My GUESS on the “Tufts Syndrome” in the ED round is the admission office may have a cap on how many early admissions they accept. Also, the decision making for a small school is a little bit more complex than a larger school. As I have said before I imagine it to be like building a full deck of cards. They have to admit a certain percent of athletes, and gender and geographic. You need kids for band, journalism, yearbook etc… Then you have to divide the students among the various colleges. Then divide among the various majors. Goodness, this is just me imagining - but when the admissions is only 1,300 (I am guessing here) and you have so many talented students to choose from it has to be tough. So, Lehigh does not just pick the first kids applying with the highest scores and GPAs. It is just impossible for anyone who isn’t in that admissions room to know what when into each and every decision. There have been articles published in the past about the admissions process and EVERY application is read and considered.
They are so many very talented students out there. You just can’t take it so personally if you aren’t accepted at every school you apply. Everyone who applies to Lehigh is really amazing! I am sure part of this process is very heart breaking for the admission staff. It is for me and I am just a mom reading about all you incredible students!
Happy holidays to everyone!