Incoming students from the Class of 2022 line up to introduce themselves to the attendees of the New York City Sendoff hosted by David Beard ’80 ’11P. Click here for more photos from Sendoffs across the country.
Current students, parents, and alumni of all ages gathered at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in New York City on July 18 to celebrate the newest members of the Lehigh community.
The evening dessert reception was one of 24 such events organized for incoming first-years across the country. It was hosted by David Beard ’80 ’11P, a director of the Financial Markets Group at PwC. Beard is an involved alumnus who also serves on the Board of Directors of the Lehigh University Alumni Association, is a member of the College of Business and Economics Deans’ Advisory Council, and is on the Lehigh Wall Street Council’s leadership team.
“(Sendoffs are a) good opportunity for students to connect with one another and start that process early,” Beard said.
The Class of 2022 is the most competitive in Lehigh’s history – of the more than 15,600 applicants, just under 22 percent were accepted. Members of the class hail from 42 states, and more than 10 percent are international students. In addition, 17 percent of the class is composed of first-generation students, or students who are first in their family to attend college. The class also boasts two perfect SAT scores.
Throughout the evening, the room buzzed with the excited mingling of members of the Lehigh community from across several generations.
Melissa Kassis and her son Jake, who is going to study computer science, viewed the Sendoff as an occasion to form connections with members of the Lehigh community based in and around New York City.
“As a mom who will be an empty nester, it’s going to be almost as big a transition for me as it’s going to be for my son,” Kassis said. “So (the Sendoff event is) networking for the parents as well as it is for the kids.”
Alumni in attendance embraced the event as an opportunity to talk about how their Lehigh educations have shaped their careers, as well as to inform the new class about the community of support that will be available to them during and after their four years at the university.
Daniel Leon ’06, who studied chemical engineering and IBE, spent the beginning of his career in pharmaceutical consulting and now works in business development at Spotify.
“I found exactly what my focus is – data and analysis,” Leon said. “I really wanted to connect back with my Spanish in Latin America, so I was able to find a role (at Spotify) that actually fit that very well.”
Leon, who is originally from Venezuela, is the New York regional ambassador of BALANCE, or the Black and Latino Alumni Network for Community and Equity, and is also involved with the organization’s Latin cultural programming efforts. He came to the Sendoff to let students know, early in their Lehigh careers, that they have access to this base of support.
“When I came to Lehigh, it was a very different environment. There weren’t as many underrepresented students in the population, so connecting with those students that were at Lehigh at the same time, prior, or recently graduating has been really nice to bring back our experiences and share where we’ve gone from them,” Leon said. I think the best part of that is being able to contribute back into Lehigh to build a more comfortable and more welcoming, open community within Lehigh’s environment.”
Leon encouraged incoming students to keep an open mind to various perspectives and opportunities at Lehigh.
Melanie Gonzalez ’22 – who is from Brooklyn and will be following a pre-health track – is looking forward to meeting a wide range of new people in college.
Gonzalez discovered Lehigh during a trip with her high school, during which she had the opportunity to meet current students and spend the night in a dorm. Once she gets to campus, she plans to get involved with the club basketball and lacrosse teams.
“I want to meet new people and see their experiences,” Gonzalez said, “because there’s a stereotype based on every person’s race and gender… but I feel like there’s still struggles that unite us.”
Incoming first-years like Zion Lewis and Margot Schwartz were drawn to Lehigh’s campus atmosphere and the breadth of opportunity the university offers.
“I chose Lehigh, because the first time I visited, I just felt instantly at home,” said Lewis, who is from Long Island and plans to study engineering and arts. “I felt that it had the resources I wanted in a school that could help me succeed in the future.”
Schwartz, who is from Rye Brook, New York, and plans to study economics, echoed this enthusiasm.
“It’s a beautiful campus – I really like the ‘vibe’ of Lehigh,” she said. “I feel like it’s a lot more collaborative than a lot of other schools. I don’t feel like it’s super competitive. Obviously, people are competing for a lot of the same things, but in my opinion, there’s much more of a team (mentality).”
— Klaudia Jazwinska ’18
Learn more about Lehigh’s Class of 2022
- Total applications: 15,620
- Acceptance rate = just under 22%
- 48% women, 52% men in incoming class
- 10.2% non-citizens/”International” students
- 42 states represented by incoming students, in addition to Washington, D.C., and the Northern Mariana Islands
- 17% first students in their family to attend colleges (“First Generation” college students)
“The Class of 2022 is the most competitive in Lehigh’s history – of the more than 15,600 applicants, just under 22 percent were accepted. Members of the class hail from 42 states, and more than 10 percent are international students. In addition, 17 percent of the class is composed of first-generation students, or students who are first in their family to attend college. The class also boasts two perfect SAT scores.”
Seems to me that the class entering in Sep of 1965 (800+ strong) had significantly more that 2 applicants with a then perfect SAT score of 1600. I also note this was before the SAT was “dumbed down” due to a continuous drop in the “average SAT score” for classes taking it in the ’70s and ’80s.
The above article also states that Lehigh accepted just under 22% of 15620 applicants. If my math is correct, these figures imply that Lehigh accepted slightly more that 3400 students. This seems unlikely as I believe I recently read that undergraduate enrollment was being increased to approximately 5100. Perhaps someone in the admissions office needs to recheck their numbers. Hopefully, these apparent “errors” will not be noticed by non-alumni.
Universities typically accept far more students than the number who actually matriculate.
My opps.. How many does Lehigh expect to enter in the fall? What happens if the number who wish to “matriculate” is to large to “accommodate”?
I heard at our kickoff that the entering class is about 1300 students.
I attended the local “welcoming” event, sponsored by the Lehigh Home Club in the old library (which has been beautifully remodeled over the years) on the campus. Thirty in-coming freshmen from the Lehigh Valley attended, along with their family members, as well as some 20 ‘interested’ alums.
I was duly impressed with the students I met, and was pleasantly surprised by the number who planned to study engineering, computer science or accounting/finance, all solid pursuits.