Harvard vs Stanford vs Jefferson Scholarship at UVA

renaissancedad
Wed, 20 Apr 2016 20:58:02 +0000

^ @sgopal2, I’m curious: would you feel the same way if the OP had been offered the AB Duke Scholarship at Duke instead of the Jefferson Scholarship at UVa?

I think there are at least 3 issues involved in this kind of decision: general fit, fit for specific interests, and financial flexibility. The calculus is probably different for each individual. If more than one of these align, then it’s probably a pretty easy decision. But if all 3 are different, then it can be quite challenging. In this case, the OP seems to like the general feel and fit of Stanford, but Stanford offers the least aid, and may be a bit weaker than Harvard in the specific OP’s areas of interest. Virginia offers tremendous financial freedom and a “fast track” program with a lot of advantages, as @elk1819 has noted. The main question is how strongly the OP feels about one school vs. the others, and how large a factor the financial aspect is. My suspicion is that UVA is probably the best bet in this case, but it’s a very personal calculus.