First

If you get a letter from "College Financial Advisory" be aware that they are in way connected to our office.

I think you're missing a word. "no" way connected...

How do I send "Other Real Estate Value/D"?
I was contacted by Gary Ryan via e-mail and I gave him the information a month ago. What do I do now?

question, for the outside scholarships, should we send back the Self-Help and Outside Award Reply Form even if we haven't heard back from all the scholarships we applied for yet?

haha at first I looked at the graph and saw 652,420% and I was thinking "wow, you know for a guy at MIT, math sure isn't his---oh wait, oh nevermind, I'm dumb."

JR thanks! Fixed it...

Alex, have you tried contacting Gary again directly? He is very responsive. Maybe it didn't arrive? or he missed it? Try him by email or phone tomorrow...

marie, yes, you can always complete a revised form later if you receive other scholarships.

Chris, at least you didn't have a typo (see JR's comment).

I understand how some people might feel offended by a person with parents' combined income around 150,000 asking for financial aid, but I'm not completely sure if the other side of the story can be accounted for.

For example, my parents emigrated to the U.S. when I was 8, and they first completed their Phd./Masters. By the time they bought a house (in a rather rich county), two cars, and have plenty of debt, they just started down the road. It's only been 4-5 years or so since they've both had work that paid that amount total (~150,000). Before then, I would have certainly qualified for financial aid, possibly even a full ride. Now, I get nothing, yet my parents with their total income have little wiggle room, and have barely any money saved in their retirement accounts, forget college.

So now... MIT just might not be a viable option. And of course, when I mention how much my parents make, the first reaction is, "Why should you need financial aid?" The answer is, "it's not that simple."

to Anonymous:

what about the kid whose parents or even parent have no car? have no house (in a rather rich country)? what about the kid whose parents make less than 50k a year and still have to support their children and pay the bills? or how about the kid whose parents didn't even complete college? quit your crying. you're right, it's not that simple, but you have things alot easier. and financial aid should go to those who really need it.

The Anonymous poster above need not have gotten mean to make a point. Even so, I don't think he/she is right.

As per the new policy, if a student's parents make 75K or less per year, tuition is free for that student. No question will be asked about how many homes they own, how many cars they have etc. etc. I know a parent who was earning 150K until last year, but has since taken early retirement and now works for the state for 50K salary. That person owns 2 homes and 2 Mercedeze cars and a isuzu van. Yet his child will get full tuition waiver since the current annual earnings is under 75K.

It is not that simple, you see....

You are right that it isn't that simple...

In your example, 'A Parent', this family may not qualify for free tuition either. Remember that the policy was announced with a qualifier which reads "with typical assets" for that income level. A family with two properties fully paid for is not "typical" by any means. We do look at every situation of every family applying for aid.

And, Anonymous, don't assume with 150,000 of annual income you won't qualify for aid, either. Remember that nearly 4 out of 10 students who receive MIT scholarship aid have family incomes over $100,000.

The message here is that financial aid is available to assist at all levels if you qualify, and we do review every case individually!

@Anonymous:
Now that is a pretty tough situation. Were I in a similar position I would definitely bring the lack of equity in their home (if I read the situation right) and the high cost of living in the county to the fin aid office's attention. Good luck, and remember the only way it wont happen is if you give up.

@'11:
You might want to take a look at my response to a similar, but less verbose comment, on Daniel's entry from a couple days ago and look at the exchange that followed. There was also an interesting point raised later about the levels of debt for children from different income classes. Poorer students will graduate virtually debt free while students from more affluent families may or may not have the same privilege. I have been thinking about that idea for a bit now and it reveals a dichotomy between the intention of financial aid and it's implementation.

Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing but sympathy for the impoverished trying to build a better life (I consider myself in that group) but I try not to allow my experiences with poverty to bias my view of the world (in the other comment I failed, you should really read it, as well as the following exchange).

Okay, I know this may be an ignorant/stupid question, but I'm really rather confused.

Do I send in my Self-Help and Outside Award Reply Form and MIT Student Information Review Form right now, before I'm sure that I'm attending MIT?

Or does that wait until after my May 1 decision?

Dear Mr. Barkowitz:

My son is interested in applying at MIT for the '09-'10 year. We will require financial aid. Right now we are renting a home and saving a down payment to be used to purchase a house. Which situation is more advantageous for receiving financial aid:
- renting a home and having a down payment in the bank for when we can afford a home, or
- purchasing a home with all of our assets and having a mortgage which is a SIGNIFICANT portion of our income (we live in an expensive housing area)?

Thanks,
California Dad

I asked this question on a previous entry, but I don't think it was answered. So here goes, again....
If parents are close to retirement, and they have saved for that time in their lives, does MIT assume a somewhat predatory position with regard to those savings? In other words, does MIT view those savings as fuel for tuition costs,oblige the parents to spend that money on college costs, and assume that parents will have to subsist on social security? Is age, and/or infirmity (errr, not just mental!) of parents, given any consideration?
Thanks for your consideration of this question.

Hey,
is it possible to appeal for an improvement in financial aid package if the family cant (literally) pay the proposed parental contribution; this is the case with me, and I am honestly freaking out.
I have received a much much better offer at Caltech, and my parents say they can't pay for the rest of MIT's expenses, but I really really love MIT, it is my dream university, so my parents want me tgo to Caltech
!!
Help Mr Barkowitz

So, several answers:

You can send in your Self-Help and Student Information forms now or after you make your decision. They are only due back in by May 1 (your reply date).

California dad, I would review my old posts about how we determine the family contribution, specifically the post about parental assets (linked here).

Not sure that I love the word "predatory" in response to our financial aid policy, but Anon the 2nd, you may also want to review the above referenced post. We do not include specially directed retirement accounts AT ALL in our determination of a family's ability to pay. If the savings is in general investments, we do include a small portion of those assets (usually no greater than 3 to 5% of them). Since you will be in school (we hope) for 4 years, and since the process assumes you spend down the asset and uses the reduce portion as the next years base, over four years we would assume that somewhere between 8.7 and 14.3% of the total asset would be spent. Remember that this is only for investments held in non-designated retirement accounts. Again, review my old post for more information.

Yazan, I hear you are already in touch with your financial aid officer and working on an appeal. We look forward to seeing it and hope that we can work things out!

I'm having some trouble right now. I would really like to see my financial aid before CPW, but there have been some bumps on the way. We sent in IDOC last Friday but had to send out else today (an additional form that was overlooked). Today's package was sent with priority mail, so can I expect a fairly quick processing or should I just prepare to receive my financial aid letter at CPW?

We are working at the moment on applications which became complete as of 3/24 and later, so we are averaging about a 2 to 3 day turnaround. Get your information in as soon as possible and we will turn around the award as soon as possible.

As we approach CPW, we will attempt to completely empty our pending drawers so that anything received by the day before CPW is awarded (that is our goal). If we get data on Monday - Wednesday of CPW, we hope to have a financial aid letter in your packet at CPW check-in, but continue to monitor the blog for up-to-date information.

woo!

MIT offered more than NYU.
Silly NYU - MIT is cooler anyway!