A letter from God doesnt get you in. Being God can help. Seriously, whoever is telling you she has a great chance of getting into harvard and or brown is not familiar with the current admissions climate. She has a chance, but i would say about 10 percent at harvard. Less at Brown since she needs aid.
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You want to use early decision for a school that is your KIDâS favorite bar none. Not some counseling agencyâŠyour kid. That is what matters. And you want to be assured that itâs affordable. Otherwise itâs a waste of an application.
As noted aboveâŠHarvard is SCEAâŠsingle choice early action. Brown is ED.
So which is your daughterâs favoriteâŠnot yours, not some counseling agencyâŠyour daughterâŠbecause after all, she will be going to college there for four years.
Keep in mind also, that you will need to complete a certificate of finances that shows you have the funds at the ready to pay for four years of college here. This can include already awarded and guaranteed aid.
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Yes thatâs what Iâm thinking 1:5 to 1:3 but donât know well enough to have stated that- I know how to put a âchanceâ against a UK Uni, not a US one so wasnât going to get into that debate. She has been told that for Early Decision her chances will double compared to regular entry - hence her dilemma in choosing which to out down for early decision. She has a list of about 8 for regular decision but Early decision comes up much earlier so is considering that first.
@UKDad againâŠHarvard doesnât have ED.
Yes, her chances will be somewhat better in the ED or SCEA round.
@MYOS1634 any thoughts here?
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But I donât think ED doubles the chances for an unhooked applicant. Most ED spots at rejective schools are taken up by athletes, development cases, and legacies. Leaving very few spots for someone without a special connection to the university or without a particular attribute the university wants.
So the real question is whether attending college in the US is important. If there are better options in the UK, ED to Brown. If your daughter really wants to study in the US consider being more strategic with the ED card.
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Do you have an estimate of what each of these schools might cost you over 4 years? And as @thumper1 mentioned, will you be able to show proof of finances covering that total cost? (This documentation is required for a student visa)
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She is on an international scholarship program that helps with students going to US Universities, not a councillor or private company.
And to be clear - Iâm trying to support my daughter in her choice not to decide for her.
I quoted her dilemma not my own.
If she did what I wanted her to do she would be doing IT and specialising in AL LOL
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The org she is a scholar on have done this.
Household income is less than $20k so this is on maximum needs basis.
Brown is not needs blind, Harvard is.
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If you are not interested in chances (thatâs a good thing) then whatâs the point of the exercise?
She should pick the one she likes best. Based on what you said Iâd go with Brown, particularly since the biggest thing Harvard seems to have going for it (in this discussion) is the name. Maybe Brown doesnât have as much street recognition, but I bet the people who matter (employers/grad school) know it just fine.
But like Ski said - if she applies to Harvard and gets in, she she can still apply to Brown, but not the other way around.
I feel like someone applying to Harvard AND Brown would probably be looking at Princeton and Yale too? To me, Harvard and Brown or on opposite ends (in âvibeâ) with the other two following in between?
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@TonyGrace yesâŠshe can apply to both, but if she applies to Harvard SCEA, she can NOT apply to Brown ED. She would need to apply to Brown in the RD round. This might not be a bad optionâŠbut I think this parent wants to leverage an ED application for admission purposes.
@skieurope does applying SCEA to Harvard give any admission advantage?
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Sorry, I missed this earlier and am reversing my prior recommendation re Brown.
Since your daughter will be expected to return to the UK after her graduation (unless she finds a sponsoring employer - quite rare in the humanities field), Brown and other universities that donât have name recognition back home might not be a great choice. Probably best to stick with Harvard, Princeton, etc with the UK universities being the backup option.
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Thanks Tony,
From my knowledge of her I think Brown would be best fit by a country mile.
She however wants in UK terms to âStudy Human, Social and Political Sciencesâ and academically other than the âFrenchâ and maths Harvard suits her academic desires best.
Socially she thinks Brown will suit her best and that she would have âa more fun timeâ there.
She is wrestling with âmore fun/suits me sociallyâ against âsuits me academicallyâ.
She has watched a lot of youtube videos with all the Brown students saying itâs great and only half the Harvard students saying itâs great, some saying itâs awful and will give anybody a nervous breakdown or turn them into some sort of corporate shark.
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I donât think Harvard is a cutthroat environment. But agree that Brown students on average are probably more chill.
Because Harvard is need blind for internationals, that would be a good reason to choose it, assuming your D likes the visit. I donât think the chance of acceptance to Brown ED is greater than Harvard SCEA, which seems to be part of the question. Perhaps she will like another school better when she makes these visits.
Remember also that a Brown ED acceptance is binding (Harvard SCEA is not). So if your D gets in, she is committed to attendâŠEven if she gets in to Cambridge, which she would never know because she would pull her Cambridge app in mid to late Dec if she gets in to Brown. Is that the choice she would make? With Harvard SCEA, she could keep in her Cambridge app and see if she gets in.
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The spirit of Early Decision is that you apply to a school that is the one school you really wish to attend and if accepted you will attend. Do Harvard and or Brown fall into that category or would either of them be trumped by Cambridge? Between the two which would she prefer to attend? I would take the minor admissions bump out of the equation.
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Thanks for the considered answer - appreciated.
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Just adding a little rub to this discussion. The federal financial aid form for US students wonât be released this year until December. It was previously October. No one knows what this will do to the ED timeline for admission decisions as financial aid awards are received as part of the ED acceptance (assuming applications are done on time). No one also knows whether the CSS Profile will follow suit time wise. All very up in the air.
SoâŠyour kid might not get an ED acceptance with aid from Brown until sometime in late January.
Just an FYI.
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My DD24 is also applying to oxbridge and usa - def be wary of being committed before oxbridge jan results unless your dd is totally sure she would accept and withdraw from oxbridge. My dd has international ECs and a 35 ACT but I rate her chances at sub 10% and she will apply to a lot of USA schools having seen friends go through the process this year. Will also use all 5 UK choices.
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Thanks for the pointer on what the various âearlyâsâ mean - appreciated.
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Harvard says no. While the REA acceptance rate is higher ( but not as high as Brownâs ED acceptance rate), you have to back out the ~200 recruited athletes, the legacies, the fac brats, etc. Keep in mind that the composition of REA admits, other than athletes, is not publicly known. Some of the data crunchers will still claim a slight boost, but I donât think it should be the reason to apply REA.
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I did not realise that - so thankyou for making that more clear.
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