Lafayette College Top Questions

Describe the students at your school.

Shehtaz

Lafayette College is a largely upper-middle class and predominantly Caucasian school. You'll find no shortage of boat shoes and Longchamp purses on any given weeknight at the library. We do have an International Students' Association that works diligently to promote diversity on campus, but international students only make up about 5{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the general student body. For the most part, LC doesn't get a lot of students outside of the tri-state area and New England; nor does it draw as many inner-city, lower-income students to add a great deal of socioeconomic diversity to the campus. One initiative that has recently picked up momentum is the Office of Intercultural Development, which works to promote gender equality and religious/racial/LGTBQ awareness, and that is definitely a great step in the right direction.

Amanda

I love my classmates.

Andy

Students at Lafayette have a work hard play hard mentality. Academics are very important to students here, but at the same time they like to have fun. It is very easy to find a group of kids you get along with

Andy

Students at Lafayette have a work hard play hard mentality. Academics are very important to students here, but at the same time they like to have fun. It is very easy to find a group of kids you get along with

Shannon

Eager and willing to learn and help others. They are friendly and fun but also focused on their academics.

Matthew

My engineering classmates are conservative, detail-oriented, and analytical; my classmates are focused on binge drinking and their careers, sometimes in that order, sometimes not.

Dexter

White, upper class. Not snobby though. I like most of the people here. But, students who want to have a ton of fun and go to football games and have a lot to do should NOT come to Lafayette. I repeat, DO NOT COME HERE if you want to have fun. Also, there is absolutely no school spirit. There also isn't a community; or to put it in other words, you don't feel like you are a part of anything at Lafayette. There is no common thing that everyone connects to. People wear anything to class. Some get dressed up, others wear pajamas and don't give a damn. I love going to the library at night and wearing my pajamas, all homeless looking, to see what looks I get. It's this kind of stuff that I have to resort to to keep myself sane at this place. Most students are from Pennsylvania or New Jersey. There is no diversity. 85{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} white. Four tables at the dining hall include a lacrosse table, a soccer table, a group of friends from a dorm, and then another group of friends. There are TONS of varsity athletes at the school, it is Division I, and they are somewhat segregated from the rest of the school i.e. sit at the same table, go to the same parties, and the like. So, there isn't much interaction between them and the rest of the student body outside of class and during the day. It's not that they are arrogant or anything, I think that's just how it happens everywhere.

Colin

Lafayette's student body isn't that of a typical liberal arts college. However, it does have a wide variety of people.

Casey

Approximately, eight out of ten are white here, but it doesn't really matter since most of the students are open-minded.

Kristen

Plenty of students from the tristate area, but plenty out of the area as well.

Jessica

The student body is diverse racially, ethnically, politically, geographically, and religiously. My first day of freshman year I sat down in class next to a boy from Texas and a girl from Singapore! Because classes are so small and discussion based, it is really great having such diverse students in the classes since they all bring something different to the table. It is not unusual for students at Lafayette to run from class to a club meeting then to the gym and then to choir practice. Last year one of the football players had a lead in the musical! Lafayette is just a very, very busy place and students like to be active in as many different areas as possible.

Kasey

Very academically oriented.

Nina

My classmates, I would consider more of my siblings. I trust them with everything, and they help me whenever I need a shoulder, or advice, or a friend. My classmates are diverse and interesting, and I love learning from them and talking to such engaging people.

Mary

Classmates in my major (civil engineering) are quite full of themselves and seem to think that what they are doing is way more difficult than people in other majors. That really annoys me sometimes. They seem very arrogrant about what they are doing.

Colleen

most classmates seem apathetic in class but perform very well and get good grades.

Kyle

They are very smart and fun, typically upper middle class students.