first...!

Second!

third :D

hey guys, it's annoying to put second and third posts like that...

No loan system seems to be really problematic for low income families.

I didn't get my financial aid letter yet :((. Our postal service didn't work for the last four days, hope to see my Big Mail tomorrow :)

Than you, Daniel!

what do you mean by typical assets?

...

Grow up people!
"first" "damn, im second too slow for mit"
How is that fun?

What are the assests included in the post above?

1. For families with income below $75000, will the financial aid cover only tuition, or can it cover other costs too?

2. On the financial aid letter, where does the Student Contribution come from? How is that different from Self-Help?

Thanks :)

I have the same second question as "me'12." I'm confused where the overlaps are in student contribution, self-help, work (including UROP?), and loans all go. And how realistic is it to work while also doing a varsity sport? Would it be too much?

Hey, I somehow doubt that I'll get an answer to this here but on my financial aid tracking system it still says that I have to turn in my noncustodial parent info. Unfortunately I cannot do that because my noncustodial parent is deceased. I emailed the fin aid office a few weeks ago but still no reply. Should I give them a call or just wait it out?
Thank you

spam... hate spam!

Is it completely impossible to get finiancial aid (other than loans) if your family makes $200,000+ and only has one other kid in college? Because I didn't get any but I still need it!!

and SPEAKING OF FINANCIAL AID! My friend, Kathleen Hong, is in the running for a $20,000 scholarship. The winner will be determined by popular online voting. The competition is currently in Round 2, and it would be greatly appreciated if you could help her move onto the next round. She's the one on the right, with her hand in the flame, chugging coffee out of a coffee pot:http://www.zinch.com/Anonymous/ViewMatchUp.aspx?u1=21959&u2=128920
[vote for kathleen hong!]
i know she's a writer and NOT applying to MIT, but read her mt. fuji answer! completely nerdy/fabulous! :)

and if it helps, i realllllly want to go to MIT in 2014. and i love my friends dearly. and she's my friend. so vote ! [or at least read the thing about mt. fuji!]

@md '12

I wouldn't use the term "completely impossible" but I don't think it is likely. If you weren't awarded financial aid it means that, after looking at all of your families assets and liabilities, they found that there was enough wiggle room for your family to afford your education without a contribution from MIT. If you have circumstances that were not reflected in the IDOC you should get a hold of the Financial Aid office and try to appeal.

I just have to say though, $200,000+ a year is more than enough to cover two kids in college while still maintaining a reasonable standard of living unless you live in VERY expensive community (read: Beverly Hills) or have huge amounts of debt.

I got a little offended when I read your statement about still needing aid, coming from a poor (for California) community where the median income is $47k per household and the median price of a home is $350k (most of which are now negatively amortized thanks to the housing collapse) I have seen a large number of social and economic barriers prevent the majority of my community from escaping poverty. So from my perspective, families that fall into the highest federal income tax brackets should not be complaining about a lack of aid. Sorry, I just had to get that out. Good luck.

I would like to say that I am more offended by people who come from poorer families insulting those families that make substantially larger sums of money. Regardless of what circumstances you come from, it is in NO WAY reasonable to insult others in different, UNKNOWN circumstances. And if anyone thinks that I am one of those kids from a high income family, I would like to put your minds at ease that I hover far below $47K.

I would like to add the fact that no matter what my tax bracket, my parents are earning the $45k/year for my education. All of it. I will be earning it all back to pay them off during my first 5-10 years out of college.

Meanwhile, a student with $47k familial income can come out of college debt free and ready to live a high-rolling life.

Seems... rather insulting, huh, Ian?

Ok, Ok, so I have a rather busy afternoon, I come back and look what's waiting for me!! :)

So, let me try to address these one by one:

SK, typical assets depends case by case. As an example, if we see a family who has a $20,000 income, but $500,000 in investments, that sets up a red flag for us and would be something we would review. What we are saying here is that we review on a case-by-case basis if assets are above the amount typically expected for a family with that income level.

Anonymous(1), assets in this case (less than a 75,000 income) mean equity in other property other than the home, business equity, liquid assets (cash, savings, investments) and other forms on non-retirement assets.

Me '12, financial aid for families earning less than 75,000 may cover other costs besides simply tuition. It will depend on the individual family circumstance. The Student Contribution is our expectation of what you will earn over the summer and contribute towards your educational expenses. This is different than your self-help, which is a measure of how much work or (if you prefer) loan you will take on during the academic year.

Job '12, we estimate that by working 10 hours a week you can cover the $2850 self-help. If your self-help is higher ($4750) you may need to work more hours or borrow some loans to cover this. Remember that any outside aid you receive also will go to reduce this amount. I would separate the two from each other in your planning. First make a plan to earn your student contribution during the coming summer. Second, make a plan for the year in terms of a work/loan balance. Given the demands of the MIT culture and Freshmen year, I would not plan on working (or "UROPping") during a term where you are also pursuing a vasity sport -- too much risk of overextending yourself there. Or if you are going to work, find a job with more limited hours than 10 or more a week.

Stephen, sorry about that. We had something miscoded on our system which we fixed today and you are now showing as complete and ready for review.

Anonymous(2), I hate spam too!!! But I removed it!

md '12, impossible? No. Unlikely? Yes. I would have your parent(s) call in to speak with a financial aid officer to see if there is anything in the review which we did not consider or whether there is anything in your family's financial situation which was not originally disclosed. We do review each case individually, so stating that unequivically you would or would not get aid is not possible.

maythreyi, good luck to her, but this is really not a place to post personal advertisements! In the future direct that kind of stuff on to one of the boards.

Ian, Lex, current, let's try please to keep things civil. Ian your first paragraph is (to coin a phrase) "right on the money" but every family has a unique story. We try to work with each family to find a financing plan which works for them and that takes their unique situation into consideration.

I'm not sure that a post war on this forum serves any real purpose.

Current 11, I judge based on this and other posts you've made that you are not pleased with our financial aid review of your situation. Rather than argue this on the blog, I would make the same suggestion I've made to others in the past. If you are not happy with our review, come and talk with your financial aid officer or with me directly. We are interested in listening to your case and working with you, if possible, to find a reasonable compromise.

YAY! you answered me! thank you ^-^. Ok, one more question. So pretend that we're planning on doing varsity sports all year, and it may not be a good idea to work 10+ hours/week to help cover the self-help. If we have saved personal money up (from current jobs) may we use that instead to pay the self-help?

And yay! You saw my answer!! :)

You can always choose just not to use your self-help. We will pester you for a form, so why don't you tell us you plan to use it in the form or work, and then when you do not earn this money you'll be fine!

thank you

@Lex '12 : I apologize for offending you, honestly I wasn't trying to insult anyone. I read the comment, it bothered me and I expressed why after addressing the initial question to the best of my ability. I did my best to keep my tone civil, obviously I didn't do as well as I had thought.

@Daniel : Sorry, my feathers got slight ruffled. While I tried to avoid making blanket statements re-reading my comments I can see that I was a bit antagonizing.

I LOVE EVERYONE!!1

Ian, no problem! Thanks for your comment.

Listen guys, I know tension is high, so just be kind to each other. To borrow a quote from HSM (Oh, God, here I go), "we're all in this together!"

Now, back to more file reviews...

I understand the idea behind financial aid, but I don't quite understand why students whose parents make less than $75K a year should get out of college with almost no loans, but the same earning potential as someone whose parents make $150K +, but they get saddled with student loans. My parents agree to pay part of my education, but definitely not $50K per year, and so I have to cover almost $30K myself. Doesn't that make me have need?

What exactly goes into the MIT equation for determining aid?
Income -- or after tax income (including real estate taxes)?
Value of home/Equity in home?
Age and health of parents?
Obviously, I realize that investments, savings, etc. are considered -- but what about retirement savings -- are they counted? Or are parents supposed to rely on Social Security payments and spend retirement savings on MIT?
(BTW, I second "Current '11's" comment.)

Ian: I probably came across a little strong myself, and I do understand where you are coming from. It was more a general statement than aimed at you.

Daniel: Sorry for pushing towards a post war, but like I said, i was just voicing a pent up feeling. Thanks for being so nice with answering the questions, and for being so transparent with your immense wealth of uber-knowledge :)

My case is a bit special: EFC is calculated based on family income and asset, but a large of part my family asset actually comes from money my mother's compensation in a court settlement for her car accident injury. So I feel that there is a discrepency between what I've been awarded by MIT and what we've calculated. I don't feel that my dream of attending MIT should be built upon my parent's misfortune, and that money is really for paying for any potential future medical problems associated with the accident. So I was wondering, if I were able to provide proof of this settlement, would MIT be able to review and reassess my financial aid offer.

Sorry to bother you Mr. Barkowitz from your file reviews, but I have a couple of quick questions:
1) 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, but I have seen no update on my profile.
2) My parents do not file W-2's (my father is self-employed; he runs a business in which he is the only employee). I included a letter addressing this issue in my IDOC packet (which should be arriving to you soon). Do I need to do anything else?

I think that's about it for now. Thanx for your time.

Hiya,

I just got my finaid from MIT today, and was pleasantly surprised--I expected to have to write off MIT entirely. Now I can still consider it. Thanks!

I do have a question. Because of outside scholarships, my self-help portion has been eliminated, so there's no work-study involved in my finaid package. However, my parents can't afford their full expected contribution. If I were to go to MIT, they'd probably take out loans for the $5000/year or so they can't afford out of current income, then expect me to pay off those loans after graduation (since student loans often have less favorable terms than the ones they could get). I'd much prefer to work during my four years at MIT to help cover that $5000 gap, but I have a sinking suspicion anything I earn, since there's no work-study component, will just reduce the grant amount from MIT. I want to help my parents cover the cost of an MIT education and keep debt low. Any way I can work that out?

a student from China
striving for the dream of MIT

A student from the squeezed middle classes, living in an over-taxed, depressed housing market, area of the U.S. -- also striving for the dream of MIT.

The financial aid staff has done their very best to distribute their funds as equitably as possible based on all the criteria they have to consider, but of course there will always be people who disagree and even get downright angry about what they decide. Life is never going to be "fair", and we will waste our lives if we insist on wallowing in self-pity because we didn't get what we wanted or even what we think we deserved. The great thing about life is that we always have choices. Many students have expressed their opinions about who didn't get enough financial aid, who got more than they deserved, etc. MIT, while a great school, is not the only choice you have. If you don't like your financial aid offer, or if you think the school is too expensive, then there are many other schools out there that would love to have you. Your education is largely going to be what you make of it, not what school you go to. Your choice is to decide if going to MIT is worth the financial investment you will have to make. If it is, then find a way to make it work; if it isn't, then check out your other options (there really are other options).

ahhh! sorry, daniel!
she was just behind, and i wanted to help somewhere ! and i actually read the blogs religiously :D
sorry again!

Kris: A+ for sanctimony.