Emory full-ride vs Harvard

commlawstudent
Sun, 12 Apr 2020 08:59:31 +0000

Hey guys,

I recently got all my college decisions back and I was fortunate enough to get into a number of good schools. However, after much deliberation, I have narrowed it down to the Woodruff Scholarship at Emory (full tuition, room and board) and Harvard University (full-pay, around 300k USD over 4 years). Harvard has always been a dream school, but I also love Emory and know it’s an amazing place and quite an elite school. I would probably do a double major in Business (Goizueta) and Applied Math at Emory, whilst I would do a major in Applied Math and Economics at Harvard. I might do an MBA in the future, but funding for that doesn’t really concern me as I think I would work before that and I should be able to afford it on my own anyways.

I am leaning towards Harvard at the moment, but every time I think of turning down the full-ride I feel bad, so I would love to hear your opinions on my reasoning for taking Harvard over Emory.

These are the main reasons why I would choose Emory over Harvard:

1. Money: Obviously, I would save 300k USD going to Emory over Harvard. My parents can definitely afford the 300k without too much strain, but 300k is still a lot of money. However, the way we see it is that I can probably make that 300k back and potentially much much more over my career anyways. I want to work in either IB, PE, consulting or public policy after graduation, and I think that the name brand of Harvard does allow for jobs and connections that I wouldn't otherwise have. However, I do not know much about this and would love to hear some more perspectives.

2. Scholar Experience or big fish in small pond: Obviously, being a scholar at Emory would be a unique experience with many additional benefits, like access to professors, research opportunities, scholar retreats, etc. Also, I love the Emory campus and when I visited I thought it was a great place and I really liked the overall vibe. However, I believe I would enjoy the overall experience at Harvard better. I think I enjoy being in a community more of like-minded students as I think that I could learn a lot from my peers who are so talented in different areas.

These are the reasons why I would choose Harvard over Emory:

1. International Reputation: I am actually an international student, and I would strongly consider coming back to my home country to work, or in places like Shanghai and Hong Kong. Whilst I know Emory is very well respected within America and I could probably get most jobs I wanted coming from Emory, I think that internationally Harvard does indeed have greater brand recognition and I could receive significantly more opportunities coming out of Harvard.

2. Harvard Campus/Lifestyle: I really like the plethora of clubs that Harvard has to offer, and I would love to join organisations like The Crimson, Sports Clubs, write for the International or Economics Review, and pre-professional finance/consulting clubs. I think that the clubs at Harvard are just on another level in terms of experience, funding and enjoyability overall. Also, I like Harvard's campus better, although only marginally, and love their housing system, freshman dorms, etc.

3. Once in a lifetime opportunity: I think that Harvard is just such an amazing school with such a rich culture, and I feel like since I have the opportunity to attend school here and I can afford it, I might as well take it as it is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. I think the experience of going here would be extraordinary, and the friendships I can make will last a lifetime. Even if I can go to Harvard for post-grad for an MBA, it still wouldn't be the same I think.

4. Family/Friends: My family and friends definitely want me to go to Harvard. They would all call me crazy to turn it down, and I guess that is also slightly weighing on my mind.

If anyone could give me thoughts on my reasoning and things like that, I would really appreciate it. If there’s any flaws in my thinking I would love to hear them.