I know a peer who got offers from all 8 Ivies. He is an international athlete and a very bright man. Instead, he committed to a D1 school.
The president of Pomona College, who is a research scientist and attended H as an undergrad, and serves on Harvard’s board of overseers has a daughter accepted but she went to Carleton. True he has a son who attended H h, another D attended vassar
@JHS: I agree with you. I’ve given in the six figures to Harvard and it didn’t make any difference whatsoever, other than getting invitations to an annual donor lunch (I was expecting that at least the people at H who I deal with as an alumnus would be nicer, but that didn’t help at all); the people who give tens of millions are so routine that I can’t see H bending any admissions rules for them either.
@JHS My daughter had a friend at Harvard (in the last 5 years) who was the son of a very wealthy, philanthropically involved alum. He was admitted off the waitlist, on the condition that he deferred admission for one year. I later found out this is called the Z-list,and it’s primarily made up of children of influential alums. BTW, this isn’t unique to Harvard.( I should add that the academic standards of those admitted from the Z-list are not significantly lower than the student body as a whole)
No one said Harvard didn’t admit alumni kids, and the Z-list is something that’s used for them. (Not exclusively, though, as you acknowledge. Unhooked kids are sometimes Z-listed, too.) Still, I guarantee you that it’s no sure thing, and it’s not about wealth (unless maybe it’s the kind of wealth you could spot from space). The last legacy kid I knew at Harvard was also accepted at Yale, Stanford, Princeton, and MIT. I know one alumnus family of relatively modest means that has had three kids go to Harvard (the last one Z-listed), and another where the parents have four Harvard degrees between them and were involved alumni and million-dollar lifetime donors, and neither of their kids (perfectly well qualified in terms of grades and scores, at least) was accepted.
I don’t know when Harvard started the Z-list, but it’s still pretty unique. The University of Chicago started making deferred admission offers two years ago, and that’'s the only other program I have heard about.
This happened less than 15 years ago. I don’t know the exact details and what went on behind the scenes. One of them I know applied early admission but didn’t get in. Dads (alums) pulled some strings and got them in. They are “old money” though and I think influential in other ways, so maybe it has less to do with money than their families’ influence.
@Regure01 are you still considering others school? I feel a similar way.
The ‘clown college’ is most likely Ringling College of Art and Design. It is a top choice among artists,along with SCAD, CalArts, MICA and RISD.
I thought the above comment (clearly out of context) would post underneath post #18, which referred to a ‘clown college’.
I’m choosing UT over Harvard because they offered me more money (in state) and Harvard gave me nothing. Plus McCombs school of business is so highly ranked for my major which Harvard doesn’t offer as a Liberal Arts college. So…
My D’s friend turned down Harvard for univ of Miami because
- Got accepted to BS/MD program at univ of Miami
- Univ of Miami has the #1 or #2 Ophthalmology residency in country, and he wanted to become an ophthalmologist
- Cost was cheaper
I’m turning down Harvard for IU since they gave me a full ride and Harvard gave me close to nothing.
@oystershelleatme Harvard gave you close to nothing because your parents make lots of money or have lots of assets. You get what you pay for!!!
@florida26 I’m sorry, but you do not know my full financial situation. It look like we make more money than we actually do on paper.
Also IU gave me a research position within a lab already, and that’s what I want to do.
@oystershelleatme Harvard has tons of research positions all you have to do is ask. Sorry but if you make money on paper you probably do. If you have a very special financial situation their financial aid office is very accommodating. Some people value a Harvard education more than saving a few bucks
@florida26 Wow thank you for telling me what to do with my life random stranger who doesn’t know my situation at all!
Money is not the only problem in this situation, and Harvard will be more of an option for me in grad or med school.
What I have found is that folks whose parents make $120-200k cannot fund a Harvard education out of this paycheck and unless there are considerable assets to dig into, families in this income range get zero financial aid from Harvard and the Ivies making them unaffordable. These boards are full of kids accepted to Ivies who won’t be going because of this @florida26.
@oystershelleatme if you dont like advice from random strangers dont post on cc. That will solve the problem. I just ran the Harvard net price calculator and for 150,000 in income the cost to the student of a harvard education is 20,000 per year. That seems reasonable to me.
@Rdtsmith Thank you for understanding. I am in this income range and I got close to nothing like I said before.
I think it matters more to have the flashy names for graduate or med school, rather than undergraduate.
Plus I don’t need Harvard’s name to be the greatest I can be.
@florida26 Okay Bill Gates, tell me where I can find that money. Also the cost was much higher for me - $35000