Harvard c/o 2016 Applicants (2012-2013) Forum

[Lagunitan]

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[whynot123]

I think people also have to consider that this cycle is different than previous due to the decrease in applicants this year. They might have changed it up from previous years... so I personally think that people who had recent JS1/KB1's are still in the game.

[Lagunitan]

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[whynot123]

I am not. I'm just doing my research before I apply next year...

[volp]

so idk if this is dumb but

what's the average hls financial aid package? what does a really good one look like?

[jselson]

so idk if this is dumb but

what's the average hls financial aid package? what does a really good one look like?

A good one is half, and it means you (and your parents) are poor or over 29 without much savings/assets. A great one is full, and it means you're older with a family and kids. Average is closer to 10k a year, more or less.

[volp]

so idk if this is dumb but

what's the average hls financial aid package? what does a really good one look like?

A good one is half, and it means you (and your parents) are poor or over 29 without much savings/assets. A great one is full, and it means you're older with a family and kids. Average is closer to 10k a year, more or less.

half of the $78,000 tuition (incl room and board)? so a 'full' is $78,000?

[read2465]

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[volp]

so idk if this is dumb but

what's the average hls financial aid package? what does a really good one look like?

A good one is half, and it means you (and your parents) are poor or over 29 without much savings/assets. A great one is full, and it means you're older with a family and kids. Average is closer to 10k a year, more or less.

half of the $78,000 tuition (incl room and board)? so a 'full' is $78,000?

I'm pretty sure the grant amount can not go over the tuition amount.

oh okay. so the max grant is the cost of tuition, but the financial aid package (part of which are loans) can possibly equal tuition+room and board. If i'm understanding

[Eli]

Through federal loans (specifically Stafford and GradPLUS), domestic students are theoretically able to get up to the estimated student budget, which is tuition + costs. For international students who don't qualify for federal loans, Harvard has a grant program that functions similarly.

So it's just a question of how much debt in loans you can afford to shoulder, if you want federal or private loans, etc.

Edit: This isn't a direct response to your question, but I thought I'd throw out some info about the loans, since it seemed like you were headed in that direction anyway

[chickpea]

Waitlisted earlier today. Pretty surprised I made it this far with my 168/3.9. Held 2/22.

[volp]

Through federal loans (specifically Stafford and GradPLUS), domestic students are theoretically able to get up to the estimated student budget, which is tuition + costs. For international students who don't qualify for federal loans, Harvard has a grant program that functions similarly.

So it's just a question of how much debt in loans you can afford to shoulder, if you want federal or private loans, etc.

Edit: This isn't a direct response to your question, but I thought I'd throw out some info about the loans, since it seemed like you were headed in that direction anyway

thank you!!

[ObviousAlias]

I went complete on 3/18 and survived the Black Friday purge, but I'm JS0. Am I a dead applicant walking, or do I still have as shot?

[liupang]

Anyone get JS2 this week?

[facile princeps]

so idk if this is dumb but

what's the average hls financial aid package? what does a really good one look like?

A good one is half, and it means you (and your parents) are poor or over 29 without much savings/assets. A great one is full, and it means you're older with a family and kids. Average is closer to 10k a year, more or less.

half of the $78,000 tuition (incl room and board)? so a 'full' is $78,000?

The maximum grant is the difference between your student budget ($78000ish) and the base loan ($43100 <--- made up of federal and HLS loans). For example, the most needy of us would get close to $35k if the default student budget was used ($78k - $43k) and we weren't expected to contribute anything towards the budget. However, if they determine that you're able to contribute something, that grant amount would be lowered by the amount they expect you to pay.

Whenever people get grants that cover the full tuition or close ($50000ish), it's because their student budget was increased from $78k for various reasons. For example, someone with a wife and child may get an adjusted student budget of $95k. After deducting the base loan, we're left with roughly $52k. If that person is not deemed to be able to make a financial contribution towards the cost of attendance (because of no assets/savings, etc), then they'd prob get a grant of around $50-52k. IIRC, that's the only way people can get full tuition grants. In other words, on a regular student budget of $78k, it's not possible to get more than $35k because you are required to take the base loan as a condition of accepting grants.

tl;dr: Your grant is the difference between your student budget (normally around $78k) and the base loan ($43k). If they don't think you can pay anything, you should get the full difference or close (around $30-35k), and it's entirely need based.

[gfd973]

I went complete on 3/18 and survived the Black Friday purge, but I'm JS0. Am I a dead applicant walking, or do I still have as shot?

[jselson]

I went complete on 3/18 and survived the Black Friday purge, but I'm JS0. Am I a dead applicant walking, or do I still have as shot?

It hasn't even been a month, so I wouldn't worry about it, but because you applied so late (I'm guessing, or you didn't all your materials in on time), you're probably at some disadvantage.

[La.Chocolate]

Has anyone also been waitlisted without ever going through JS1 (Skype Interview)?

[eyfl]

Has anyone also been waitlisted without ever going through JS1 (Skype Interview)?

The majority it seems

[toothbrush]

sorry to hark on a question that was probably discussed already but what does a WL mean to hls? I was *surprisingly* WL yesterday. I was expecting a ding. Should I keep a sliver of hope or is the WL a soft rejection?

edit : found the WL thread http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 7&t=207522

[TripTrip]

sorry to hark on a question that was probably discussed already but what does a WL mean to hls?

Same as with every school. You're more than likely not getting in, but every year they admit some off the WL.

[toothbrush]

sorry to hark on a question that was probably discussed already but what does a WL mean to hls?

Same as with every school. You're more than likely not getting in, but every year they admit some off the WL.

the FAQ from JS (i presume) seems hopeful . You just have to hope everyone bails from the WL by july and you get dat late august invite

[TripTrip]

June is when most of the WL--> accept people hear.

[solucky]

Complete 2/1 and crickets since... auto-ding or is there a reason the Harvard Gods have not dinged me yet? 4.02/165

[txdude45]

Complete 2/1 and crickets since... auto-ding or is there a reason the Harvard Gods have not dinged me yet? 4.02/165

they've been pulling GPAs recently, so maybe they think they'll want that 4.02 in a couple weeks.