Harvard ED vs UChicago ED

JBStillFlying
Wed, 13 Jan 2021 15:29:06 +0000

1NJParent:

Similar yields don’t make their distinction go away.

Both SCEA and ED place restrictions on the application and the overwhelming number of admitted applicants and their families not only understand these restrictions but have researched their institution thoroughly and made that application purposefully with pretty good understanding of things like “single choice” and “binding admission.” You posted about the possibility of regret later in the application season but the yield on ED at any of these schools (UChicago, Columbia, Brown, Cornell, NU, Duke, etc) simply doesn’t support the existence of “regret” - nor do retention rates. Students by and large - even those requiring significant financial aid - have done their research BEFORE applying. That’s kind of how it works these days.

1NJParent:

our daughter doesn’t have a chance to compare FA packages from different schools when she applied to UChicago in a binding decision. As an example, an applicant who is admitted SCEA to Harvard can later apply RD to Princeton. If she’s also admitted to Princeton, she can compare the two FA packages, and Princeton may turn out to be more generous.

This would only be true if Princeton gave out merit, misrepresented the information on the NPC, or didn’t have helpful financial aid officers available to assist families with understanding their degree of financial commitment.

In my daughter’s case, there was no need to compare FA packages after the fact because, like other families, we were able to do so beforehand via the NPC and already knew before any small happy surprises that UChicago was the most generous. Our experience was not unique. By the way, can’t speak to the veracity of FA advice from other schools but had we applied ED to any of them we would have sanity-checked our numbers in the same manner. FA officers can’t give out your official EFC over the phone but they can give you a ballpark. That was sufficient for us; other families may need something more exact and so will have to compare actual FA packages. Or they are eligible for significant merit over and above demonstrated need (in our daughter’s case we floated that balloon with UChicago already). Or they don’t qualify for any need-based but require some FA anyway. Those families should apply non-binding, and do. But to reiterate: our particular experience isn’t unique; other families have stated here and elsewhere that UChicago’s NPC is an excellent indicator of EFC. Btw, so is FAFSA.

1NJParent:

Speaking of finances, if OP is full pay but not insensitive to the total cost, UChicago is THE most expensive school in the country in terms of total cost of attendence. Harvard isn’t even in the top 50.

For those who are full-pay: Harvard’s 2020-21 tuition, R&B, and fees is $72,391. UChicago’s is $76,302. Those full-pay families who prefer Harvard to UChicago, or who see the two schools as equivalent in all but price, should not consider ED. Those who believe that UChicago is worth the extra $4k per year should consider ED. It’s that simple.