Elston Gunn wrote:So honored to get a Ruby. Makes it a very very tough decision. I'm so so in love with Yale--I really don't think I'll be able to turn it down. But--because I have significant savings + my parents make a lot of money, but won't really have any to pay for tuition--the decision is probably literally 0 debt vs. 200K. Good problem to have, I know.
In my view, Ruby vs Yale is an easier decision to make if its $0 debt vs $200k. UChicago is very similar to Yale, and it is almost as great in all ways that Yale is great in. $200k is a lot of money you would have to pay for that small bit of differences.
On the other hand, Ruby vs Harvard is a tougher decision even if it's $0 debt vs $200k. Harvard is very different from UChicago. No other school can match the Harvard brand outside of the legal profession and outside of the United States. Also, you will meet more power brokers and business leaders of tomorrow at Harvard than any other university in the world. If you are interested in niche topics, Harvard could help you explore them better than any university. If Harvard is the type of school you would like to attend, $200k shouldn't matter much in the grand scheme of things.