<p>“More and more middle class families are being squeezed out of the private college arena and into their state schools. A real shame!”</p>
<p>Most definitely. Really, if you are upper middle class and your kid doesn’t get merit aid (true merit only aid at a top school is pretty hard to get), you are paying full tuition. I am trying to get a handle on paying full freight for two kids at the same time next year, but I guess what I get to do when we are empty nesters is to work more!</p>
<p>First, let me clarify, financial aid has to do with your EFC, not your stats. Merit has to do with your stats, but you have a better chance of getting merit if you are not getting financial aid as well.</p>
<p>Typically, at Lehigh, if you are getting a merit scholarship, you would be contacted by several Deans prior to your acceptance being announced. Not sure if that always happens. My son was contacted by two Dean’s via email a week or so before the decisions came down. That year, all of the students who received that contact who posted on CC received the Dean’s scholarship. Kind of likely emails asking if you have any questions, telling you how impressed they were, etc… </p>
<p>As far as the Academic Merit Award listed on the website, I honestly have never heard of anyone winning that, nor has my son and he is pretty well versed with the top students at Lehigh. Maybe Mike has more info on anyone winning a purely merit award larger than the Dean’s Scholarship.</p>
<p>If your child is the top of his major, there are additional merit awards given each year, for top GPA etc…They increase in value as your student progresses along the path to graduation. Lehigh also has a very strong record of getting Goldwaters, Fulbrights etc for their top students, so there are opportunities to earn additional merit if your child can remain at the top of his class.</p>
<p>@Jenn</p>
<p>I think mumof2boyz is right, financial aid really depends on family income and stuff. </p>
<p>Regardless, I am not one to consider my grades and stuff personal, I know that I’m a slacker haha better fix that soon. I was always gifted but never put in the hard work so my GPA is relatively low. </p>
<p>I had a 3.35 uw but a 34 ACT. I also had decent ECs with leadership positions, 500+ community service hours, 10 APs, and attended a nationally ranked high school.</p>
<p>Here are my [url=<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/14087216-post402.html]stats[/url”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/14087216-post402.html]stats[/url</a>], and if you’d like, I can also copy and paste the email I received from my regional counselor (I emailed her to thank her for considering me despite my horrid senior year).</p>
<p>My apologies in advance if this is a rude question and if I sound arrogant, and I’m not sure if this is the correct place way or place to ask anyway, but:</p>
<p>Would it be possible if I bargained with the financial aid somehow? Is Lehigh’s financial aid office flexible?</p>
<p>I was accepted as a Dean’s Scholar and into the Eckardt Scholars Program, which only 20-30 people get into each year, but Lehigh pretty much gave me no financial aid whatsoever, which confuses me because they obviously want me, given the honors they’ve given me. My expected family contribution is over $40,000, and my family cannot pay that without a decent amount of financial strain and depletion in our savings.</p>
<p>Although my household income is over $100,000, that’s without taxes, and it’s only from one income in the house, and that one income can disappear in the near future because Johnson and Johnson is laying off employees. Also, my mom sometimes financially helps out our relatives overseas in China, and I also have an 8 year old brother to think about as well.</p>
<p>Since they want me, how would I be able to compromise with them? I doubt a work-study program can give me that much aid, nor a part-time job over the summer.</p>
<p>*Also, Lehigh is my top choice right now. It’s either that or Penn State, and if I still commit to Lehigh, I might attempt to transfer after freshman year if the financial aid doesn’t get better.</p>
<p>In my opinion, if your EFC is 40,000 then you are unlikely to receive financial aid from any private university. It’s unfortunate I know, you will have to balance the benefit of a Lehigh education and possible payoff down the road. Of course, it is always worth a try! Good luck with your decision!</p>
<p>Have you all received your financial aid package? Was it with your acceptance? I have not received my financial award or merit scholarships (if any) yet. When should I receive it?</p>
<p>@oadam11</p>
<p>I haven’t received mine either. I’m pretty sure mine is delayed because I was missing two documents. They scanned them in on the 22nd so I think mine is on the way. You can log in to your Lehigh Student Portal account and check if you’re missing anything. Maybe that’s why your aid has been delayed or the mail is just slow.</p>
<p>It appears that many are looking to OS state universities for better packages than at home state.</p>
<p>congrats to all accepted!</p>
<p>@fastneutrino and others:
i received the academic merit award when i applied last year…i replied to a question asked earlier with some info:[url=<a href=“Lehigh Merit Scholarships - Lehigh University - College Confidential Forums”>Lehigh Merit Scholarships - Lehigh University - College Confidential Forums]Stats[/url</a>]</p>
<p>there was a banquet for the scholarship recipients and the beginning of the fall semester…there were around 20 students but I think some of them received other scholarships so I don’t know what the numbers are exactly</p>
<p>if you have any questions i can try to answer them!</p>