<p>So, for an undergraduate degree, which option would you select?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Attending Harvard College for 4 years. Tuition, Room and Board, Books, Necessary Travel, etc. would be paid for, but no additional funds are received. Everything academically-related is paid for.</p></li>
<li><p>Attending UNC-Chapel Hill on the Morehead-Cain Scholarship for TWO YEARS. Since I already have some credits that transfer to UNC Chapel Hill, I could get my undergraduate degree in two years from this university. Also, if you are not familiar with the scholarship, EVERYTHING is paid for just like the Harvard College option, with the addition of free designated summer programs (upward bound, etc.), and a stipend each month (around $1,000). Also, you can apply for a "discovery fund" each summer of up to $5,000 to pretty much use toward any summer adventure. There are probably some other pluses but I think I listed the main ones.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>So...which one? Try to give some reasoning behind your answer too.</p>
<p>Well which one do you like better? It comes down to that, really. Spend a weekend at both and see which one fits your personality the most. Harvard probably has better academic opportunities, since it is after all Harvard and Boston is so nearby. The money situation seems pretty close in both except for the summer programs and that great stipend, but don’t let the stipend keep you from going somewhere you really really want to!</p>
<p>cardsecret, that’s an awesome choice. If you do some searching on CC, you will see a bunch of threads over the years addressing this issue. Getting a Morehead (or equivalent scholarship elsewhere) is one of the few reasons why people turn Harvard down other than to go to Yale, Princeton, or Stanford. It’s not just the money, either; Morehead Scholars at UNC have some great and unique opportunities open to them – the summer stipend is just the tip of that iceberg.</p>
<p>That said, Harvard students have pretty great opportunities, too. You could make a rational decision either way. The small money difference between the two really shouldn’t be the deciding factor. Harvard and UNC are fairly different places, and as the previous poster suggested you ought to decide which one you like better as the context for your college education.</p>
<p>One final thing: You don’t HAVE to spend only two years at UNC if you go there, and I would strongly suggest that you plan to spend at least three, and maybe four. You have this scholarship money available, and you will never have this kind of educational opportunity again, including the ability NOT to have everything relate to one central focus area. Don’t waste it by rushing to get it over with!</p>
<p>There was a pretty gigantic thread about literally this exact sane dilemma last year, you should check it out. If I were your I would go to Harvard, my reasons don’t really matter though b.c. I’m not you.</p>
<p>please remember that the value of your college experience is not just in what is offered to you during college but also the dividends it will pay during all the years to come. so maybe UNC will give you a little more money, but Harvard will give you by far a greater experience during college and dividends in the years to come. a lot of students don’t live fully comfortably here at Harvard during all their years, but they are more than rewarded with a great experience and well, a great reputation.</p>
<p>Harvard students have access to many different summer opportunities from internships to community service to travel abroad. And if you are on Financial Aid many of these programs will give you a hefty stipend. So don’t let the summer “discovery fund” be your deciding factor. Decide what is the best fit to make your decision.</p>
<p>@int’lstudent: i’ve heard the morehead reputation is better than a general harvard reputation (morehead is harder to get than to get into harvard) and the alumni network is amazing. isn’t it a bit early to know if you got morehead though?</p>
<p>^ you may be right. but i just think that a reputation better than harvard doesn’t exist. i think the great thing about morehead is that its harder to get into. but really more than harvard you really don’t need. and if you can get a morehead im sure you’ll do exceptionally well at Harvard. anyways. thats my opinion though im sure theres other ways to look at it. i guess it depends on what you want.</p>
<p>I suspect the OP’s situation is hypothetical, as financial aid awards have not been determined yet.</p>
<p>Besides the Morehead money, the OP should consider the unique opportunity to interact with Harvard students for four years. 6000 Harvard kids have a lot to offer, as well as the campus resources: world-class museums, research, and the graduate schools. So much of the world comes to Harvard to give lectures, workshops, semesters of instruction, internship and job opportunites. If the OP has not lived outside of NC, s/he could also reap the benefits of a vibrant city, chockfull of culture, history, and a zillion other college students.</p>
<p>Harvard financial aid is purely need-based (including internationals). If an accepted student’s family makes $60,000.- or less, s/he is eligible for full FA. The OP does not state he has such offers in his possession yet.</p>
<p>Personally, I’d go for the Morehead for four years. Harvard’s super great and all, but you’d be able to do so many things with that stipend, and the Morehead is a very prestigious program in itself. </p>
<p>Does the OP know that he/she is going to be accepted to Harvard…? I would add that getting a prestigious scholarship like Morehead doesn’t guarantee Ivy League acceptance too.</p>
<p>Just for the record, the people who are telling you that Harvard will be better because of its reputation, or that Harvard has a better reputation, or that it isn’t a contest, have no idea what they’re talking about.</p>