Lafayette/Bucknell vs Nescacs

[Anonymous]

Loads of places better than Lehigh and Lafayette.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We toured Lafayette and Lehigh recently. Really did not like the vibe of Lehigh and thought Bethlehem was an absolute dump. But Lafayette was charming, and Easton was, too. We drove around a bit and were pleasantly surprised. You have to go beyond the streets surrounding campus.

what was the vibe at Lehigh? it’s an extremely hot school in my DCs circle - they all luv it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lafayette and Bucknell are second tier Patriot League schools behind Colgate and Holy Cross. Would take $25 k and Lafayette over Bucknell.

Holy Cross should not even be in this conversation. It is for mid-tier Catholic school kids and feeds into mid and back office Wall Street jobs - typical HC alum is wearing his zip up vest and hanging out at mediocre Irish bars claiming to be an investment banker when he isn't doing anything client facing.

Lafayette is not as scenic of a location as NESCAC but proximity to NYC should not be ignored. If your kid has a car they can be in NYC in under 1.5 hours, so it is very easy to go there for a weekend, especially as there are lots of kids from the city and suburbs (but it definitely is not a commuter school).

I think Bucknell is highly over-rated on DCUM but I actually know several super impressive people who went there. I agree with some of the assessments above that it is probably in the Bates/Colby tier of NESCAC, as is Lafayette.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Loads of places better than Lehigh and Lafayette.

Yes. And loads a lot worse. Not everyone is 1600/4.0.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:from a name brand perspective - lafayette and bucknell blow away every nescac except Amherst and Williams - know the rabble rousers on dcum will skewer me for that, but I’ve been in NYC consulting for 30 years -

This is actually just stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bucknell offers a fantastic college experience with robust Greek life and lucrative Wall Street connections that exceed all of the NESCAC except Williams, Amherst and maybe Bowdoin. Kids love it there (as evidenced by the school's minuscule transfer-out rate), work hard and play hard for four years, and graduate into fantastic front office jobs right out of college. What more could you want?

Lafayette is a great school, too. As another poster pointed out, it's solidly on the level of a Bates or Colby. If pursuing engineering, I might consider it over Bucknell, especially for $25k less, but if going into business/finance, Bucknell is the move.

Don't get fixated on the NESCAC mystique.

The Bucknell booster is slipping. Normally you would acknowledge the superiority of Middlebury for recent Wall Street placement. Williams is the only one who places better in the past 5-10 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:from a name brand perspective - lafayette and bucknell blow away every nescac except Amherst and Williams - know the rabble rousers on dcum will skewer me for that, but I’ve been in NYC consulting for 30 years -

This discussion has devolved into everyone offering their personal feelings on the relative prestige on the most selective SLACs in the country, which is foolish. That said, I can’t let this one slide. Lafayette with merit aid over NESCACs? Sure. Lafayette and Bucknell are bigger brand names than Bowdoin, Mid, Wes, Hamilton, etc.? Please stop. Save your NY consulting world annecdata.

Maybe not in the ivory towers of academia, but how many college students want to be academics? Wall Street is what matters to most kids looking at colleges today, and yes, Bucknell (and arguably Lafayette) is a much bigger brand on The Street than any of those schools.

Better than Midd? You are delusional. Better than Bowdoin? not likely. Better than Hamilton….getting warmer but still not there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Midd is slipping and well documented on multiple threads don’t care one way or the other about Midd. If into sports no one should look at Wesleyan or Bates as would be an outcast. Only 3 NESCAC schools of high status Williams, Amherst and Bowdoin. No one really cares about Hamilton the 2 in Maine, Tufts and Trinity.

Midd isn’t slipping, that is just the blood someone with issues who’s kid didn’t get in. That fool is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lafayette and Bucknell are second tier Patriot League schools behind Colgate and Holy Cross. Would take $25 k and Lafayette over Bucknell.

Holy Cross should not even be in this conversation. It is for mid-tier Catholic school kids and feeds into mid and back office Wall Street jobs - typical HC alum is wearing his zip up vest and hanging out at mediocre Irish bars claiming to be an investment banker when he isn't doing anything client facing.

Lafayette is not as scenic of a location as NESCAC but proximity to NYC should not be ignored. If your kid has a car they can be in NYC in under 1.5 hours, so it is very easy to go there for a weekend, especially as there are lots of kids from the city and suburbs (but it definitely is not a commuter school).

I think Bucknell is highly over-rated on DCUM but I actually know several super impressive people who went there. I agree with some of the assessments above that it is probably in the Bates/Colby tier of NESCAC, as is Lafayette.

USNWR has Bucknell and Lafayette tied at #31 among LACs with Colby and Bates at #25 and #26 respectively. So yes, these schools are all in the same tier.

[Anonymous]

^Holy Cross is 28 and Colgate is 21. HC only trails ND and Georgetown among Catholic schools. Spare us the crap about BC and Villanova newcomers both 20-25 years ago commuter schools. The Holy Cross alumni network is head and shoulders above any in the Patriot League with successful grads in medicine, law/politics and business. Colgate would be second. Only 3 schools in NESCAC worth mentioning and it’s obvious-Williams, Amherst, and Bowdoin. Colby is quickly passing by Middlebury with a great President, Bates is the poor woke stepchild of Wesleyan. Tufts is a liberal outlier as a mid-size university. Trinity says thank God there is a Conn College.In summary AWBowdoin dominate NESCAC and Colgate then Holy Cross in Patriot League.

[Anonymous]

It's necessary to scroll a long way in this ranking of colleges and universities to get from NESCACs such as Hamilton (#21) and Amherst (#25) to Bucknell (#110) and Lafayette (#111):

College & University Rankings in 2025 https://share.google/RDspuPf0dYiN5pgjX

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's necessary to scroll a long way in this ranking of colleges and universities to get from NESCACs such as Hamilton (#21) and Amherst (#25) to Bucknell (#110) and Lafayette (#111):

College & University Rankings in 2025 https://share.google/RDspuPf0dYiN5pgjX

That rankings list is ... interesting.

[Anonymous]

If you are into prestige - Bates, Colby, Lafayette, Bucknell are all right with one another. It’s insane to argue that any one is more prestigious than the other. These are expensive schools for wealthy kids who can’t get into higher ranked schools. Not slighting the schools themselves or the kids. These are the schools you look at when your private kid has a 3.3-3.5 GPA and are full pay. 100 percent the truth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Imo Lafayette and Bucknell are lower than Hamilton from academic reputation, but higher than Hamilton in terms of NYC business related (banking, consulting, marketing, etc) outcomes. So split decision on that. And would take $25k/year off sticker price at Lafayette vs full pay at Bucknell and all Nescacs except Amherst and Williams. Full pay there wins

However, this analysis of Walll Street and IB feeder schools includes Hamilton — along with fellow NESCACs Amherst, Williams, Middlebury and Bowdoin — but does not include Lafayette and Bucknell:

Top Feeders to Wall Street https://share.google/khTd7dTmFcziOaTUK

[Anonymous]

Agree with poster above. Lafayette, Bucknell, Colby, Bates (I’d add Richmond and Lehigh) do t make sense to me unless you are getting money, and these schools are stingy with money. Prestige wise - they are not in the Amherst or Williams or even Middlebury club (nothing wrong with that) and they are no better than schools legate you can get $25k per year. I’d rather save the $100k.