Daniel Barkowitz | April 07, 2008
"FASU 8: Friday's Update -- just a little late (and Q&As)"
OK, well Friday and this weekend were just TOOOOOO busy.
First the news (from Friday, no less):
On Friday, we sent out another 41 awards letters. We kept copies of these award letters to stuff in your CPW registration packets (for those of you who will be on campus for CPW).
Also on Friday, we sent 267 missing information letters to those of you who still have not completed your financial aid applications (What are you waiting for, a personal invitation? Consider yourself invited!)
At the moment, we have another 22 students ready to be awarded, and another 29 students whose applications are in the process of being reviewed. Additionally we have another 13 students who have submitted 2007 tax return information and need their preliminary awards verified.
We are hard at work on these remaining files, and we will continue to work through any files that are completed in the next several days before the start of CPW. We will be running packaging on Wednesday night to create awards, and will send these in the mail late Wednesday. We will also hold a copy of these letters for those of you who are registered for CPW.
So, now on to some questions you have asked...
'12er asked:
On the self-help form, if we report the outside scholarships we have already received at this time, will part of our MIT scholarship be taken away? Or will it only decrease the self-help amount?Similarly, if the amount of outside scholarships covers more than the self-help expected by MIT, can those funds go toward the parent contribution (meaning our parents can pay less)?
Thank you very much, SFS, for doing all this!
'12er, our pleasure!! As for outside scholarship, our replacement policy states that if a student has a self-help award, we first replace the self-help and then if any funds are left this money will reduce the Student Contribution. Once the Student Contribution and self-help have been completely replaced, we then reduce the MIT grant by any received amount. This is why we would recommend that if you will be receiving a large amount of outside scholarship that you see if some of your providers can defer to a later year so that you get the "biggest bang for your buck." We only replace Parental Contribution if all of the aid we have awarded has been replaced by the outside award. Also remember unlike many institutions, we allow any outside award (with only two exceptions) to reduce self-help. The only two exceptions are the Massachusetts Gilbert Grant and the Federal SEOG grant. This means that if you receive a state scholarship, an award from your parents' employers, or any other outside funds, you will get the full benefit of these, to the extent that we are able.
roberto '12 asked:
two questions... how long does the process of reviewing financial aid appeals last? and are we going to be notified via email/website or through regular mail?thank you very much
So, roberto, we review appeals throughout the year as issues come up for students. We have a standing weekly meeting during the remainder of the academic year, but for the moment (during the month of April) we meet daily to review Freshmen appeals. Once a decision is reached on an appeal, we communicate directly with the family to let you know of our response.
yiwen asked:
How common is it for MIT to match the aid offered by another college? I love this place and wouldn't want to go elsewhere, but with Harvard offering better aid and it being my parents' dream...I'm not sure how to make my case =/
The answer here is that we do not "match" other institutions awards as we may not use the same need analysis or awarding practices. We are interested in hearing about your other awards as sometimes the information provided to us may assist us in understanding how your case was analyzed. Speak to your aid officer during your appeal process to indentify your concerns about your award and your ability to afford our costs.
waitlisted mom asks:
My daughter got waitlisted. MIT is her first pick. She is trying to decide whether or not to stay on the waitlist as unfortunately the final decision -if there is room at MIT--will come down to financial aid (she got a very good package at 2 other comparable schools). She will choose not to stay on the list if it is financially unfeasible-so as to give someone else a chance. Is there any way she can get an estimated financial aid letter so she can make an informed decision?
Unfortunately we are not able to provide any estimates on waitlisted students as our process of reviewing a file takes at least 30 minutes. If your daughter is admitted off of waitlist (if we do accept any students off of waitlist), then we will provide an award as soon as possible after the admissions decision. In the meantime, we cannot provide any information.
Ram asked:
Dear Daniel,My MIT portal indicates that I am missing the following forms,
Self-Help and Outside Award Reply Form
MIT Student Information Review FormI will send them as soon as possible. In the mean time, I was wondering if I would still receive my financial aid award letter, before I complete and send the above mentioned forms to you.
TC
If TC is "take care" then thanks!!! In answer to your question, these two forms only show up if you have been awarded, so an award letter is coming. The Self-Help form means we awarded you self-help, and the Student Information Review Form means you are receiving grant, so congratulations! These documents don't hold up your financial aid letter, they are only originally listed when you are awarded.
KaYnaR asked:
Same as Ram,I got my package only few hours ago. Or can I send these two forms by fax?
Thank You!
and Anonymous added:
Hey is it possible to email the outside help and student info forms instead of mailing them? thanks
We prefer these forms by mail. Fax is less preferable, but still acceptable. Email is a problem, unless you actually have scanned your signature in.
Jerome asked (on my REPOST post):
What happens to all those students who got an offer of admission, but no (or not enough) FinAid because their parents are not willing to support them?I know one guy who is in this state and will probably have to either defer for two years to earn the money, or decline. And I know a prospect who wants to apply but knows that this will probably become an issue.
Luckily I am not in this situation (I didn't get an offer, but also my one parent (mum) is willing to support me fully but has no resources, so FinAid would be fine), but I am wondering if there is something the others can do if they are in that situation?
Interesting question, Jerome. We at MIT cannot replace a parent's responsibility for paying for college. Think about it; if we said that parents only had to pay for their children's educations if they chose to pay, then no parent would contribute to their children's education. That said, there are cases where students and parents are in usual circumstances and may qualify for a waiver, but they are few and far between. Some good information can be found on the finaid.org website under the section on Dependency Overrides.
KT '12 asks:
You may have already answered this, but if you didn't get any financial aid but you still can't afford the school, and another EFC (collegeboard) shows that your EFC is actually less that the cost that MIT will cost you, can you bring this EFC to your meeting with financial aid at CPW/will this have an effect? What I really want to know is, is it possible to get financial aid after you have already been denied financial aid (even if another EFC shows that you need more money to go to MIT)? Thank you.
I haven't answered this specifically, but the answer is covered in my section on appeals. We do not meet other offers from other colleges or results from other calculators; however you are free to bring these. They may be helpful in understand to what the difference is attributable, but we cannot simply match other awards or calculations. It is possible, however, to get financial aid after you have already been denied financial aid if the subsequent information you provide changes your calculated EFC to the point where you are eligible.
Jess asked:
How do you file an appeal if we would like to? If my parents set up an appointment with a financial aid officer during CPW, would that replace filing an appeal?
Not necessarily. An appeal is usually an email or letter from you explaining a circumstance we may not have considered in our initial review. We may suggest in our meeting with you at CPW that you write us such a letter, but a meeting at CPW is not itself a request for an appeal.
Class of 2012 asked:
Will receiving outside scholarships hurt us in essence if we do not receive any loans? I have heard that you will deduct this money from the grants you give us in our financial aid packages. Is this true? How does this work?
You don't say, but I would guess then that you had no self-help award in your financial aid package. If this is correct then any outside grant would first reduce your student contribution and then your MIT grant or scholarship. If you do have self-help, replacing self-help amounts (which can be work or loan) will be the first target.
Joan '12 asked:
I'm already extremely pleased to get my financial aid offer but I have a question: I am a US citizen abroad, as my family lives in China and our US permanent address is really just for filling out forms. In this case, why would I be expected to make a contribution? (I have a travel allowance and a student contribution included in my package) Thanks
I'm glad you're pleased. Chances are that since your permanent address is listed as a US address then we used that to determine whether you get a travel award and a student contribution. You will need to let your financial aid officer know so that we can make an adjustment!
Well, that's all folks!!!! Look forward to seeing many of you on Thursday morning. Note that I will be staffing the CPW financial aid appointment desk all day Thursday. Drop by and say hello!!!
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The author has filed this entry in the "Financial Aid" section; check it out for further reading on this topic. |
Responses To This Entry:
(Please note that comments are closed after 30 days to reduce spam.)
If a student gets various scholarships and they go toward the self-help first, then toward the student contribution, and then to reduce MIT's grant, is there a good reason for a student to continue to receive scholarships that pay beyond the self-help and student contribution?
thanks
Posted by: MIT Dad on April 7, 2008 02:41 PM
Other than being a good citizen and providing aid for others (since we count on some students overshooting their self-help and SC every year)? No!
Posted by: Daniel Barkowitz on April 7, 2008 02:43 PM
Hi again,
did check back on that blog post periodically for a short while after posting it, but then stopped. Thanks for the answer now.
This way of getting an answer does appear better, and I do find the answer interesting. I have forwarded the link and quote to the guy in that particular situation.
I guess it is very difficult to handle parents who aren't interested in supporting their children's education, for whatever reason, but I also think it would be a waste if students are unable to attend a good college like MIT -- even after they have been offered admission -- just because of such an issue. Well, I do fully understand your point though.
Won't be coming to CPW (obviously, as you could guess from my previous post), but will probably apply for transfer admissions next year. I do find it unfortunate that the international student quota is so low, it really makes things difficult -- I heard that nobody from Holland got accepted (I myself am from Germany, but also nobody that got interviewed by the same EC as me got accepted) -- I hope transfer admissions are a bit better in that regard, EC says I should go for transfer instead of doing the gap year (which I was considering anyway, even by deferring), that transfer gives higher chances for me.
Anyway, to everybody joining on CPW -- have lots of fun! Feel free to drop me an email at mit-blogs-2008@jeromebaum.com .
Jerome
Posted by: Jerome Baum on April 7, 2008 02:47 PM
Hi there,
I have read somewhere(can't remember where) that international students can't work off campus during first 9 months of their student visa. Is that true? If it is, what is considered off campus and does the visa extend every year or does the whole 9 month restriction start again?
Sh1fty
Posted by: Sh1fty on April 7, 2008 06:26 PM
Hello,
I haven't sent in either the "Self-Help and Outside Award Reply Form" nor the "MIT Student Information Review Form" because my Mom wants to discuss the package during a CPW appointment before submitting them. In this case, will we be able to hand in the documents in person (rather than mailing them in)?
Thank you!
Posted by: L.B. '12 on April 7, 2008 07:17 PM
What type of documents should we bring to the financial aid appointment?
Posted by: Becca on April 8, 2008 09:45 AM
I havent sent in the outside award and self help form yet. Does that mean that the award letter I received earlier is likely to change or is that final?
Also I'm an international student and I have to send in copies of the award letter along with the financial certification form . Can I send in the copy of the award letter I've already received or should I wait for the final one after sending in he outside award and self help form? (I'm confused!)
On an average , how much can a student earn over a year by doing paid community service or by taking up a job or UROP. Is it a good idea to go in for a student loan in case I'm unsure about this.
Sorry about the zillion questions!
And thank you because I know you'll probably answer them :)
Posted by: Aditi on April 8, 2008 10:30 AM
"Other than being a good citizen and providing aid for others (since we count on some students overshooting their self-help and SC every year)? No!"
Wait; doesn't additional scholarship money apply to the EFC? So if my son's self-help and MIT scholarship amounts are covered by outside scholarhips, won't the rest go to the parent contribution amount?
Posted by: Parent on April 8, 2008 02:17 PM
Parent
If your child received outside scholarships they will first go to reduce the self help and student contribution. Then MIT will reduce the MIT scholarship. If you child earns outside scholarships in excess of the self-help, student contribution, and MIT scholarship then, yes, they will go towards the EFC. What Daniel meant is that if your child receives more then the self-help and student contribution, the MIT loan will be reduced before the money will go toward the family contribution which basically means that as the student it their is no benifit for earning scholarships over the cost of the self-help and student contribution unless the student can earn more then the self-help, student contribution, and MIT scholarship. I hope this answers your question. You student would never be expected to give outside scholarship money to other MIT students, MIT could just use the money for the MIT scholarship that your child replaced with outside scholarships for other students.
Posted by: Julia '12 on April 8, 2008 02:45 PM
hi daniel,
Do you send fa package by airmail or express?
Posted by: SK on April 9, 2008 01:53 AM
Thanks, Daniel!
Also, does anyone know if I can send in the required forms (Self help and outside award, etc) via fax?
Posted by: Joan '12 on April 9, 2008 08:47 AM
Oops..Guess that's already been answered!
Posted by: Anonymous on April 11, 2008 08:28 PM
Say for example that a student replaces work study and self help with outside scholarship awards. How much can the student earn during the year (summer work)and not have it counted towards EFC? This would happen in a case where the student was trying to help pay down the EFC and not have the school aid reduced. Thanks!
Posted by: anonymous on April 13, 2008 03:42 PM
я вам пишу, чего же боле?
Posted by: freeringtones on April 19, 2008 12:22 PM
I got some scholarship from Harvard but nothing from MIT. I hear if I go to Harvard, I can still take class in MIT without extra charge. Is that true? Thanks.
Posted by: Fred on April 23, 2008 12:06 PM
