Hey everybody,
I’m in the unique situation where I get to make a choice between two incredible opportunities. I know I am extremely blessed to be in this spot, but try as I may it is hard to see a clear answer here. The final decision is going to come to me, but I would love any and all extra opinions.
The options are Harvard (no scholarship) and UNC (with a carolina scholarship, which covers tuition, room, and board).
Thank you for your opinions!
Congrats, that’s fantastic. Of course a degree from Harvard is certainly a huge door opener. But, if it puts you 250K+ in debt, or you need to save your money for grad school, perhaps UNC is an attractive alternative. If grad school is in your future, I do believe that from an internship and employment perspective, marquee value plays a larger role in grad school than undergrad. I know as a UNC undergrad with a strong academic record, I was interviewing right along with plenty of Harvard and other Ivy candidates in my final round interviews. I did not feel disadvantaged at all. By the way, there are a bunch of OOS Ivy declines here at UNC. Mostly because of their needs based financial aid policies. Too wealthy to qualify, too poor to lay out huge $s and not painfully feel the effect. The answer to that problem is merit scholarships!
First of all, congratulations on two incredible options! As I am sure you know, you truly can’t go wrong.
I am currently on a gap year before starting at UNC in the fall, but I ended up taking a full ride at UNC (the Morehead-Cain) over Harvard and 3 or 4 other top 10 schools, as well as the Jefferson Scholarship at UVA. I actually had significant financial aid at Harvard and many of the other schools (would have had to pay about 7-8k per year). But with the ability to keep outside scholarships and the additional benefits of the scholarship at UNC, it still ended up being about a 75-80k difference over four years. Like you, I agonized over the decision, but having had the opportunity to consider it for the last year, I am confident I made the right choice for me.
I would be more than happy to talk with you about my rationale and even put you in contact with friends who were also choosing between HPYS and a full-ride at UNC. Each of them is completely content with their decision, regardless of whether they opted to take the merit scholarship or not. PM me if you would like and again, huge congratulations! No matter where you choose, you assuredly have a great four years ahead of you.
I think this is highly dependent on your career goals. If you plan on medical school or law school, UNC is the obvious choice. High GPA at UNC plus excellent MCAT or LSAT will get you admitted to top professional schools and you can save your money for graduate education. I would not advise the expense of Harvard unless you have specific career goals where the Harvard name and connections may open doors such as investment banking, entering politics, etc. I was a Morehead Scholar and many of my compatriots turned down Ivy League for UNC.
Congrats on two fantastic opportunities!
In addition to the points raised above, I think you should consider the atmosphere that you’re looking for. The education you’ll receive and what you do with it after you graduate are certainly the most important aspects of your collegiate experience. But college is also very much about what you do outside of the classroom and how you fit into the community around you.
What do you want to be involved in? Are you into college football and basketball? Are you interested in joining the Greek system? How important is it to you that you live in a traditional college town? Where do you want to fall on the spectrum of work/life balance? These are the sorts of questions that you should answer before making a judgment.
I was in a similar situation to you four years ago, forced to choose between the Carolina Scholarship and an Ivy League school. I ended up at UNC mostly for financial reasons, but social characteristics certainly played a part in my decision as well.
@GoHeelsGoAmerica If you don’t mind, could you describe some of the social opportunities you had at UNC, especially those afforded to you as a result of being a Carolina scholar? And maybe some academic benefits/perks of the program as well that you think may contribute to a fulfilling time and future afterwards as well?
Thank you everyone for the responses 
Sure. Truthfully, the scholarship doesn’t come with a lot of built-in social opportunities, but there are some nice perks.
All scholars are assigned to a scholars group led by a university professor. Groups are given a modest annual budget to spend how they see fit. Some groups do one big trip a year; others go out to dinner, go to plays and museums, etc. My group, for example, really likes food, so we usually try out some of the nicest (and most expensive) restaurants in the area, free of charge for us!
There are a few committees run by the program as well that you can get involved with. I never really got into them though, so I can’t tell you much about them.
As far as academic perks of the program go, the main benefit is that you’re guaranteed admission into Honors Carolina. The honors program, admittedly, isn’t too special, but it does allow you to take some intro-level classes with 30-40 other students rather than 200-300. And it affords you access to some of UNC’s top faculty.
Outside of the scholars program, I’ve been heavily involved in my fraternity, dabbled in student government, and have had a few leadership positions in academic organizations on campus. It’s tough to describe the social opportunities I’ve had at UNC, though. I’m a big college sports fan, was set on joining the Greek system, and definitely wanted to live in a good college town, preferably one with nice weather. From that standpoint, UNC was a great social fit for me, and I don’t at all regret my decision to come here. You’re probably looking for something different, and UNC may or may not be a better fit for you than Harvard. If you haven’t already, I’d highly suggest visiting both schools; try to stay on campus with a current student if you can arrange it.