Anonymous wrote:I grew up in PA so know all 4 of them. I would have guessed that Lehigh has the best name recognition. It was always known as a good engineering school in our circles. Bucknell was known as a good school, and I almost applied there back in the 1980s. Kids in my graduating class also went to Dickinson and Lafayette, but I'm not surprised they are not well-known outside the Mid-Atlantic.
Having said that, how many people in the Midwest/West would know the difference between the following East Coast schools:
Washington & Lee
Franklin & Marshall
James Madison
Randolph Macon
Lafayette
William & Mary
George Mason
Mary Washington
Patrick Henry
Washington & Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Depends on the age of the people.
I suspect George Mason is best known for its Final Four run (mid 00s). William & Mary is referenced in the Steely Dan song (yeah I know it’s about Bard) and is the second oldest college in the country. Patrick Henry probably has some cachet among evangelical circles. James Madison and Lafayette are D-1.
RMC, MWC, JMU are all among the top half of Virginia colleges but have no weight outside the DMV.
I don’t know how to rank the PA schools.