<p>This is my first thread on this site. This is a great site, with so much useful things! I'd really appreciate it if someone in my situation can enlighten me.</p>
<p>I'm from Pacific coast. Without the exciting call last week from Harvard, I would have happily gone to a good public school with a full-ride plus stipend. But now I'm reconsidering. My questions:</p>
<p>1) Are the wait-list admitted students discriminated against in any way? Such as, second-best housing, fin. aid packages, etc?</p>
<p>2) Speaking of fin. aid, how good is the fin. aid office at following their new policy? My parents don't want me to turn down a free education.</p>
<p>3) I'm definitely going to head towards medicine. Do you all think it's worth it to trade off being a "big-fish in a small pond" for four more years of stress and intense competition? But then again, I really believe that going to Harvard would open more doors for me. Plus, I like Cambridge's atmosphere.</p>
<p>Hi and congratulations! I am a Harvard 2010 student and I think I can help with your questions.</p>
<p>As for the first question, the answer is of course no! You will get the same housing and financial aid as all of the other students. There are of course better and worse places to be housed, but that is just as random for you as any other freshman. The financial aid calculations are pretty standardized, so there will be no issue there.</p>
<p>The financial aid office is absolutely AMAZING. When they say, however, that it will be free for families earning under $60,000 a year, that does not mean it is totally free, however. It is free for the parents, but as part of every students financial aid package there is a "self-help" amount which can be met either by paying the amount, getting a loan (from Harvard, presumably), or it can be met by scholarships. This amount is generally around $3,500 for a year, which is not bad at all for a Harvard education!</p>
<p>Going to Harvard will open more doors for you, without a doubt. It may be easier to be a big fish in a small pond, but in terms of med school admissions we have amazing rates and really first-rate science courses for mcat prep and great advising for premed students. The doors that open for you are not just for med school - but rather for finding research opportunities, finding internships (especially international ones where everyone faints at the name Harvard) and seeing awesome world leaders and celebrities coming here on a semi-regular basis. Plus, the students you meet here are sooo interesting and will make Harvard an excellent experience. If you have more questions, please ask away.</p>
<p>I also appreciate your answer's the the op ?'s. My son will be a freshman in the fall and as a nervous mom, I'm happy to hear that you obviously are enjoying your time at Harvard</p>
<p>I agree with stevezilla...choose Harvard. Or if you want to see for yourself, call the admissions office and ask if you can visit the campus (or if they can provide you with the funds to do so)</p>
<p>When you just mentioned the wait-list, it was probably the last time it will ever be mentioned. You're not on the H waitlist - you're a H accepted student! Congratulations!</p>
<p>H financial aid is fabulous as advertised. And the staff is great to work with. How many FA offices would strategize with you on how to negotiate with your donors to stagger your outside scholarships for your best benefit?</p>
<p>My D has experienced no intense competition, and I don't think that any of the students on this board have said they have either. Competition would be fruitless. Everyone's amazing, most H students appear to check their egos at the gate and enjoy one anothers' amazingness. And the doors began to open for my D in her first semester at H.</p>
<p>When D was admitted under the old Early Action program, she had a bunch of other applications ready to go out. Even after her acceptance, she was still planning to send them in when the financial aid estimate arrived and our jaws dropped. Once we regained consciousness, she asked if she should still apply to Yale, Northwestern, et al. I asked "If you go to one of those places will you wonder for the rest of your life what you might have missed at Harvard?" She said "yes" and I said "then I think you're done with your applications."</p>
<p>One more Q: ppl keep on saying how great the medical-entrance record is at Harvard, but what exactly is it? Would it be approximately 70% , or what?</p>
<p>OOh, another one: I've got about ten thousand dollars in outside random scholarships, only $3500 of which can me. How does this "staggering" work?</p>
<p>Call the finaid office. They will work it out so that you can use some of it for a computer and they can defer it to go towards next years contribution. My son also has a nice sum of scholarship $ and it has all been worked out for him.</p>
<p>If your donors are willing, they can agree to hold off on funding your scholarship until a later year, or even until grad school. H fin aid is OK with whatever your donors' wishes are. The first X dollars (I can't recall the amount; is it $4000?) of your outside awards go to replace the "student earnings from work" expectation. After that, for your first year, the next (up to) $2500 can be used to reimburse you (on a one-time basis) for a computer, printer, accessories, and software for college - not peripherals such as iPods.</p>