<p>Why do you not want to go to Harvard?</p>
<p>Is it just because you think you can’t get in? Are you rebelling because your father wants you to go there? Or is there some quantifiable reason why you just don’t want to go?</p>
<p>^I just have to state the obvious that not every kid wants to go to Harvard. D1, who got one of those letters, would not have gotten in with her transcript, but she also never had any interest in going there. She is happily attending NYU as a film student.</p>
<p>no advice one way or the other…just cracking up at your location (“off the wall”)! LOL, that’s so cute. i think we may be neighbors! </p>
<p>and now i can’t get that song out of my head…</p>
<p>Strong concurrence with JHS. NYU will throw money at kids it really wants, but it has no need to do so for ED applicants. As another poster mentioned, it IS insane to apply ED to NYU (or any college that does not meet full need) if you need big money to attend college.</p>
<p>And your dad is correct. H offers the best need-based package that exists. If he is paying the app fee, you have no reason not to apply. Sure, your gpa may result in auto rejection, but so what? You can show dad that you were right all along. Apply to NYU RD as well as some other schools and hopefully NYU will shower money on you.</p>
<p>Send a Harvard App in just to keep your dad quiet. I will be doing the same thing. My dad is pestering me to apply to Dartmouth so I will send one in since he’s paying for it and the app is pretty harmless. But as far as your FA is concerned, definitely look into Columbia instead of NYU…both in the city, but Columbia has better aid packages.</p>
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<p>Absolutely right. My D got one of those Harvard apps in the mail. She had never expressed an interest in Harvard, but getting the app in the mail made her stop and think about it. Her response: “I really don’t want to go to Harvard and I probably wouldn’t get in anyway, but what if I did? Then everyone would tell me I’d be stupid to turn down Harvard and I might think I had to go. But I don’t WANT to go to Harvard, so I’m not going to apply.”</p>
<p>Sensible kid. Not that there’s anything wrong with Harvard, but she just knew it wasn’t her cup of tea, and she’s probably right. She was accepted ED at her top choice, a highly selective LAC, and she’s happy, working hard and learning a ton in the place she wants to be.</p>
<p>I think it might be a mistake for the OP to apply to Harvard just to please her Dad if she knows she doesn’t want to go there. What if she gets in? But I also agree with the posters warning about applying to NYU ED if money’s an issue. They don’t even promise to meet 100% of need. They will let you back out of ED if they offer you less than 100% of need, but still, I think you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.</p>
<p>@wildwood–I agree that not every kid wants to go to Harvard. I just want to know OP’s reason. If it’s simply because dad wants her to go and she’s rebelling against that, she may be missing out on the chance to judge for herself whether it may be a good choice for her.</p>
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<p>On the OP’s other threads: With a low 3 gpa, 3 D’s (and no excuse other than didn’t like those subjects) and downward trend…unless lighting strikes, it ain’t happenin’… </p>
<p>btw: OP: last May, you posted that you “loved” everything about Hampshire and wanted to apply ED to that school…</p>
<p>@OP: You can always sabotage the application. I certainly wouldn’t expect you to get in, but writing your essays about how much you hate Harvard might be a good way to guarantee that outcome.</p>
<p>I don’t like the idea of ED at NYU in your scenario.</p>
<p>^^Well, if that’s the case then the OP knows very well what she’s talking about when she says she wouldn’t get in. The question then becomes how does she convince her father not to throw away the application fee.</p>
<p>I appreciate all your responses :] </p>
<p>Reading them, I guess I pretty much have to reconsider EVERYTHING now. My understanding was that if NYU doesn’t give you a package that enables you to end, you can turn down the acceptance. Is it that they consider $200,000 in loans a package that “enables you to attend”? Thanks for the save, I’ll definitely be applying RD now. And I guess I’ll toss in a Harvard app. It’ll be a depressing experience for sure, though. I hate half-assing things, and I’ll definitely be half-assing this. Le sigh.</p>
<p>SlitheyTove, thanks for the advice. Starting a thread asking for schools is a great idea.</p>
<p>Lol @ calimami! That’s my second favorite MJ album. Livin’ crazy is the only waaayy ;]</p>
<p>bluebayou: I’m still applying to Hampshire EA. I am slightly fickle, I’ll acknowledge that. Lol.</p>
<p>And by the way, it’s not that I don’t want to go to Harvard – I’d actually love to go to Harvard. It’s just that I know I won’t get in, and I’m okay with that. :)</p>
<p>I agree, too, that not everyone should want to go to Harvard. On the other hand, a serious writer with good test scores, $0 EFC, and good grades in the things she cares about who is in love with NYU . . . that person doesn’t have a strong basis for turning up her nose at Harvard.</p>
<p>I surmise from the OP’s interest in Gallatin, specifically, and Hampshire that she is especially interested in a personalized curriculum. I respect that, but I would suggest that she give it a really hard look. The difference between a totally personalized curriculum and what people do at a place like Harvard is actually pretty small. Columbia, however, may not be right for her.</p>
<p>I suggest that she also look at Brown, Penn, and Johns Hopkins – all places that have light or no general education requirements, excellent undergraduate writing programs, and curricular flexibility. Also maybe Pitzer and Bard – not unlike Hampshire, and maybe willing to come up with enough money to attract a unique student.</p>
<p>By the way, I am sure NYU would not propose a package with $200,000 in loans. But $80,000 in loans? Maybe.</p>
<p>girlcanDISCO, as you can tell, we’re going to root for you. 
I’ll second JHS’s suggestions, and throw in Kenyon and Grinell as some other ideas.</p>
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<p>If the OP’s EFC is zero (or anywhere near that figure) Harvard would give her a waiver of the $75 application fee.</p>
<p>OP, take a look at Sarah Lawrence. Although their FA is not known to be great, it is a very interesting school that is tailor-made for a writer who wants to devise their own program. And it has easy access to NYC. You might want to look at Goucher also, for an easier admit that attracts creative types.</p>
<p>girlcanDISCO</p>
<p>Other folks here think that your EFC is likely to be 0. Did you get that figure from one of the EFC calculators, and if so, did you do that yourself, or did you sit your parents down and have them run the calculator with you? Do our parents have a clear understanding of how the financial aid system works? Do you have at least one rock-solid academic and financial safety pinned down so you have a college or university that you would be happy to attend if everything else goes wrong in the admissions process? I ask this because I don’t see any clear safeties in the suggestions the others have made here. You’ve been given a nice set of reaches and matches, but the fundamental rule of college application lists is “love thy safety”. Find one or two, and then build your list from the bottom up.</p>
<p>Amherst, too, with Open Curriculum and good FA.</p>
<p>Barnard - great writing program, NYC location, access to Columbia courses.</p>
<p>I think you will get into Harvard. Apply via the Common App. You don’t have to go. If you get admitted, you can visit the campus ad make up your mind later.</p>
<p>For those giving recommendations, OP listed that she was in the top 30% of her class. That will make admissions to many competitive schools significantly more difficult.</p>