financial aid affecting early admission decision? help? :D

oreopie14 · 10-12-2009, 06:40 PM

Hi! I am applying early to Lehigh for the college of engineering and i was just wondering what my chances are and if they would be significantly lowered because I applied for aid (and would probably qualify for A LOT...efc will surely be close to nothing)

GPA: 3.89UW 4.94W
ACT: 32
SAT: 690 math, 690 verbal, 690 writing ( i just took subject tests in october in math and physics)
AP's: I have taken a total of 13 AP classes (National AP scholar with distinction)- physics B, physics C, statistics, calc AB, calc BC, eng lit, eng lang, US gov, bio, macro economics, (chemistry, and micro economics senior year) I have passed all of the exams, many with 5's.
Dual enrollment: I have also taken loads of dual enrollment courses in physics and math (total of 30 or so college credit hours)
EC's: president of leukemia club, founded recycling program at HS, volunteer at hospital, support the troops, beach clean ups, church youth group, Mu alpha theta, NHS, and some other school clubs.
SPORTS: cross country, varsity lacrosse recreational soccer
I live in FL

Thanks for the advice!!!!

StitchInTime · 10-12-2009, 07:41 PM

From The shift away from need-blind: colleges have started their version of "wallet biopsies." - higher education institutions admit students on economic status criteria:

Quote:

...Thiboutot said the college does not inform students that their rejection is based on financial need and does not want to anticipate whether need students may have a well-off uncle somewhere willing to foot the tuition bill if they could just get accepted. "We want to deal with people responsibly. The fact is, if they have those resources, they should let us know," he said.

Lehigh University in Bethlehem PA uses the policy in considering five percent of its incoming class.

"When we look at student applications, the readers [of the applications] are not aware of [financial need]," said Lorna Hunter, Lehigh's Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid. "About 95 percent of those accepted get the aid they need."

The need-aware policy kicks in at the end of the application review process. The unfortunate five percent are placed on a financial aid waiting list in the event that more money becomes available...

oreopie14 · 10-12-2009, 09:20 PM

is that only for the borderline applicants though? it seems like it is..?

Momwaitingfornew · 10-16-2009, 08:04 AM

That's the way it sounds, Oreopie, but the reality is that Lehigh rejects, by necessity, a large number of students who are perfectly qualified to attend. That five percent may not be their favorite 95%, but you can be sure that they are not borderline candidates.

If you dig up the waitlist/acceptance/denials threads from last year, you'll see that a number of highly qualified individuals did not get in.

In terms of early decision, students are advised NOT to apply ED to any schools if their attendance depends on FA. However, the only valid reason for getting out of an ED acceptance is a university not meeting your financial need. Let's say that your EFC is 25,000 and Lehigh offers nothing. You'd have a good reason to get out of it -- immediately. But if your EFC is $40,000, you'd have a much tougher time since the gap between EFC and cost of attendance can be easily bridged with loans. Most students who need FA decide to wait for RD so they can compare packages, since meeting need can differ from institution to institution. One might offer mostly loans and another might offer mostly grants to bridge the same EFC gap. Your level of debt will be significantly different upon graduation.

The 5% pool above refers to RD, of course. It will possibly affect you only if you apply ED and then are deferred.

oreopie14 · 10-16-2009, 06:15 PM

Thank you so much for the information! I am sure that my extended family will help pay for lehigh if I get in...its just my mom is a single mom, so I didn't know if that would lower my chance of acceptance by a significant margin. So because I applied early, you don't think it will be a huge issue in whether I get accepted or not?

Momwaitingfornew · 10-16-2009, 06:21 PM

I don't think so, but obviously I don't know that for sure.

bonmar · 10-17-2009, 07:38 AM

FYI, Lehigh has met our EFC just about exactly.

oreopie14 · 11-08-2009, 07:37 PM

ahh that is reassuring!

thanks!