<p>Hello, I am interested in both Harvard and Wharton. Let's assume that academically I get admitted into both institutions as an international student.
I've read a bit about both Wharton and Harvard's international student financial aid programs, and it seems that Harvard is way more generous, while with Wharton on the other hand, it's a near impossibility as an international student to get acceptable financial aid.
Is it accurate that Harvard is better and more generous for international students with needs for financial aid?</p>
<p>Oh, and I have already made this thread on both the Wharton and International Student forum , so it's unnecessary to point me to another department, I am trying to get a diverse and broad view on the issue.</p>
<p>Harvard do try to meet the full need of every student, including international students, for all four years, though “need” in this case is determined by the University. From its admissions website:</p>
<p>Yes, it would seem that Harvard is currently more generous in terms of financial aid (I can attest from personal experience that FA for domestic students is absolutely amazing). However, I wouldn’t say that “it’s a near impossibility as an international student to get acceptable financial aid” at Wharton either, as UPenn does technically also meet the full need of admitted students. UPenn, however, has need aware admissions for internationals.</p>
<p>“Students who absolutely require such funding should submit the College Board’s CSS/PROFILE (International Student Financial Aid Application) and the College Board’s International Student Certification of Finances, but they should also understand that they are in competition for very limited funds.”</p>
<p>“Please note that in recent years, we have offered an average of 55 to 60 aid awards to admitted freshman.”</p>
<p>Wharton keeps multiple times repeating in multiple pamphlets and other sources of information that it has a “very limited budget”.</p>
<p>It doesn’t sound very secure and is an unattractive signal.
It sounds pretty bad to me, from an international students perspective at least.</p>
<p>^Very few schools in the United States can even claim to meet the full needs of international students. As for the limited budget, since UPenn is “need aware” but “meets full need”, I think the admission office will simply cut down on the number of FA international students it admits so that the admitted students will be able to attend with satisfactory financial aid packages. At this point, the more pressing problem for potential applicants is the difficulty to being admitted to one of the top schools in the country. You will mostly likely be offered a good FA package once you’re accepted.</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard from friends and family, it really isn’t about Wharton trying to keep FA international applications down (i.e. that’s not the reason they state this).</p>
<p>They really do have limited support for international students; my older brother was full FA international student on our family income of about $30,000, and he received a free-ride (he has to work a couple of hours a week in the Library) at Harvard whilst Wharton offered him 60% (supposedly one of the top awards they offered that year, with the highest being to a student from South Africa of 70%). </p>
<p>Just to give a bit about his academic profile, whilst I can’t attest a comparison to his peer group as a whole, he was the top student in the country (awarded with the prize for this), at a competitive European country -i.e. extremely talented in both academia and extra curricular wise. </p>
<p>Yes, thanks for the reply. True, I read that this year they gave only 2 full financial aid packages to internationals.
Well, I am the top student in the country, not awarded, but I go to the only elite school and I am the best there. In major leadership positions as well.
Under those circumstances I would opt for Harvard. Wharton seems like a somewhat difficult place to be in for internationals.
Ofc Wharton isn’t trying to keep FA internationals down, it’s natural, Harvard has 20 billion more endowment.</p>
<p>harvard is need blind toward international students but is harder to get in than upenn
upenn is not need blind toward international students but is easier to get into than harvard, however getting a scholarship is much much much harder.</p>
<p>for example, i was waitlisted by harvard, but admitted at cornell (which has kind of the same policy as upenn and admits 10-15 international students around the world who need FA), i was also waitlisted by upenn, columbia and brown, all of which carry the same policies but oddly enough rejected from princeton and yale and dartmouth, which are all need blind toward internationals. seems odd.</p>
<p>Internationals applying for FA at need-aware schools are, for the most part, not going to do very well in the admissions process. But if you really are the top student in your country, that could really play out in your favor, even with your dilemma. I would agree that Harvard, under these circumstances, would be more likely to accept you; if need weren’t a concern, it would probably be something of a wash, depending on how you fit each school.</p>
<p>
The two are pretty much neck-and-neck in selectivity (when it comes to Wharton). Plus, there are no scholarships, only aid, which I would have to echo previous posters that if you do get in you’ll probably still get a good package from Penn; the tricky part is the getting in part.</p>
<p>Indeed, I don’t rate my chances at getting admitted to Wharton high. They are need-aware to international students, not US applicants though. It’s understandable, their endowment is limited(compared to Harvard), especially in these difficult times.
Even if you manage to get admitted as an international, the package might be ‘decent’, but still worse than Harvard.</p>