Lehigh University Top Questions

In the big introductory lectures, professors don't know your name unless they've seen you in office hours. But beyond that, all my professors make a real effort to learn names. I haven't had a bad teacher here yet. I've had some really awesome ones and some average ones. My favorite class was my Calculus II class last semester. The professor was hilarious and very approachable, as most here are. I've never had a professor that was too busy to meet with students. Class participation is pretty common. Most Lehigh students are smart and know it, not necessarily in an egotistic kind of way, and try to show that they want to be here. Lehigh students don't have that many intellectual discussions and that might be one of my complaints. It all depends on who you hang out with though. I have some friends that have intellectual discussions all the time. Students are competitive, but not cutthroat. Everyone wants to do well but no one is out to beat someone else. Professors are given a budget to take students to lunch. Many use it, but not all. Nonetheless, students and professors spend time together outside of class. Professors are very willing to just sit down and have a conversation with you. One of my professors once spent an hour telling me about his nieces, nephews and grandkids. He just got sidetracked from whatever I had asked him about. Professors here are great. I would say Lehigh mostly prepares you for a job, but they prepare you to blow your future employer out of the water with how much you know and how many things you are good at. You learn for the sake of learning, but also so you can do well in your career.

Classes and professors are pretty good.

Academics at Lehigh really depends on major and more importantly on which college you are a part of. I've been in large classes wtih three hundred people and smaller classes with about seven. The smaller classes and even history survey classes deffinitely promote class participation, where as bigger classes are lecture based. Even still, my economics professor made sure he took at least five students out to lunch in the faculty dining room each week-taking full advantage of a program Lehigh offers to promote professor-student interaction. Students deffinitely work hard but it doesn't stunt their social life. I don't feel like I am competing against my peers that much, except for job interviews and I think it's great that Lehigh tends to foster a less competitve environment. People tend to want to do well for them-not in comparison to others. Requirements are structured but not lofty-I only had to take one math class (thank goodness) and foreign language is not required. Professors are really personal-my advisor for the last two years made sure he got to know me, what sports teams I liked and alot about my family-not just my course load. In fact some of my friends even went to their professors house for the Jewish Holiday. While Lehigh is deffinitely learning oriented-the teachers all really want you to learn for learnings sake, it's deffinitely preparing you for a job. Our career services and alumni network is formidable and really helps you do what you want to do and then find a job where you can do it. My only complaint is that our Study Abroad office is beyond lame, and because our school is a bit small the range of classes we can take is limited.