My DD also got a request to switch to ED2 from Lehigh this week. I think it’s a way to protect their yield and I totally understand that. However, we also are going to wait it out. She does have an acceptance with some merit at Delaware so that gives us a bit of comfort.
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My S also applied RD to Lehigh. He loved the school when we toured, but wasn’t comfortable applying ED to any school, even though he has a current first choice. We discussed ED at several points along the way. He understands the trade off and is ok with it. An early acceptance to one of his schools has made the wait easier. Hopefully, the OP’s daughter has one. I do wish more EA schools released decisions before the ED deadlines. Most of them are late January, at which point it is too late to ED anywhere.
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Since her goal was to study outside of our region, we applied to an assortment of large state and private engineering schools. She has heard back from 6 and all accepted, but Lehigh remains her #1. Thankfully she has strong options we know we can afford in her pocket if Lehigh doesn’t pan out
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IMO, and as noted above, this is a statistical reality of almost all early programs, based on the applicant pool demographics, masquerading as a “you have a better chance” implication.
Based on their published CDS history, Lehigh has had “record breaking” applicant pools in 2022, 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2015, which is a far back as they post a CDS. This is true of most colleges. Marketing.
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Thank you for updating us. I looked at your prior posts and saw that your daughter has received some fantastic merit scholarship awards. She sounds amazing!
This will be Lehigh’s loss, and I say that as an alumna. They need more women in engineering and more geographical diversity. I recall going through this process with my kid and hearing the same words as you - “some people.” Some people are concerned about paying nearly $300k for undergrad?
If your daughter still wants to pursue Lehigh, I’d suggest having her take her ACT again to see if she can raise her score, which would make her more competitive for a full tuition Trustee scholarship. She should also apply to a couple of Lehigh’s engineering competitors to see if she could get a merit offer or better financial aid from those schools, which could be used to negotiate with Lehigh. I recommend applying to Lafayette College and Bucknell University as they have similar vibes to Lehigh and they compete for the same students.
Good luck - she’ll excel no matter where she lands.
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“IMO, and as noted above, this is a statistical reality of almost all early programs, based on the applicant pool demographics, masquerading as a “you have a better chance” implication.”
Yes. If the school plans to have 100 freshmen in its engineering class, and half will be women, and there are 40 super ED women engineering applicants, the school is likely to admit them. Then they are looking for only 10 more in the RD round. The AOs are building a class around certain goals, from gender, course of study, FA needed, etc. As an ED applicant, you are getting first shot at those buckets. As an RD applicant, your bucket may already be quite full.
The schools are letting applicants know of this reality. It is, as was stated upthread, what it is. A very crude match process.
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Then absolutely do not do ED2. If however, you do the long form NPC and school does not meet that number then you can walk.
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If you can’t pay what the NPC shows, then you shouldn’t do ED2. The school will expect you to honor your ED2 commitment, unless the financials don’t work out – and the expectation is that you have run the NPC and are okay with its results. If the financial aid offer is the same as the NPC, then you really don’t have a leg to stand on in terms of not accepting the ED2 offer.
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you can’t just guess at the aid and merit you will get and then decline the offer if accepted ED or ED2. but if you go through the proper channels and have a reasonable expectation of a certain degree of aid and merit, and then it doesn’t happen, you can withdraw even after admitted ED or ED2.
the cynic in me feels people play the game unfairly and apply ED or ED2 to maximize admission chances, and then later use finances as an excuse to decline the offer of admission. how often does this happen, I really don’t know. are the threatened consequences ever carried out against an applicant or their high school? I also don’t know this.
don’t apply ED unless you have a very reasonable expectation of adequate financial aid based on doing the paperwork.
My daughter got the same emails. Asking twice to switch to ED 2 and then the 20% increase in apps. I think they are generic emails that go out to all.
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My daughter also got the email again to apply ED2 and they stated they had a 20% increase. She will continue to wait since we can’t afford to pay the full tuition and do not want to lose her chances of a merit scholarship.
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RD here also. Unfortunately, we’re not in a position to full pay (dont expect any need based aid).
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And that right there is the correct attitude!
Lehigh is a very good school but so is NC State or Pitt or Lafayette. I do not know many 17-18 year olds that know exactly what they want in life. Friend’s kid transferred out a tippy top private college because she did not make the sorority and apparently, life was over! She also changed her major 3 times. Now much happier at a large public school close to home. Having options is great. Sounds like you have a great kid!
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Pretty sure my son got the same email last year. We didn’t qualify for any FA. He applied in RD and was offered $15K/year which was on the lower end of all his “match” schools. High stats (4.0UW, 12 APs, 36 ACT) though applied computer science- not sure if more merit in other majors. Good luck!
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To me this would mean an absolute “do not apply ED.”
Exactly correct. One daughter was frustrated that I would not let her take on debt for her bachelor’s degree. She thanked me after she graduated without debt.
This is great!
And I agree with this also.
I think that you just stick with RD, and see how it all comes out.
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When I look at schools like Lehigh that have huge endowments, I wonder why they are not more generous with aid? If they were more generous, they could substantially improve their admissions stats and diversify the student body. It is not a criticism of Lehigh per se but schools like Lafayette and Bucknell too. At least Lafayette has now gone to a need blind policy. I believe both these schools have over a billion dollars each in endowment.
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Lehigh does meet full need, and like all colleges that do that, it’s how they define the need. IMO meeting full need is ‘generous’, as the vast majority of schools don’t meet full need.
I expect Lehigh chose to meet full need to increase diversity (at least one of the reasons), and relatively they are giving more money to providing need based aid than to merit aid. Other schools that are making this shift include Pitt and Tulane.
A not-insignificant proportion of most schools’ endowments are restricted, so it’s difficult to understand exactly what a school like Lehigh can earmark for FA each year.
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Interesting. When we ran NPC, it came back with a lot of loans to meet full need. I assume meets full need does not equal no/less loans. Your point about endowment being restricted is something that I had not thought about. Great point as always!
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I think it’s still true that most schools that meet full need will still package the direct student loans for some. Many also include other ‘self-help’ items too, eg work-study and summer earnings when meeting full need.
I agree with you that schools that are packaging parent plus loans and calling it meeting full need is unacceptable…that makes me nuts. I didn’t know that Lehigh did that. I do know that Georgetown does that. 
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Itcis remarkable, actually, how much of endowed funds are earmarked. So the gift of a building may come with funds for upkeep. Or an endowed chair will be only for someone doing research on Mezoamerican archeology. It helps because to the extent the school isn’t spending other funds on the building or prof, it has them for other needs. But it’s also not unusual for funds to get stranded. Development offices would be delighted if donors only gave unrestricted funds, but most donors grt more excited about specific projects, so it’s a bit of a dance to get the two aligned. (This also means that a lower priority project with a donor may get done before one that hasn’t attracted a donor. This is why so often you hear folks complaining about the new theater when the dorms are drafty, etc.)
Also, in most cases, the goal is to pay for these things from the income from the endowment, not by drawing down the endowment principle. This makes the endowments big but the actual amount available for their purpose each year much smaller.
Just another thing that’s not entirely as it seems at first glance!
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