<p>I am new to this site. I am 16 and a top ranked female lacrosse player. I have been given the opportunity to get a scholarship to many great schools. I want to be a lawyer. All along i wanted to go to Harvard. I recently visited Notre Dame and was blown away by the school spirit, academic support and general feeling there. But my parents think i am crazy to turn down Harvard since I want to be a lawyer. I am hoping for some honest feedback. I know I wont be playing lacrosse forever but in college i still want to play and play for an exciting team. I feel at harvard the sports are just there and no one really goes to games. Please give me some feedback! Thanks!</p>
<p>Well of course the decision has to be yours, so definitely don’t just go to Harvard because of its prestigiousness. But make sure you consider all aspects of the campus that you think might be important to you (academics, location, food, housing, size, etc) before making a decision–definitely don’t base your choice solely on lacrosse. However, if you consider everything and decide you’d be happier at Notre Dame, go for Notre Dame.</p>
<p>I agree, this time in your life is too important to be making a decision based on the US News rankings or the brand value of a school. While these are big factors, you need to make sure that you are comfortable living at a school for the next 4 years.
I’m attending ND in the fall, and I couldn’t be happier. But not everyone is cut out to go there, just as some people aren’t cut out to go to Harvard. Consider the choice from every angle, and you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>Say you broke your leg the first day of the season. Could you see yourself still favoring Notre Dame over Harvard? If so, then choose Notre Dame. If you see yourself being happier at Harvard if lacrosse were taken out of the picture, then you know what the right school is. The reality is, both are fantastic schools. Obviously Harvard is Harvard, but it’s not like you’ll lack for opportunities at ND. It has an extremely loyal alumni base, rabid school spirit (as you mentioned), and attract some truly incredible students, just ones that are more homogenous than their Harvard counterparts. </p>
<p>One more question. If something were to happen to you, would you still get the same amount of money from ND? The last thing you want is for a scholarship to be taken away if you do get injured. This happened to a high school friend of mine who earned a cross country/ track scholarship. He broke a bone, and since he couldn’t run anymore the school didn’t renew the scholarship. Now he’s back at home, attending community college, and from what I understand extremely resentful that he chose to take the athletic scholarship over a merit one from another school.</p>
<p>You haven’t “turned down” anyone until you’ve gotten in. Were you accepted to Harvard? And yes, i think anyone is crazy to consider ND.</p>
<p>I wonder if the OP is a ■■■■■ since this is post #1 and has a few implausible items like a 16-year-old (10th grade?) claiming to receive scholarship offers from Harvard and ND.</p>
<p>Still, assuming this is legitimate, a few points need to be raised. Harvard does not offer athletic scholarships. No Ivy school does. So that part of the OP’s post reflects, at best, a serious misunderstanding.</p>
<p>ND is a school like few others; the student experience is wonderful from people I know that attended there. Given the OP wants to go to law school, a good GPA and LSAT scores will do the trick of getting into a top school (which makes the difference on where you can get a job as a lawyer, along with doing well in law school). So ND might not have the cachet of Harvard, but this is not going to ruin the goal.</p>
<p>You can always attend Harvard for law school… this requires maintaining a 3.8+ GPA and scoring 175+ on the LSAT.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t put much stock in college visits because you only got to see a small segment of college life and it’s probably the segment they want you to see. For all you know, Notre Dame could just be really good at selling themselves. Go to Harvard and remember that there are some companies that only recruit at the top schools. (Being at a prestigious school would probably help for law school too)</p>
<p>I do know that ivies only offer based on need. The amount of $ my parents would need to pay is about the same at Harvard and Yale as the athletic scholarship at ND. And yes all offers are verbals until I sign my letter of intent in November. </p>