<p>intenex – it’s not worth it. twinmom posted on this thread with a closed mind and treated you with condescension. she kept repeating the same mantra without even bothering to properly understand your situation. the average harvard student will not receive a check from the financial aid office, yes, but you are clearly receiving much more financial aid than the average student, and it’s incredible to me that the parent of a harvard student can be so utterly idiotic.</p>
<p>Thanks again eliana. I really do appreciate that. It’s nice to have a little understanding in sharp contrast to some of the other posts here.</p>
<p>Intenex: I just went back and reread the thread. Your situation may indeed be more unique than I originally realized, and if that is the case, then I apologize for giving you misinformation. Every year there are new Harvard admits on this board who think that Harvard will be cutting them checks for transportation, books, and burritos. I was indeed trying to be clear that most (if not all) students will not get a check for these items. Being that your scholarships exceed your contribution, you may get a refund of your excess scholarship money, as Mustafah stated. You should definitely clarify that with a financial aid officer. As I’ve stated (perhaps redundantly, as it may appear to some,) I have found the financial aid office to be extremely kind, helpful and knowledgeable. I’m sure you will receive an answer from them soon.</p>
<p>Eliana - Whether a parent is a parent of a Harvard student or any student, calling someone idiotic is just not warranted.</p>
<p>I’m off this thread. Good luck with your studies.</p>
<p>Thank you twinmom. I appreciate that.</p>
<p>I asked a financial aid officer one or two weeks ago when she called me almost exactly the same question, and she told me that “any excess outside scholarships would be refunded.” She then said how the extra funds can be put to use on tuition for the next semester, etc. </p>
<p>I don’t think she explicitly said Harvard would write off a check, but thinking about it, it seems that a check is the way to go. I did not care to ask because I was already overjoyed that “any excess outside scholarships would be refunded.”</p>
<p>I hope my personal experience helps. ;)</p>
<p>This is what I was told. My D is expected to contribute a total of $4,000. She currently has $7,500 in outside scholarships. This will wipe out her $4,000 owed. In addition, she can use up to $2,000 of her scholarship money to purchase a new computer, printer, software, etc. That leave her with $1,500.00. This WILL NOT be given back to her. Her Harvard Grant will be reduced by that much. As far as personal expenses, hers were around $3,700.00-estimated by the university. Our family contribution is $3,600.00. I was told that basically the family would be paying for books and expenses and may not have to write a check to Harvard.
She said that student’s will recieve notification and a form in June to report outside scholarships. She also said that future scholarships would always reduce the student contribution(one of my D’s scholarships is over 4 yrs.)
Hope that helps.</p>
<p>My son had outside scholarships that exceeded our portion. Harvard did NOT issue us a refund check. The excess comes out of the amount they award you.</p>
<p>^ I believe that is what is said on the website as well, so I am questioning the validity of the answer the finaid officer gave me. I’ll ask again on campus this Saturday!</p>
<p>Nevertheless, retrieving $2000 for a computer isn’t too bad a deal. :)</p>
<p>This is what I was trying to say from the beginning.</p>
<p>@Guitars - your parental contribution was greater than personal expenses/travel, then. Parental contribution is never reduced at almost any university as I understand it, unless you earn enough in scholarships to give yourself a full ride without fin. aid anyway. This was never being questioned (unless you were respond to fwong - in which case @fwong - I think you misinterpreted what the fin. aid officer told you…by refunded, perhaps they meant refunded to themselves, not you? ;))</p>
<p>What Risumaru said is exactly what I understand the situation to be - he can confirm that I told him the exact same thing when he pm’ed me before he posted this here.</p>
<p>This is what the financial aid office told me when I emailed them:</p>
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</p>
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</p>
<p>What the office forgot to clarify (probably thinking it already understood), is the fact that the credit balance can only add up to the total estimated cost of attending Harvard (tuition, fees, room & board, personal expenses, travel), minus parental contribution. So there’s only a small window in which a person might possibly get a refund check: their parental contribution is smaller than personal expenses and travel, and they receive enough aid/scholarship to cover the expected $4,000 student contribution. That final aid/scholarship minus parental contribution == refund check. If the scholarship exceeds that $4,000 amount though, up to $2,000 can be used <em>once</em> to buy a personal computer, and the rest is used to replace your Harvard Grant. I am almost certain that this is how the system works, and I hope that clears it up for everyone.</p>
<p>^ Thank you for clarifying!</p>
<p>intenex, I was responding to fwong</p>
<p>I thought so, I was mainly replying to twinmom, I wasn’t sure what she was referring to so I decided to address everything :).</p>
<p>I was replying to fwong as well.</p>
<p>Well then I’m thoroughly confused. Time for bed.</p>
<p>My daughter (16) wants to apply to Harvard in 2011 (accepted for SSP this summer). I’m widowed and make approximately 70,000 a year. I can’t imagine being able to afford it, even if she gets accepted. How do I estimate what the possible financial aid might be before I encourage her to apply?</p>
<p>^my parents expected contribution was around $4000 for about that much income. I think that its very affordable</p>
<p>Yeah, it’s going to be less than 10% of your income if you earn less than 100,000 a year, so you really don’t have to worry much. Probably cheaper than any other option you have, including a state school, unless we’re talking about a full merit ride to the schools that offer those.</p>
<p>A caveat about SSP - I went to that too. The acceptance rate <em>I hear</em> is about 40%, and I wouldn’t doubt it noting some of the people who got in. The acceptance rate for Harvard undergraduate admissions is slightly lower. But hey, I didn’t even get all As in SSP (in fact, I got an A- in Neurobiology 4 cred and a B in Psychology of Influence 4 cred [a class where everyone got As but I strongly clashed with the professor]) and it still worked out all right for me.</p>