"We make sure that those we are most excited about get offers. Those that are qualified but that we are less passionate about must decide themselves whether they want to invest [finance their own education]," Bates says.
Oliver Dinius, a seventh year graduate student in Germanic languages, agreed that humanities departments are generally not well funded.
"People did not come [to Harvard] because they did not get funding," he says.
Though most graduate programs in the humanities and social sciences depend on GSAS for their funding, because of research grants, science departments tend to be independently wealthy.
The microbiology department offers complete financial aid, including tuition, associated costs, living costs, and a stipend--all thanks to the National Institute for Health.
Luca Marinelli, fifth year graduate student in physics, said the proposition was simple.
"If they accept you they fund you," she says.