<p>The early summer is the time of the "hidden war" - when underground guerilla fighting rages as schools steal each others recruits and the musical chairs waitlist action takes place.! Fun times!</p>
<p>Oh, Byerly, how that rings true!</p>
<p>It looks as if more potent and "flexible" financial aid packages may play a significant role in the "waitlist wars!"</p>
<p>What do you mean by "waitlist wars?"</p>
<p>Byerly- do you have any figures comparing relative aid packages by students who fall in that income bracket who were accepted at Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford etc etc?</p>
<p>Anyone get in all 4 and has a family income of around 45k? I'd still be interested to which school actually offers more money in the end.</p>
<p>Great initiative though :)</p>
<p>It is entirely possible that despite, say, Yale and Stanford having a headline suggesting equal treatment for those from families below the $45,000 income level, that a particular applicant might see aid packages that are quite different from each school. </p>
<p>There are a myriad of other factors that may be weighed or calculated differently in determining "need" and meeting it, including the student's own expected contribution level from summer or term-time earnings, whether "outside" scholarships are treated as an offset, etc.</p>
<p>The only way to know for sure is, after being fortunate enough to gain admission to two or more schools, to compare their actual aid packages.</p>
<p>It's a good strategy for Harvard, seeing that their admissions rate and yield rate trend is "crashing and burning" when compared to Yale's (and Stanford's, to a lesser degree). People are recognizing that its undergraduate program just isn't up to par.</p>
<p>But it's kind of like a temporary patch. It might help Harvard for a year, but after Stanford and Yale match next year, they'll see a much larger bump and Harvard will be below where it started.</p>
<p>posterX,
Harvard's endowment is more than that of Yale & Stanford COMBINED...
Harvard, if it so chooses, could ALWAYS outbit Yale and Stanford in financial aid.</p>
<p>Actually, harvard<em>and</em>berkeley, Yale's endowment is significantly higher than either school on a per student & per employee basis. As you know, Yale's endowment has been growing significantly faster than Harvard's (or any other university in the country, in fact) over the past 20 years.</p>
<p>Really? Stunning.</p>
<p>Actually after calculating the numbers I could find I think our native Yale troll is actually wrong about the dollars per student+faculty ratio, but regardless, the logic is seriously flawed. It's like saying, "Better to be single and make 80 grand a year than have a wife and make 150 grand a year." He's not taking into account that most of the expenses don't depend on how many students and faculty the university has. In fact, on some level, faculty, students, and former students often become sources of cash flow and grants for the school.</p>
<p>I know posterX won't care, but the other people who actually have a grip on reality might like to know.</p>
<p>" ... The newly expanded financial aid program, which will also reduce the contributions of families with annual incomes between $60,000 and $80,000, is expected to cover more than 1,500 studentsnearly a quarter of the Collegein the next academic year, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons 67 and Director of Financial Aid Sally C. Donahue said in a joint interview Thursday evening.</p>
<p>With the announcement, Harvard jumps to the head of a pack of top universities that are expanding financial aid for undergraduates from low-income and middle-class families..."</p>