Lehigh Early Acceptances Rate

What is the early decision acceptance rate for lehigh ed1/2?

Check the Common Data Set. It is likely above 50%

http://www.tier1athletics.org/2012/10/28/early-decision-for-athletes/

You might want to read this article. I am not positive but I am guessing some of Lehigh’s recruited athletes apply early decision. So the likelihood of getting accepted early decision is more complicated that just looking at the common data set.

The most recent Common Data Set posted by Lehigh is for Fall 2015. It shows 999 ED applicants, with 582 accepted, so the ED acceptance rate was 58.3%. These numbers are apparently the total for both ED1 and ED2, there is no separate breakdown. Lehigh ended up enrolling 1,261 new freshmen in Fall 2015, so about 46% of the class was admitted through ED.

http://www.lehigh.edu/~oir/cds/lucds2015.htm

Lehigh apparently relied even more heavily on ED for Fall 2016. The CDS is not available yet, but they admitted 625 students by ED, which was 50% of the class. No ED acceptance rate for Fall 2016 available yet.

http://www1.lehigh.edu/admissions/undergrad/profile

It is possible that the ED acceptance rate is inflated by recruited athletes, but I doubt that Lehigh – or any other school, for that matter – is going to provide data on that.

Also, the recruited athletes may have lower GPA averages than regular Lehigh applicants. . So looking at the Common Data set (which included the recruited athletes and the regular students) may give applicants with lower GPAs and test scores a misleading impression that they stand a stronger chance of acceptance by applying early than they actually do.

So based on this all how many athletes are in the class and what do you think the ‘actual’ ED rate is for ed1 or ed2. We are also ignoring legacies. Also would a URM from NJ have a better chance getting in ED?
@kikkydee @Corbett @wisteria100

My impression is legacies are expected to have the GPAs and test scores needed - I think they just get a bump in demonstrated interest. (We are not legacy, by the way) That is just MY GUESS. I think the only people who could answer these questions are the admission officers - and I bet they don’t even bother to gather these kind of numbers! Haha!

I have read articles about Lehigh’s admissions process over the years. From those articles and our own experience I believe Lehigh’s admissions office has the time and takes the time to consider each application holistically. That is the first benefit of going to a smaller school where you are treated as an individual and member of the Lehigh family.

Every year when the decisions come out there and highly qualified applicants that do not get accepted. I think Lehigh could fill their freshman class several times with very qualified students. No matter how good your GPA and Text scores are no one can know your chances. For example, there are only so many slots available in different areas of study so some super qualified students are just not going to be accepted when those areas are filled. A smaller school has to balance their class with other factors too - of course the obvious stuff - gender, geography etc. THEN, they need the athletes, the marching band, the year book staff, the newspaper staff, etc. etc.

I am sorry, the reality is the decision making process is so much more complicated than looking at a collection of numbers.

I wish you the best of luck! The decision are almost out!!! Hang in there! Please keep us posted!

No one knows the “actual” ED admissions rate, except (maybe) the Admissions Office.

My guess is that applying ED does boost the chances of admission to some extent. For one thing, my impression is that Lehigh values demonstrated interest, and nothing says “demonstrated interest” like applying ED. Of course, you shouldn’t do this unless you are absolutely committed to Lehigh and are do not need to shop around for financial aid. Furthermore, I wouldn’t count on ED making up the difference if your grades or test scores are below Lehigh’s normal range.

If you are URM, that may help. On the other hand, if you are from NJ, that may not help. Lehigh is in PA, but they actually enroll more undergraduates from NJ than from PA (or any other state). So they probably get more applications from NJ than from anywhere else.

Lehigh has a new CDS out For fall of 2016 they had 1088 ED applicant and accepted 652 for a 60% admit rate. That means over half the class was admitted early. But there is no way that they had 652 recruited athletes.
Overall acceptance rate is abut 27%, ED is 60%, the ED admit rate for non-athletes will fall somewhere in between. I’m taking a guess and say they have 300 recruits. Subtract that from the 1088 and and the new ED rate is 45%