Paging @eholl - if out there, may have some words of wisdom.
This is the parent whose son chose Lehigh over Chicago.
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Yeah - no 401k Loans - really taking on such debt with no assurance of payback - itâs not gambling per se - but itâs gambling.
Obviously, Lehigh is less expensive but a flight away. Any home sickness / first semester breakdown concerns?
The school sizes are vastly differnt.
If you google common data set + school name and go to section I3, you can see class size differences.
I donât know but would imagine the student body at Lehigh will be wealthier.
690 of 1501 got need based aid so over half full payâŠyes, some get meritâŠ106 that didnât have need - $22K on average.
So overall, you have a wealthy student body.
Here is the Lehigh class size distribution - obviously you canât see your major. I put UCLA under that so you can compare.
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I had asked about the external scholarships, and this was OPâs reply:
So I believe OP is referring to the $20k/year in scholarships that the student has already earned.
And OP has indicated that the student is eligible for in-state pricing at the UCs:
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Thanks @AustenNut
I had missed that!
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I agree that you should call MIT financial aid and ask for a special circumstances financial aid pre-read if possible due to Nov 1 deadlines. Make sure you speak with an actual financial aid officer, not the person who answers the phone and who is often a student.
also, will there be any siblings in college while this student is in college? Some private colleges â including MIT I think â will give additional grants for the years that multiple kids are students.
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Is this student anticipating receiving need based aid from places like MIT? If so, check their policy on outside scholarships. At many places, outside scholarships reduce your financial needâŠand thus reduce your need based aid.
If this isnât an issue, I apologize for missing it in these posts.
Re: Lehigh. We know a bunch of grads and one current senior. They describe it as a work hard/play hard culture. They all loved their time at Lehigh.
I also know one recent enrollee who left Lehigh in the middle of their sophomore year (just a few years ago) because she just got tired of the party atmosphere. And she was in clubs, a sorority, and was doing well. She just didnât like the culture.
I would be uncomfortable allowing my kid to apply to a college ED that they had never visited.
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I agree but thereâs always special circumstances - such as needing to ED to save - $20K a year over UCs and thatâs a fair point too.
And some UCs party hearty too.
Really Lehigh and UCs are different experiences altogether.
Oof, the âbroâ vibe is definitely a new and significant data pointâand indeed, a turnoff. Thank you for sharing that insight. I think weâll definitely need to make a trip there before any final decision.
Weâre looking for schools with a net cost below $15-20K that are a great fit for a student with a âmad scientistâ mentalityâsomeone who is intensely driven and requires a university that can foster and challenge their intellectual curiosity.
Yes, they are applying there. Weâre just not sure they will be able to secure a scholarship there. Also Early action for OOS students isnât announced until late January.
Iâd love to know them all. While the student is primarily handling her admissions process independently, with support from school counselor, my main concern is ensuring studentâs happiness over the next four years. Although they are generally positive and capable of reframing any experience into positive meanings, I still want to help set her up for the best possible outcome.
To clarify, I was referring to external scholarships, as opposed to institutional ones. Student would be in-state for UCs.
No concerns so far yet.
Yes, thatâs also a significant factor. Lehigh is an R1 university with a relatively small student body, which is very appealing to the student. Theyâre eager to get involved in research and undertake major work there, and they appreciate that Lehighâs population is neither too small to feel isolated nor too large to feel crowded.
Sibling is still in high school.
Uh oh, thats good to know, and something to think about nowâŠ
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With all that in mind, MIT first uses your outside scholarship to reduce or cover your student contribution (up to $5,400). Any additional money from your outside scholarship, beyond the amount of your student contribution, will reduce your MIT Scholarship. An outside scholarship cannot be used to reduce or cover the parent contribution.
Students who receive financial aid from Lehigh must notify our office immediately if they receive notification of any outside scholarships or tuition benefits that they plan to receive throughout their enrollment.
Receipt of outside scholarships or awards may require us to adjust the loans and/or work study portion of a financial aid offer if the total need-based aid exceeds the financial need as determined by the FAFSA. If at any point the total aid that a student receives from all sources exceeds the total cost of attendance, we will reduce the institutional aid given by Lehigh.
As for bro culture, Iâve heard it but no doubt there are many serious, driven students there too. Colleges donât just have one personality.
Niche is a good place to look here - and read student surveys.
The define us says this so may be of interest:
Down to have fun but hardworking - 50%.
Work Hard, Play Harder - 22%
Work Hard, Play Hard - 14%
Turn down for what - 5%
Busy - 3%
Rich - 3%
Outgoing - 2%
His crowd may not be dominant but the student you are describing may only be dominant at a small # of schools. And I think you can suss that out if he talks to a couple student ambassadors. I put them below - no contact info so you can ask for one - or kids know how to find one another on social media.
btw - at $40K, U of Arizona would be a great UC substitute for physics as itâs one of the top schools in the country.
Hereâs a PhD feeder list - the right side is the per capita - if of interest - by majors - which might also glean some acadmicky-ness thoughts.
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It would be especially important for a student considering MIT since Lehighâs social vibe is substantially different in addition to the opportunities being different.
Lehigh is the epitome of work hard/play hard. MIT is.. not.
Could you run the NPC on Princeton and see if the NPC results are more palatable?
A student loan (27k) with a small (2-3k/year?) parent loan would seem worth it for a potentially more suitable college than Lehigh, especially with the scholarships already earned.
Would Chicago also be worth a look?
Case Western has significant merit aid / poor yield. Weâve seen some get $45K or so.
Are those two worth a look two?
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I didnât read all the posts. This is on Lehighâs website: Lehigh Merit Scholarships | Lehigh University
Our eldest received the Trustee Scholarship (full tuition for all 4 years). This is not a need aid âscholarship.â Since he was the first and we had no idea how all of this college thing worked, we chased merit at the time. His other options were UIUC, U of Michigan, UT-Austin, USC, Northwestern, and Case Western. He was waitlisted at MIT. His major applying to all schools was ECE.
Many have posted that Lehigh is a fit school - party school, bro-culture, etc. Yes to those who want that experience. No to those who is confident to do other things. Eldest was the latter. He believed it didnât make sense that we should pass up tuition free offer. Heâs quite mature financially. It was ultimately his choice and he has no regret attending Lehigh. His peers were not lightweight either. Many work in finance, management consulting, space and tech industries. I donât know if they also received the same merit award.
Our eldest did not apply ED. Lehigh was literally the last school who notified him that he was accepted and he was awarded the highest merit award. He thought he narrowed his decision until Lehighâs award. Then things changed quickly. I donât understand how the original poster already knows that the award is guaranteed.
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I would say that MIT plays hard too, but itâs a different idea of play 
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Do you qualify for need based aid at Princeton? Blue&Gold for UCs?
Colleges that match what youâre describing
If you need merit aid (would need to show a lot of interest)
Case Western
Brandeis
CalTech
Stanford?
UPenn Nets+Ben Franklin Scholars combines research opportunities&VC opportunities. Jerome Fisher also but doesnât sound exactly up his alley. Merit aid exists (+/- unofficially but it does).
Brown if you qualify for Blue&Gold.
W&M also but would not be within budget.
@tamagotchi
I was about to write âwork hard/prank hard/research is funâ 
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That information is quite encouraging; thank you for providing insight into your childâs experience at Lehigh!
Thereâs a special program for which the student is a finalist. With the final selection occurring among a small group of students, they have a 1 out of 2 chance of earning a full-tuition scholarship to Lehigh with ED commitment.
Princeton is about $40K+, and the student is applying. The are also applying to UChicago, Northeastern, Georgia Tech, most of the UCs, in state schools.
We know that, similarly to all far-reach schools, a lot of qualified students would be rejected.
Our situation feels like âa bird in the hand is worth two in the bushâ. There is a nearly certain opportunity to go to Lehigh on ED, which would then require everything else to be withdrawn.
We wonât hear back from all universities the student applies to before the commitment date, but we will know by December if the student makes it to Lehigh. At this point, I think the question is whether to commit or not, though the student is eager to commit and eliminate all financial worries once and for all.
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SoâŠreally, this student doesnât know for sure if they will be in the scholarship accepted groupâŠor notâŠyet.
Does the student have to apply ED to find out this scholarship result? Or will he know the scholarship result before applying ED.
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Without knowing all the details, this concerns me a bit. Requiring an ED application for a 50/50 shot at full tuition scholarship? What happens to the 50% who are not given the scholarship? Are they released from the binding commitment?
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Thanks for clarifying about the special program for ED. We didnât know anything about that back when eldest was applying.
I know some students prefer to commit early via ED round. In our experience of 3 children going through the process, their original wishes and ideas when they applied in the fall changed when they received all the notifications in the spring. They didnât have any regrets about applying RD. The extra months gave them time to really consider what they want in their studies and environment.
My middle also received a full ride merit award (tuition and housing for all 4 years) for an industrial design degree. Again, she wasnât notified until the very end of that spring. This was a complete surprise because we didnât know the award even existed. She was about a couple of days of committing to RISD when she got the call.
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Yes, those not awarded the scholarship are released from the binding commitment. They are still encouraged to apply through the regular admission process if they wish to pursue enrollment.
We didnât know that either! The school nominates students for this program, and we only learned about it when the student was invited to participate in the first selection rounds and made to finals.
They will know that, yes!
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âReleasedâ implies that the scholarship results are announced after the ED application deadline, no?
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