Chance Me: Class of 2019

Colleges and Universities A-Z Lehigh University
1

<p>Hi all! While it is a bit early, I would like to get an idea of my standings for CAS at Lehigh for the Class of 2019.
Here are my stats:
Female, Caucasian
--SAT: 700 (M), 720 (CR), 800 (W) (2220 superscore, took three times)
--SAT II: 700 US History, 750 English Lit
--UW GPA: 3.75/4.0
--W GPA: 4.55/5.2
--AP: Soph year-US History (5), Spanish Lang
Jr. Year-US Gov (5), Spanish Lang (4), English Lang (5) (projected scores based on class performance)
--Sr. Year Course Load: AP Micro Econ, AP Macro Econ, AP Psychology, Honors French 2, Honors Spanish 6, Honors Euro Lit, Calc, Physics
--Classes: All honors/AP except for math all 4 years and physics senior year
--Extracurriculars: Key Club (9-12), Adopt a Grandparent (9-10), Breast Cancer Awareness (9-12), ConKerr Cancer (10-12), JSA (11-12), Hispanic Culture Club (10-12)
--Work: Ice cream shop, manager, 12 hrs/week, 9-12, babysitting
--Volunteering: Mission trip with church to Appalachia summer after 9-10, Dominican Republic grade 11
--Interview: Planning on interviewing, I am very comfortable speaking with adults so I expect the interview to go well
--Essays: I am a very strong writer and I will be working with a tutor to help in the writing/proofreading of the essays, should be excellent
--Recs: Counselor rec will be very good, AP English rec will be great, AP Spanish rec will be good. Also having my boss write me a rec letter, as I am playing up my job in my application
--Rank: School does not rank, but I am guessing I fall in the top 25% of a 500 student class
--School: Public, Suburban, right outside of Philadelphia</p>

<p>--Projected strengths: I am coming from a nationally ranked high school that is well known and highly regarded by Cornell admissions officials. I also expect my interview and essays to be strong differentiating aspects to my application, and I plan on emphasizing my job as my main outside of school commitment on my application (i.e. stressing how much working my way up to a manager position has taught me about work ethic, responsibility, etc.), I have showed a strong interest towards Lehigh (visit, interview, in contact with admissions officers, sat in on a class/talked to professors), alumni letters?
--Projected weaknesses: SAT/GPA are average, no officer positions, not a ton of school-related extracurriculars, did not take honors math or physics (I also finished with an 81% in Chemistry and my math SAT score is low, so they will most likely see a trend and realize I am not a strong math student), grades take a slight dip sophomore year (first year I took any AP classes)--don't drop too low, just to lower A's and a B, but pick right back up junior year</p>

<p>--Also, if this is relevant or of any help, I also plan on applying to Cornell, UMichigan, Syracuse, GWU, Penn State, and Maryland.</p>

<p>Please let me know what my chances are, and let me know if you need any more information! Thank you so much!</p>

2

<p>Hi, </p>

<p>OVERALL: Chances very good, I would say Lehigh is a low reaching target for you and you should consider applying to an honors program and make sure you apply early enough to be eligible for scholarships, explanation below.</p>

<p>I was admitted to the Class of 2018’s IBE program at Lehigh which is their most competitive program so I’ll try to compare our applications and hopefully that will point out your strengths and weaknesses. (Please excuse how arrogant I may sound, I’m just going to be frank with my application). Your 1420 SAT is great, I had a 1370, unfortunately I don’t believe Lehigh looks at writing. I had a 3.9 GPA but my highschool was a joke so your 3.75 probably carries more weight. Your AP’s are very similar to mine. </p>

<p>My ECs were my strong point. You are given 10 slots to fill up on the common app so make sure you have 10 things you can put in there, it helps imply you had to pick and choose between all your ECs. You should also focus on locking up some leadership positions, this shows you are truly committed to those ECs. I was class pres., NHS pres., captain of 2 varsity sports, DECA Vice Pres. (and some national recognition). </p>

<p>My general common app essay was strong, but I wouldn’t say it carried my app in anyway, I just focused on adding my voice.</p>

<p>Another big positive for you is because you are a female and Lehigh is an engineering heavy school they try to combat a male-heavy gender ratio by being more generous to female applicants.</p>

<p>AND MY BIGGEST PIECE OF ADVICE FOR APPLYING TO ANY SCHOOL:
If the school requires supplemental essays try to make them specific to the school that it is for. For example, my essay for Lehigh talked specifically about the IBE program and other aspects specific to Lehigh only and I was admitted to a program with an avg SAT of 1460. There were schools I thought I was going to get into that I didn’t and I believe it was because I didn’t do this. Another school (Bentley) I wrote specifically about how my interests and experiences reflected Bentley’s unique curriculum and I received and presidential scholarship (half-tuition) . And another school (W&M) was a big reach for me from out-of-state and I was admitted and I wrote about a specific experience I had while touring the school and how it connected to my life. </p>

3

<p>I don’t think anyone other than the admissions office can truly know what your chances are. When you are applying to a smaller school the admissions office has to be more aware of filling critical slots. I would guess 150 athletes fill up the freshman class. Then they need to reasonably fill up the various areas of study. And of course they have their goals of a balanced class regarding gender, socioeconomic status and geography, etc. If you go to the thread of admitted students you will read about many very talented students who did not get into Lehigh - and the above criteria might have played a role in that. </p>

<p>That said, I think you have excellent stats! I would certainly apply! Make sure you visit the school and let them know you have visited. We had our son apply to a range of schools - safeties, sure bets and reaches. Try to visit the schools while the students are there. We did a bunch of summer visits and we returned with the students the schools seemed completely different.</p>

<p>My son was not involved in any high school activities. He worked at a large business for a year and volunteered at a non-profit. He had stats similar but was very good in math and science. (Take both the SAT and ACT to see which you do better on) He was given a Dean’s Scholarship. He is in a less popular field of engineering. </p>

<p>Because Lehigh is so small I think the admission officers spend more time on the applications. I think they took the time to see our son’s ability and his potential. </p>

4

<p>Excellent stats, probably slightly higher than average for Lehigh. If you truly are interested in Lehigh, you must continue to SHOW INTEREST! Go for an on-campus interview, attend functions for prospective students (they DO keep track!), email your admissions counselor with questions and UPDATES on your achievements even AFTER you apply there. Lehigh is very cognizant that they are considered a safety school for Ivies… if they suspect this is why you applied, you may be denied or wait-listed. Many applicants with stellar stats who have never even visited campus have been rejected outright. One of the reasons Lehigh is such a great experience with such school spirit and incredible alumni loyalty is that the students who go there really want to go there! Lehigh wants applicants who truly want to attend Lehigh as their first choice, and admissions does a pretty good job of weeding out the ones who don’t. Good luck!</p>

5

<p>One thing that worries me is my lack of leadership positions and my small number of extracurriculars. The only leadership position I have is being a manager at my job–no school club officer positions. However, while I wasn’t involved in a ton of ECs, the ones that I was involved in (ie work, babysitting, mission trips) have the potential to show leadership qualities and were very important to me. Will this hurt my chances, with Lehigh being a smaller, more holistic school?</p>