Lehigh University Top Questions

The best thing about Lehigh is its ideal combination of academics, athletics, and social life. The school is the perfect size: big enough that you are always meeting new people and finding new things to do but small enough that most advanced classes have no more than 30 people in them. Also the location is perfect. Campus is minutes from the airport and bus station, and less than two hours to New York City and Philadelphia. Most students live by the motto 'Work hard, party harder.' The major downsides to the university are its immediate location in South Side Bethlehem and diversity. Recently there has been an increase in robberies and assaults on students by locals, although the city police have made their presence more noticeable on the major off-campus streets. The university has been trying to make the student body more diverse but at this point it still appears that most students are wealthy, white, and from the East Coast.

beautiful campus, a very nice size because some classes are big lectures and some are smaller and more personal, on nice days i spend a lot of time on the front lawn of the UC otherwise most of my time is in the dorms or linderman, the town of bethlehem right off campus isn't the best place I have no problem walking through in the daytime but I wouldn't feel comfortable walking alone at night, the body put a lot of effort into the upcoming election helping people get registered for primaries and set up a trip to hear Bill Clinton speak, students are proud to go to lehigh especially between the Lehigh LaFayette rivalry

I love my everyday experience with Lehigh, I have great friends and we always have a good time, usually too good of a time. I like my teachers and classes now that I have gotten past the b.s. intro classes. The only problem with Lehigh other than the ridiculous cost is the Lehigh officials. They could be more stuck up than the students. Blantantly stupid regulations of rooms and housing are in place and can't be negotiated. It very rarely seems that the administration makes a change which makes students happy. Every alum that comes back comments on how it is worse than when they were there. The police force is just as bad. They would rather break up a frat party than patrol the campus for "townies" who have in some instances jumped people on campus. I spend almost all my time at my fraternity house, since the town is not the safest after dark and the bar scene is weak at best. There are people who break the stereotypes you just have to find them. Lehigh/Lafayette week at the end of November is the only time people have school pride.

The best thing about Lehigh is its research facilities. Thats about it. If you are going for academics, then go. Otherwise, pick another school. It is just the right size as well. Not too big so you dont know everyone (all faces are familiar) but small enough so you dont know everyone. I spend most of my time on campus because I just turned 21. If your under 21 there is little to do off campus. Bethlehem is definitely not a college town. Honestly, bethlehem sucks. There is some school pride but our school has been sucking at football for the past few years. Most people complain about how tuition goes up every year and how the administration doesnt do anything productive. They fail a lot.

The school is a good size, you know enough people and then there are still some you dont know yet which is cool. I would like it better if people cared more about sports. It is Division I athletics, but nobody knows what is going on in terms of sports teams and nobody cares about the athletes. Most people spend their time on "the Hill" where all the Greek residences are. Almost everyone you know will be in a fraternity or a sororoity and this pretty much dominates the social scene. There are not many bars and not a big scene

hmmm.... For the most part when you say you go to lehigh you get oohs and aahs... that is if they have ever heard of it. Its a prestigious university and graduating here with a good gpa can get you where you want to be.

#1 Get used to walking up hill. There's not much to do on campus or around town if you don't have a car except for frat parties. That usually fun for the first year, then sophomore year people have cars and you can go to the movies, go hiking, go bowling, the mall... Once your 21...a few bars around town, Mcgradys is most popular and a good time.

Not too big, not too small. Greek life is great, academics are solid. The only complaint are campus police

Overall a good school with an athletic active student body that still cares about learning.

Lehigh, is known for it's strong business and engineering programs. So much so, people sometimes assume that's what you are doing here if you do attend, and it has some world class research coming out of the faculty here. Most of your classes freshman year will be large lecture type classes, and its not until your upperclassman years that you can really get into the smaller, more personal classes. Some of the teachers though, like any college, are not very good at teaching, so you just need to know who to look out for. They are here mainly for research, as some do not even like teaching. Lehigh, as you may or may not know, is set upon the hillside of south mountain, so there will be a lot of walking up and down hills/stairs to get to classes, but if you don't mind that, it is a very beautiful campus, in any season. The architecture is Gothic/Romanesque and though old, quite nice. The best part about Lehigh, though, is the rivalry. Lehigh vs Lafayette is the oldest college rivalry in the nation, and the week we play each other in football, even if you don't go here, it's worth going to at least once in your lifetime. The entire week is caught up in school spirit, pep rallies, celebrations, events, parties (naturally), and is quite possibly the funnest week (even the professors get into it sometimes!). There is a stark contrast though, between Lehigh and the surrounding area of Southside Bethlehem. There are mostly residents of Hispanic/Latino descent, and is a poorer area of Bethlehem. Relations could be better, but they aren't bad. Southside does offer many small shops (like Main St in north Bethlehem as well) and there is a thing called First Friday (first Friday of every month) where usually music can be heard, and the place comes alive.