<p>Harvard, along with a few other Ivies will now permit admitted students to enroll at their universities for free, if their income is below 40,000. Obviously, that still means Harvard and other top schools want excellent, qualified applicants, but do you also think perhaps they're trying to attract lower-income students who aren't so top-notch? Obviously, some people who get in aren't the 2400 SAT valedictorians. So, should someone with good grades, mostly As and Bs and 700 and above SAT IIs, and a 2000 or higher SAT with good ECs and recs still apply ? (This is just a hypothetical situation.) Does harvard expect low-income students to be on par with those who get top grades, or do they believe that income and school performance have nothing to do with eachother, and have no correlation whatsoever ? Basically, in harvard's eyes, do good-performing poorer students have more of an "edge" over those who have a high income with the same grades ?</p>
<p>Good questions.</p>
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Harvard, along with a few other Ivies will now permit admitted students to enroll at their universities for free, if their income is below 40,000.
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<p>Just for clarification, it was changed. Students with a family income below $60,000 will receive full tuition, and students with family incomes between $60-80,000 will also receive large amounts of financial aid and have their tuition significantly reduced.</p>
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Does harvard expect low-income students to be on par with those who get top grades, or do they believe that income and school performance have nothing to do with eachother, and have no correlation whatsoever ? Basically, in harvard's eyes, do good-performing poorer students have more of an "edge" over those who have a high income with the same grades ?
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<p>What Harvard says--and has always said--is that it's looking for /potential/--the potential to achieve great things both at Harvard and beyond--which can't be measured by AP or SAT scores, hence the emphasis on factors like personal essays, etc. </p>
<p>Really, the only major differences between the low-income students and, say, the richer private schoolers is that the richer kids have more resources--can afford the SAT tutors, can pay for the great schools with the great academic programs, can pay for the private cello lessons etc. But it is very possible for low income students at Harvard to be "on par" with the richer kids because, frankly, they demonstrated the potential to do so when they applied and were accepted. Do the students get an "edge"? Well, given how many Harvard students still come from great high schools or wealthier families, I wouldn't necessarily say it's Golden Ticket--you still have to be an impressive candidate overall. But these factors are absolutely taken into consideration; and you have to admit, if you are someone put at a disadvantage by your lack of resources, the fact that you are able to rise above this and achieve great things is a testament to your character, and admissions officers will definitely notice this.</p>
<p>I think you should perhaps expand or revise your definition of "top notch" to include the students who may not have had the greatest resources in high school but who will certainly bring the skills and the drive to take advantage of the great resources at Harvard--because that is what it means to be "top notch" at Harvard.</p>
<p>saxfreq, thanks for the great reply ! I have another question: when colleges talk about "overcoming your financial situation", are they mostly talking about the very, very poor students, or can they also be the lower middle-class ?</p>
<p>This is my experience, at least: when they say "overcoming your financial situation", they mean the adversity that comes along with your financial situation. Read: people who were homeless or went to awful schools or something. I'm one of the "HFAI students" and I was never homeless, but I have had a great deal of adversity in my life and much of it has been due to my financial situation. Depends on the situation, I'd say.</p>