<p>nah lehigh screwed me on this one. Rutgers '13…</p>
<p>Just a bit of supplemental information for those who were waitlisted/rejected (and for future applicants): Lehigh is not a big school the way UMich and others are. If the entering freshman class is about 1200 students, you will find that the available spots are about 300 or so for the business school, about 400 for the engineering school, and the rest for the college of arts and science. I’m pretty sure that Lehigh has a greater than 50 percent admittance rate (probably closer to 70%), so the actual acceptance numbers are not high. In the case of the business and engineering schools, these are nationally ranked undergraduate programs. (Business Week has named Lehigh as one of the top 30 undergraduate business programs in the US in consecutive years.)</p>
<p>Applicants will always be compared to those applying to the same school, and, possibly, to those declaring the same intended major. If, say, the business school sends out 400 acceptance letters, then you just know that it is also rejecting/waitlisting some highly qualified candidates, just the way the Ivies reject students who would excel.</p>
<p>If you go to an admissions session, you’ll see that Lehigh prides itself on admitting a class of leaders and well-rounded students. That means that extracurriculars and essays must be heavily weighed as well. On-campus interviews, especially if you are articulate and somewhat outgoing, can move your application to the top of the pile if your other credentials are strong.</p>
<p>Students often make the mistake of assuming that Lehigh is an easy school to get into. It’s not. It’s small and selective, and it often scoops up Ivy-caliber students.</p>
<p>It’s true that Lehigh’s very selective, so don’t feel bad if you’ve been waitlisted. Here’s a bit of advice that I’ve picked up from these boards…if you’ve been waitlisted and Lehigh is your first choice, then tell them that and send in supporting materials. And have your guidance counselor tell Lehigh that you’ll go there if admitted from the waitlist (if that’s a true statement of course). Colleges, and all organizations, work best if they’re filled with people who really want to be there.</p>
<p><a href=“%5Burl=http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1062153292-post22.html]#22[/url]”>quote</a> …Students often make the mistake of assuming that Lehigh is an easy school to get into. It’s not. It’s small and selective, and it often scoops up Ivy-caliber students.
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<p>To echo and reinforce Momwaitingfornew’s observations, consider Lehigh’s philosophy noted below. This pedagogy more than likely informs the university’s review of what is already an academically accomplished cohort of applicants.</p>
<p>From the [Middle</a> States Commission Periodic Review Report - June 2003](<a href=“http://www.lehigh.edu/~oir/reports/MSCPRR/LUMSCPRR2003.pdf]Middle”>http://www.lehigh.edu/~oir/reports/MSCPRR/LUMSCPRR2003.pdf):</p>
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<p>Note how the Colleges of [Arts</a> & Sciences](<a href=“http://cas.lehigh.edu/casweb/]Arts”>http://cas.lehigh.edu/casweb/) and [Engineering[/url</a>] highlight ‘Cross-Disciplinary’ programs in their ‘Academics/Programs by Topic’ link which include:</p>
<p>[ul][li][url=<a href=“http://cas.lehigh.edu/casweb/content/default.aspx?pageid=98]Applied”>http://cas.lehigh.edu/casweb/content/default.aspx?pageid=98]Applied</a> Life Science](<a href=“http://www3.lehigh.edu/engineering/default.asp]Engineering[/url”>http://www3.lehigh.edu/engineering/default.asp)[/li][li][Arts</a> & Engineering](<a href=“http://www3.lehigh.edu/engineering/academics/artseng2.asp]Arts”>http://www3.lehigh.edu/engineering/academics/artseng2.asp)[/li][li][IDEAS:</a> Interdisciplinary Degree Engineering Arts and Sciences](<a href=“http://cas.lehigh.edu/casweb/content/default.aspx?pageid=627]IDEAS:”>http://cas.lehigh.edu/casweb/content/default.aspx?pageid=627)[/li][li][Integrated</a> Business & Engineering](<a href=“http://www.lehigh.edu/~inibep/]Integrated”>http://www.lehigh.edu/~inibep/)[/li][li][The</a> Science, Technology and Society Program](<a href=“http://www.lehigh.edu/~insts/insts.html]The”>http://www.lehigh.edu/~insts/insts.html)[/li][li][South</a> Mountain College](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/lehigh-university/464094-south-mountain-college.html]South”>South Mountain College - Lehigh University - College Confidential Forums)[/li][/ul]
Applicants that offer a ‘whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts’ candidacy benefit from these programs.</p>
<p>yea, i’m a little interested as to how the waitlist thing happened for me and a good friend of mine. we were both top 5% and had test scores above lehigh’s 75th percentile. class president, sports, nice ec’s, etc., etc. i got into haverford. she got into amherst.</p>
<p>personally, i think the over qualification hypothesis sounds reasonable. lehigh was definitely our safety, so maybe they knew we would never go there since they expected us to go to a higher ranked school? idk, lol, it was still sort of sad when i got the letter. i was offended, haha. jk. congrats.</p>
<p>you’d think Lehigh would want well qualified students…I may be one of those overqualified waitlisters but Lehigh was a target school for me…definitely not a safety…I don’t understand why they would just assume something like that</p>
<p>It all depends on how much interest you showed. Visits, interviews, correspondence with you admissions person. Lehigh is huge on how much interest you show. They have said that at every info session and every student there will tell you the same thing.</p>
<p>If you don’t show adequate amount of interest when your at the top of the applicant pool or really anywhere in the applicant pool, I’m guessing there assuming that you are considering them a safety or you don’t really care… whether that is the truth or not.</p>
<p>Waitlisted as well.</p>
<p>Visited campus, called for an interview but I couldn’t get one (I live too close)</p>
<p>2230 SATs, 3.6 GPA (top 20%), lots of EC’s & community service, pretty good essays I thought, good recs. Even though Lehigh is need blind, I did not apply for financial aid, in case anyone was wondering. </p>
<p>I thought Lehigh would be a match, too. :(</p>
<p>Waitlisted! Wow.</p>
<p>“called for an interview but I couldn’t get one (I live too close)”</p>
<p>That can’t be. My daughter got an interview when she applied, and we live fifteen minutes from the campus. </p>
<p>“I thought Lehigh would be a match, too.”</p>
<p>A match is not the same thing as a safety. With today’s competition, a “match” means that you have roughly a 50/50 chance of being accepted, simply because colleges receive far more qualified students than they have available spots. A safety is a sure thing. A school like Lehigh should NEVER be thought of as a safety.</p>
<p>"That can’t be. My daughter got an interview when she applied, and we live fifteen minutes from the campus. "</p>
<p>When I decided that Lehigh was one of my top choices, my mom called to see if I would be able to interview. Whoever picked up the phone told her that since I had visited the school, I would not be given an interview, and that many people in New Jersey do not receive interviews since it is much easier to just visit the school, or something along those lines. We offered to drive over (it’s roughly an hour and fifteen minute drive from where I live), but they said not to. I mean, I’m not lying about this – I tried to get interviews for all of my schools since I can learn from the interview as well as tell a bit about myself. </p>
<p>“A match is not the same thing as a safety”</p>
<p>I never considered Lehigh a safety, especially considering how small it is. I suppose I’m just disappointed because I feel as if I would do well at Lehigh. I understand the competition. I’m just going to put myself on the waiting list and hope to be plucked off of it.</p>
<p>Schools that admit less than 40% of the applicants depend on yield to stay competitive. They reasonably expect about 1/3 of admittd students to enroll. If it’s less than that it affects how people view the school. One way to be sure the admissions committee knew Lehigh was your first choice? Early Decision. </p>
<p>Many people worry about the financial picture with ED. We did too. Our worry was that ED candidates would not get as much financial aid. We talked to numerous people in fin aid who were very helpful. In short, your ED agreement takes the financial piece into account and you can back out if they don’t reasonably meet your demonstrated need. It was a moot point as they met my D’s need without a problem.</p>
<p>I’m shocked that they changed their policy about interviews; I just hope that you didn’t get a student who didn’t know better. </p>
<p>My fingers are crossed for you, Pinkcupcake. Do you have other choices that you are excited about?</p>
<p>hey all who got waitlisted and actually wanted to go to lehigh,</p>
<p>i think you all should just give a ring to the adcom and be flat-out honest and be like “yo, i really do want to go here, and i don’t see what it was the made me get waitlisted, but i just wanted to let you know that you are still my number one choice.”</p>
<p>i think they should feel cool about it and let you in. hopefully. good luck!</p>
<p>Lehigh is a very realistic school, only about 1200 spot every year. They don’t want people consider them as a safety. I mean if you really did some research on them you will find out they have some incredible relationships with big fours, Merrill lynch, JP, Citi etc. the reason they ranked fairly low in US news is due to the facts they don’t have any type of med school or research programs (guess not much from national funding), but in business week Lehigh ranked 1st in accounting. It has a job landing rate at 98% upon graduation, 50% in accounting and marketing, and 10% counseling and such. They also ranked 16th on starting salary for undergrad.
They are NOT need-blind!!! The tuition cost is about 50 grand, yet only 58% undergrads need aid??? And If you grade slide second year, they will basically take away all your grant lol Admissions depend on your essay and your ECs, if your dream is to stop world hunger and want world peace you might have some trouble getting in. but if you write on your essay you want to earn big bucks and be rich they might like it. Go to student review about Lehigh you’ll find they been considered as boys club (59%male), overly white, kids are ****s, almost everyone at Lehigh majored either in Business or engineering.
If you are an HYP type, they can see it from the SATs and GPAs. Lehigh won’t waste time on overly qualified kids, cuz if they admitted in ivys they won’t waste time on Lehigh as well. They need to keep their admission rate low (35%) to be considering as competitive and to keep the size small (about 4,500 undergrad and 2,000 grad its its like a huge high school but take a look at the endos… over 1.5 b) most student would receive an offer to fly to lehigh to enter some deversity weekend and the plane ticket will be refunded… clearly they try to get everyone who admitted to go there… but refund for plane ticket for a weekend???</p>
<p>“t if you write on your essay you want to earn big bucks and be rich they might like it.”</p>
<p>I doubt it.</p>
<p>“almost everyone at Lehigh majored either in Business or engineering.”</p>
<p>This is wrong despite Lehigh’s reputation for those two schools. The College of Arts and Sciences is bigger than either of the other two, and its profile is expanding. For example, English, biology, and journalism are big draws, although I’m sure other departments are also respected.</p>
<p>"And If you grade slide second year, they will basically take away all your grant "</p>
<p>That’s true at any school.</p>
<p>Another school who I am sure does this is GW. Another potential school I know of that may do this is Hopkins. A friend of mine got into UVA OOS, Northwestern and Duke but was waitlisted at Hopkins.</p>
<p>which* 10char</p>
<p>srry i should clearify I mean Business school…</p>
<p>Momwaitingfornew - I hope so, too! It would be really disappointing to me if we had just been in touch with the wrong person. </p>
<p>Thanks 
I’m home (pretty sick) from school today, and my decision from Wake Forest should probably be coming today. Wake and Lehigh reminded me of each other but I don’t really know what my chances are at Wake. I am also hearing from Vandy & Georgetown & Tufts (today & tomorrow) but they’re all reaches. </p>
<p>I’m probably most excited about Wake – so nervous! I already got into NYU, though, so if I don’t get off the waiting list at Lehigh, I’m almost definitely going there. Or GWU / UMiami (UMiami gave me $). </p>
<p>Have you seen Wake Forest? Do you think it compares to Lehigh? I saw Wake over the summer, but I saw Lehigh ~1.5 / 2 years ago (it was the first school I visited!) </p>
<p>One last question, I swear. I read through some of your posts and I saw that your D goes to Smith. Awesome! … I was just wondering, why did she choose Smith over Lehigh?</p>