To whom ever it may concern, I am currently a sophomore in high school but I have been dreaming about going to Harvard University since I was a young child and I am now worrying more and more as the school year comes to an end. I am more than aware that 11th grade is where I enter the I.B program begins and also the year I start applying to scholarships. I guess I just need some help on how or where to get information on scholarships because as of it right now I am not financially equipped realistically for the college I would love to go to. (Unless I win the lottery tomorrow.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP
Hey man/girl!
I highly encourage you to do some research on Harvard’s financial aid policies. Because of that whole we-have-the-largest-endowment-in-the-world thing, Harvard is extremely affordable for most students. In fact, for many, it’s actually cheaper than their state school. It’s not the kind of school that you need to win the lottery or fifty scholarships to be able to afford. That being said, there are a ton of scholarship websites out there. I remember using Cappex for a while. There’s many more, just Google. Also, go to your counselor at school. They’re bound to have loads of information for you.
Harvard itself doesn’t grant merit-based scholarships. As well, should you receive a great deal of outside scholarship money, it will impace the amount of financial aid the school will give you.
Harvard’s financial aid is entirely needs-based, and admissions are entirely needs-blind. In other words, if you need them to foot the whole bill for you, they will, and it won’t enter into the decision as whether to admit you or not. Harvard’s aid is very generous, as the other poster points out.
However, there is a certain set of families for whom Harvard may be financially difficult. These are families where household income exceeds somewhere around $150,000 per year. From that income point on, there is a rapid escalation of how much tuition the family will be expected to contribute to the cost of the education. At around $250,000 in family income financial aid usually completely phases out, with one child in college, and at that point, families are obligated to pay the entire ~$65K. As income increases beyond that point, obviously, the $65K becomes a smaller and smaller relative burden to the family. But for families with incomes between those two points: $150K and $250K, Harvard can become a real financial burden.
Harvard, like all colleges, has a net price calculator that will give you an idea of the approximate Expected Family Contribution required of your family. It’s here:
https://college.harvard.edu/financial-aid/net-price-calculator
It’s one of the easiest net price calculators to use, and will give you a rough idea of how much Harvard would cost your family.
Get yourself a book, like FISKE Guide and start reading about the different colleges and evaluate things you like in a college aside from childish reasons like the NAME. And you will need more to apply to than one. And have your parents or you read the Financial Aid FAQ as posted at the pinned threads at the top of the financial aid forum. Or get a book like How to Pay for College without Going Broke.
Honestly, if you have to ask people why Harvard is a good school for you, then that means you’re going about this process the wrong way. It seems as if you’re only interested in a name.