Stanford is in a Power 4 conference, so not a good example. There are big NIL $$s there too and the Stanford recruit would receive a 100% scholarship for football because that’s how it works in football. I doubt anyone that is good enough to be recruited af Alabama is ever attending Harvard. They would more likely pick a high academic Power 4 option like Duke or Vandy or UCB or UCLA where again…it’s a 100% scholarship. They would then be in a position to enter the transfer portal if they have a great season in their conference. |
| My son's classmate turned down Yale for Notre Dame. |
| Yes, for NU due to major. |
| Multiple to UVA because of cost |
Not for engineering or CS. There are a lot of schools that are stronger than Harvard in those majors. Plus Ivy schools don't offer merit. There are many, many UMC families who are reconsidering paying $100,000 a year at Ivy schools in favor of schools where they can get merit. At this price point, everyone is trying to decide what's worth it and what's not. And engineering at Harvard or Yale is very much not worth it. |
| My son turned down Cornell For Penn State. At Penn State, his 14 APs fully transfer and he will be starting as a junior (he also has two college math classes that transfer that he took dual enrollment). It was appealing to him that he could do a double major AND get an integrated masters in 4 years. |
| I cannot answer the question since I don’t ask parent friends what schools their children were admitted to and declined. But I want to comment that posters in DCUM-world seem to have an unhealthy obsession with the “Ivy” brands. So boorish and short-sighted. |
| I turned down Harvard, MIT, Yale and a few other schools for a full ride to a T20 20 years ago. I really needed the financial aid and parents were unwilling to pay anything for college. I was devastated but great decision ever because I met my future spouse |
Smart. In a few years, after experiencing the work world, your son will probably be great candidate for a PhD track or MBA at Penn State, Cornell, MIT, really most anywhere. |
|
Ivies may not offer merit aid, but they offer very generous with financial aid If your family HHI is under 200k.
I suspect some families just fear the culture shock of the school, or think it's too far away, or the perception that they are "wasting money" - that it's not just a financial hurdle. I would love to see a large data set of acceptances, financial aid offers, HHI, major, the family's demographics, and the final decision. That would be fascinating. |
Once again, you're overlooking the fact that big NIL is going only to the best players at certain positions. Would you at least concede that for some football recruits it makes sense to turn down Alabama for Stanford? |
I am conceding that…but Stanford is much different from Harvard because it is in a Power 4 conference. The football recruit for Stanford goes 100% for free even if you make millions per year…100% of all Power 4 football recruits receive 100% scholarships (and if they were poor they would also go for free because they are as generous all Ivies for need aid). So…let’s leave Ivy and Patriot schools out of the conversation because the economics of attending college and the ability to compete at a high level at a Power 4 school in football (not to mention having sold out stadiums and national TV coverage) will outweigh everything else. |
15-20% of Harvard's admitted students turn it down. Yes, that's a high yield, but not rare to turn it down. |
| One of DC's friends turned down athletic recruiting offers (football) from Harvard and Princeton for a free ride to a much lower ranked school. His family is not wealthy so he would have had to take out loans to pay for it. |
To play football? Folks, these football anecdotes are pretty stupid. Also, nobody has to take out loans for Harvard or Princeton…especially Princeton…because they are no loan schools. So the family must have had more $$$s than you think. |