
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I didn’t catch if the OP was M/F. Tulane has about 50% female that participate in sororities. I don’t have the male numbers in front of me but seem to recall it being quite a bit lower… Rush is in the Spring so it gives students the opportunity to get established before they have to do anything with that. And I’ll say that even though greek life is prevalent there never seems to be an inclusion/exclusion type of environment.
Happy to weigh in on any Tulane observations from the perspective of a parent. My S23’s roommate is pre-law. Can’t provide any contrast to the other two schools though as they were not on his radar.
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Bucknell (3870 full time undergrad enrollment) - not your typical small, liberal arts college both because its enrollment is larger than most LACs and because it has both an engineering school and a business school in addition to its school of Arts & Sciences. Only Econ major is in A&S.
Lehigh (5830 enrollment) - Economics major in both A&S and Business Schools. Also has a School of Engineering. Had well publicized problems with fraternities 5-6 years ago. I think that the’ve cleared those up, but I’d ask about it to be sure.
Tulane (7248 enrollment) - 5 undergraduate colleges with extensive pre-law pathways. The Econ options for a major intrigued me:
Economics, BA
Economics, BS
Political Economy with concentration in Economics & Public Policy
Political Economy with concentration in International Perspectives
Political Economy with concentration in Law, Economics, & Policy
Political Economy with concentration in Moral & Historical Perspectives
And an interesting major for pre-law:
Philosophy with concentration in Law, Morality, & Society
I have to admit that New Orleans is one of my most favorite cities anywhere. Tulane is located in the Garden District, its prime residential neighborhood. (The Manning brothers grew up a few blocks away.) The New Orleans streetcar system passes right in front of campus, providing easy access to downtown and to the French Quarter. Loyola University’s campus is immediately adjacent. Cross registration between the two provides an additional dimension. Tulane has a 3+3 option for undergrads to complete bachelor’s degree + law degree in 6 years. Even if Tulane had none of the New Orleans jazz going for it, I’d find the multiple Econ majors a real inducement.
Does your son like it? I was wondering how the academics might be, I’ve heard a few say they’re a bit on the easier side? (Obviously depends on the major sometimes as well)
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Interesting thank you! I didn’t know the scope of the more specialized econ majors.
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S23 is in the Architecture program and while I don’t think academically it’s overly difficult for him - the time commitment/projects are huge. I think you’re likely to find “easier programs” and “more challenging programs” no matter what school it is.
He likes it there.
A couple of things that may be different at Tulane from the other schools you’re looking at which might be a factor for you (or not).
Tulane went to a mandatory 3 year residency program. You MUST stay in the dorms for through Junior year. The only “out” of that is for students that study abroad the Fall Junior year are allowed to move off campus in the Spring.
The other thing relating to the dorms is that while they have 4 new buildings that have opened in the last 3 years (for Sophomore +), Tulane has a distinct lack of apartment style housing. There is one dorm but that mostly goes to athletes.
Academically Tulane uses its flexibility as a selling point. No student comes in with a declared major. Students are expected to pick a major by the end of their Sophomore year. But the school allows very easy double majoring or major with one or more minors across any of the schools. Not all Universities allow it (or make it as easy). Maybe a factor for you or not.
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I may be late, but thought I’d add my comment.
As someone that went to law school a long time ago and has a kid at one of those three schools (Bucknell sophomore that was very happy to get back to campus), @blossom is correct. They are all good schools that law schools would be happy to take students from.
Something tours helped us with is getting a feel for what majors seem to be favored at certain schools. At Lehigh, they really focused on engineering and the new business school. My son isn’t majoring in either of those things so he felt like a bit of an afterthought. Not as bad as Syracuse which focused on the Dome and Newhouse and that was it.
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Are the new dorms for upperclassmen suite style at Tulane? Is Rush competitive or does everyone find a spot? We are debating going ED to Tulane.
As for Greek life, I’m sure there’s no assurance you’ll get picked - and frankly, if you’re not right for a specific organization, you don’t want to slide in. Another can answer - but I can’t imagine this is the case.
But I’ve attached a guide for you to review.
Bayou Residence Hall | Tulane University Housing
New residence halls showcase Tulane’s enhanced educational experience | Tulane University News
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That’s interesting they chose the double bed style for all the new dorms. Thanks for sharing.
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Agreed. My s was able to changed majors pretty easily, and he changed INTO engineering ( he changed from one double major to another double major)
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I’m sure it’s people count related - double you house 2x as many as single.
My son was headed to a school that had two and three in a room and often housed in apartments off campus. He came across his college with single rooms and shared bath with one - and changed his top school - just like that.
If a double is not right for your student, maybe not worth ED’ing. Hopefully it is though - there’s a lot of advantage to having a roomie….and disadvantage to being solo….but the opposites are all true too.
Best of luck.
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Interesting article about some of the dynamics/issues about the off campus housing near Tulane
Suite style, not apartment style. 2 rooms that share a bathroom and those rooms can be doubles or singles (mostly doubles).
@tsbna44 is correct - it’s mostly space related. If you haven’t visited Tulane already it’s a pretty compressed campus so when they knocked down the previous dorms they were limited on footprint and the goal was to build sufficient rooms to make sure they can accommodate at least the 3 years on-campus requirement.
Regarding Rush I can only relay what I see on the parents FB chat. The dynamic seems to be very different Male/Female. It is competitive when it comes to specific houses but my sense is that almost everyone finds a spot. The issues on FB are people complaining that “my daughter didn’t get either of her first 2 choices and is going to not participate” (or other similar situations). Males/Fraternity participation is much lower and I can’t recall ever seeing commentary that males weren’t finding the spots they wanted.
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Double suite, not double bed 
Students would LOVE double beds, but alas….
DS lived in Mayer, which is the “2 beds in each room with a shared bathroom” style described by @Mashinations
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I can only speak to girls’ rush at Tulane. Rush takes place the week before spring semester starts and everyone will find a spot. Having said that, the spot your student is offered might not be in the sorority she desires. But there is enough room for everybody. In general, in my daughter’s experience, who went through rush, was offered a spot but then decided greek life wasn’t for her, greek life at Tulane is not exclusive at all. Many of her friends are in a sorority and she is frequently invited and joins them for a lot of their events.
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The male - female split is a big deal at Tulane. The ratio is 38:62 undergrad make:female. That’s even more skewed toward females than the national male:female ratio among all college students.
The result of this is that the acceptance rate at Tulane is more favorable for males (15%) than it is for females (7%).
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The m/f ratio is more balanced at Bucknell. . My daughter in law was a recruited athlete there and made lifelong friends from her sorority. All good schools.
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Yes, Bucknell is much closer in enrollment between the genders with a 48:52 male:female split. And there is no admissions advantage for males at Bucknell.
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Not sure where you’re seeing your data about the acceptance rate - so not outright saying it’s wrong but the table below is data from the CDS. By my interpretation of the information there is no discernable advantage to admissions from a Male standpoint.
| Applicants (%) | '24-'25 | '23-'24 | '22-'23 | '21-'22 | '20-'21 | '19-'20 | '18-'19 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 38% | 37% | 35% | 34% | 37% | 37% | 38% |
| Female | 62% | 63% | 65% | 66% | 63% | 63% | 62% |
| Admits | |||||||
| Male | 40% | 34% | 32% | 34% | 39% | 37% | 36% |
| Female | 60% | 66% | 68% | 66% | 61% | 63% | 64% |
| Enrolled | |||||||
| Male | 37% | 36% | 34% | 36% | 41% | 40% | 38% |
| Female | 63% | 64% | 66% | 64% | 59% | 60% | 62% |