Is Lehigh harder to get into than Rutgers for undergraduate admissions?

The biggest practical tradeoff is that Lehigh is a smaller, private university with a more selective admissions process, while Rutgers is a large public university whose admissions difficulty varies a lot by campus, school, and major. In broad terms, Lehigh is harder to get into overall for undergraduate admission. Rutgers is still competitive, especially for certain programs, but it is typically more accessible than Lehigh at the university-wide level.

Part of the difference comes from what each school is trying to build. Lehigh enrolls a smaller class and tends to evaluate applicants in a more selective, private-university context. Rutgers, especially New Brunswick, receives a huge volume of applications and has some selective colleges and majors, but as a large public institution it offers a wider range of entry points.

That means the answer is not identical for every applicant. Rutgers admissions can be tougher for high-demand programs such as business, engineering, pharmacy, or nursing than for some other pathways, and in-state status can also matter at a public university. Lehigh, though, is usually the tougher admit when you compare the schools overall rather than comparing one specific Rutgers program.

So if your question is simply which school is harder to get into as an undergraduate, Lehigh is the more selective one in most direct comparisons. Rutgers should not be treated as easy, especially at New Brunswick and in popular majors, but Lehigh is the school most applicants would view as the steeper admissions climb.