Is 150k loans worth it for Harvard?

depends...what are your other options?

any top 10 school will get you into any career you want...can you get any scholarships for any of the 9 other top 10 schools?

also, Harvard has a huge endowment ($42 billion), so they can provide need based aid to anybody they want

Tf. Im middle class and I didnt need to take out any loans. Curious about the range of your family income. You could also try appealing financial aid, because a lot of my middle class friends were able to get increases in their grants, things like divorced parents or change in the value of assets. Thats really odd, considering the average student loan debt of the graduates is like $4000. 

Unless your parents are wealthy but dont want to pay for your college, in which case thats fucked on their end. 

Absoll-fucking-lutley...150k in debt at where rates are today is absolutely nothing. For the peace of mind, recruiting pipeline, alum network is is 10000000% worth 150k.

I can't express enough, it's worth it. 

150k is probably worth it for Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, & Wharton. I attend one of those, and there's a dumb amount of opportunities only open to people here (esp. in finance). Otherwise, 150k in debt is pretty questionable. Maybe at Oxbridge? I'm unfamiliar with their process though. Mayyyybe Columbia?

my vote is also yes, worth it.

Very much worth it based on the network, brand name, quality of education, recruiting opportunities, etc.

You can get a private student loan at a less than 1% rate nowadays and if there’s a school worth taking on debt for, it’s harvard. Absolutely go for it.

Yes, do it. 

Really hoping you see this message - I was in an almost identical situation (parents weren’t willing to pay full tuition despite high income and asset base) and thought I was going to have to take out loans to go to a target. I ended up just opening a dialogue with the financial aid office any way and got grants to cover the rest of the cost despite in no way qualifying from a financial perspective. Good schools will go out of their way to make sure students don’t have to take out loans if it can be avoided, so I wouldn’t be so sure 150k in loans is a guarantee

I actually went to Harvard for undergrad and the answer is "yes," but be prepared to suddenly become a small fish in a big pond. You've probably read or seen videos about this, so I won't go into detail, but many kids who would have otherwise pursued STEM at another school end up opting for something softer at Harvard because they get demoralized / intimidated by kids who are much more advanced than them. I had friends from my blocking group who were all pumped up to study math or physics freshman year, but by the end of sophomore year they had quietly changed their majors (or "concentration" as Harvard calls them) to something less quantitative.

In terms of academics, applied math at Harvard is, imho, the ultimate "slacker" major/concentration since the requirements are low and flexible (you can take plenty of non-math classes to fulfill credits), so even people who are not top-tier at math can still pursue it. The good news is that it sounds impressive on paper and whoever you encounter in interviews, etc., will never question your intelligence because of it, but those in the know will see that you opted to take the path of least resistance. I believe CS is now the most popular major/concentration at Harvard (when I was a student, Econ was by far the most popular major) and I am not exaggerating when I say almost everyone you meet freshman year will tell you they are planning to pursue CS (or at least a minor in it). Probably not an issue in upper-level courses, but expect to have less individual attention in freshman year / entry-level CS courses.

Harvard is an unmatchable brand that you will carry throughout your career, I'd go for it unless a comparable top target (Stanford, Wharton, Princeton) gives you a better deal

How did you get into both Harvard and Stanford by now? Harvard SCEA comes out later and Stanford REA comes out later today. 

Citadel just hired a mathy quant from Harvard for $1mmm

The fact that you are asking this question shows two things:

1. This forum breeds insanity. You're in high school and plotting a move into a PE firm? That's like interviewers saying they want to be MDs which doesn't demonstrate the interviewer is thinking sensibly and rationally...

2. Humans think in the short-term, not the long-term...meaning yes it's obvious take out $150 to go to Harvard. The rest will follow if you work hard. 

you will always have the harvard stamp man just do It 

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Take Harvard. Maybe Stanford if you have some feeling that you'll pursue an entrepreneurial opportunity in the future, are interested in venture / growth or have a strong preference to study STEM in undergrad.

Give Harvard/Stamford a call and explain your situation. Ask them if they can lower the cost of attendance and say your parents are being cocks. I'm not sure why wealthy parents wouldn't help their children through school, especially one as reputable as Harvard/Stamford. The worst they say is no. If you come across as genuine and explain your situation, they might be willing to help you. 150k is a ton of debt, especially if you realize your true calling is social work 1 year into school. Your steps should be as follows:

1. Beg your parents to pay (ideally at least half, lowering your debt to the 75k range)

2. Beg Harvard for some sort of financial aid (explain to them that u lobbied your parents very hard already and they are being cocks)

3. Apply for scholarships like mad. 

Good luck!

If you can go to a lower ranked Top 25 school for $100K less then I would heavily consider that. Just do heavy DD at the schools you visit - figure out if the top investment clubs place well into the avenues you want to go to and what programs are available to fast-track high performers / offer additional resources for those deserving.

Last time I checked, Harvard is completely need-blind if you can't pay for it. (Source: I have 2 friends who graduated this year from Harvard and they both went for free with need-based financial aid).

Something's not checking out...

But if you do have to choose btw loaning 150K for Harvard vs going to UT Austin McCombs/CS for free, I'd pick UT Austin. Much much better value. UT Austin McCombs places well into IB & MBB and UT Austin CS department is top 10. Harvard CS department is kind of a joke.

I think Harvard is definitely worth the monies! 

Yes. The return on your investment isn’t greater anywhere else than your education / institution.

Had many friends smarter than me turn down ivies and other “best” programs for full ride at top state schools, etc. They deserved opportunities at least as good as mine and they were just not as available. Sure it’s possible, but the 150k is worth mitigating the risk.

You can also capitalize on your experience especially well since you have a path in mind not just paying for the sake of the name / breadth of opportunities. 150k will be nothing for the path your on. Worth it.

Go to Harvard

500% worth it. As someone who went to a target (and owes his buyside job to it), can tell you the recruitment is on a whole other playing field at one vs. semi-target or nontarget. You have massive brand recognition that opens doors, arguably the best alumni network in the world, and recruiters come to campus (esp. buyside). Completely worth it in every way if you're aiming to work in finance / business after school 

UT

Yes, its worth it. 

It's hard to say what the future looks like as things seem to be rapidly evolving with the economy, prestige, college costs, etc. but as of 2020, without knowledge of the future, the Harvard name, in our current world opens up endless opportunities for you that are worth well into the 7 or possibly 8+ figures for those with the desire to chase it. For example, it almost ensures you a spot in Wall Street high finance (if you want it); it makes the wallets of angel or VC investors more accessible to you as they are prospecting business proposals; it opens up to you a huge contact pool of rich people who you could have at least some access to.

Would I take out $150,000 in loans to go to Harvard? Yes.

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When I studied, I ended up with more than $100k in debt. Going to a good uni, however, helped me a lot and that money is no longer a problem- I would do the same choice again! Surely go to Harvard, you’ll be motivated to excel and I am sure you will smash it! It’s an opportunity you cannot miss. Good luck :)

Yes any top school like that is worth it. 99% who have done it can pay that loan back in 2-3 years with the job opps and networks you develop

100% worth it.  Anyone who gets accepted in Harvard should go, regardless of the cost.  

For sure. But also budget for the costs of hanging around elite level people, a crucial part of the experience. Ie. if a Saudi prince invites you on vacation then you gotta go.   

As someone who's a first year with ~$90k in debt in IB, I would say 100% do it. You'll be making $130k first year out and that'll quickly progress towards $200 as you move to Associate or PE/HF. You'll have the debt paid off in <5 years if you're smart about your money (I'm going to have it done in 2.5). 

I took out $150,000k in student loans to go to much shittier schools (albeit that includes undergrad and grad school) 

Go to Harvard 

Yes, do that 😀

Hi HSsenior, I’ll add my input to this as my family has gone through the same decision a couple times now.

A few years ago my sister had to make the decision H/S full cost vs UVA for free- Long story short she picked H/S and hasn’t regretted it. The connections she’s made are literally insane and companies internships/research positions are really amazing.

I went the instate college for free route (big fish small pond) and then went hard studying for the gmat senior year to get into a top masters program directly after graduating (~50k). This saved me a ton of money and I landed a pretty good job after but I obviously have a weaker network and struggled to get good internships during undergrad. Given your stats I think that’s certainly possible route for you!

What you need to take into account is that at H/S you will have access to the best internships which could pay for up to a half of the cost (my sister worked a faang internship and made 30k last summer and again this spring). You could do this a couple times and really make up some of the tuition cost.

Finally, I can’t stress the network/random opportunity/chance side of going to H/S.

Your friends’ parents will own their own VC firms or botique ibs. Some friends will drop out to found billion $ start ups. As my sister puts it- “Crazy opportunities are all around you all the time”... something you will not get at an non target.

My advice- H/S are in a league of their own and are worth it all.

Yes. You could literally be the biggest dumbass at Harvard, and still get top tier firms interviewing you during OCR. Let's pretend you are the biggest dumbass at H, 99% of people will instantly assume that you are very smart and driven. This is incredibly rare, and going to a top-target comes with bulletproof credibility on your resume for atleast the first 5-20 years of your career. There are less than 10 other school's that can do that for someone. More like 5-6.