<p>^ Take Humility 101 @ Stanford. That’ll help your cause.</p>
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<p>Stanford has amazing finaid, no?</p>
<p>Not when compared to Harvard and Princeton.</p>
<p>My D turned down Harvard today. She decided on Stanford. It was a hard and agonizing decision. She liked Harvard, but LOVED Stanford. It really was the people that did it for her. The Harvard kids just weren’t nice at Visitas. She was fine and was able to have a good time there, but many, many others around her were suffering. Some were even brought to tears.</p>
<p>At the Stanford Admit Days, there were many Harvard/Stanford cross-admit kids and parents. Many of them were trying to figure out if the kids at H are always so rude, or if this year was somehow different. Perhaps the Yardfest had something to do with it?</p>
<p>Anyway, Harvard remains a great college, which is why D had such a hard time deciding in spite of the negative vibe she felt there. But, for my D, Stanford was by far the greatest choice.</p>
<p>Good luck and congratulations to all who had to weather this tough decision! At this level, there is no wrong decision.</p>
<p>dignified - did nt she also get into Yale? Congratulations on reaching the destination.</p>
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<p>I’m curious, what could’ve possibly brought prospective students to tears?</p>
<p>@London, I am not sure which thread discussed the issues some admits had with the kids at Visitas. It may be this one, so you might want to browse through the early pages of this thread. Basically, however, many kids were stranded, left alone, unable to get into their rooms, unable to find their hosts. Others were met with disdain and statements such as “Of course, you are going to Harvard.” or “No one turns down Harvard, so why are you asking me these questions?” and bad comments about the other college possibilities. There were also issues of extremely poor behavior at Yardfest, which, while somewhat understandable, was a turnoff for many. Mainly, however, it was a general feeling that the current kids did not look forward to or care about the pre-frosh at all and could not care less if they attended or not.</p>
<p>The Stanford (and Yale) kids on the other hand, seemed to really look forward to having the new group join. Almost as if they saw them as potential new friends, new dormmates, new study group members, new blood, etc.</p>
<p>I personally cannot believe that kids suddenly become rude and pompous when they join Harvard, but there is clearly a different philosophy being followed by the Admit Weekend organizers at HY&S (and MIT, which also put on a great Admit Weekend). Yale and Stanford seem to understand that those few hundred kids who were talented enough to be accepted to most of the top colleges they applied to need to be wooed on many different levels. Gone are the days that kids of this caliber choose a college simply because of tradition and what their parents think. Gone are the days that kids of this caliber automatically hit the submit button when they get into Harvard.</p>
<p>These kids have worked very hard throughout high school and want to be rewarded with a college experience that is both academically, as well as socially stimulating. And, although I have no doubt that Harvard offers a socially stimulating experience, they were unable to effectively convey that to the majority of cross-admits that my D and I came into contact with.</p>
<p>@texas, yes, my D also turned down Yale today. She thought the kids were great. But, in direct comparison with Stanford, she preferred the location and the slightly more established scientific/technical faculty and curriculum.</p>
<p>I agree that Harvard usually falls short on the wooing department after admission. Yale and Stanford used way more techniques than Harvard did, at least in my experience.</p>
<p>^^I had the opposite experience, though I didn’t go to Visitas and visited at another time. When I sat in on a class, I was immediately greeted by people in the most friendly way. I went on a tour, and the guide seemed to genuinely hope that people come. Never saw any arrogance. I’m sure it’s all there, but I certainly didn’t experience it. Congrats to your D on Stanford!</p>
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<p>It does. But not for internationals, sadly.</p>
<p>D turned down Harvard for Yale, not an easy choice, loved both but wanted to do something different and liked the closeness she felt at Yale. Her siblings go to Harvard by the way so it made the choice extra hard.</p>
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<p>I’m international and Stanford gave me wonderful aid. The only issue there can be is if you DID NOT apply for aid due to the need-aware policy for international students. In that case you are ineligible to apply for aid for the entirety of your undergraduate career. But as the aid package is concerned, Harvard and Stanford’s packages were the same, give or take a couple hundred dollars… At least for me.</p>
<p>Edit: and Stanford promised to match any significantly better need based aid package. You should give them a copy of your other need based aid packages and they will match it. :)</p>
<p>^ Yeah. I didn’t really need aid at the time of the application, but I do now. I can manage without it, but just barely.</p>
<p>kimathi, so are you going to H?</p>
<p>P.S: Just guessing, but are you BM? :)</p>
<p>Edit: Lol, I didn’t apply anywhere else.</p>
<p>Both Harvard and Princeton provide aid irrespective of your location anywhere in the world and they have a single standard for all applicants. I dont believe Stanford follows the same principle for International applicants.</p>
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<p>That is true in so far as the application is concerned. Harvard, Yale and Princeton are need blind for all while Stanford is not. However this is a misleading fact since if you apply for aid at Stanford and you are admitted, you will get it. If you are a competitive applicant and you apply for aid, the need aware policy will not affect you. The problem comes when people think that it is easier for them to be admitted if they do not apply for aid, which is true to some extent. However as a competitive applicant, it will not. Look at the common data set for say Stanford vs Yale and you will find that Stanford awards more aid to more international students than Yale and that Harvard and Stanford award similar aid amounts to a similar number of international students.</p>
<p>Anecdotally speaking, Harvard and Stanford’s aid packages were similar while my Princeton EFC was higher than the two by $7,000. </p>
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<p>I figured as much! I hope you figure everything out dude! GL! :)</p>
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<p>Yes and yes. :)</p>
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<p>This was not smart on your part. I saw somewhere that you withdrew your applications? In retrospect, I am sure you regret that… :p</p>
<p>Kimathi - The aid packages vary based on how each college interprets your EFC and what they put into the equation. I have heard from a parent an year ago that his kid received the most money from Princeton out of the three - Harvard, Princeton and Stanford (the kid ended up at Stanford). </p>
<p>“The only issue there can be is if you DID NOT apply for aid due to the need-aware policy for international students. In that case you are ineligible to apply for aid for the entirety of your undergraduate career.”</p>
<p>When they say need aware, it implies that there is a specific pool of money for need aware applicants and once that runs out, they stop admitting irrespective of how qualified the applicants are. I have gone to presentations by Harvard and Stanford in a single location (from the same stage) and this is very clear when they explain it. So if you get into Stanford as need aware, they will make sure you get through but if they run out of money, you may not get through in the first place. That is the specific reason that they are telling you if you applied for no aid as an international applicant, you cant change that status for 4 years. If you are from US and your parents lose jobs after the first year, they have to give you money in the second year when you are in the needblind category.</p>
<p>Btw - what is a BM?</p>
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<p>I appreciate this and that is why I made the distinction by stating that it is anecdotal evidence which is not really credible nor representative of most aid recipients. I personally know of a couple of people who got significantly better awards from Yale than Harvard. I am sure all types of combinations are in fact possible. :)</p>
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<p>This is true and therefore the large majority of aid seeking international students who apply REA are in fact deferred in order to compare them to the entire pool of aid seeking non residents. This means that they will admit the most competitive applicants regardless of aid applications. Put in another way, for the most competitive applicants, the admission is need blind; the need aware policy essentially comes into affect when they approach the limits of their budget. I hope I am making sense, I feel like I am babbling.</p>
<p>Moreover, this budget is similar for the top schools. Harvard awards the most, around $20million (though they have stated they do not have a budget as concerns aid due to the HFAI), for Princeton, Yale and Stanford the budgets is between $10 million and $20 million. Therefore it is misleading when people think that they have no chance of getting into Stanford as an aid seeking non resident. This sentiment is definitely prevalent amongst international applicant and I will admit I believed it as well. However my aid package from Stanford, which was the second best I got, has definitely made me rethink this.</p>
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<p>Haha! Just PrincetonDreams displaying his stalking capabilities. Those are my initials. :)</p>
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<p>Lol, right, that’s not true. :)</p>
<p>It sucks that you’re not coming to S. It would’ve been great to have you as a fellow classmate. But I’m sure you’ll love Harvard so have a great four years!</p>
<p>After an agonizing decision, I turned down Harvard for Stanford. While I loved both places, I also got the feeling that Stanford’s students wanted us to be there while Harvard…not so much. I guess it comes down to personal choice, but I definitely had better connections with students at all the other college visits I attended than at Visitas. </p>
<p>While I never saw anyone crying, and never broached tears myself, I did have to deal with an extremely rude and strange host that initially deterred me from Harvard, but on the flip side, I wouldn’t say that the students were rude in general.</p>
<p>Kimathi, you’re part of the Soggy C. Team, right? 
B #0 here!</p>