<p>How soon after the admission letters are sent out does CalTech send out their financial aid packages?</p>
<p>I'm wondering the same thing. I was so happy when I got accepted but now I'm terrified because of financial aid. I did a financial aid calculator using the institutional methodology that Caltech says they and it said our EFC was over a third of my family's total income even though we have no assets except our house and nothing substantial saved.</p>
<p>The letters said mid March</p>
<p>Last year, it was stressful trying to figure out if we could afford prefrosh weekend without the financial aid letter. Didn't want to spend the money to send him if the school was impossible from a financial aid standpoint. I suppose you could try calling them if you really need to know sooner, but I'm not sure how successful that will be.</p>
<p>One notable aspect of Caltech was that S began working after first term. By 2nd year, he earned excellent money, and then there were also upper class merit awards. There were no extra charges for remaining on campus over holidays, nor storage charges. These items can add up.</p>
<p>Upperclass Merit can be very nice and very generous. Also, undergrads TA pretty extensively here, and TAing makes a pretty good amount of money. You get paid on average over $2k a term to TA (based on how many hours you work a week on it).</p>
<p>On the Caltech supplement to the IDOC documents, they said that Caltech uses Federal Methodology but on the Caltech website they say they use Institutional Methodology. Can anyone shed some light on which one they use?</p>
<p>That would be a great question for the financial aid office :)</p>
<p>Yea I'm calling them tomorrow to find out about them, tell them about our 30% decrease in income for this year compared to last year, and try to find out an estimate of financial aid to make sure going to Caltech is possible before booking tickets for PFW but I thought I'd ask here just in case anyone knew LOL.</p>
<p>I sent them an email shortly after being admitted, and they replied saying that we should have them in time, but I think it wouldn't hurt to call to make sure.</p>
<p>Hmm I just called them and they told me they will be sending letters on the 20th, meaning we won't get them before we'd have to register for PFW. Should I register but not book the plane tickets until that comes in on Monday or Tuesday?</p>
<p>Caltech has a good reputation of giving out a lot of financial aid. I am really looking forward to it!</p>
<p>I called them two days ago, and they said we can register for Prefrosh weekend through next week.</p>
<p>has anyone received the financial aid package yet? i was hoping it would come today, but guess not.</p>
<p>I still haven't. Waiting for this is harder than the decision haha. I didn't think I'd get in or be able to go in the first place so now I've been freaking out waiting for this cause not being able to afford it would be so much worse than just not having gotten in.</p>
<p>I haven't either. It's more stressful for me because whether I can even consider Caltech is dependent on it. This also means that I can't register for PFW / book flights until I get the package. Hopefully it'll be here tomorrow...</p>
<p>I'm so sad. Still nothing today :(</p>
<p>Hmm... I guess worrying for financial aid is quite contagious. I caught it too. :P</p>
<p>Has anyone gotten it yet? Still nothing... I'm so sad.</p>
<p>You are probably missing something. I found out today that I was. Hope you catch the hint. </p>
<p>Just in case, I will say 'you're welcome' in advance.</p>