UVA with Jefferson Scholarship vs Harvard

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

+1 The question is not whether Harvard is "better" than UVa. The question is whether your kid wants to be a regular student student at Harvard or one of the top 20 in the class at UVA. Jefferson Scholarship is more than just a free college education. For example, at UVA, Jefferson Scholars hold the prestige positions such as the student representative to the Board of Visitors and the best research positions. From a job perspective, Jefferson Scholars attend private events with UVa's most successful alumni. Also, Jefferson Scholars are all Echols Scholars and have no area/major requirements and have priority in scheduling classes, which allows students get into classes with desired professors and get better recommendations for graduate schools.

Or the question is whether your kid wants to be surrounded by 6,000 students more intelligent than Jefferson Scholars, with far more opportunities presented than to Jefferson Scholars, or bump it with 20,000 other, most from some underdeveloped rural county in Virginia.

I am a Jefferson Scholar in the class of 2027. Every single Jefferson Scholar was accepted to multiple schools like Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Yale, and MIT. The notion that every student at Harvard is more intelligent than Jefferson scholars is just not true as despite there only being 30 Jefferson scholars, they still are a force of nature on Wall Street. There is a 4th year who received an offer for an internship at both Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley without taking a single finance course because she had transferred out of pre-med only a week prior. Luckily one of the heads of investment banking at Goldman is a Jefferson scholar who gave her an offer on the spot after a zoom call and a few emails. If you look at the percentage of Jeff scholars who go to top IB firms like MS, GS, JP Morgan, there is not a single college in the country with such high success rates. Not to mention that the Jefferson scholarship sends more students to T5 law schools by percentage of applicants than any school in the country 3 times over. The fact is the Jefferson scholarship connects you with an alumni network which will instantly respond and go insane lengths to help you do anything you could possibly want to do in ways that going to a college can’t do. The Jefferson Scholarship is the right choice is you are personable and have social skills, but if you are a more STEM type who is not interested in making connections than it may not be for you.

I've been thinking about this - it's such a waste that so many of our smartest kids are going into banking now, instead of careers where they could make a difference in the world. It's just about who can make the most money. That's sad.

I had the same thought. Just such a waste of smart kids who could actually do something productive. I think kids who go into finance and banking are making a difference; they’re almost certainly making the world worse.

[Anonymous]

This thread is from 2 years ago. Why is it still active?

[Anonymous]

Yes. UVA is not even close.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ask those who say Harvard is the clear choice what non-anecdotal or for-profit rankings evidence they have to support their claim. There is none. Read Kruger and Dale's study of income over time. Compare their Common Data Sets. Look at the lists of who's working where on Less High School Stress.

Both are excellent places to get an education. Neither choice will limit anyone's ability to reach their full potential, despite those who say otherwise.

Congratulations!

If you compare the things you cite, Harvard is the clear choice. It exceeds UVA in all counts except cost in this case. Cost is the thing that is difficult to weigh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask those who say Harvard is the clear choice what non-anecdotal or for-profit rankings evidence they have to support their claim. There is none. Read Kruger and Dale's study of income over time. Compare their Common Data Sets. Look at the lists of who's working where on Less High School Stress.

Both are excellent places to get an education. Neither choice will limit anyone's ability to reach their full potential, despite those who say otherwise.

Congratulations!

If you compare the things you cite, Harvard is the clear choice. It exceeds UVA in all counts except cost in this case. Cost is the thing that is difficult to weigh.

You clearly haven't looked at what I cited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would go with Harvard unless it's not financially viable for you at all. I went to UVa for undergrad and Harvard for grad school, so while I understand how prestigious the Jefferson scholarship is, Harvard is in its own league.

Going that route would save a kid over 300k. Harvard is better, but is it 300k better (especially if the goal is grad school)

Isn't the difference actually over 400k when you factor in the stipend and study abroad?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is Harvard worth the difference? DC would major in business at UVA and economics at Harvard.

If you can afford it, H for sure. Sometimes kids change. H is far more useful in the long term picture.

[Anonymous]

This thread is from 2 years ago. Why is it still active?

Lol this is accurate