The OP said $200,000 in LOANS.
There is no way H is worth going into debt for that amount over Wash U…
Do you have to maintain a certain GPA with a certain number of credits to keep the scholarship at WashU? If so, there is a chance you could lose it and then Harvard might be the better deal. Does the Harvard financial aid have any stipulations?
I’m curious about your family income, since I’ve heard Harvard’s FA was great. Feel free to ignore this since of course that is private info.
Definitely WashU lol. Well as you can see i’m biased. My older brother actually went to WashU undergrad. He didn’t get into Harvard for med school, but he got into Johns Hopkins and many other top 15 med schools with scholarships.
Thank you for everyone’s responses. I really appreciate the insight. Does anyone have experience or info about the difference in undergrad experience at these schools? Competitiveness, grade inflation/deflation, support system for pre-meds? Pre-med advising and the academic community is really important to me in terms of preparing me for med school.
@BunnyBlue There is no GPA requirement for the scholarship program I’m in, it basically just states that I have to do relatively well in school and lead activities in community service. It’s a program known for having no requirements, which is really nice for the scholars.
I’m not sure whether Harvard will match some of the financial aid, but I doubt that they’ll match it as well as WashU has covered me. I’m calling them later this week to ask if they can match WashU in addition to the financial aid that I received from them (around 10K in grants, rest in loans). Any advice on matching aid?
@happy1 @nw2this My family is middle class, definitely not in the top 0.5% to be able to throw away 200K without thought. They’ve saved money for my college fund for a while, so they are willing to pay for the difference b/t Harvard and WashU with the money they have saved, but I would probably have to take out several loans since we have to save for med school too.
@Zorbinger @washugrad That’s actually really helpful, thank you! Can you elaborate on your experiences with WashU and especially for pre-med there?
College funds can be applied to med school as well. With med school generally costing a ton, I would not blow it on undergrad when you can attend WashU at a steep discount.
I wasn’t premed (physics and German majors). I didn’t find it competitive at all in my major. Grade-wise the hardest classes for me were a couple of breadth requirements I took in literature (one of them I ended up doing pass-fail). Oh and the one 400-level math class that I took sophomore year that firmly ended any thoughts of doing a math major 
. Again, over 25 years ago, so no idea how relevant this would be now. I can tell you that at the time I was there, about half the students were midwestern kids for whom Wash U was their top choice (didn’t want to travel to the East Coast or West Coast for school). The other half were kids from Long Island or New Jersey who didn’t get into Harvard or Cornell and were a little bitter at being stuck in St. Louis for 4 years. But most of them got over that and ended up having a lot of fun. I got to see some name bands (easier to get concert tix in St Louis than in much larger cities).
Good luck with your decision!
“Any advice on matching aid?”
Dont bother asking. Wash U is not a “peer” of Harvard, at least in Harvards eyes.
If it were SYP, they might consider offering more FA, it but since it a merit scholarship, and the Ivys dont offer them, calling would just be a waste of time.
We went through the same situation- full tuition scholarship vrs and Ivy acceptances- The Ivys did not budge.
Sorry but $50,000/year for Harvard puts your family above middle class. There is a lot of room between upper income and top 1%. Now, I still think the idea of Wash U for undergrad and shoot for Harvard for medical school is a good idea.
I will question the double major with business though. It’s a great major but surely a distraction from premed. Finance courses aren’t as easy as some might think. And most business schools have around 60 hours of requirements beyond the general distribution requirements. Take a few business classes on the side. Micro and macro econ, intro to marketing, maybe an entrepeneurship class.
And I think for Harvard undergrad you major in Econ, not business as an undergrad.
Sometimes I wonder if threads like this are a joke.
they’re not.
The kind of choices the OP has does occur.
@bloxJacket That would be all well and good if Harvard’s med school acceptance rate weren’t 3.7%. WashU is still the clear choice, but pre-med students usually apply to ~15 med schools, often as many as 25, and most only get into a few. Actually, 50-60% are rejected from all of them, so even a few is very good.
@Sportsman88 If I choose to commit to Harvard, my family will have to take out loans. Not sure if that was clear - sorry! I said that “They are willing to pay for the difference b/t Harvard and WashU…but I would probably have to take out several loans” to cover Harvard. My apologies if I was unclear - $50,000 per year vs. ~$10,000 is still a gaping difference for us, but they’re pushing me to pursue Harvard because of its prestige, alumni network, etc. I just don’t know if it’s worth it, and by the looks of this thread, I think it may be WashU for me.
Thanks for you advice regarding majors, I’ll definitely look into that. Since medical school is my major focus, I might just take a couple business courses in entrepreneurship/marketing/econ like you said.
@menloparkmom Ahhh okay 
Did your student end up choosing the Ivy or the full ride? I haven’t gotten around to calling H admissions yet, but by the looks of it, they won’t match.
@usualhopeful Exactly! A lot of people have suggested “just go to WashU and go to Harvard for med” but I would have to be accepted to Harvard med first, which is nearly impossible. I don’t think I should bank my hopes on Harvard med, I’m still shocked that I got into the schools I got into in the first place. Honestly just don’t know if I should pass up on my one chance at Harvard I’ve been given (miraculously), even though logically WashU is the best option. Does that make sense?
Well OP, your chances of admission to Harvard were nearly the same as getting into the Harvard med school. You did it once. Why not try again?
@OnTheBubble I’m having trouble deciding and I came to this community to find people to help. Why is Harvard vs. full ride a joke when there are threads almost exactly the same on CC? http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1880739-stanford-or-full-ride-p3.html
@“Erin’s Dad” Thank you!! Guess I just don’t have much faith in myself lol, plus it’s really tough to turn down Harvard.
Looks like I’m gonna be a Bear!! Probably committing later this week, if anyone has more advice I would really appreciate it 
“Did your student end up choosing the Ivy or the full ride?”
He went with the full tuition scholarship school. Did great in college and is now getting his PhD at Caltech.
BOTH he and we were relieved and grateful to NOT have the financial pressure of having to pay for college, since we knew that grad school was always in future. Your parents will appreciate it too!
True story from another CC student who was applying to college at the same time as our Son.
She was accepted at Yale, and also received a fabulous full ride scholarship at Rhodes, which is a very good LAC for premeds. Parents could not afford Yale, so the daughter went to Rhodes, did fabulously , applied to Yale for Med school and was accepted- once again! Finished up her MD there in 2014.
There ARE happy endings for the kids who can land the big Merit scholarships!
The creme always rises to the top!
And YES you should pass up Harvard, for Wash U and save the $$ for med school.
I have to wonder about your parents’ thinking. Why would they think that Harvard undergrad or an alumni network would matter for a doctor?
Do they think that the MDs who get the beat residencies schmooze the best?
There’s no reason for OP not to apply in 4 years to Harvard med, but posters are telling them to plan on going there. Realistically, it’s very unlikely.
But that still doesn’t mean Harvard is worth 200k. Boston may be a better college town, but St. Louis is still a major city. Both schools will have similar opportunities. There might be a bit of a difference in “vibe,” but I think both of them are pretty normal college atmospheres, with similarly-qualified student bodies. To the general population, Harvard has a leg up on prestige, but among future employers, that advantage will be pretty much nonexistent - especially in life sciences, which WUSTL is known for. With an MD, your UG prestige will be even less important. And STEM employers are definitely not going to pick anyone just because they went to Harvard rather than Wash U.
@juniorindistress I would send the deposit to Wash U and not think about this for another second. There are more people in the real world that think Wash U is a better school than Harvard. Also, Wash U sends more kids to medical school overall and has historically shown preference to its grads for its top medical school. That’s what I meant.