Lehigh

Great school, beautiful campus, seedy area but not horrendous. Good engineering, business, comp sci programs. 

Baseball plays in a weak conference and aren't too good if we're being honest. They had a player drafted this past year I believe but most kids they recruit will be either D1 guys looking for a HA school and settling for the baseball or D1/D3 tweeners with good grades. Recruiting is obviously going to be more difficult when getting into the school is half the battle but it's a good option if your son plans to use baseball as a tool to get into a better school. Not where you go if baseball is a huge part of the decision. Not the best but far from the worst. Only have one scholarship unless something has changed very recently. Field is brand new and very nice though. Athletic facilities are all together and a few miles away from campus. 

Or you could just go to Penn State, not nearly as difficult to get admission to, but you’ll get your butt kicked year in and year out in a bigger conference. Choose wisely.

Penn State isn't an option since they haven't shown interest baseball-wise.  He's got the grades and such for Lehigh. I agree about Bethlehem, but we had a great meal there this summer at a cool rooftop place. We were there for a tournament and stayed at the base of the road leading to campus, son wasn't interested in driving up to see it. Too bad we didn't! Thanks for the info.  Always wise commentary! It's decision time very soon!

Lehigh is a place you go if you have a professional engineering aspirations and you want to play D1 baseball against mid to low D1 talent because you love the game of baseball.   This is a place to go if your son wants to focus on multi-disciplinary engineering studies with less practice time, less travel time and fewer games than more competitive traditional mid-majors/P5 D1 programs where it is much more difficult to be an engineering major.

JMO.

Definitely not interested in engineering. More business minded. Less games and practice?

The business program at Lehigh is also very good. 

Here are some visuals, hope it helps.

Just because a team may not be in a P5 conference doesn’t mean it cannot have a good program, facilities, and play a great out of conference schedule against the big boys. Many people who have the ability to get through admissions in these HA D1 schools have other opportunities at more competitive programs, however may choose to attend because their ability to contribute to the team could happen quicker (freshman year). Nothing wrong with these programs if it meets your objectives.

Kimb27 posted:

Definitely not interested in engineering. More business minded. Less games and practice?

Check their schedule...not 56 games as as is typical with traditional D1 programs .  Check the Patriot League charter and ask the Coach about practices and travel.  I think you'll find the Coach has to follow specific guidelines which is similar to the ivy league.  Their is a lot of academic balance for student athletes.  My son was recruited by both ivy and Patriot league schools, and we found their policies to be very much alike.

Good luck.

Kimb27 posted:

Penn State isn't an option since they haven't shown interest baseball-wise.  He's got the grades and such for Lehigh. I agree about Bethlehem, but we had a great meal there this summer at a cool rooftop place. We were there for a tournament and stayed at the base of the road leading to campus, son wasn't interested in driving up to see it. Too bad we didn't! Thanks for the info.  Always wise commentary! It's decision time very soon!

I see your son is a 2020.  Was he offered by Lehigh or perhaps he is thinking of walking on?  We toured Lehigh and loved the campus, the school is great especially for business.   We know many Lehigh grads and they all rave about the education.   As noted previously the town is very run down but the campus is sweet.    ED is 11 days away but seems like you might not have to ED.  

fenwaysouth posted:

Lehigh is a place you go if you have a professional engineering aspirations and you want to play D1 baseball against mid to low D1 talent because you love the game of baseball.   This is a place to go if your son wants to focus on multi-disciplinary engineering studies with less practice time, less travel time and fewer games than more competitive traditional mid-majors/P5 D1 programs where it is much more difficult to be an engineering major.

JMO.

Would also add a great Business program to this assessment.  It's a really lovely, albeit hilly, campus ( a friend of mine who's kid goes there say "free stairmaster" built into price of admission!").  Very strong alumni.  Very old rivalry between Lehigh and Lafayette (actually the oldest football rivalry in the country), and would add Bucknell to this list.  All three compete for the same type of player profile, but it would appear Lehigh takes more kids from in-state.  As others have stated, great HA option if Ivy world is a bit too far out of reach, and your son is looking for more than D3. 

Nice to hear about the strength of Lehigh's business majors. When I played against them in the '80s they were known as "The Engineers" and this logo was on their jerseys.

Thank you so much to all of you who took the time to respond.  My son committed yesterday to Lehigh and we are thrilled!  Just goes to show you, just when you are about to make your decision, another school can pop up and disrupt the whole plan! It happened really quickly and was a perfect fit in the end.  Bonus, it's close to home so we will be at all the games! 

Kimb27 posted:

Thank you so much to all of you who took the time to respond.  My son committed yesterday to Lehigh and we are thrilled!  Just goes to show you, just when you are about to make your decision, another school can pop up and disrupt the whole plan! It happened really quickly and was a perfect fit in the end.  Bonus, it's close to home so we will be at all the games! 

Congrats!  Did you say if your son is 2020 or 2021?  Either way, let us know how the experience goes along the way.   Great school. 

Congratulations KIMB27 to your son + the family on a job well done. exciting times! 

Congrats! 

Nice!

Thanks all, he's a 2020!

We know two of the kids from the 2018 class and another 2020 commit from my son's HS, they seem to be very happy with the team and with the school.  Best of luck to your son!

Congratulations to player and family !! 

Congratulations!!! Great School.......AJ Miller used to run our travel program before he went to Lehigh. He is a great guy, we sure miss him.  You made a good decision.

Congratulations and best of luck to your son.  Unless he's a hitter and my son will be facing him in PL play!

Congratulations!

Great to Hear. I am Happy for your son and your family. Congrats. 

Congrats!

Superfantastic!  Congrats to your son and family.

Way to go!!

That’s so fun!!! See you on a field somewhere!

Wait, former Arsenal teammate?  My son played for them too if so!

Small baseball world strikes again!

Congratulations to KimB27 and Son.. a great school in a good conference. Glad you are close enough to see many of your son's games. I was fortunate to have that opportunity too with my son. Time goes by fast.