<p>I find new ins and outs of that website everytime I go on it. I think it is going to take me the full 4 years to get completely through it. LOL</p>
<p>Spending $-Good luck keeping him locked in his room, although when the kids close their hurricane shutters, the room becomes pitch black and they can seemingly sleep forever! S says that they have to make sure they leave the shutters open the night before early AM classes or they wouldn't wake up. Living in the Miami area is expensive, but after the first few weeks of spending too much $, S realized he needed to put himself on a budget and has been fine ever since. He has fun and also watches his pennies. </p>
<p>Laundry-This year was the first year of the free laundry-I think some of the guidebooks and parts of the website haven't been updated. The laundry room in Hecht is very nice and has lots of machines. The kids can even monitor the cycle time of their machines from their computers.</p>
<p>A tip for those who will be visiting the area. Many Miami area restaurants add a gratuity to the bill regardless of the size of your party. Always check and start drilling it into your kids heads now.</p>
<p>I just visited Miami the other day because I was visiting my grandparents in the area and figured why not. I got to speak to someone in the fin aid office because of the offer they gave me I felt was def not up to par. They met only about 60% of my need of the EFC. The guy at the office told me the total cost this year would be 44,000 mostly because of raising the tuition to over 30,000 a year. I didnt question but he automatically said oh were private we can do as we please.Then I asked about the offer and why it was so low which he said it was the average award given out and that Miami didnt really look to deeply into the EFC. He said it was there but not really their main concern with aid. He was unprofessional and just kind of shrugged with alot of questions. I was quite disappointed with the office because apparently he is the guy in charge.</p>
<p>mooster - I feel your pain, only 61% of my need was met. I was going to talk to someone about it, and it looks like you're already a step ahead of me on that one. I guess the next step is to look at other schools, get their packages, and say "hey look Miami, I want this package, or I won't go there!" hehe.</p>
<p>Has anyone dealt with the aid office before and was successful with negotiations? I may end up going to Miami next year if a couple things play out, and one of them is getting more grants.</p>
<p>u should do that A2Wolves...its not gonna hurt u at all so u might as well...do anything u can to go...i doubt u want to go through this whole application process all over again next year like i had to do!</p>