A School Board member in South Florida has told officials that her son has received a 4 year scholarship to Harvard University this week. She has a propensity to lie to many of her constituents and many believe this is another lie. How likely is this? Does being a SB member give her some weight in getting this scholarship? Her son was neither a merit scholar or on any Honor societies, but allegedly he took tons of duel enrollment to get his GPA up.
Harvard awards need-based aid only. Period. End of story.
Perhaps she got a scholarship to Harvard from some other source?
Many people are not clear on the distinction between a merit scholarship per se and a financial award at a school to which it is very hard to be admitted.
There is no way they received a financial award based on income. So it would have to be merit
Financial aid is available to families making well above the median household income. Although it is a matter of some debate at CC, the Harvard Net Price Calculator clearly shows financial aid available to families in some circumstances with over $200K annual household income.
Thanks but they didn’t get financial aid - she’s claiming a full four year scholarship.
Typically, a full-price financial aid package indicates household income of $65K or less. That’s at least what’s available directly from Harvard.
Skieurope’s right. Harvard awards only need-based aid. I’d be curious to see the mom’s reaction if you asked the name of the scholarship.
It’s possible the student’s getting financial aid and mom is confusing it for a merit based award. Some people hear “grant” and think it means something other than financial aid (which at Harvard and the other Ivies it does not.)
It is of course possible that he’s getting a scholarship from some outside source. Most scholarships are income based as well but there are some, particularly scholarships meant for children of employees of the granting company or kids from certain schools or towns, that can end up going to kids without need if no one with need applies.
It is possible that he got into Harvard and will be receiving need-based aid. Some people use the words aid and scholarship interchangeably.
However, if September rolls around and he is somewhere other than in Cambridge, I would think at that time it might be appropriate to look into whether or not the story was fabricated.
Her son may have received a four year scholarship and he may be going to Harvard, but his scholarship would have had to come from some other source. Perhaps she could be asked to clarify, if this information is going to be publicized in some way.
She must be lying or doesn’t understand that the “scholarship” or “scholarship grant” or “institutional grant” or “institutional scholarship” that they received from Harvard is actually a financial aid based on their income and it’s not based on merit. Not sure exactly how Harvard calls their FA, but their NPC just call it as “scholarship”.
"It’s possible the student’s getting financial aid and mom is confusing it for a merit based award. Some people hear ‘grant’ and think it means something other than financial aid "
This is quite possible. Although the context of the award material and the accompanying letter make clear that the award is need-based financial aid, I dimly recall the words “Harvard Scholarship” in the listing of one of my sons’ financial aid awards.
But the poster insists that the family is not eligible for financial aid, and that the mother claims it is a full scholarship. These two assertions are difficult to reconcile.
Two students at our senior awards night were recognized as receiving scholarships from Harvard as well. They even had names for the scholarships. I just sighed to myself knowing that these must be need based (only merit based scholarships were suppose to be recognized). My guess is the students didn’t know (or perhaps didn’t care) about the difference.
If it’s listed as “scholarship” on their FA award, I can see how they might miss this distinction.
As for the OP’s question, maybe they also don’t know the difference – and keep in mind “4 year” doesn’t mean “full-ride” so maybe there was some need-based money. Or maybe they got an outside scholarship…
Edit: Just noticed that while the original post doesn’t mention “full ride” A later one does. So I guess that changes the possibilities slightly if “full-ride” is truly there. But then again, the woman could be confused between “full ride” and “4-year renewable”.
I agree it sounds fishy. I’m just hesitant to accuse someone of lying without knowing more about the situation. In particular I’ve seen grandparents crowing about their kids getting a “full ride” to an Ivy League or NESCAC school, not realizing that what they’re really telling everyone is that the family doesn’t make much money.
A slightly different situation, but I remember my mother telling people that my first job out of college was as the Assistant Director of Operations for a large organization. I was the Assistant to the Director of Operations. Big diference, and one she didn’t seem to appreciate, despite my best efforts to set the record straight.
Harvard has Army and Navy ROTC, which offers full scholarships. Is that it? I also agree that some need-based aid may be called scholarships.
Yale does call their financial aid a scholarship. It is confusing to many people.
From my statement for the spring bill:
- ANTICIPATED FINANCIAL AID CREDITS -
SPR 15 Scholarship: Yale College
Harvard does the same thing - I’m not sure of the exact wording but I believe my daughter’s term bill calls it “Harvard College Scholarship”. I believe is that in many cases, if the financial aid is endowed by a specific person or fund, the scholarship name will reflect this. All cases, it’s 100% need-based aid.
@BldrDad is correct. The financial aid package that comes from Harvard describes the money as “Harvard College Scholarship.” So, in that respect, I guess my daughter received a “Harvard College Scholarship” for four years as well, and my son received a “Yale College Scholarship” for four years – and it was all based on “need” as determined by the institution.
Some students – again based upon need – receive 100% scholarship which includes tuition, room, board, and expenses. Others, like my kids, might be considered to be on partial scholarship, receiving nothing for room, board and expenses, but free money towards tuition, which Harvard (and Yale) call “Scholarship” money.
Well as you know everything is a political battle, but what difference does it make and why do you care?? Worry about you and yours and not what everyone else does. That’s how you fail in life, not succeed.