Daniel Barkowitz | December 04, 2005
"And Answers to More Questions"
I need to answer a backlog of questions left here during my absence, so here goes:
Rick asked "do the same financial aid checkpoints (needs based aid, needs blind admission) also apply to MIT graduate school admissions??...Thanks."
No, Rick, for Graduate Admissions things look very different at MIT. The need-blind admission still generally applies, but the financial aid (specifically the tuition and stipend awards) operate on a merit-based philosophy. Each course at MIT determines to whom they will award assistantships and/or fellowships; this determination is not governed by my group or managed by the Financial Aid Staff. We do have some input into the funding of loan and work awards, so it is possible if you do not secure funding from your graduate department, to secure some assistance from Financial Aid in the form of loans.
Mandymom had some questions about the implication of having a co-signer on a checking account for financial aid purposes. She asked "Recently my Mom-in-law had a stroke but she is active again she has a checking account connected to her savings account... I am VERY WORRIED about the implications of this signature on an account that does not belong to us ! I am worried about it messing up my D's Financial aid award ."
You have a right to be concerned, mandymom. Essentially if your husband is the co-signer on the account, he should include one-half of the amount of the account in his assets for financial aid application purposes. You could write a letter to the school (mandymom's daughter does not attend MIT) explaining the situation and asking for their consideration, but it should be listed. Of course, this assumes you are listing assets at all anyway. You indicated in your post that you only file a FAFSA. If you are able to file a 1040 EZ or A and make less than $50,000 a year, you may be able to skip the asset portion of the FAFSA anyway, and as your contribution is 0, it is possible that a relatively small asset may have no impact anyway...
Vincent, Jan and Ray share my Haplogroup! Who knew Haplogroup J would be such an interesting and diverse group of folk!?
Cindy had some billing questions for the Admissions Office. I forwarded her request off to Admissions a while ago...
Mridrul had some questions about international applicants: "Respected Sir, How do you see the income of parents in the case of international students i.e. in dollars or in local currency? And about exchange rates; how they're going to effect."
Essentially, we take a look at conversion rates once annually, generally around February 1, and set our figures at that time for the academic year following. We then take the numbers you report on your International Student Financial Aid Application (which you report in US$) and compare these to the back-up data you provide (a translated copy of your parents' tax return or a letter from their employers). We do the conversion on our end to verify the numbers you provide.
Laura asked "I know this may have been mentioned elsewhere. But since we estimate the CSS/Profile forms and FAFSA forms, do we have to resubmit them come time when we do receive the 2005 income tax returns? Or do we just send the income tax return copies directly. Both the CSS/Profile, and the FAFSA?"
No problem, Laura. We ask you to send us the tax returns (via the IDOC service - more about that later), so you do not need to resend the FAFSA and Profile, we will make any changes necessary on our end.
Eujin wrote to give an update as to how he is doing.
To Eujin: Glad to know all is well, and of course I remember you!!! Keep in touch and congratulations on your success. More will come your way, I am sure! Do keep me updated as to how things go. Remember also, you can reach me by email at moneyman [at] mit [dot] edu.
Leftcoast mom had some concerns about current billing and the treatment of the full amount of an outside scholarship.
We do post the entire amount of an outside scholarship to the student account when it arrives on campus (even if it is for both Fall and Spring semesters) although we are working on a process for next year to "suspend" the Spring portion until students enroll for the term. So, hopefully, this will be a one year issue only. Thanks, leftcoast mom, for bringing it to my attention.
Betsy commented that her co-worker spent a ridiculous amount of money on a new car (apropos of my comment about the average loan indebtedness of students at graduation being about as much as a new car). Yes, Betsy, it is ridiculous. But I remember when candy bars used to be 10 cents!
Karen F. asked about filing for financial aid if she is planning on deferring admissions. "Next year (school year) I am going to be an exchange student. I plan on deferring admission to college (whether it be MIT or any other) So then....Do I still do the financial aid stuff this year? Or next?"
My answer: If you are positively - absolutely - 100% - "no doubt in your mind" sure about the plans to study abroad, then don't apply. There is no need to. However, if there is any chance (even the most remote chance) you may choose to attend next year, apply. You never want to miss the application deadlines!
vivek had some concern about forms being due in November for International students.
Actually, vivek, the booklet mentions the form will be available in November, but not due until March 1, so you are still fine. I will do a post in the next week or so on the application process, so stay tuned.
Steven asked "I have read all the comments but couldn't find an example of what would happen if a person could contribute less than $1,000 , can the rest be covered? Or will i have to get a full time job to save up the money first?"
The answer is that you can do it without a contribution from pocket for more than $1000, assuming you were willing to use a contribution of loan and work to meet any remaining expenses. Let's assume for the sake of argument that your contribution from your parents is $0. In this case, you would have a $1500 summer contribution expected from you and a $5500 self-help expectation (during the academic year). The rest would be given to you in the form of grants. You could borrow or work during the school year to cover all or part of the $5500 self-help, and the same can be done for the summer contribution.
Stephen (with a "ph") asked about sleep at MIT: "I am interested in attending MIT and I have heard the sleep pattern is very different, and that many people get very little sleep. I was wondering how these students manage that, and how I could build up a solid sleeping pattern that only has about 5 hours. I have tried in the past, but I always end up becoming too tired to continue throughout the day. What should I do."
I have to tell you I am probably not the right person to answer your question. I get around 6 to 7 hours of sleep a night, and that has come after a long time of practice. My advice, ask one of the student bloggers; they can provide their feedback. I do know that many students crash during the school break, but too much sleep-deprivation is not a good thing.
Both Rhiannon and Hamster gave me a well-deserved scolding for not having updated in a while. I agree, shame on me! Hope the last 3 posts count for something.
Now off to bed!
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I actually had an entry on sleep a few weeks ago: http://mollie.mitblogs.com/archives/2005/11/on_sleep.html
It is possible to sleep at MIT! :)
Posted by: Mollie on December 4, 2005 10:56 PM
I have a question for you. In the unlikely event that I'm accepted and my financial aid matters, would it be possible to look at the probable finances of the following year?
More specifically, both of my parents are relatively poor, but they do have some money. However, the college at which my mom teaches doesn't want her back next year, so our finances could be a much as halved, so they wouldn't be able to contribute as much as their taxes would say. Could this be considered, or would I just have to do my best to find additional loans until the following year's aid is reported?
Posted by: Applicant on December 5, 2005 10:46 AM
When i'm not running, I find that I function perfectly fine on 6 hours a night.
When I am running, I need 8ish.
Posted by: Sandy on December 5, 2005 09:15 PM
How do outside scholarships (like the ROTC ones) that only cover tuition and fees but not room and board affect financial aid?
Also how does MIT view recovery from natural disasters (like flood, fire, flood, wind, flood, earthquake, flood) in calculating financial aid?
Posted by: Justin on December 9, 2005 01:56 AM
Thank you!
Posted by: Victoria on December 9, 2005 10:56 PM
I have two not particularly interesting questions:
1) What is the full address of the Office of Financial Aid? Probably thanks to my clumsiness, I couldn't find any specific address (some room numbers, but not very clearly).
2) As an international applicant from Romania, there seems to be some problem with the forms required to submit. Ideally, I should send you a 2005 tax return form. In Romania, such are only released in August. The official paper certifying my parents' wage is due to released on 28 February *at the earliest*. So there might be serious issues of any satisfying document on my parents' 2005 income. Isn't the 2004 tax return form enough?
Thanks and Merry Christmas!
Posted by: Csaba Daday on December 20, 2005 04:42 PM
Hey dan i sent my financial aid aplication to room 3-108 ie to the admission room, Was i supposed to send to any other room . if so should i send it again. please comment
Posted by: Aditya on December 22, 2005 01:33 AM
Hi!!! I just need a help.There was a mistake with my application fee because the fee waiver was selected by mistake,I realized that I was not eligible for fee waiver.I didn´t know how to solve it so I created another account on MYMIT and then I paid the application fee with a credit card.The problem is that the SAT SCORE has been received in the oldest account.How can I solve this problem??
mercedes_bf@hotmail.com
Posted by: Mercedes on December 23, 2005 02:10 AM
I filled out a FAFSA last year, because I enrolled in Community College (after a 20 year break from school - I was a teenaged mom drop-out). I was gobsmacked when FAFSA told me how much our expected contribution would be. My husband and I combined make an income that puts us firmly in the lower middle class (and that is with 2.5 jobs). I simply do not know how we will meet our expected contribution, and I'm heartbroken that my daughter might have to amend her dreams because her parents are financial idiots.
Can you point me to any resources that might help us get our financial ducks in a row before she begins applying? She is currently a junior.
TIA
Posted by: poorplanner on December 30, 2005 12:04 PM
If I were to buy a Porsche by the time I attend next year... Would I then qualify for Fin Aid?
Posted by: Anon on December 31, 2005 03:32 PM
I was wondering what to do in filling out the International Application for Financial Aid.
My father and mother were never married, and I live with my mother who has had full custody from I was 12.
I am rather certain that my father will contribute extremely little, if at all, to my MIT education, if I am accepted.
Should I still have him fill out the application, as he lives with his family in a different country from the one in which I live with my mother?
Posted by: Michael B. Berthelsen on January 2, 2006 05:14 PM
I was interested in how you dealt with housing allowances. My family gets free housing. The house we live in is worth alot of money. If we were given a cash allowance with which to pay for housing we would live in something much smaller. So I believe my need may be missrepresented. My allowance is very large, but we have no way of accessing these funds for college. Additionally, because we do not own our home we have no equity. How would you deal with this situation? How should I represent this difficulty? Furthermore... how should I represent this on the fafsa. I think it may eliminate my chance to recieve federal aid, as they are not as understanding and willing to look at individual cases.
Posted by: marcus on January 3, 2006 12:02 PM
Sir,
I am an International Applicant from Sri Lanka and I would be pleased if you could tell something about the formula for calculating financial aid for international students.
Thank you
Posted by: Varuna on January 4, 2006 06:54 PM
What exactly does the priority deadline for CSS Profile mean?
And if my parents don't have their 2005 tax returns yet, is the deadline extened?
I talked to someone today and they told me that I shouldn't file the CSS Profile unless I know the school has already accepted me. Is this good advice or should I file as soon as I can?
Posted by: Sam T on January 9, 2006 08:07 PM
Hi, I am Felipe (Brazil applicant). I would like to know about deadline for financial aid materials. For international applicants is the same date (March1)?
Thanks
Felipe
Posted by: Felipe J.Depinˆ© on January 10, 2006 09:29 AM
Hey Moneyman, How's life?
what are you doing over IAP? there's a series of great Physics lectures in Stata Center. Feynman's videos continued by the lecture about current problems.
:)
Posted by: MJ Kamalov on January 10, 2006 06:43 PM
I am an International Applicant from Turkey I want information about the calculation of the scholarship.What are the necessities to get scholarship?
I want the computer engineering or programming part.I am at the 3rd class of my highschool (In Turkey highschools are up to 4th class).Why I want to be at this university is;the quality of university and from my inclination for computer and I believe that ٱ will be more succesful after being gratuated from this university and also my performance will be great at this university so I will effect my friends positively,ٱ certainly believe I will be succesful ٱ trust myself about it.For the info about me&my family;ٱ play basketball in a team,I can make good drawing,my father is a civil engineer and my mother is an archeolog.I have a brother&sister they are 8-10 years old.By the way my mother isn't working
she is a housewife.I live in Istanbul.It is necessary for me to get scholarship.I wait your help.(My diploma average will probably be 4,20 from 5,00.I will graduate from my highschool at summer2007)
Thanks,Kaan
Posted by: Kaan on January 13, 2006 04:58 PM
A weird question. It's written that applicants for Financial Aid are expected to work sometime during the year. Actually I'm doing that already (I'm giving tuition classes to my ex-schoolmates), but the problem is that I tend to work for free. In this case I'm doing it because I see it as a favour for my friends. Is this a problem?
There's another matter. My parents spent a lot of money to take care of my grandmother these past few years (she had cancer). My grandmother, however, died two days ago. Should I note it in the Financial Aid application?
Thank you.
Posted by: Lerh Feng on January 17, 2006 07:55 PM
i have filled the application form and send it to MIT last year and since then i have not receive anything regarding the application.i want materials regarding the application to be seend to me before this week end.i am an international student from nigeria.i will be posting the application for financial aid to the institution few weeks to this time by God's grace.
Posted by: Arogundade Gbenga Ebenezer on January 18, 2006 05:23 AM
i understand that need-based financial aid is based on a family's income, but my parents are not willing to pay for my college expenses unless i go to an in-state college. at mit or any other private school, will i be considered for need-based financial aid? if so, how do i fill that out on the financial aid forms?
Posted by: Lena on January 20, 2006 09:07 PM
Hello, I am an international applicant from Mauritius, and I have a simple question. Apart from the International Student Financial Aid Application, do I need to submit a Certification of Finances? I'm applying for need-based financial aid, so how can I prove that I can afford my education? I can send proof for the 1st year, but not for the other 3 years... Is that a problem? Thank u so much for your help!
Posted by: Arisa on January 22, 2006 04:14 AM
Hi, I am US applicant living in Canada. My Mom is a dual citizen and files both US and Canadian taxes, my Dad is Canadian and only files Canadian. There is a line on FAFSA asking if you (your parents) are filing foreign taxes, but the rest of the form assumes you (they) are filing US taxes. How do we fill out the adjusted income etc., etc., and questions that require answers to specific lines on the US form? What about the differences in deductions in both countries? Thank-you ever so much. Hope to see you in Boston.
-alex
Posted by: Alex on January 24, 2006 08:16 AM
I am an international applicant..I want to learn from you that, in our country there is no any federal tax returns and my father is retired so I also cant send document from employer...what additional document I can send you with my financal aid form??? Or only financal aid form will be ok ?
Best Wishes,
Senan
Posted by: Senan on January 28, 2006 03:28 PM
I am an international applicant from Canada. Our family usually files our tax return in April and we get the tax return in June. Therefore, how can I meet the March 1, 2006 deadline? My parents can send their 2004 income tax returns, along with letters from their employers verifying their 2005 income. Is this good enough?
Posted by: peng on January 29, 2006 02:13 PM
Ummm - it's now been over two months since your last post. Are you coming back? Since it's pretty much the same information as last year, maybe you can just repost last year's entries?
Posted by: sailmaker on February 5, 2006 09:54 AM
