Full Ride [at Emory] vs Harvard/Yale [Yale is $14k, no parent contribution]

Compare College Acceptances
, ,
1

I was recently accepted to Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, and Brown which was more suprising than anything for me. A day later, I received word that I had been chosen for Emory University’s Woodruff Scholars Program which is a full ride with priority housing, class registration, and funding for internships and other opportunities.

I really enjoyed my time at Emory (the students are supportive, the campus is beautiful, I can tell they have opportunities I would benefit from) and the knowledge that I wouldn’t be burdened with paying for college seems amazing. But, I’ve heard the vibe at Yale is similar and Harvard’s competitive environment might be good for my work ethic.

The issue is, I haven’t yet recieved my financial aid package from Harvard, but Yale would be 14k a year for me. I’ve been told this cost would be nothing compared to the long-term benefits I’ll receive from going there, but my family literally cannot afford to pay a single dollar in tuition. I’ll have to take out loans no matter what and I’m worried that the financial responsibility will prevent me from fully exploring the opportunities given to me (working an unrelated job vs doing research/clinical work). I’m not even certain I’ll be able to visit because I’ll have to purchase a plane ticket.

Is the Ivy education worth the burden? Would it be insane for me to reject schools like this for a full ride to Emory? Will I be able to make the same waves I could with an Ivy education if I go to a school like Emory? I’d love to hear some thoughts,

2 Likes
2

How are you borrowing that much?

1 Like
3

You can’t borrow $14k a year so the decision is easy. You only have one option unless other Ivies come in less expensive.

Emory is seeking the type of student you are - reaching up.

So take the gift and don’t look back. You like Emory and there’s nothing you can’t achieve there that you can at an Ivy. There’s a lot more to Woodruff enrichment wise.

Congrats on such a great opportunity. Frankly it’s better than Ivy - especially for you. And you can be assured every other scholar will be in a similar situation. This is also the case at other schools that have these types programs - including mine who chose a regional public over higher ranked names ( not at the level of yours). But these programs provide so much opportunity that even if the cost were the same, it’d be worth it.

Best of luck.

11 Likes
4

What is your intended major? Do you have any ideas with regard to long term career plans or intentions?

My first reaction is that Emory is a VERY good university. I do not think that there is anything particularly special about the eight Ivy League universities. They are all very good. However, there are quite a few other very good universities also in the US, and Emory is excellent. In terms of the quality of the university, I think that you are comparing excellent with excellent with excellent.

$14,000 per year in loans is quite a bit. It might be just tolerable if you have a major that is likely to lead to a solid career relatively quickly and if you can find a way to borrow that much. However, this does not give you much wiggle room in the sense that you would be committed to something like $56,000 in loans over four years, and this could easily grow larger. Also while I am not super familiar with student loans my understanding is that this much debt would require an adult cosigner for the loans and probably private loans. It is possible to get part way through and find that you cannot borrow enough to finish. This also adds up to a lot of debt for a recent university graduate. If you were comparing Harvard or Yale with podunk university they maybe the loans might be worth it (?) but probably not. However, the free alternative is Emory, which is a really, really good university.

And it sounds like you liked Emory when you visited. That really does matter.

If I were faced with this choice, I would go with Emory for the win with no loans and an excellent education.

I almost missed this. Internships matter. Internships probably matter at least three ways. One is that this gives you contacts in industry. If nothing else this means that you have industry contacts that can give you references. Also, companies that bring in students for internships will often hire them after graduation. I also think that having some internship opportunities makes it easier for a student to have some real world sense, which helps them to see some pragmatic applications of what they are then learning in classes. This last point is subtle, but I think that it does lead to a better education.

Again this is a win for Emory, although internships are also likely to be available at other universities.

The eight Ivy League schools are all very good. However, I do not think that it is worth the risk associated with the debt, or the burden associated with the debt. It is relatively common for recent university graduates to get a first job that is a great start in the career direction that makes sense for them, but that does not pay well. Graduating university with no debt is a very significant advantage if you can do it. Both of our daughters for example right after graduating university were able to take advantage of very good opportunities which were only possible because they had no debt.

Yes. There are a huge number of very good universities in the USA, and Emory is one of the best. To me this sounds like a great opportunity.

Edit to add: CONGRATULATIONS!!!

8 Likes
5

I would add the student can only assuredly get $27k in loans and that loans have fees (you have to borrow more than $56k to get $56k if you can find someone to lend you). Then there’s interest - that makes the loans far more expensive than $56k.

And finally there is a loan cap of $100k for most graduate school majors and you’d eat up a large chunk of that.

In regards to what you could accomplish from an Ivy vs others - the Ivies are no different than other schools - they have successes and then others that struggle to find a job and in life.

1 Like
6

From what you have written, it sounds like Emory checks off most of your boxes. A sample of one…we know someone who turned down Yale for Emory for grad school. When they visited both schools, they just felt more at home at Emory. And they never looked back.

Maybe wait until you have that final financial aid package.

If this is a merit award, it’s even better because you won’t need to worry about family finances changing in subsequent years. I don’t have personal knowledge of this program, but if it’s a guaranteed merit award for all four years (assuming you maintain your GPA), that would be another plus.

And a huge congratulations to you!!

4 Likes
7

There is your answer right. I’m glad you can see it and we won’t have to convince you of it. Go to Emory and enjoy yourself rather than be burden through 4 years of school and beyond while you pay it back. Explore every opportunity, build relationships and know that you are starting your future with as little debt as possible. And, you loved Emory. This isn’t a choice where you think you will be miserable, but one where you get to be a in a place that you will enjoy.

8 Likes
8

Seems a pretty easy call from my perspective. Made easier still by the fact that you actually like Emory.

Graduating from a great institution with internships and no debt into an economy that is difficult to predict given AI’s impact is pretty hard to beat. Your future will be impacted far more by your performance in your post-graduation job than where you went undergrad. Not everyone who graduates from Harvard, Yale or Dartmouth leaves with a job in hand. Your Scholarship virtually guarantees you that.

Congratulations.

5 Likes
9

Wait until you have all the facts! (I.e. all the financial aid packages). Then you can make an informed decision. In terms of the schools themselves, there is no wrong decision.

4 Likes
10

Obviously no reason to rush before you get all the relevant information. But if Emory would cost around $60K total less than your next-best option, in your circumstances I would not hesitate to choose Emory.

Just to reinforce something you seem to already realize, putting that sort of financial burden on yourself means you need to make certain choices to try to not only come up with the money, but also then justify the extra cost. But what if that isn’t best for you? What if the best educational path for you doesn’t immediately lead to a lucrative job straight out of college? What if it requires more tuition and such? What if the best first job for you is not in fact the most lucrative either–maybe it is a great experience, great for networking, and so on, but not super high-paying? And so on.

The bottom line is choosing a school like Emory over an Ivy will not actually meaningfully restrict your options for what you can do next. But taking on too much cost/debt very much can. And I firmly believe your college choice should be about increasing, not limiting, your options.

10 Likes
11

It looks like Emory is obviously affordable, Yale is too expensive, and you need to wait for the financial aid offers from Harvard, Dartmouth, and Brown before deciding (unless you prefer Emory over all of them).

3 Likes
12

I agree with the above comments, depending… All of these schools are broadly excellent and widely perceived as such by employers, but they don’t all do everything equally well. And in some fields or places, the global fame of Yale and Harvard may grant some advantage to you. That said, I went to Yale, and I would generally not advise you to take on that much debt to pick it over Emory.

2 Likes
13

Just to clarify comparisons - If the OP worked full time in the summer, they could whittle the debt to a little under $40K total.

Not great, but not ridiculous. Sometimes on CC, commenters completely ignore self help, which used to be the norm.

Emory is probably the better option but if Yale had a desired program or something Emory couldn’t offer, it would be doable IMO.

4 Likes
14

Congratulations on your acceptances. I would also wait until you get all your financial aid offers in, although it’s likely most of the Ivy offers will be relatively close (did you run NPCs before applying?)

With that said, I agree with @leastcomplicated that there are ways to close the gap on loans by working. Are you working now? Do you have plans to work a job this summer? I expect you could make $5K this summer, maybe more.

You can take out more than the $27K in federal undergrad loans, even without a cosigner. But those loans tend to be expensive. I am not suggesting you take any loans though, and it’s great you have an option that doesn’t include loans.

I am just educating you, so here we go:

Does the Yale $14k COA already include the $5.5K federal student loan for first years? Yale does not typically include student loans in their FA packages. So, if the $5.5K loan isn’t included in the $14K, here’s what could work: $5.5K federal student loan, plus the extra $2.1K Yale institutional loan that all Yale students can access, plus $6.4K work earnings between now and the fall. Then you would repeat that for years 2-4, and the federal loan goes to $6.5K/$7.5K/$7.5K.

The total four year loans in that scenario would be $35.4K ($27K fed loans, $8.4K yale loans.) Here is a student loan calculator if you want to play with scenarios: Student Loan Repayment Calculator - Mapping Your Future

How a person and their family look at finances is unique to their situation. The Emory opportunity is outstanding with excellent benefits including the internship funding (but you still have to find the internships IIRC.) Your feeling about loans might also be dependent on what type of career you are thinking about. And if you are thinking school beyond undergrad, I would encourage you to choose Emory.

So, I would wait until all your offers in hand and go from there. Good luck!

6 Likes
15

First a message to the grownups on this thread.

We don’t know ANYTHING about the employment situation where the OP lives. My area has gone from “anyone with a pulse can get a job– summer, part time, whatever” to “You are competing with adults with families for jobs working a cash register because they were laid off by their Fortune 1000 employer”. So telling a kid that it’s easy to earn whatever the gap is ignores the current labor market, AND disregards the regional element of the unemployment situation. For someone to net $5K this summer? Not in my area, not doing anything that’s legal. The college freshman can’t find jobs for the summer. The new grads are struggling. Adults with kids are struggling. What can a HS grad do in a down labor market to yield $5K after tax???

Now a message to the OP- Yale is great. So is Emory. I am not anti-Yale. I am on the campus frequently for work, for “enrichment” (have audited classes, visit the museums regularly and taken the guided tours which are free and amazing; have been at special exhibits at the libraries, etc.). There is no question that they have incredible resources. So wait until all your FA information is in– and then either accept an affordable option, ask for Professional Judgement on Yale’s FA package, or figure out where the gap in funding is going to come from. But don’t assume that it’s as easy as many posters here claim to work your way through the gap. Maybe you’ll get lucky. Maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll need every penny of your summer earnings to pay for your incidentals and travel next year, or maybe you’ll be able to save it to fund the gap. Maybe you’ll get a well paying job on campus next summer (but you’ll need to pay rent, food, etc.) or maybe the best you can do is to go back to your HS job and live at home.

I am not dissing Yale. And I’m not dissing loans– they are a valuable tool in getting a high quality education which will set you up for success. But the tone of some of these posts- that a kid with zero financial support from family can easily borrow what will be over $60K with fees, etc. seems quite tone deaf. Kids with affluent parents who can easily take a HELOC on a $900K home that they paid $300K for before the housing run-up can figure out a $60K gap. This doesn’t appear to be the OP’s situation.

I had loans. Spouse had loans. They made our education and our professional careers possible. But I won’t pretend that it was easy paying them off. And we borrowed at a time when it WAS possible for a student with no credit history, no collateral, and no cash flow at all to borrow the ENTIRE amount at below-market interest rates.

Good luck!

13 Likes
16

And just to be clear, I am not against a family taking out some loans when necessary.

But when you have a full ride offer from Emory? I think it can be hard for some HS kids to fully grasp the practical implications, including being able to freely make next-step educational and career choices, possibly getting a head start on a home downpayment, and/or retirement savings, and so on. But that’s all very concrete stuff once you are actually in that point in your life.

6 Likes
17

There’s no assurance though. Not all kids are able to wrangle summer jobs and some come with expense, housing for example.

2 Likes
18

OP, you might appreciate this one student’s story. He got into Wharton as an undergrad and turned it down to go to Wake Forest on a full ride. Graduated and earned a deferred acceptance to Wharton for his MBA. He’s working at BCG now before going to Wharton in a couple of years. He’s posted quite a lot about his journey on LinkedIn.

https://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/posts/masongoodwyn_passed-up-the-opportunity-once-but-im-grateful-activity-7353807022569492480-6x4F

Sorry, looks like LinkedIn links aren’t allowed. You can look him up, though.

1 Like
19

Congratulations! I have not read all of the posts, but I wanted to add that if any of the outstanding packages comes up with better aid than Yale, you can call the financial aid office and ask (tactfully) about the difference, and Yale may adjust theirs. Or ditto if you decide that you want to attend one of the others (like Brown, Dartmouth, or Harvard), but they’ve asked for more than 14K, you can show them Yale’s offer. In our experience, it should not be framed as a negotiation. I assume that Emory’s full ride is a merit scholarship, and need-based schools will not adjust their aid packages based on another college’s merit scholarship, but they will based on another college who used the same figures to calculate need and decided that your family’s need was greater than their original calculation. As far as I can tell, they do this all the time –they asked my daughters to email or fax them the other offer and in each case, she heard back in less than a week. I think it one case, my daughter heard back with a new offer in under 12 hours! This worked with both D22 and D24.

5 Likes
20

That is true, yet it’s fair to educate this highly intelligent poster about their potential options. There is power in knowledge, and understanding optionality.

It’s important to NOT say they can’t close this gap with loans and/or working, because they may be able to…if that’s what is right for their situation. Why close doors when they don’t have to be?

Once the financial aid options are available, any of the financial aid staff at any of these schools would be happy to walk through assumptions and scenarios with OP, again, if that’s what they want to research.

It is great this student has an excellent option at Emory, that very well could make the most sense.

I see two posts both suggesting loans that would total under $40K. Where is the $60K+ coming from? And no, fees aren’t going to make the loans greater than $60K, nor is accrued interest on the $35K-$40K in loans. Again, educating this poster makes sense. Why throw out inaccurate numbers? Why confuse things further with HELOCs? We should be educating OP, not confusing the issue.