Academics
Located in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, Lehigh University offers students a long history of traditions, more than 100 majors and programs, and "the ability to collaborate with other students across different fields of study." The coursework here is difficult-"keeping even the brightest students on their toes"-but "the kinship formed through the struggle and triumph is irreplaceable." Research opportunities are abundant, study abroad is wildly popular, and a strong engineering school and business school do "an amazing job making sure everyone gets high-paying internships junior year and jobs after college" (in fact, 95 percent of students are employed or in graduate school within six months of graduation).
The professors are "very intellectual beings who are also very interesting as people." They are incredibly accessible, and "always give students their emails, mail boxes, phone numbers, and sometimes even cell phone numbers." One student strongly urges you to take them up on this: "Get to know them outside of the classroom since they often give out career advice." The cross-disciplinary programs that Lehigh offers (such as the IDEAS program, which integrates arts and engineering) are "beyond what many other institutions provide." Resources are in good supply at Lehigh; for example, there are tutors "consistently available to assist students in any subject they are struggling with." In addition to having world-class facilities, students are "encouraged by those around them to become involved in research," which is just one component in the awesome "return on investment" that so many speak of as the great perk of attending Lehigh.
Student Body
The student body at Lehigh is "extremely hard-working, both academically and socially." This group is "fairly affluent" and a majority of the students are from New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, but "Lehigh prides itself on its search for diversity." The utter respect that Mountain Hawks have for their fellow students is admirable: "The best part about the people around me is the common bond of intelligence," says a student. "No matter what another student is doing, whether it be marching band, or joining a fraternity or a sorority, I know that every student on this campus is an intellectual."
Campus Life
At the beautiful, compact Lehigh campus, "everyone gets a true college experience." There is "never a dull moment" because everyone here is "always working on a project or a class or something they're independently creating." Over 200 different clubs and organizations make it easy to get involved, and Lehigh is "big into Greek life." There are "so many events, guest speakers, athletic competitions, student groups, and alcohol-free/drug-free After Dark events" that students can't even conceive of doing it all. It's also not unusual for groups of friends to plan activities at this collaborative school: "In the past few weeks, I've had snowball fights, gone hiking, eaten dinner with friends, and gone ice skating."
Lehigh is a both-ends-of-the candle school, and typically students spend "countless hours" in the library and then relax by going out at night; "even the kids who are in the hardest classes and wake up at 7:00 a.m. to study are going hard at these parties." Not only are students double and sometimes triple majors in various fields, but "many are also varsity athletes, have multiple minors, and are heavily involved in some type of organization or club on campus."
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