Penn State or Lehigh?

College Search & Selection
1

Now before we start, I know that this question has been asked before. However, I seem to have a different scenario, and well, the original discussion is 4 years old and most importantly, closed.

Originally, I intended to attend Penn State. I’ve visited the campus before and it’s amazing, always bustling and has amazing things to do. So I applied to the school and to the Schreyers Honor College. I was accepted into both. From what I understand, Penn State doesn’t offer much student aid due to the sheer amount of students that it has. That gives me roughly $4.5k renewable every year for the $35k per year for tuition/fees/dorm. If I’m wrong please correct me.

As for Lehigh, I’ve heard good things about it, but I’ve never visited it. It was never in the top three of my list and I’m not sure if I’m compatible with their crowd or if I’ll really like the campus. It has a very nice graceful and antique look to it with all the stone on campus. But again, I’ve never visited it. On the bright side however, I was surprised by the financial aid that they awarded me, which was $52.1k for the first year, out of the $60.6k that it costs to attend Lehigh.

That brings me to a few questions, does the grant that Lehigh give remain roughly the same over the next 4 years, or does it taper off, and the brunt of the financial aid comes freshman year as an incentive to select Lehigh? (Not trying to insinuate anything, I’m just curious if it does the same as other colleges do). Second, is there any other form of financial aid (other than private scholarships that I won’t know the result of until May) that can help pay for Penn State? Lastly, is there any reason that Penn State’s benefits outweigh the difference in cost?

If it helps, random information about me includes:
I plan to major in Electrical Engineering, I’m a minority, I live in PA, I’m somewhat socially awkward, a moderate (for political purposes), and I have no idea what I’m doing. Thank you in advance!

2

Lehigh is generally regarded as strong for undergraduate engineering. Their financial aid practices are not notably different from those at other elite private colleges; the freshman financial aid package should “stick”, unless your family’s financial situation significantly changes.

Lehigh is a smaller, wealthier school that attracts wealthier students than Penn State. In terms of percent minority enrollment, the two schools are similar; however, the minority communities will be much larger at Penn State, simply because Penn State is nearly ten times larger in terms of total enrollment.

You would get smaller classes and more personal attention from profs at Lehigh. Lehigh is also good at mixing business and engineering, if that interests you. Penn State would probably have a greater variety of specialized engineering courses.

Lehigh is more selective and more highly ranked as an institution, but for engineering specifically Penn State has a great reputation. According to the records at parchment.com, most people in this situation choose Lehigh, but the numbers are probably closer for engineering students specifically.
http://www.parchment.com/c/college/tools/college-cross-admit-comparison.php?compare=Penn+State+University&with=Lehigh+University

The campus atmospheres are very different, given the massive enrollment difference. Some people would prefer the larger, more bustling scene at Penn State; others would prefer the smaller, more intimate environment at Lehigh.

3

That’s good to hear (about the financial aid package sticking). And yes, as far as stats go, I did notice that the ratios were roughly the same, but again, Penn State is much larger, so I would be seeing more minority groups. Also, I did try for the Integrated Business & Engineering Program at Lehigh, but I was politely rejected from it due to the size limitations of that group. Fortunately, I was more interested in Engineering and technology anyways so that doesn’t seem to be a problem for me.

As for the smaller more intimate classes and environment, being a Schreyer’s honors student at PSU means I get pretty much the same benefits as I would at Lehigh.

In that case, it comes down to alumni networking, job opportunities, how much I would enjoy my next 4 years, etc. Can anyone add to that?

4

You should visit Lehigh before making your decision. There are still Admitted Students Days open for April. You should also talk to your parents about what they can afford. Compare what it will cost you to attend each school. If you can afford to pay for either one, then it comes down to which school is a better fit for you.

$52,000 is very generous. Did Penn State give you any need based aid? The $4500/year is merit (Schreyers ) and not based on financial need.

Is the $52,000 that Lehigh gave you based on need or merit or a combination of both? If it’s merit then it will stay the same for the 4 years you are there. If it’s need based aid then it could change based on your parents income changing.

As far as networking and job opportunities, both colleges have strong alumni networks. Obviously, Penn State’s alumni network is much bigger but both schools are known for having great alumni who hire their school’s grads. Same for job opportunities. Both schools have job fairs, help with internships and co-ops, and have good career services centers.

Both are great schools. It comes down to which one you can afford and which one is the best fit for you.

5

The Schreyer honors classes are supposed to be good, but keep in mind that (1) many of your classes will not be honors classes, and (2) even though you’ve been admitted to Schreyer, your continuing status as an honors student is not guaranteed; it is contingent on maintaining a certain GPA.

https://www.shc.psu.edu/academic/courses/
https://www.shc.psu.edu/admissions/faq/

6

I don’t think a whole lot of people drop out for GPA reasons. They lose a bunch of graduating seniors who don’t want to bother doing the thesis, but normally the 3.4 isn’t much of a problem. I’m in engineering and have only been scared of dipping below it once.

7

@LostInTheSauce

Lehigh Lehigh Lehigh!!!

Penn state is way to large for a college in my opinion and you won’t be able to do “real engineering” until year 2-3. Plus the classes are too large at Penn State and you woukdnt be able to have connections with professors.

Lehigh is known for their engineering. I have visited the campus many times at Lehigh. It’s hilly, covered in a lot of trees.

8

^ Everyone’s definition of “too large” differs. OP should evaluate both and make that choice on their own.

9

There’s no wrong choice here. It really depends on your preferences.

Also, during your first year, you can easily take more than two honors classes per semester. For example, your first semester, depending on your major, you can take economics honors, foreign language honors, leadership jump-start, plus the special year long schreyer seminar. Four of your five classes would be honors… For an engineer, you’d probably take regular calculus for engineers as its really hard already, unless you’re into proof based math and already took calculus BC and want a challenge in your 140 class, in which case you’d only take one more honors class beside proof based calculus and the freshman seminar. Schreyer is considered one of the top honors colleges in the nation

Nevertheless, I’d pick Lehigh as the academic experience will be more personalized overall and because it sounds way more affordable than Penn State. *
One downside to lehigh is social life: there’ll be fewer minorities and most importantly Greek life is very big, with problematic drinking**. If you’re not into excessive drinking and partying, you need to request a substance-free floor.
You really ought to visit Lehigh, do an overnight. Email admissions, say you’d like to visit, do they have a way to reimburse some of your expenses, and do they have a diversity weekend planned?

  • check your financial aid tab : sounds like you only saw your merit aid from schreyer, and you should qualify for state grants as well as some federal financial aid. ** note that there'll be such a problem at Penn State too, but since the campus is bigger you won't necessarily encounter it, not in the honors dorms and with fewer of the honors students enrolled in fraternities/sororities.
10

As far as I know, PSU isn’t giving me any more financial aid for the first year. The merit aid is the only aid that is showing up in my Financial Aid Summary on Lionpath.

I asked one of my friend’s sisters who recently graduated from PSU, and she explained that federal grants, scholarships, etc are more likely to be given sophomore years and onwards. I was also directed to look at Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) which would help pay for tuition. There was a slew of other ways to finance the costs other than loans, but it’s mix of different things. Their parents paid out of pocket roughly $12k for the first year, and graduated with $28k of debt, $20k of which is getting paid for by her current federal job. She also suggested the apartment she used to live in off campus, which pretty much wiped out $10k for the next 3 years. Based on this information it seems to back up the notion that I could afford it if I’m willing to work for it.

As for keeping my GPA at 3.4 or higher, I don’t think I should have problems with it (forgive my arrogance). And I think one of the reasons I liked Penn State was due to its size. The campus is the city and vice versa. Always going to be something to do. As for Lehigh, I regret not visiting it as I never expected them to give me that much financial aid to be considered as a school I’d go to. I’ll have to see if I can spend a day there, but it’ll be cutting it close. And I’ll most likely have to take a day of from school to do so. They’re done with Diversity Weekends for now, but Admitted Student Days are still going on.

Thank you all for all the input so far! I really appreciate it.

11

Many schools will give you a day off to visit colleges. .

12

You need to go visit Lehigh and find out what it’s all about. Lehigh is very good for your major. You should confirm with Lehigh that it’s financial aid will remain roughly constant over the course of your attendance.

Schreyers is great too but if I’m understanding you correctly it sounds much more expensive (30K vs 8k).

My gut tells me that the Lehigh deal is really your better option. It’s a terrific school, and there aren’t many public college situations I would recommend over it. Schreyers might be an exception, but I think the cost difference carries the day.

13

Yeah, it’d be really hard to justify 22k/ year for Penn State over Lehigh. That’s nearly ninety thousand dollars over 4 years. That’s like driving 2 new Mercedes into a lake.

If you can afford the difference and really want to go to PSU, go for it. If your means are more modest, Lehigh seems the obvious choice.

14

I’ll be looking into Lehigh more. Does anyone have some information about the social life at Lehigh and things to do there or around Bethlehem in general? I tried to research into it but I’ve only found vague or normal things such as “being able to drive to Philly or NYC.” Ironically, some people from Lehigh drive to PSU to have fun as well.

15

Lehigh is a residential College, which means it’s a community onto itself and the fun is offered on campus. To get a good idea, ask for ALL things happening on campus (film, concert, lecture, conference, game, professional workshop, club meetings, special festivals and activities, trips, outdoors outings…) for this week. It’s a random week , you could ask about last week.
A lot of the ‘fun’ is ‘Greek life’ and ‘getting drunk’ but the administration tries hard to offer alternatives.

First thing next week, go ask for two days to visit a college, something almost all high schools offer seniors; then contact Lehigh to see if they can help with costs.
Also, contact Schreyer and say you need tonsee what they have to offer, and plan a Schreyer -themed visit.
In both cases, include visiting the library, a freshman English class, a freshman class in your future major, a research lab, a lab in general, a dorm (substance free if need be, at Lehigh; honors housing at psu), talk with professors about research opportunities for freshmen, ask about on campus activities planned in the past week (see above :slight_smile: ), ask students if they could choose again woukd they still come to that college and why + what in their opinion is the biggest downside to the college (see if you can live with it…)

16

Thank you all for the answers, I’ve emailed Lehigh to ask when I could visit on my own terms (I can’t take a full day off due to a bunch of AP classes that are currently reviewing). I’ll let you know how it goes, thanks again :slight_smile:

17

Good luck!
Let us know. And fingers crossed for the AP review!

18

After a lot of deliberation, spending a lot of time emailing faculty, staff and alumni, and some sightseeing of Lehigh, I decided to attend Penn State. As beautiful Lehigh and Bethlehem is, I didn’t get the same worldly, upbeat vibe from there as Penn State. Although there are definitely activities for people to do that don’t revolve around Frats/partying/drinking etc, I didn’t feel that interested towards them. Penn State offered a larger variety of things to do, and of course, more people with different interests and so on due to its size. I’ll actually be visiting PSU Main this June for the ARML competition.

However, after doing some more calculations and receiving more grants, I realized I could graduate from Lehigh almost debt free. And Lehigh doesn’t seem that bad at all, and I am hoping that the diversity of the school has increased significantly in the recent years. I’ll most likely end up choosing CHOICE or First Generation housing (new for fall 2017). As a result, my final decision is that I chose to attend Lehigh University.

On May 1st I chose PSU, but as of today, I am now enrolled into Lehigh. All I had to do was talk to my guidance counselor, call admissions, and they extended my undergraduate enrollment deposit to 5/5/2017. I’m very fortunate to have been able to receive such generosity from Lehigh.

Thank you all very much for your help!

P.S. If there’s any words of advice at Lehigh or questions about my process/decision please feel free.

19

Good luck! I’m sure you’ll love it at Lehigh.