Hi!!! :] I am committed to going to Lehigh in the fall, visited campus and absolutely love everything about the school, but now I’m facing some mental turbulence. I just got off of Northeastern’s waitlist the other night and since then have been thinking about it. I never really was that into Northeastern and only applied because they gave me a fee waiver, but now that I have the opportunity to go there my mind is all messed up. I’ve always been a fiend for being the best of the best (a mindset I’m trying to make not as obsessive), so I think that may be a big factor in why I’m so conflicted. Another big factor is that they put me in their Oakland, California campus, and being from New York it makes it quite the hike away (although I will be able to switch to the Boston campus the following year). I really like the old academia atmosphere of Lehigh, but this whole situation is just stressing me out. :[
Sounds like you prefer Lehigh so I’d stick with that. Don’t drive yourself crazy.
You love Lehigh and everything about the school. You wouldn’t have applied to Northeastern without a fee waiver.
What’s the issue ?
Lehigh is well reputed and you love it.
Best of luck.
Stick with Lehigh.
I think I remember talking to you in the Lehigh forum a while ago, and you seemed well invested in the school. In what you’ve written, you listed several things you liked about Lehigh - I read none about Northeastern.
You already are emotionally committed to Lehigh, and Lehigh is already one of the best.
Agree with everyone else that you should attend Lehigh, that’s the school for you, no question. Unless you have a good reason for Northeastern, it’s not worth your time overthinking about where to go when you answered your own question making this thread.
Wouldn’t this suggest that you would favor the higher ranked school? If so, then it doesn’t appear that the choice of Lehigh represents a conflict. You generally prefer Lehigh and it places higher than Northeastern in U.S. News.
I really like Northeastern and am the first to suggest/recommend it when it seems like a fit, but this doesn’t sound like fit. It sounds as if the waitlist offer is giving you pause only because: 1) Northeastern has more highly-rejective admissions and 2) the psychology of a school’s “playing hard to get” by waitlisting you and then coming through with an offer. Neither of these is a compelling reason.
Yes, Northeastern has managed to attract a lot of applications in recent years, enabling them to reject a high proportion of applicants. Could they have achieved this if the same school were in Bethlehem, PA vs. Boston? Not to the same extent. The school has a fine reputation, but the admissions stats aren’t all about reputation. Plus, this trajectory feeds on itself because rejectivity breeds demand. None of this means that Northeastern is objectively a better school than Lehigh… and it certainly doesn’t mean that it would be better for you.
Northeastern’s other big selling point is coop, and nothing about your college search indicated that you were specifically seeking a coop model of education. One oft-debated question is the extent to which students coming and going for coop disrupts the social experience of college. My usual rebuttal is that students have a solid 1.5 years or more, to settle in and solidify their friend groups, before anyone has their first coop. But you’d be looking at spending the whole first year in Oakland (which again, is not something you sought), so you wouldn’t even have continuity during the pre-coop period.
Finally, your previous threads suggest that finances are important. I suspect that you wouldn’t be considering this waitlist offer if the out-of-pocket for Northeastern weren’t affordable… but Lehigh gives no-loan financial aid to lower-income students (not sure if you’re in the category that qualifies this or not), and Northeastern definitely does not. I wouldn’t recommend switching even at cost parity, but if it means increased debt load, then definitely not.
tl;dr If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. You have done your due diligence about Lehigh and you’re happy with it - don’t get thrown by a waitlist offer that isn’t as good a fit.
We did! Where did you end up choosing? :]
Stick with Lehigh. The Northeastern offer isn’t what you want on so many fronts.
If by “best of the best,” you mean you are driven by prestige, know that Northeastern can be polarizing in that respect. Some appreciate its pre-professional focus through the well-established co-op program, low acceptance rates, and location. Others will tell you it is an example of a school that uses sophisticated marketing and other strategic decisions (Oakland campus, for instance) to artificially improve its rankings and to change its perception as a commuter/suitcase school to a highly competitive one in a relatively short amount of time.
The truth? Probably somewhere in between.
The bottom line for you, though, is that none of this matters if it’s not a fit and it doesn’t sound like it is.
Lehigh is highly regarded, with a strong alumni base. Don’t doubt yourself now.
Lehigh ended up being too expensive - I committed to Washington & Lee University. Looks like Lehigh is working out for you though, so that’s great!
Congratulations!!! You’re going to do great things! 
My son attended Lehigh and he had an excellent experience there. He was a CSB major. However, the only thing I will say is if you are interested in the co-op at Northeastern , that would be a reason to choose it over Lehigh.
Don’t think twice.
You love Lehigh, you don’t want to go to Oakland… Lehigh is a better fit and at least as good a school.
I don’t think of either Northeastern or Lehigh being better, they are just different but otherwise peers.
As another poster pointed out, Northeastern is in a more popular location, but that does not make it a better school.
Given that, I also don’t see the problem. These are equally good schools overall, and Lehigh appears better for you, so you should choose Lehigh.
Even disregarding its advantage in rankings, Lehigh has the older, more robust reputation for quality academics.
I think of Lehigh as similar in quality to the U of Rochester, Case, Brandeis, BU – an impressive group.
ETA:
OP, if you prefer Lehigh and it’s affordable and they offer what you want to study, there is no reason to choose Northeastern instead.
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