Harvard is not competitive. It’s not particularly collaborative either, compared to say MIT.
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Can’t seem to edit my post.
Her predicted grades are A star A star A but now with extra time will likely be triple A star (the stars threw the html)
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If she gets in ED, she’s committed to that school. An acceptance to Cambridge is not a valid reason to break an ED agreement.
Correct. It used to not count, but that changed a few years ago.
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But is the organization relevant? Can we stipulate that the OP’s facts are as he says?
I just think sometimes we ask for info that we don’t need/is too personal/will identify the poster. Plus – google! There’s only one such organization as far as I can tell.
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I’m not doubting anything. I’m genuinely wondering what organization this is because I have many relatives in the UK and I want to be sure I’m clear about what he says.
I googled already.
Given the limited financial resources of this family, I’d also say Harvard. And I’d love to know what this organization is, if OP would care to share.
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I have not asked her so do not feel I can say the org she is with as there are so few in it, it could identify her.
She comes from a one parent household … it’s complicated. She has reached out to me for the first time, so I don’t want to mess up. The funding is not under my control and I have no ability to pay but then it’s more complicated so I’d like to avoid further discussion of this - sorry.
As to Oxford being the best university … at the world ranking top it depends very much on subject… And it’s more complicated as most of the weighting seems to be based on research prestige.
Computer Science it’s MIT, HSPS it’s Cambridge second Harvard for Oriental Languages it’s Oxford … There is no ONE university that is the best but Harvard is of you had to choose just one. (From my studies this month - and bit have I gone down this rabbit hole 18/7 since she reached out)
Got it.
I know there’s no one best university in the world and my tongue was in my cheek.
There are no bad choices here. Cambridge is amazing too. I think you should go with whatever finances will work best for you.
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I just want to point out, I don’t think one can rightly state that Harvard has the best Hum/SS instruction in the world. Don’t get me wrong – Harvard is very good at everything – but the diva of the Ivy League, colloquially speaking, is Yale. Yale at least equals Harvard in Hum/SS, if it isn’t a notch above.
All of the Ivies, including Brown, are typically strong in Hum/SS courses.
She should choose based on fit, and between the schools, it sounds like Brown is the better fit. The ED/SCEA strategy has been discussed adequately – I’ve nothing to add there.
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Yes for Cambridge she would get high level bursary. I also would like to not go down the rabbit hole you mentioned as I’ve often been told I’m morally ‘up myself’ but my d is highly moral and straight in the way only teen-agers can be. Thanks for the engagement … appreciated.
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Yale is a nice cultural compromise between Harvard and Brown btw…
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Agree. I wondered if Yale wasn’t being considered for some reason.
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Additional to a Cambridge bursary she would get UK student loan. Most uK kids owe £100k (120US?) by the time they pay the first pound/dollar off from salary deductions so it seems that the US option is by far the cheapest… Which shocked me.
She has a school alumni that is now at Harvard who gets four flights a year, everything paid for and is valued at 500k of total funding. His family circumstances are also better than hers. I nearly fell off my chair at that. Not having a typical UK student debt is therefore a significant advantage. Even if she could get into Cambridge getting in to an ivy or similar with full funding would put her in a better position in life therefore.
She lives in a rural village and has not travelled extensively, but knows I’ve lived in 21 countries so I’m not sure if I should be concerned if that is influencing her wonder lust, but there is nothing I can do about that so should stop overthinking.
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Skimmed all the posts and didn’t see mention of Emma Watson.
I always assumed she’d raised the profile of Brown quite significantly over there. Guess I was wrong.
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I’m just passing on what she told me.
I think she looked at Harvard because it is ranked next to Cambridge for HSPS the UK course she wants to do. Brown came out of reading a book of US universities given to her on her program and she said it ‘stood out’ and make her think about her ‘experience’ for four years. She is very ‘liberal’ (when I lived in Florida most of the people I worked with would have labelled her a total commie lol) and a radical atheist (she did spent 8 years as a chorister when younger but rebutted it… So I think she might think that Brown would be more accepting of that than many universities in the States… but that is just my speculation.
I do think you’re underestimating Brown here (and I’m not just saying this as an alum). It’s outstanding in the social sciences and humanities. I’m not sure you can really apply a relative ranking between Brown and Harvard because the best academic fit will be the one that suits her best. Check out departmental offerings, faculty, the availability of research opportunities, internships, and other opportunities related to areas of study that interest her. But one of these universities is not clearly superior in this respect.
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Point taken. Personally I love what I’ve read and heard about Brown…
She did tell me that Emma Watson and Obama’s daughter went there … But none of her friends knew that (a bunch of high achieving geek girls half wanting to do medicine)
That was my thought too… OP is she constrained to Harvard and Brown?
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I would also say that her politics (as you’ve described them) would fit in well at dozens (at least) of colleges and universities across the US. Not that she’s considering dozens, but Brown – while certainly liberal – is not uniquely so by a long shot.
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The ivies are hardly conservative, specially when you are comparing to Florida. This is a non-issue IMO.
There is a reason why Brown constantly makes “the happiest students” list.
Given the financial constraints, as a strategy I’d probably apply to Harvard SCEA (IF it’s a good fit, even if not the best) and RD to Brown.
If there is a significant difference in fit, fit should take precedence over rankings. A student is more likely to achieve more at a place they love and feel great about themselves, negating the advantages of rank.
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