During the last week of this summer, I was lucky enough to be invited to Lafayette College along with four other NYC college counselors. We hopped into a minivan driven by the Lafayette College admissions representative, and an hour and twenty minutes later I arrived at Lafayette’s beautiful suburban campus. I spent the day there, learning about the school’s academics, admissions, and overall community.

Here’s everything you need to know about Lafayette College, plus my personal perspective below.

Key Stats:

Location: Easton, PA (the first exit after leaving NJ!)
Type: Private liberal arts college with a very strong Engineering program
Size: 2,500 students in a residential campus/suburban setting
Cost to attend: Justt over $64,000/year. Lafayette has a $900 million endowment and meets 100% of demonstrated family need

Admissions Stats:

ACT Middle 50%: 27-31
SAT Middle 50%: 1270-1430
Admit rate: 28%
Transcript requirements: Lafayette likes to see a minimum of 4 years English, 3 years Math, 2 years Lab Science, and 2 years Foreign Language
Application Deadlines:
- Early Decision: Nov. 15
- Regular Decision: January 15
- Early Decision 2: February 1
Notes: Five years ago, the admit rate was 42%; it is now 28%, so it is easy to see how popular and competitive Lafayette has become. 50% of their students are admitted via Early Decision, but Lafayette is a Division 1 sports school, so many of those students are athletes.

What’s Special about Lafayette College:

The first thing that comes to mind when I think about Lafayette is the fact that it is a small-ish college, with a liberal arts core curriculum that has an extremely strong Engineering program. For students who know they want to go into engineering, or are just considering it, it is valuable to have an overall education, not just a specialty in one area; Lafayette will give you a whole education and will prepare you for life after college. In fact, Lafayette has a Common Course of Study that all students are required to take, which “creates an outcome based, all-inclusive academic core.”

Lafayette has a variety of majors offered on their main campus, but recently just opened their brand new Arts Campus "down the hill." This is an incredible new campus with three state-of-the-art buildings that house a theatre, performance center, thousands of square feet for work on art projects, computers with top-of-the-line graphic design programs, and so much more. This is an incredible new addition to Lafayette that will definitely help it continue to grow!

Finally, Lafayette, although small in size, has 23 Division 1 sports, and school spirit is huge on campus. Often, students need to attend huge universities to get the college sports experience; not at Lafayette, where you can truly get the best of both worlds.

Personal Perspective:

During my trip to Lafayette, there was time set aside to meet and chat with current students. There were six different students from all years, who had one thing in common: they LOVED Lafayette College. There were two things they talked about that really stuck with me. For one, they all mentioned just how friendly everyone is on campus and how “they all hold doors for each other.” I noticed this too, as I walked around campus, everyone seemed to be interacting with others, smiling, and just seemed genuinely happy to be there.

Also, the students said that to be happy at Lafayette, you must love the campus lifestyle. Easton is a fairly big town and has a lot of shops and restaurants within walking distance from campus, but it is no New York City. For the most part, the student body lives on campus, or within steps of campus, so most of the action is happening there. It is picturesque, though, with great facilities, which is why Lafayette has an amazingly high retention rate of 95%. Students there are supported, challenged, and are given all the opportunities in the world to succeed.

If you are looking for a school close to the tri-state area, but a completely different scene than the hustle and bustle of the city, one with great academics that specializes in educating the whole person while preparing them for the “real world,” then I suggest you give Lafayette College a look…I think you just might like what you see.