<p>I found out on the 15th that I was accepted into my dream school, MIT!!!! Financial aid is a really important factor for me. My dad is unemployed, without benefits. My mom, my noncustodial parent, makes about $65,000 a year, has two kids that live with her, and pays child support for me (kid #3). I got a full ride to Pitt, and my dad wants me to seriously consider the financial aid perspective, and I know I am; however, MIT is my dream school. We looked on the MIT site, and it said for families under $75,000, we'd pay about $4,400 a year. We still haven't received a package yet, but if it comes back and we have to pay $4,400 or more, is it worth it? I want to go into Bioengineering. I also want to go to graduate school. We can't handle a lot of loans. I don't know what to do. I have been applying for scholarships?</p>
<p>If anyone else has been in this situation, can you pm me and tell me what you did? If not, can anyone offer me advice?</p>
<p>Most schools of this caliber have eliminated loans for families that make under $100,000 a year. I don’t know if MIT has. It would be a good idea to try the net price calculator to find out exactly how much you’d pay.</p>
<p>I would say that $4K a year is absolutely worth it to go to a school like MIT, and my family makes less than yours. But it’s your decision and your family’s, and if you really can’t afford it, it makes sense to go to Pitt.</p>
<p>Congratulations. You should absolutely find a way to go to MIT. It is definitely worth it. You should be able to borrow this money. This is not heavy debt. </p>
<p>Also, there is really no substitute for MIT’s Biological Engineering. I have not seen anything too similar at any college in the United States. </p>
<p>Even if MIT expects you to pay $4k towards COA, then you really don’t have to pay that much. A portion of COA consists of flexible expenses…travel, books, and personal expenses. That’s about $4k or so. So, you economize. You buy used books, you spend less on day to day expenses, etc.</p>
<p>During the summer, work as much as you can. During the school year, you might need to work a few hours a week. </p>
<p>You can do this.</p>
<p>If MIT doesn’t put loans in their FA pkgs, then you can borrow up to $5500. </p>
<p>If your child support will end when you graduate, that may change things in some way. </p>
<p>What exactly is your “full ride” to Pitt? If that doesn’t include books, travel, and personal expenses, then it’s essentially the same offer as MIT.</p>
<p>Congratulations!!! MIT is totally worth every penny. As other parents suggested, you can minimize living and travel expenses, work as a tutor around the area. Do not give up this amazing opportunity.</p>
<p>I have seen several posts where m2ck recommended kids not to go to a college taking on debt, but she is sounding really positive here. That’s a good sign, you can manage at MIT.</p>
<p>Not to be a jerk, but you shouldn’t be thinking of “dream schools.” You should be thinking of dream careers. Trust me, after 4 years at any school, you will be happy to be leaving. </p>
<p>If your goal is to attend graduate school, particularly in engineering, then any undergrad degree in the top 50 will suffice. You simply need to have 3.8+ GPA, some research under your belt, and high test scores. </p>
<p>Engineering grad programs in the top 15 are remarkably homogeneous and cookie-cutter, with identical placements in industry and roughly similar placements in academia. This is particularly true for MIT in bioengineering. Aren’t there 4 schools ranked ahead of MIT in this department?</p>
<p>MIT w/ high debt burden really only makes sense if you graduate in 4 years and plan on immediately working with a six-figure salary, which right now is only reasonably certain with a computer science degree. </p>
<p>In this economy, it is unfair to ask an unemployed father to take six-figure non-dischargeable debt. The common sense thing would be for you to take on as much of the debt in your name, and select schools that are slighly less prestigious overall but more highly regarded in bioengineering. See what aid packages you can get from those schools.</p>
<p>I have seen several posts where m2ck recommended kids not to go to a college taking on debt, but she is sounding really positive here. That’s a good sign, you can manage at MIT.</p>
<p>lol…I’m against BIG debt for undergrad (for instance: borrowing $80k). Borrowing the Stafford amounts is often fine. Borrowing $4k a year to attend MIT is nothing. :)</p>
<p>Besides, if this student economizes, he may not have to borrow even that much.</p>
<p>$5,500 freshman year
$6,500 sophomore year
$7,500 junior year
$7,500 senior year</p>
<p>The general consensus in the Financial Aid Forum where the tight-wad parents (m2ck and myself among them) hang out, is that these loans are reasonable for students to take on. If jsmathwiz can receive an MIT education for no more than that much in debt, most of us would say jsmathwiz should take the offer and run. For that matter, we would most likely say that fill-in-home-state-U-name-here is worth that level of debt. Going much over that is when students and their families start getting into trouble.</p>
<p>jsmathwiz, go to MIT. And spend the next few month applying to every scholarship for which you are eligible. There are many for kids with top academics, solid ECs and financial need. It takes work - essays, letters of rec, transcripts - and organization to make sure you meet the deadlines, but there is a great deal of money available to those who know where to look. Start with your counseling office which may have lists or files of scholarships. In our schools district, some high schools post lists on-line of all the local scholarships (and you don’t have to attend that school to apply). The book store will have books full of scholarships for all kinds of backgrounds and interests. There one for tall people and another for those who are left-handed. You’ll be amazed. Some are just a few hundred dollars - others are many thousands. Prioritize by size and likelihood. Happy hunting!</p>
<p>I would think that many MIT caliber students would be able to find a summer/school year job or paid internship where they could make $4K. Maybe not as a freshman, although I think that’s quite possible, but definitely in subsequent years. I’d try hard to earn the money and avoid the debt, but if that didn’t work I think MIT is definitely wort $16K of debt over 4 years.</p>
<p>There is no comparison between these two opportunities. The breadth and depth of MIT’s courses and research opportunities leave Pitt far behind - in not just engineering and science but also in fields such as Economics, Linguistics and Architecture, in all of which MIT is one of the top handful of research institutions in the world. </p>
<p>College is about more than just preparation for a job. MIT will provide you with an educational experience that is hard to match anywhere. Pittsburgh does not hold a candle to Boston; ditto for Pitt undergrads and MIT undergrads.</p>
<p>I am not normally a big fan of students taking on much debt. But I think that under $20,000 of debt for an MIT education is well worth it. MIT is the top of the heap in terms of STEM education. You should not miss this chance.</p>
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<p>Who said anything about six figure debt? This is FIVE figures, and quite low five figures at that. Odds are good that this student will need to take out a small amount of loans anyway at most colleges, and the quality of an MIT education (and job/grad school prospects that go with that) make this completely worthwhile.</p>
<p>You would be foolish to consider Pitt in this scenario. People are willing to donate millions to let their kids have an opportunity that you can have for a mere $16,000.</p>
<p>If the net cost really does come back to $4,400 per year ($17,600 total), then that is well within what most here consider to be a “reasonable” amount of student loan debt (i.e. lower than the Stafford loan limits ($31,000 total, of which no more than $23,000 is at subsidized interest rates) for a student not majoring in a major with very poor job and career prospects*.</p>
<p>The 10 MIT 2011 graduates in course 20 (biological engineering) who reported jobs in the career survey gave an average pay level of $61,750 (range $32,000 to $90,000). Employers listed included Abpro, Bain and Company Beckman-Coulter, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Children’s Hospital, Citadel, Clearview Healthcare Partners, Google Inc, Morgan Stanley.</p>
<p>*i.e. something like biology, where the 6 MIT 2011 graduates averaged $36,108, although even then $17,600 is less than half of the starting pay level – many consider half of the starting pay level a fairly conservative limit of “reasonable” student loan debt.</p>
<p>As a Harvard alum, I completely agree. It’s hard to understand the lifelong edge one gets from having the HYPSM next to one’s name. Sure, you can end up just as accomplished without that edge, but having it means you can “skip having to prove yourself” in many situations. </p>
<p>I’m sure that some parents will say that it’s good to work hard and prove one’s self. But remember that, in many professions, your competition may be someone who works hard AND has the HPYSM edge.</p>
<p>WoW! Congratulations! The chance to go to MIT for the price of a small car, sounds like a deal to me. If the cost to you is truly only around 4k a year I can’t imagine turning that down.</p>