Lehigh vs Villanova

[Anonymous]

What % of Villanova students are catholic or from catholic schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One has a strong Greek party culture and is located in an unattractive location, while the other is much more tame with a beautiful location.

Lehigh's campus is beautiful though.

[Anonymous]

What about St. Joe’s?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, Lehigh is a lot easier to get into. Keep that in mind. Villanova is weirdly competitive.

That’s surprising. I grew up in the NE hearing that Lehigh was a more prestigious school.

It was until the last few Presidents mucked it up. In the 80s it was ranked #33 and #4, I think in alumni giving, after Dartmouth, Princeton and Yale, maybe? Anyway the new President is an alum and he seems better equipped to handle the management of the school. I will say I do not think the academics have declined at all - the issues were with the way new social policies were implemented, dismantling of the majority of fraternities, and a school that was slow to really embrace diversity. It’s still a fantastic place to get a rigorous education. If in engineering, be prepared for plenty of exams where the class average is a 62. Lehigh has always liked to let its students know that there is more to learn, more to know, that you can’t expect to coast with As like in high school.

Right now it is still much easier to get in because the last President opened up a new School of Health and they expanded the class size by 1,000 students so acceptance rate rose to 50%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Biggest difference is religious. Villanova is more insular than Lehigh.

You’re right about stingy with aid. Don’t count on it.

Lehigh is much more engineering and tech driven.

What does she want to study? There are plenty of other schools that meet her criteria, some quite close to Amtrak stations.

Religion for sure, plus Villanova has a well regarded School of Nursing and a Law School, whereas Lehigh does not offer either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The look and feel of campus are really different so it would be good if she could visit. Lehigh is hilly and woodsy and comes down the hill right to the edge of a city (Bethlehem), whereas Villanova is flat and open. Also, while Villanova has proximity to Philadelphia, it is situated in a totally suburban area and feels more suburban, whereas Lehigh abuts a "city" area. I think from Villanova you could walk to some shops in Bryn Mawr (coffee shop, ice cream shop) but Villanova itself doesn't have a lot right there.

Villanova seems very "white" to me, based on driving by the campus frequently. Not a lot of kids of color, and the kids have a homogenous look. I don't think Lehigh is as homogenous. The Nova grads I know really loved it though.

72% of Villanova’s and 68% of Lehigh’s domestic students are white. Lehigh has about 2.5 times as many international students.

The biggest difference between the two is the frat culture at Lehigh, which has at times been out of control. Villanova also has fraternities, but they don’t dominate social life in the way that they do at Lehigh.

Lehigh keeps a pretty tight rein on their greek life, though. The sophomores in greek life are required to live in greek houses on campus and those are subject to the same rules as the dorms. The upperclassmen are split between the greek houses and off campus, but violations have them cycle on and off probation/suspension until they get dissolved.

You mean that Lehigh [i]tries[/] to keep a tight rein on their Greek life. Nonetheless they continue to have serious problems. When the administration takes action, they invariably get push back from alumni. It’s been an ongoing problems for years there and it’s been well publicized.

http://www.inquirer.com/news/lehigh-university-hazing-drinking-greek-fraternity-20200128.html

Did you read the article? It’s obvious that former President Simon imposed a ridiculous, unworkable plan on these kids, demanding that new members and existing members not even talk to each other. How was that workable? He was a disaster and he’s gone, but the trouble started well before him. Lehigh had one of the top 4 or 5 ranked alumni giving records, but that fell off a cliff after the same school that brought beer trucks to my freshman orientation then turned local cops on fraternity parties, causing kids to be criminally charged. Some had to drop out of school. The administration was very hypocritical. At least at places like U Penn, they have their own campus police force, so Junior does not get cited as they were happy to do and even entrap students at Lehigh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The look and feel of campus are really different so it would be good if she could visit. Lehigh is hilly and woodsy and comes down the hill right to the edge of a city (Bethlehem), whereas Villanova is flat and open. Also, while Villanova has proximity to Philadelphia, it is situated in a totally suburban area and feels more suburban, whereas Lehigh abuts a "city" area. I think from Villanova you could walk to some shops in Bryn Mawr (coffee shop, ice cream shop) but Villanova itself doesn't have a lot right there.

Villanova seems very "white" to me, based on driving by the campus frequently. Not a lot of kids of color, and the kids have a homogenous look. I don't think Lehigh is as homogenous. The Nova grads I know really loved it though.

72% of Villanova’s and 68% of Lehigh’s domestic students are white. Lehigh has about 2.5 times as many international students.

The biggest difference between the two is the frat culture at Lehigh, which has at times been out of control. Villanova also has fraternities, but they don’t dominate social life in the way that they do at Lehigh.

Lehigh keeps a pretty tight rein on their greek life, though. The sophomores in greek life are required to live in greek houses on campus and those are subject to the same rules as the dorms. The upperclassmen are split between the greek houses and off campus, but violations have them cycle on and off probation/suspension until they get dissolved.

You mean that Lehigh [i]tries[/] to keep a tight rein on their Greek life. Nonetheless they continue to have serious problems. When the administration takes action, they invariably get push back from alumni. It’s been an ongoing problems for years there and it’s been well publicized.

http://www.inquirer.com/news/lehigh-university-hazing-drinking-greek-fraternity-20200128.html

No. I mean they do. And that article outlines how. My daughter is in a sorority at Lehigh. The “Greek pause” started in January of 2020 and ended one week before they were all sent home over spring break due to covid in March of 2020. There were no Greek events at all, not even chapter meetings. No parties. Houses were searched repeatedly and violations were given even for what was seen in their dumpsters. New members could not have any contact with the initiated members.
The “pause” was coincidentally extended when they decided to keep all Greek houses closed for Covid in 20-21, and all chapter operations were virtual.
Theta Xi (mentioned in the article) was dissolved. Things still aren’t back to normal and likely never will be.

At my kids school, the Covid restrictions meant Greek events moved off campus...Air BnBs etc. I assume that happened at most schools.

That certainly happened at Villi. And for what it’s worth, the Lehigh students were much more compliant with Covid regs than the Villi kids were.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, Lehigh is a lot easier to get into. Keep that in mind. Villanova is weirdly competitive.

That’s surprising. I grew up in the NE hearing that Lehigh was a more prestigious school.

It was until the last few Presidents mucked it up. In the 80s it was ranked #33 and #4, I think in alumni giving, after Dartmouth, Princeton and Yale, maybe? Anyway the new President is an alum and he seems better equipped to handle the management of the school. I will say I do not think the academics have declined at all - the issues were with the way new social policies were implemented, dismantling of the majority of fraternities, and a school that was slow to really embrace diversity. It’s still a fantastic place to get a rigorous education. If in engineering, be prepared for plenty of exams where the class average is a 62. Lehigh has always liked to let its students know that there is more to learn, more to know, that you can’t expect to coast with As like in high school.

Right now it is still much easier to get in because the last President opened up a new School of Health and they expanded the class size by 1,000 students so acceptance rate rose to 50%.

DS applied this year regular decision. If you follow Lehigh on IG, every other post is diversity related.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, Lehigh is a lot easier to get into. Keep that in mind. Villanova is weirdly competitive.

That’s surprising. I grew up in the NE hearing that Lehigh was a more prestigious school.

It was until the last few Presidents mucked it up. In the 80s it was ranked #33 and #4, I think in alumni giving, after Dartmouth, Princeton and Yale, maybe? Anyway the new President is an alum and he seems better equipped to handle the management of the school. I will say I do not think the academics have declined at all - the issues were with the way new social policies were implemented, dismantling of the majority of fraternities, and a school that was slow to really embrace diversity. It’s still a fantastic place to get a rigorous education. If in engineering, be prepared for plenty of exams where the class average is a 62. Lehigh has always liked to let its students know that there is more to learn, more to know, that you can’t expect to coast with As like in high school.

Right now it is still much easier to get in because the last President opened up a new School of Health and they expanded the class size by 1,000 students so acceptance rate rose to 50%.

DS applied this year regular decision. If you follow Lehigh on IG, every other post is diversity related.

This is pp. Yes, they were slow to embrace but they have been doing better, again under the new President Simon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, Lehigh is a lot easier to get into. Keep that in mind. Villanova is weirdly competitive.

That’s surprising. I grew up in the NE hearing that Lehigh was a more prestigious school.

It was until the last few Presidents mucked it up. In the 80s it was ranked #33 and #4, I think in alumni giving, after Dartmouth, Princeton and Yale, maybe? Anyway the new President is an alum and he seems better equipped to handle the management of the school. I will say I do not think the academics have declined at all - the issues were with the way new social policies were implemented, dismantling of the majority of fraternities, and a school that was slow to really embrace diversity. It’s still a fantastic place to get a rigorous education. If in engineering, be prepared for plenty of exams where the class average is a 62. Lehigh has always liked to let its students know that there is more to learn, more to know, that you can’t expect to coast with As like in high school.

Right now it is still much easier to get in because the last President opened up a new School of Health and they expanded the class size by 1,000 students so acceptance rate rose to 50%.

Correction: the new President is Helble. Last president was Simon, who just did not “get” Lehigh.
DS applied this year regular decision. If you follow Lehigh on IG, every other post is diversity related.

This is pp. Yes, they were slow to embrace but they have been doing better, again under the new President Simon.

[Anonymous]

Engineering: LeHigh

Business: Villanova