Ami tells us about Lehigh University and his experience (so far) as a student. He also shares with us why he is taking a leave of absence and what he is doing with his time.

Part 1 is here.

Transcription

Kamila
Hey college kids. Welcome back to my podcast. Who cares about college. This is part two of my interview with AMI. So if you have not checked out part one make sure to do so check out my blog college reality check.com In my instagram at underscore a college kid underscore, but other than that, I hope you enjoy

let’s move on to college experience. You’re only a sophomore this year, and I’m sure a lot of your college experience has been with COVID. Like, yeah, like probably most of it. So it is a little bit different. But coming into college, tell us a little bit about Lehigh campus itself, like the university, anything like any statistical facts, or any majors that they’re famous for any programs, and then tell us about the community in like, where Lehigh is located. What is there to do? Is it like a city area, suburb, rural? Are there places to go around with your friends and such? So tell us a little bit about the culture and the school itself?

Ami
Yeah, um, so Lehigh is located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. And then an hour and a half west of New York City. So you can drive your new TV in an hour and a half, which is really nice. Both for me and for other people, because New York is the best city in the world, but it is. Yeah. And then it’s an hour nor, as well. So I’m usually students, a lot of times go to those cities on like weekends, especially like long weekends, or people go to the cities, and there’s like concerts, festivals. People were like nutritionally. So anything big, like, a lot of people just generally take weekend trips. But Bethlehem itself is just like a regular town. Honestly, I’ll be like, rancher train doesn’t have much. Um, there’s like a couple of good restaurants and places to eat in.

Ami
It’s like a typical suburb, a very, like typical,

Ami
like suburb college town. So there’s nothing like really special about it. I would say, um, but yeah, so that’s Bethlem itself, like there’s not much around. Like I said, it’s mainly like, a lot of people just go to New York City and Philly on the weekend. And then, in terms of the campus itself, campus is like beautiful, absolutely, like stunning. Kind of people compare it to like Hogwarts, like Harry Potter, just like very like bran or vibes. Some some, there are a lot of buildings that are also like really new. Our campus is on a mountain. So it’s very hilly, the person who invented escalators went to the high. It tells you how many staircases we have. It’s literally use like on a mountain. So you’ll definitely get a good workout in at Lehigh. But yeah, Canvas is absolutely beautiful. It’s really big. I would say for like the size of the, the student body. Buildings are really nice. They have they’re building new buildings. All around. We have three campuses technically. So we have the main campus, which is amazing. All the mostly all the academic buildings. Your sounds like insanely great libraries, which is a prick. But then we have an athletic campus. So we have like a huge athletic complex. You guys also do in school, so like competing The Patriot League. So you have pretty good athletics, I would say kind of pretty big football stadium. soccer fields to Kostya etc.

Kamila
So do athletes live in that athletic campus?

Ami
So everyone lives on main campus or off campus? So like in Bethlehem, but like a few blocks away or like, yeah, off campus, but that campus is more just literally just like an athletic complex. So I think, yeah, it’s just like, a bunch of fields and stadiums and stuff like that. And then a lot of them is accessible to like all the high students. There’s a shuttle that goes up there just like 30 minutes away by car maybe like 20 minutes away. And then there’s also a closer campus for that they just built for architecture are in design, and also like experiential learning and stuff. So there’s a lot of great like testing labs. Also great like AC is for. It’s like the base for the architecture and design and art. Yeah.

Kamila
Is that like a program that Lehigh is known for? Is it like, Are they one of the top nation for that?

Ami
Oh, really, they’re developing it this so they really improved a lot. But I definitely don’t think people go to Lehigh for art designer architecture. But they, I mean, they have a really great faculty now and program and now like a lot of great like, facilities as well. So there’s another it’s called mountain top campus, but it’s it’s a really nice part of campus as well. That’s great for like, learning and like experiments and testing and like, yeah, it’s really great. Open Space. Yeah, those are like the three campuses, but main campus is the one everyone usually that and that’s like, super amazing. Super nice. So yeah,

Kamila
and what about programs? What is Lehigh known for? I mean, obviously, engineering, I looked it up was like one of the top in industrial engineering. What other programs is it known for?

Ami
Yeah, so Lehigh is known for engineering and business, I will say primarily, you hi also has a pretty good global program. So like global citizenship, and yeah, pretty good, like study abroad program. Great study. But office. We have like a Iacocca Scholarship Program, which is basically just like, you can go study abroad, and like, like, work in another country. And they cover everything, like living expenses, etc. So it was like stuff like that. The global, the Global Affairs Office is really good as well. So like, the highest pretty good at global stuff. And then I would say like engineering is usually within top 50 schools for engineering businesses, usually within top 50 schools for engineering business. I think they’re also so there’s also like, they’re good at like, really nice things like, like, I forgot what becoming a doctor is called, but they have a program with. So anyone who wants to become an eye doctor, they were really good pre dental programs, so anyone who wants to do dentistry, you can come to Lehigh for like three years, and then go to UPenn for like four years, and there’s like an accelerated program for that.

Kamila
Oh, so it’s like partnership, like if you go to Lehigh for dentistry, you will go to UPenn.

Ami
So they’re really great dentistry program, right now that to like, Come months ago. They also have, they’re well known for this to two into these integrated programs, the three integrated program, so which is where a lot of like kind of, like, very intellectually clemco minded people are, are usually done, but they have something called integrated business and engineering, which basically, you get two degrees, a business degree and an engineering degree within four or five years. So basically, like my friend is studying mechanical engineering, and finance, and they studying industrial engineering and accounting or something. So you can basically pick and choose two majors from business and engineering, which is pretty good. It’s all in for five years. And then there’s also this program called computer science and business. They think like, I think their average starting salary is like $89,000, or something out of school. So they get two degrees as well one in computer science and one in business.

Kamila
With these integrated degrees, is it like combining the business and that for example, like the business and engineering perspective, or is it more like to full complete degrees, different majors,

Ami
so there’s a there’s a program so it does like every semester you take like a it’s like a so for example, I ve the integrated business and engineering program, people have to take IB set of seminars every semester until they graduate. So it is like they in those types of programs they do focus on kind of like combining like engineering and business. But apart from that, it’s mainly just like engineering and business two degrees program that you can get in four or five years which is really great. So they either that one the computer science and business and also the ideas which is integrated degree in so basically you can get a degree in art science, arts and sciences and in engineering. So you see a lot of people getting degrees in like, computer science and answered ecology or like ecology and mechanical engineering or something like that. But yeah, so basically, it’s those are really great programs at Lehigh

Kamila
do you have to like apply to get to those programs, it’s not like a student can say I want to be part of it, and they’ll let you in.

Ami
When you I think it’s just like one extra, like really short essay, when you apply to the high, you just check like I want to be considered for this program. And then, if you don’t get in, it’s not like you’re not considered for the high, it’s just like, getting considered for that program. And then you’re being considered from the ISO. So it’s, it’s definitely like some, if you’re interested in I would say, apply. And then once you’re in Lehigh, you can also try to apply in. So technically, I could have gotten into some of these programs if I wanted to, by like applying into the program. So my friend was an engineering major, but she’s now in integrated business and engineering. So yeah, there’s a lot of pathways that you can kind of get in. If you want to really want to do it, you can definitely do it. But yeah, mostly known for engineering.

Kamila
Okay, so a little bit more about Lehigh. And then we’ll get into more. There’s another thing I’m curious about. So but one thing, Lehigh was your favorite thing about Lehigh? What’s your least favorite thing about Lehigh?

Ami
That’s interesting. I think.

Kamila
It could be anything, it doesn’t have to be like academic, it could be, I don’t know, the way the faculty helps the dorms, we’ll just whatever.

Ami
Um, I think through the, it’s a really great place. That’s like, balances the size of students and the diversity of opportunities, both in academically extracurricular and socially, so it’s like, if I’m a student, there are only still like, 6000 other students on camera, there’s just not that much. It’s pretty like smaller medium sized school. And, yeah, like, like, I, I’m in a fraternity, but I’m also in orchestra. But I’m also in work study. And there’s a lot of work study opportunities. I can also, I studied abroad freshman year. Like, I, I can play sports, if I want to. There’s just like, a lot of opportunities to do a lot of different things. So like, socially, I can go to a huge party school. So it’s like, usually ranked like top 10 for parties. So obviously, the party seems like nice, it’s, it’s great. But yeah, like socially, I also like, can decide that I don’t want to go to parties, and there’s a scene for that as well. But if you want to go out and go party, like you can go do that. Like extra curricular really, like I said, you can choose to go to all these different clubs, programs, etc, they have fellowship programs, which are really cool. You can study abroad, if you really want to, like, there’s a lot of great support around that. And then academically, it’s really like it’s up pretty flexible in terms of like if I’m engineering to do like, if I want to go into business, or arts and sciences or health and education now as well. I can get into all those different schools, I really want to like transfer to different these different majors and vice versa. So I will say like, it’s really great, because there’s a lot of diversity in terms of stuff that I can do. Cons um Oh, another pro is usually they do pretty well with aid in money. Sometimes they don’t really is a case by case basis. Cons I will say they are not like administration. So this is very insider knowledge kind of, maybe, I don’t know, but the administration is not like amazing that understanding the student body as much right now, especially. They’re not amazing atletic working with COVID for example, they were not able to do it well at all. So, yeah, so like, administration right now just has been just like leadership has been lacking a little.

Kamila
But this dude is specifically to COVID Or were there like past examples of it.

Ami
It’s, it’s been probably since I’ve been at Lehigh. It’s just the leadership has not been as expected or at the level as we’re like this School in the community and the students and faculty are. So yeah, like everything else is like amazing, but it’s just like, when the leadership and administration is not great, then it’s sometimes hard to deal with. But yeah, that’s the only call the con. Yeah, it’s, I mean, it’s a great I like it, but I love it actually. But it’s definitely like, not the not the best at understanding student needs. So but we have a really great student senate body. So that’s how we get a lot of stuff done as well. So which is really nice.

Kamila
Okay, so moving on to some lighter topics. Let’s talk about dorm like typical college stuff, you know, dorms food, and stuff. So tell me about the dorms at Lehigh. You of course, you haven’t lived there. Because I mean, because of COVID. But from what you have seen so far, what do you have lived through so far? How would you describe the dorms at Lehigh?

Ami
Yeah, so I’ve actually have lived there. So it’s like, I was there freshman year. Yeah. And then we got to March or February or whatever.

Ami
And so yeah, I lived in a dorm and I also actually lived on campus this past fall, so COVID So the dorms very much very. freshman dorms are like, not great, to be honest. You have to like block up hills. But they’re not like horrible. It’s like their regular

Ami
you know, typical college dorm.

Ami
But they look really cool on the outside. Like I said, they look like Hogwarts. So it’s like really cool. Like, most dorms they have like, like those mattresses and desks and shelves and drawers, etc. I then like most gyms, they have closets. Bathrooms are shared usually. And then. Yeah, then the only like cute cons. I just like you have to walk up a lot. Because they’re on the top of the mountain. And then yeah, they’re not like the best but they’re not. They’re not like tolerable. And then they like, like tissue and sinks in laundry like yeah, it’s in like, rooms chill and stuff. The common rooms so it’s not like horrible, but it’s not like great.

Kamila
Just like a average college dorm.

Ami
I will say for so first. Some freshmen they might have a really great option of like they there they actually built this year a new dorms. So they have a really really nice like glass. Like it’s super nice dorms on campus, but like you’ll be you know, to get like really lucky to get that. But yeah, usually freshmen and sophomores live on campus. And so if I’m your sophomore year, usually you can get like really great housing at the bottom of the hill or like near the top where it’s like those new buildings. There are a lot of like newer dorms as well where you can get like suites and singles and Gallic shooters as well. So like, it really depends, but yeah, I would say sophomores you have pretty good chances of getting really nice room. I think freshman year is just like not great. But then junior senior year you get like houses people used to get houses off campus.

Kamila
Yeah. Interesting there and let’s go on to another topic College. Which is food. Good bad. Again, average college food.

Ami
It’s average. Not not good. Don’t go to the high for the food.

Kamila
What what do colleges give for food? Like what are what do you guys have? I was I remember I visited Duke. No idea if this is like the typical student experience, but the lunch dining place they took us to I mean, it looked amazing ahead. Do a bunch of cuisines and stuff. It was so so good. So what does a college give you? What is Lehigh give you in terms of food?

Ami
Yeah. Yeah, it’s not as good as Duke. It’s not as good as other schools. We have to, I guess, yeah, we have two primary dining halls. They’re both they have like, different sections. One section is always towards like, people who have like allergies and vegan, etc. Usually, so there’s always a salad bar, always a sandwich bar. There’s always like a pizza and fry, hamburger type bar. And then usually it’s like, I don’t know, like, regular like cuisine, like pasta, like chicken and like stuff like that.

Kamila
So like generic foods. They give you

Ami
Yeah, it’s like, and sometimes they try to, like spice it up with like different like, Asian styles or what, like Caribbean styles or whatever. Not as much. So but yeah, it’s like you have like Gregory Stevens, like there’s always pasta, there’s always pizza. There’s always like burgers is always salad. There’s always soups. There’s like, standard stuff. It’s nothing special. It’s not like amazing or great. But there’s also like, like, places you can get food like on campus and a bit off campus, which are like, really good, actually. So pretty good restaurants pretty good. places you can kind of grab and do want to. But yeah, dining halls aren’t great.

Kamila
All right, because the only dining hall I’ve ever seen was Duke. I mean, it was incredible. So when I heard like, people think dining hall food is disgusting. I was like, okay, okay, there. Okay, so another topic I want to talk about is because you you’re special, you took classes at Columbia in high school. So you kind of knew what college classes were like, can you first describe the difference between a standard high school class and then a standard college class? And then also tell us was your transition to college a bit easier than perhaps your peers? Because you already knew what college classes were like?

Ami
Yeah. So the first question differences. It depends on like, again, what high school in college you went to, for me, I went to a pretty small high school. And I go to I guess, like the median size college. So like, my high school, I had, like, 30 kids in my class. And in college, for some of these introduction classes, I literally have like, 200 people in the class. And that was the same that was especially for like, Columbia, but at Lehigh, it’s like, like, Columbia is probably like, 500 and like the introduction classes 600 Maybe at Lehigh, it’s like 100 to 200 range, probably for the bigger classes, like English, we had, like 15 people. So it really differs on the class size. So I would say class size is a huge thing. Another thing is like, a really nice thing actually does give you like a syllabus at the beginning of the class, so you can like literally plan out your whole semester based upon that syllabus. And you know, what is expected of you?

Ami
What about rigor?

Ami
Yeah, and then rigor. I like, like I said, really depends on the school that you go to. My high school prepared me pretty well. So like, the rigor was of the same caliber, I would say, maybe the high would be a little bit more rigorous, but not by much. So I had a pretty, I guess, like going into the second question, I had a pretty good transition from high school to college, because when I had taken college classes, I pretty rigorous, rigorous level already, but also my high school prepared me pretty well in terms of like, college and like. Yeah, like my teachers, basically, we had to call them professors. We like we literally is like, kind of like college class formatted. So yeah, like my school did a really good job, but it really differs in school.

Kamila
And another thing I’m curious about is, you go ahead. Okay, so another thing I’m curious about is Lehigh is. I mean, it’s not as highly ranked or highly known as Columbia, but it’s still in a fantastic school. It’s still very reputable. Do you think there’s any difference in like, Columbia classes and Lehigh classes do you get? Again, this is just completely your opinion. But do you get like better quality at Columbia? Or do you think it’s pretty much the same? Like, is there really not that much of a difference whether you attend an ivy or school that’s so lesser ranked?

Ami
Yeah. So this is a huge like topic. I think. For me, personally, I’m actually really interested in ad tech, which is education technology. And I think that education system is kind of like broken a little. But it it’s, it’s hard to understand, so it’s like a huge fifth factor. So when people say like, oh, you should have to find your right fit, etc. A huge part of it is like, understanding. Hey, like, what, what type of school Am I personally going to learn the most in and dive in like what community serves me the best. So, personally, like I learned a lot more from the high because of the people around me and And the class structure and like the class size and how the teachers taught the class, etc. So I’ve learned a lot more in class at Lehigh than Columbia actually. For that, just because that’s the way I learned. So

Ami
yeah, I don’t think it’s like, it’s hard to compare. I will say like, they’re different. Yeah. So it’s, it’s really, depending on fit, I will say for people.

Kamila
Yeah, the reason I asked is because I interviewed a little while ago, I’d interviewed a girl, she goes to Northwestern, and, you know, with, like, you see an Ivy League or top 20 school, and you’re like, Okay, it’s, it’s top ranked, so it must have some of the best and pretty much everything. But then when I interviewed her, she was like, my Northwestern professors. Some of them are good, yes. But some of them just don’t teach well at all, because they’re there for research. And then teaching is just like, part of the contract, I guess. So she said, at Northwestern, even though it’s highly ranked to have amazing programs, amazing connections, the professor’s there are definitely not like the best of the best. So she said, Some people can get a better quality education at their state school than a top school because of the professor’s there. So is that true? Like between Columbia?

Ami
Yeah, like, like people can get? Like, it also depends on professor and like, you get. So yeah, like you, there’s definitely opportunities to get better education at a state school or at a city school, or community college than at a private institution or even an ivy. So like, it’s dependent on the person, I think a huge part of it, why people go to IVs, and go to these top tier institutions is kind of three things. One is brand name. So like, professional placement, which like directly correlates to professional placement. So like, if I’m a finance major at Harvard, I have more of a likely chance to probably get into good jobs opportunities. Just because I have Harvard as a brand name, I think two is people go to IVs and other like brand name schools, because community so like, the people around you tend to be quote, unquote, higher quality. So just like, yeah, people are just like doing cooler stuff, or people are doing stuff that really interests you, around you. And so like you go there for, to be able to engage with other students like you. And then three is accessibility to like opportunity. So like, I have much more access, probably at Lehigh than I would at a local community college, just because of the high has a lot more funding, they have a lot more of a diverse array of like departments and schools, etc. So yeah, so like, I have probably more access, access to different things to study to different programs, different fellowship programs to work, to. Yeah, to teachers, to people, to resources, to money even so like, I think, I think like those two things, probably the reason why and it’s now it’s less, it’s continuing to be less about like, the in classroom learning and it’s in progressing towards like, people are understanding, hey, college is more a lot about like the experiences of like, going to. Yeah, going to like, being a part of this community of other like minded students gaining access and support to find great opportunities, resources, etc. And then having like a brand name. So it’s like, understanding that and understanding how fit it is how much of a fit it is for you to learn in different classroom environments at different schools.

Kamila
No, I mean, that makes sense. And we’re coming to an end here. And there’s one thing I do with everybody, which is advice. So what advice would you give for number one, high school students and this can be about anything, it could be specific to college application GPA, or just life advice in general. And then same for college students? What advice would you get for them? Like perhaps they’re just coming in? So what would what would be the one thing that you tell high school students and then one thing for college students?

Ami
Yeah, I think I can probably give the same advice for both demographics is probably not that specific. So I would say like, the main thing is like, I follow this, I don’t know if you’ve heard of this YouTube channel called yes theory. I’ve been following it since like Beginning of high school, their motto is seek discomfort and a lot of other critters, people talk about this, but it’s basically just like saying, Hey, I know I’m uncomfortable pursuing this, even though I really want to do it. But like, Screw it, let me just do it and like, take chances. So it’s all about like taking risks, taking chances, taking opportunities. It’s easy to be like, scared to fail, but understand that failing is always going to occur, and it’s going to be part of the process. So yeah, like, seek discomfort is something that that I really live by really enjoy. I’ve been able to study abroad in Germany for free, I’ve been able to go to Italy for free and compete there. And like, I’ve been able to, I’m taking a leave of absence right now. I’m traveling all around the US living with super cool people working at super cool startups. Because I said, like, let me just like, Screw it, let me just take an opportunity, take a chance. You know, like, it’s kind of cliche, but it’s like, it’s really true. So, like, especially for students in high school, or college, especially going into college, like, even if you don’t, like seems like, oh, like, even if you’re slightly interested in the club or program or something, like go to that info session. You know, if there’s a cute girl outside your dorm, like, talk to her, like, like, like little stuff like that, like, it all adds up. So, yeah, just like, you know, seek discomfort. You know, take some risks, and chances. And also just like have, I would say, like, have fun. Like, don’t be in your room 24/7 working like, you know, try to try to try to have some, like, academic work and like lifestyle and stuff like, you know, socialize like, right, like, stay in and watch a movie with your friends if you want to. Like, like, take care of yourself, as well. So, yeah.

Kamila
And I have a quick question about you taking a leave of absence and traveling around and work at different startups. Is that like, you finding yourself? Or did Lehigh? Like, hook you up with a startup? Is it sort of like an internship? Or did you find it on your own?

Ami
Yeah. So I will say so I was, I got introduced to the world of entrepreneurship, kind of at Lehigh. Not really, but like, I became president of the Entrepreneurship Club. And that’s how I really like, got into networking and building a lot of these relationships. And then I worked for a startup in freshman year. So I continue to work for that separate now in other startups not to and then I really got into entrepreneurship startups, venture capital, I’m working with creators now. So I really enjoy working with like, YouTubers, influencers, etc. So, yeah, it’s, it’s been mostly just, me myself, putting myself out there, like I said, like, seeking discomfort and like saying, screw it, like, let me apply to all these different programs. I’ve applied to all these different internships. Let me reach out to this person, let me connect with this person, let me do this program fellowship. So I could, you know, understand how I can add more value to different companies, etc. So yeah, that was just me, saying, Let me do it. I swear to traveling around the country, I literally met most of the people I live with right now online. So yeah, it’s in to like, friends of friends and stuff. And like I said, I was in Utah last month, just because I learned to get out of out of kind of, like COVID situation at school. And it wasn’t great to the I was in Utah last month with some random people on startup space, and now in Arizona, I’m going to go to LA to San Francisco. Yeah, so it’s definitely going to be great. But that’s also all been through just like me reaching out to like people and saying, like, Screw it. Like, like I said, like seeking scam taking risks. Yeah, so. Yeah, so definitely. I stand by like that, seek discomfort, take risks. Nada.

Kamila
I mean, that’s incredible. What you’re doing right now you are my role model. This is exactly what I do when I go to college.

Ami
I shouldn’t be a robot. But yeah, I definitely like like, I think taking opportunities and chances like not being afraid to like totally fail. So it’s okay to be afraid to fail like I but understanding that that like it happens. So yeah, I definitely am by that kind of trays. But yeah, I recommend watching yesterday if you haven’t, what is it? Yes, three. Yes theory. So it’s like yes to HBO ROI, I guess theory. So yeah, they have a incredibly great like they’re really inspiring their content is really great. Yeah.

Kamila
I mean, thank you so much for coming today. I set you almost two hours. So thank you for staying this long, like, you know, discussing stuff in a lot of detail. That’s it for part two of my interview on me. I hope you enjoy it and I hope you subscribe, check out my blog, college reality check.com In my instagram at underscore a college kid underscore. Other than that, I hope to see you in the next one.