Harvard ED vs UChicago ED

1NJParent
Tue, 12 Jan 2021 02:06:39 +0000

First of all, it depends on whether or not you may change your mind and regret your choice later after you have a chance to do more indepth analysis. UChicago wants you to make a full commitment. It wants you to demonstrate that committment in myriad of ways, including in the multiple essays that it requires. Harvard, on the other hand, only needs you to show your love by applying to it as your “single choice” in the early round. It doesn’t even want you to write a “why us” essay. It’s much more confident than UChicago that you’ll ultimately choose it after you’ve done the indepth analysis. With Harvard SCEA, you can still apply to other schools in the reguar round and compare your acceptances to see which school offers the best overall education (it may not even be Harvard). With UChicago ED, you don’t have these opportunities.

Secondly, if you need financial aid, Havard is generally more generous. As an ED applicant to UChicago, you don’t get a chance to compare financial aid packages from other schools. With Harvard SCEA, you do.

Last but not least, UChicago ED does give you a bigger admission boost than Harvard SCEA, as there’re many more ALDC (athletes, legacies, donors, children of faculty and staff) applicants among Harvard SCEA pool.

Since I don’t know what your interests are, I’m assuming the program you want to pursue at either Harvard or UChicago are comparable, which may or may not be the case.