What State are your parents residents of (or, if they’re separated, states)?
=>Those should be your target public colleges.
Do you have a budget?
=> Run the NPC on all colleges you’re considering.
Will they be affordable without parental loans?
Colleges with a good reputation and solid financial aid (beside Lehigh) Reaches:
Franklin&Marshall
Lafayette
Bucknell
Dickinson Targets (FA less certain)
Susquehanna
Providence (seconding/cited above)
Fairfield
Fordham
We live in Florida and to be quite frank I dread living here. If I were to get my AA, I’d get guaranteed admissions basically into any Florida public university through my community college. Fairfield and Providence, I’ve heard but don’t know too much about, yet I have them on my list of potential colleges. It is important for a small airport to be nearby (within a 45 minute drive) because I am looking to get a job as a flight instructor part time to further my aviation career. This kind of makes looking for colleges a little difficult. Rutgers and Lehigh have a handful of airports nearby with the opportunity to work at. This makes them both extremely desirable for me.
So, cross reference NPC results (the college must be affordable) and proximity to an airport where you can fly - the Mid Atlantic PA/MD/NJ/Del/NYS region should have many colleges near airports where you can practice but costs are going to be a limiting factor so both criteria need to be considered.
What is NPC? I have never heard of it until you have mentioned it. Money isn’t necessarily a big worry, I’ll be able to pay nearly anywhere I decide to go. I would like to run these schools through the NPC program you mention if you can give some more insight.
New England and most of the Mid-Atlantic is densely populated. Other than a few places in Maine and perhaps Vermont, I can’t think of a college not within a 45 minute drive to an airport…
Hey there! My son is a freshman finance major at Lehigh right now. He LOVES LOVES LOVES his school. He is not joining any fraternities but is very involved with other clubs, including a literature club he started with his roommate. He had the opportunity to attend a couple of other highly prestigious well-known schools but turned them down and says he will NEVER transfer out of Lehigh. He said everyone he knows absolutely is having the time of their lives there.
The feeling I got from the admissions counseling dept there is that demonstrated interest is very important to them. They want to know WHY LEHIGH? Tell them what it is about Lehigh that is so appealing to you and tell them what they are doing RIGHT to attract you as a student. They eat it up. Good luck to you!!
And as far as the fraternity thing, yes they had some issues in the past but those fraternities were dissolved as far as I am aware. And because it was publicized as it was - the fraternities are hyper aware not to be doing the things that got the others into trouble.
Thanks for sharing your son’s direct experience at Lehigh.
Looks like Fall 2024 male participation in fraternities was 18.5%. Then the number bumps in spring semester when rush happens and houses get new pledges…last spring 24.6% of males were in a frat. So, a large majority of males are not in frats.
This is great to read! I know a handful of people there and they definitely have nothing but great things to say about Lehigh. Their words definitely make me want to go there even more. I have only heard great things. I plan on showing a lot of demonstrated interest. I hope it isn’t possible to go overboard with showing how interested I am in Lehigh. I definitely will come up with a list of my Why Lehigh? Thank you for the kind words and your response!
Sounds good. So show my interest but be mindful of my other applications. I will definitely be on top of my applications. I am already chipping away at my Common App. Most universities have not opened up the spring transfer applications.
Be aware that CommonApp “resets” July 30-31 - the basic data you’ve populated is still there but typically other elements such as college dashboard disappear (unless s.o has noticed differently this cycle?)
Keep all documents in a file just in case.
Unsolicited advice…for Lehigh or ANY college you are considering transferring in for the Spring semester, I would make inquiries as to how a spring transfer is handled. Be sure you understand if there an orientation for spring transfers? how is scheduling arranged? is housing guaranteed? when can you determine what credits will transfer?, etc.
It can be difficult to integrate yourself into a new college as a transfer student – many friendships are made freshman year when everyone is new, you will be figuring out new routines, classroom expectations, etc. while others are already settled. A successful transfer can absolutely happen, but understand it will take work. Ask the questions to feel confident that the school will set you up in a good position.
Good luck to you!!