Navigating Lehigh University Admissions: GPA, SAT/ACT Scores, and Requirements

Gaining admission to Lehigh University requires careful preparation and a strong academic profile. With an acceptance rate of approximately 26%, Lehigh is considered a selective institution. This article delves into the critical factors that influence admissions decisions, including GPA expectations, standardized test score ranges, and other essential application components.

Understanding Lehigh's Acceptance Rate

The acceptance rate at Lehigh University is 25.9%, highlighting its selective nature. To increase your chances of acceptance, it's crucial to meet or exceed the university's academic expectations. Strong academic scores are critical to improving your chances of admission. If you meet Lehigh University's requirements for GPA, SAT/ACT scores, and other components of the application, you have a great shot at getting in.

GPA Requirements: Aiming for the Top

GPA is a very important academic factor. The average GPA at Lehigh University is 3.98, indicating that admitted students generally have nearly straight A's in their high school classes. This high average GPA suggests that Lehigh requires you to be at the top of your class. You'll need nearly straight A's in all your classes to compete with other applicants.

If your GPA is at or below the school average of 3.98, you'll need a higher SAT score to compensate and show that you're prepared to take on college academics. If you're a junior or senior, your GPA is hard to change from this point on.

Standardized Testing: SAT and ACT Expectations

While Lehigh University has not explicitly stated a policy on SAT/ACT requirements, they do publish average SAT and ACT scores, implying a test-flexible approach. Typically, these schools say, "if you feel your SAT or ACT score represents you well as a student, submit them. Despite this policy, the truth is that most students still take the SAT or ACT, and most applicants to Lehigh University will submit their scores. If you don't submit scores, you'll have one fewer dimension to show that you're worthy of being admitted, compared to other students.

Read also: Lehigh Grads and Employment

SAT Scores

Half the applicants admitted to Lehigh University who submitted test scores have an SAT score between 1370 and 1500. However, one quarter of admitted applicants achieved scores above these ranges and one quarter scored below these ranges. The 25th percentile SAT score is 1380, and the 75th percentile SAT score is 1490. In other words, a 1380 places you below average, while a 1490 will move you up to above average. If you're able to score a 1490 SAT or above, you'll have a very strong chance at getting in.

Lehigh University practices superscoring. This means that you can choose which SAT tests you want to send to the school. Lehigh University will take your highest section score from all your test dates, then combine them to form your Superscore. Because you can choose which tests to send in, and Lehigh University forms your Superscore, you can take the SAT as many times as you want, then submit only the tests that give you the highest Superscore. Therefore, if your SAT superscore is currently below a 1490, we strongly recommend that you consider prepping for the SAT and retaking it. Because of the Superscore, you can focus all your energy on a single section at a time. If your Reading score is lower than your other sections, prep only for the Reading section, then take the SAT. Then focus on Math for the next test, and so on.

ACT Scores

Half the applicants admitted to Lehigh University who submitted test scores have an ACT score between 31 and 34. The 25th percentile ACT score is 31, and the 75th percentile ACT score is 34. The average ACT score at Lehigh University is 32. Even though Lehigh University likely says they have no minimum ACT requirement, if you apply with a 31 or below, you'll have a very hard time getting in, unless you have something else very impressive in your application.

When you send ACT scores to colleges, you have absolute control over which tests you send. You could take 10 tests, and only send your highest one. This means that you have more chances than you think to improve your ACT score. To try to aim for the school's ACT requirement of 34 and above, you should try to take the ACT as many times as you can. By and large, most colleges do not superscore the ACT.

Lehigh University considers the SAT Essay/ACT Writing section optional and may not include it as part of their admissions consideration.

Holistic Review: Beyond the Numbers

Note: Your admission decision relies not only on your GPA and SAT/ACT scores, but also on your coursework difficulty, extracurriculars, letters of recommendation, and personal statements. For a school as selective as Lehigh University, rounding out the rest of your application will also help. Recommendation are considered important for admissions officials at Lehigh University.

Application Deadlines and Requirements

The application deadline at Lehigh University is Jan. 1. Lehigh University Admissions RequirementsAdmission interviewNeither required/recommendedRequired Standardized TestsNot required for admission, but considered if submittedSAT/ACT Scores Must Be Received ByJan. 15Lehigh University ApplicationsApplication DeadlineJan. 1Early Decision DeadlineNov.

Every school requires an application with the bare essentials - high school transcript and GPA, application form, and other core information. Many schools, as explained above, also require SAT and ACT scores, as well as letters of recommendation, application essays, and interviews.

Academic Requirements in the College of Arts & Sciences

The College of Arts & Sciences has a set of basic requirements all students must complete regardless of their major program(s). A student in the CAS must complete the following, and can perform a degree audit to review progress toward completion.

Requirements for the first year:

2 semesters of First-Year Writing: WRT 001 & 002 (or WRT 003 & 005)
- Students who bring in credit for WRT 001 & 002 from AP or IB scores will take WRT 011 to fulfill this requirement
a Big Questions Seminar (3-4 credits)

Requirements that must be met prior to graduation:

Mathematics (MA) - 3 credits
Disciplinary Perspectives:
- Arts & Language (AL) - 7 credits
- Human Experience (HE) - 7 credits
- Social World (SW) - 7 credits
- Natural World (NW) + Lab Science (LS) - 7 credits
3 Encounters in each of the following areas:
- Contemporary Challenges (CC)
- Quantitative Reasoning (Q)
- Writing (W)

Other requirements:

satisfy the University residency requirement
earn a minimum 2.0 GPA both overall and in the major
earn minimum of 120 credits

Additional Details:

There is no limit to the number of college requirements that may be fulfilled by courses taken to satisfy major requirements. Big Questions Seminars and courses offered for 1-2 credits may satisfy up to one Encounter. All other courses offered for 3-4 credits may satisfy up to two Encounters.

Course Load

Most courses in the College of Arts & Sciences are 3 or 4 credit courses, but may range from 1 to 4 credits. The typical term load is 14 to 17 credits. 12 credits are required for full-time status, and first semester, first-year students have a maximum of 17 credits. After the first semester, 18 credits is the maximum number of credits allowed, and students would need to fill out an Overload Request Form to request permission to register for more than 18 credits. Credits are assigned to a course on the basis of an estimate of 'normal' student effort, figuring 3 to 4 hours of effort per week for each credit, including the hours actually spent in class ('contact' hours). Accordingly, a typical term load of 16 credits would require something like 50 to 60 hours per week of effort, including contact hours. Naturally, there will be some variability from week to week and some variability from course to course.

Disciplines

First-Year Writing: Students take two designated courses in their first year that focus on pre-disciplinary writing, including engaging thoughtfully with the writing process, practicing clear academic writing and argument, analyzing and practicing persuasive strategies and critical thinking, and developing information literacy skills. These courses are WRT 001: Academic & Anayltical Writing and WRT 002: Research & Argument. Students who earn credit for WRT 001 & 002 from AP or IB Exam scores will be required to take an honors path, which consists of one designated advanced first-year writing course, WRT 011: Advanced Writing: The Rhetorical Self. Multilingual learners who qualify based on testing conducted by the International Center for Academic and Professional English take two courses taught by language specialists and tailored specifically for multilingual learners, WRT 003 and 005.
Big Questions Seminar: Students take one Big Questions Seminar in the first semester. Big Questions Seminars are designated by course number '090' and focus on complex questions that have no simple or obvious answers. These can include, but are not limited to, the deep enduring questions that humanity has grappled with for ages or emerging questions of today. Big questions often transcend disciplinary boundaries. Thus, many Big Questions Seminars illustrate how multiple disciplines or multiple fields within a discipline approach the seminar's focal question, and some are co-taught by faculty from different fields. These seminars are designed to facilitate students' transition to the intellectual environment of a college classroom and to develop students' intellectual and practical skills (e.g., inquiry and analysis, critical and creative thinking, written and oral communication, quantitative reasoning, information literacy, teamwork, problem solving).
Mathematics: Students take one course in mathematics that focuses on developing logical skills, problem solving, and/or computation. Example courses include logic, proof writing, discrete mathematics, calculus, linear algebra, and statistics. Courses for the Mathematics (MA) requirement can be found in the mathematics department (with the exception of MATH 000), as well as certain courses offered through Philosophy, such as PHIL 014: Symbolic Logic.
Arts & Language (AL): Courses in this category utilize creative and/or expressive forms of inquiry and focus on communication and artistic practice. Courses designated as AL may be found in Art, Architecture, Design, English, Film, the foreign languages, Music, Theatre, and more.
Human Experience (HE): Courses in this category utilize analytical, critical, and interpretive forms of inquiry and focus on the human condition in different historical, cultural, linguistic, religious, philosophical, artistic, and literary contexts.
Social World (SW): Courses in this category utilize social scientific modes of inquiry and focus on human behavior, culture, and society, and forms of social, political, and economic organization.
Natural World (NW) + Lab Science (LS): Courses in this category utilize scientific forms of inquiry and focus on natural phenomena in the world around us and the nature of life, matter, and the universe. The lab enables students to practice scientific forms of inquiry and gain firsthand experience with natural and physical phenomena. NW courses may be found in Astronomy, Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Earth and Environmental Sciences, and Physics, in addition to Anthropology and Psychology. One of the courses taken for the Natural World requirement must have a lab (LS), which is often taken through Astronomy, Earth & Environmental Sciences, Chemistry, or Physics.
Contemporary Challenges Encounters (CC): Through courses designated as Contemporary Challenges Encounters (CC), students grapple with complex, large-scale challenges of the modern world, including the themes of social difference and power, sustainability, and conflict and security. The three current challenges are (1) Social Difference and Power: analysis of social identity and structural inequities in the distribution of resources, power, and status; (2) Sustainability: analysis of the complex convergence of environmental, social, and economic factors impacting our planet, communities, and current and future generations; and (3) Conflict and Security: analysis of the causes and consequences of conflict and cooperation at the interpersonal, organizational, national, and global level.
Quantitative Reasoning Encounters (Q): Through courses designated as Quantitative Reasoning Encounters (Q), students practice interpreting quantitative information, learn about applications of quantitative reasoning within disciplines, and build confidence in their own quantitative abilities. 'Q' encounters should guide students to interpret or use numerical information properly, or to understand and justify the models and algorithms necessary to do so.
Writing Encounters (W): Through courses designated as Writing Encounters (W), students practice engaging thoughtfully in the process of writing, learn about discipline-specific styles of writing, and build confidence in their own writing abilities. Courses designated 'W' have a specific learning outcome dedicated to developing writing skills. Writing is a focal component of the course, either through at least one substantial module or assignment dedicated to developing writing skills or through several writing assignments occurring throughout the course. 'W' encounters should provide opportunities for feedback and revision or improvement through a sequence of similar assignments.

The Residency Requirement

Students must earn a minimum of 120 credits to be eligible for a BA or BS in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Financial Aid

Students who are applying for institutional need-based aid are required to submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the College Scholarship Service (CSS) Profile (submit a separate CSS Profile for each parent if legal parents are not married and do not live together) and Federal tax forms (student, parent and business tax returns if applicable). International students may be eligible for university-funded financial aid. Opportunities are limited. Financial need is reviewed annually to ensure aid eligibility as determined by the Office of Financial Aid, in conjunction with federal, state and university guidelines, reflects current financial and household information. In order to maintain federal and institutional grant eligibility from one academic year to the next, students must continue to demonstrate financial need. Changes in circumstances such as sibling(s) enrollment in undergraduate college, changes in household size or changes in income may result in a change in financial aid eligibility. In order to maintain eligibility for Institutional financial aid, students must 1.) Earn 12 new credits each semester, 2.) Earn a minimum grade point average of 2.0 for each semester, and 3.) Maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0. Eligibility for institutional aid at Lehigh University is limited to Undergraduate enrollment in 8 consecutive semesters (unless you are enrolled in IBE, IDEAS or Art Engineering). Institutional aid is provided to assist students in obtaining a bachelorâs degree. Additional aid will not be available to students who choose to enhance their bachelorâs degree with additional credentials

Graduate Admission

A bachelor's degree graduate of an accredited college or university may be considered for admission to graduate study. The decision to admit a student rests with the applicantâs major department and stands for one year following the first semester for which admission was offered. If more than one year elapses, the prospective studentâs department reserves the right to reconsider the original offer. An applicant may enter the graduate program as a student in the following categories: regular, associate, or non-degree. Only regular graduate students are candidates for graduate degrees. Applications for admission as a regular graduate student must be filed by the required department or program deadlines. Applicants should consult their respective departments or their dean's office.

In order to be considered for admission as a regular graduate student, the applicant must satisfy at least one of the following conditions:

have an undergraduate GPA of at least 2.75 out of 4.00 (note: College of Education GPA minimum is 3.0);
have an average of at least 3.00 for the last two semesters of undergraduate study;
have a graduate grade point average of at least 3.00 for a minimum of twelve credit hours of graduate work completed at other institutions; or
have successfully satisfied the probationary conditions as an associate graduate student (discussed below).

Individual departments may evaluate their candidates for admission according to higher standards and additional criteria. Students seeking admission to Professional Certification Programs may have to meet additional requirements to comply with Pennsylvania Department of Education Regulations. Completed applications accompanied by requests for university awarded aid must be submitted by January 15 for admission in the following fall semester.

Associate graduate students are allowed to take up to nine credits of coursework numbered 300 or higher before they must petition for regular student status. In order to be granted regular student status, they must have completed those nine credits with at most one final course mark below B-. Associate graduate students receiving a final course mark lower than a C- will be dropped from the program. Students should note that individual departments may impose more rigorous probationary standards. When the probationary period of nine credit hours is completed, associate graduate students must petition for regular student status in order to enroll for additional coursework. Such a petition requires the submission of any regular admission documents not already on file.

Students may seek enrollment in graduate courses with non-degree status. Students in this category are generally seeking admission to a certificate program or evaluating their ability to formally enroll in a degree program. In addition, non-native English speakers are required to demonstrate English language skills equal to those required of degree-seeking students and are held to the same English proficiency standards. Admission decisions for non-degree students are made by the dean of the appropriate college or other responsible official designated by him/her for this purpose. The signature of the designated official on the application and registration forms confers admission to the non-degree graduate student status. Informal transcripts will be accepted for initial admission, but formal transcripts must be on record before the student can receive any transcript or grade report from the university or enroll for additional courses.

Students may take courses for external certification. Students pursuing external certification will complete coursework for the appropriate certification, with the number of credits dictated by the external accrediting agency. In some programs and within limits, students may apply non-degree courses towards a degree. Students who wish to apply credits taken as a non-degree student to a degree must apply for formal enrollment in a graduate program after no more than 12 credits of graduate coursework. Further, no more than 12 credits taken as a non-degree student may be applied to any graduate degree. Note that all coursework applied to a Masterâs degree must be completed within a 6-year timeframe.

With the permission of the departmental chair, graduate students can be admitted to a course as auditors. This course will not count for credit towards any graduate degree, and may not subsequently be taken for credit. In no case shall a student who has attended a course as an auditor be given an anticipatory examination for credit or register for the same course in the future. A student completing a course in this manner will have the course and the notation âAUâ indicated on the permanent record.

A Lehigh undergraduate with a 3.0 cumulative grade point average who has achieved Junior standing may request permission to take a 400-level course for which she or he is qualified. The qualifications are defined by the department and are certified by the course instructor and department chairperson through a petition to the Graduate and Research Committee. Undergraduates at Lehigh who wish to take graduate-level coursework should follow the guidelines found here. Lehigh undergraduates may apply up to 12 course credits taken in the undergraduate program toward a graduate degree under the following conditions: 1) the course credits are not submitted as part of the requirement for an undergraduate degree; 2) approval is granted by the graduate program director, department chairperson and the dean of the college or their designee.

A student who has not been registered in a Lehigh graduate program for one year must petition for readmission. Petitions approved by the studentâs major department must be forwarded to the Office of the Registrar. International applicants must hold an American bachelorâs degree or the equivalent from a foreign institution of higher education.

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