Harvard Financial Aid

Hello everyone
I’ve just been accepted early to Harvard class of 2023. I’m an international student who is pursuing financial aid. Although I met the financial aid application deadline of Harvard, I apparently had some missing documents, so they didn’t give me an offer. I’ve corrected and completed everything and uploaded them to the IDOC on 19th of December (I also emailed the financial aid office, and they told me I should upload the documents to the IDOC directly). From what I understood, the offer will be made after the RD application deadline. I’m not sure whether or not I should apply to other schools in case I don’t get the aid I expect. But if I don’t get the aid I anticipated from Harvard (one of the most generous schools out there) I don’t think any other school will give it to me. I also don’t want to waste money on tons of other applications. Any suggestions?

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Congratulations! Yes, you should definitely apply to other schools in the RD round, as the financial aid you receive from Harvard may not meet your expectations. See: https://college.harvard.edu/financial-aid/forms-resources/resources/understanding-your-financial-aid-award-international

If you receive a full Harvard Scholarship which includes tuition, room, board and transportation, Harvard will deduct 14% of the room, board and transportation (room and board is currently $21,240 per year, so estimated tax deducted would be $2,973, plus 14% of travel expenses). Harvard then sends that money to the US government as an estimated tax and you (or your family) must make up the difference. Also see:

Part of your financial aid package will include a term time job. As you must earn that money through out the course of the year, Harvard does not award that money to you immediately, so you (or your family) must make up the difference of $1,500 per semester and then you earn it back.

International students are often surprised by the hidden costs of US colleges, and some international students must take out loans each year to pay the US tax on the room, board and transportation portion of their FA award. So, apply elsewhere in the RD round, as another college may offer to pay the tax for you and you might be able to have Harvard increase their financial aid when presented with a better FA award from another college.

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Thank you for the detailed response!

Have you communicated with the financial aid office? It may be that the offer will come through once they have all the documents, or did they tell you that since you missed the deadline, you now have to wait for the RD offers?

Harvard does have the best financial aid. Congratulations on getting in and I hope you can go!

Yes, I have contacted them and they told me that they could offer me a financial aid only after the RD application deadline (because of the Christmas break). I have emailed them my documents, but they insist on receiving those through the IDOC (the processing of documents on IDOC alone takes 3-5 days). Well, I guess I have to wait. Anyway, thank you!

^^^ That’s not always the case for every family. And sometimes Harvard makes mistakes in calculating financial aid, but a student would never know it unless they can present Harvard with a better offer from another college, as this student did last year: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/2068695-huge-discrepancy-between-harvard-and-princeton-financial-aid-class-of-2022-rd-p1.html

Sorry I didn’t meant that “best” as compared to any other school. More exclamatory. Let’s just say Harvard has excellent financial aid and apologies for misspeaking.

The special circumstances section on the Profile can be helpful and communication with the office about a variety of things, including impacts on family finances that are current, can also help.