Interviews suggest financial-aid reforms may have convinced more high-school seniors to choose Yale

Eric Randall, Staff Reporter

Published Thursday, May 1, 2008

With the offer of a Robertson Scholarship luring him to Duke University, Dan Ewert needed a reason to choose Yale. When the University announced an overhaul of its financial-aid system this past winter, he got the excuse he needed.

“I was pleasantly surprised with the financial-aid package,” said Ewert, who attends Germantown High School in Germantown, Wis. “For me that made the decision between Yale and Duke a little bit easier. It made it worth it for me.”

Since January, when Yale unveiled its reforms, administrators and students have been speculating about whether — and hoping that — the improved packages will encourage this year’s pool of admitted students to choose Yale. Interviews with several students offered spots in the class of 2012 indicate Yale officials may have gotten their wish: When financial aid mattered, the University’s increased benefits were a big part of these students’ decision to attend Yale.

But those interviews suggest the University may still be having trouble keeping up with Harvard.

Yale was Kyle Rusciano’s third choice, behind Dartmouth and Davidson colleges.

“The financial aid was what brought me to Bulldog Days, because I got $10 to $12 thousand off. I liked the kids I met there,” he said. “I got accepted into Dartmouth and Davidson, my top two, and I couldn’t really afford Dartmouth at all.”

Yale’s initiative eliminated student loans and parental contributions for those whose families make less than $60,000 a year and requires households earning $60,000 to $120,000 to pay between one and 10 percent of family income on average. The reforms closely resembled those of Harvard University, which announced a similar move in December.

Stuyvesant High School senior Snigdha Sur, who remained undecided between the two, received offers similar enough to one another that they were no help to her in making a decision.

“Surprisingly everyone has been asking [about financial aid] because of Harvard’s sweeping financial-aid reform, but Yale gave me more money than Harvard,” she said, adding, “It was just a difference of a few hundred dollars, so it isn’t really a factor.”

Pooja Venkatraman, meanwhile — accepted to Yale, Harvard and Princeton — decided to go to Harvard.

Venkatraman, who did not receive financial aid at any of the three schools, instead based her decision on interactions with professors.

“I thought I was totally set on Yale and that it was the rational choice,” she said, “but I ended up going with my gut.”

But for those like Ewert, for whom Yale was always the first choice, the aid reforms were a godsend.

“Yale was my first choice walking into the admissions process, so it made a lot of sense for me to pick it,” he said.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807245&forum_id=1#9716068)