<p>What 'bang' do you get for each 'buck'? Why pay 40k to MIT (or Standford, Duke, the Ivies, top LACs, etc) whereas you probably could have gotten a decent ride to a good state school? What do you get out of it? Honestly, what makes MIT or the other top name schools more appealing than the likes of your local public university where a good 35% of your graduating class goes to?</p>
<p>MIT is just wayy too awesome.</p>
<p>I suggest that you go to MIT Blogs and read what they have to say. Its pretty self explanatory from there :D</p>
<p>IMHO, you get what you put in to it. No matter where you go.</p>
<p>It's not worth it. We just pay the exorbhant fee's for ****s and giggles.</p>
<p>First of all, most people aren't paying $40k per year -- most students get some financial aid from MIT to attend.</p>
<p>Personally speaking, I felt that going to MIT at about half price was worth it because of the personal relationships I made (I met my best friends as well as my husband), but also in terms of my career -- I was admitted to the top graduate programs in my field, which I am confident would not have happened had I gone to my state school on a free ride.</p>
<p>At MIT, you're around LOTS of brilliant people with whom you probably have a decent amount in common. You also get bajillions of opportunities that state schools don't offer. At state schools, you'd probably have neither.</p>
<p>More intelligent atmosphere, more opportunities, and a better chance of being in the top field of your choice when you graduate. </p>
<p>If you were an employer for NASA, who would you rather send to space? The MIT graduate, or the State college graduate? Even if they have the same grades, you know that MIT works their students harder, and therefore are more qualified.</p>
<p>Besides, most people get financial aid, so you never pay the full $40k</p>
<p>Just a quick note, to be fair, about that not having to pay $40,000/yr...</p>
<p>Are we including loans? Because over time, something tells me that all that financial aid that ended up being loans might add up quite substantially.</p>
<p>I'm only pre-frosh, so I'm actually pretty ignorant of financial aid and what the break down of types of aid (loans/grants/work/etc.) is at MIT. Perhaps this may be a good chance to further explain that?</p>
<p>As one who is down to MIT and State School With Big Scholarship, this is a thread I have a pretty vested interest in.
To the OP and to those saying MIT is worth it, both, I wonder if you might be able to provide any kind of solid data either way...?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I'm not including scholarships, aid, grants, loans, etc. I am looking at the original cost of MIT and the other big schools in comparison to state schools, etc. Why does it initially cost more to attend MIT than the others - and for what reason, etc (See first post)? My other questions are asked in the first post.</p>
<p>I recommend visiting the "10</a> Lessons of an MIT Education" essay pointed to in another thread. Among the relevant comments there you will find:
[quote]
Four courses in science and engineering each term is a heavy workload for anyone; very few students fail to learn, first and foremost, the discipline of intensive and constant work.
[/quote]
[quote]
The curriculum that most undergraduates at MIT choose to follow focuses less on current occupational skills than on those fundamental areas of science and engineering that at least likely to be affected by technological changes.
[/quote]
[quote]
The drive for excellence and achievement that one finds everywhere at MIT has the democratic effect of placing teachers and students on the same level, where competence is appreciated irrespective of its provenance.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>And most relevant for this thread:
[quote]
I can imagine a propective student or parent asking, "Why should I (or my child) take calculus at MIT rather than at Oshkosh College? Isn't the material practically identical, no matter where it is taught, while the cost varies a great deal?" . . .</p>
<p>What matters most is the ambiance in which the course is taught; a gifted student will thrive in the company of other gifted students. An MIT undergraduate will be challenged by the level of proficiency that is expected of everyone at MIT, students and faculty. The expectation of high standards is unconsciously absorbed and adopted by the students, and they carry it with them for life.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>At an Admissions talk in San Jose two years ago, the Admissions officer stated that according to MIT's calculations, it costs the Institute roughly $100,000 to educate an undergraduate over a four-year period. I believe this for the following reasons: In lab courses like 6.01, the ratio of teaching assistants to undergraduates is 1:3. Students who enroll in robotics competitions during IAP are given thousands of dollars of materials to play with. MIT offers a very intensive, very hands-on program.</p>
<p>What do you get for your money? If you major in engineering, you will graduate with the most prestigious engineering degree in the world. This claim is based on peer rankings in U.S. News and World Report, which ranks MIT number one in the world.</p>
<p>What else do you get at MIT? Four years in a community of extremely bright, motivated, quirky, funny, puzzle-loving, collaborative, sci-fi loving good people. Your four years at the Institute is an experience that can not be duplicated anywhere else. </p>
<p>What about the cost? I'm one of those parents who is paying full freight. My daughter did apply for financial aid, but she did not get need-based help anywhere. According to FAFSA, our family is wealthy. We would disagree, because we live in Silicon Valley, but I won't elaborate. Let's just say, it was a shock. I can sympathize with the parents I know who have told her very bright children, "You'll need to go to a state school." That said, MIT has not ended up costing us $47,000 per year. The actual cost is around $33,000 this year, for two reasons. First, we told our daughter that if she wanted to go to MIT, she'd have to get some merit scholarships. We asked her to apply for at least a dozen. She did, and she managed to obtain a chunk of funding that way. She also worked her first semester in the Athletic department for a bit over $9 per hour, and this semester she's doing a UROP for pay at a bit over $10 per hour. These earnings have covered the cost of food and sundries, because she lives in a kitchen suite and can buy and cook her own food.</p>
<p>In the end, it's still more expensive than Berkeley. But our family decided that MIT was well worth the cost.</p>
<p>
Most fundamentally, because public state universities are subsidized heavily by the state government, while private schools like MIT are not. Additionally, MIT does not award merit scholarships or athletic scholarships.</p>
<p>
<p>I'm only pre-frosh, so I'm actually pretty ignorant of financial aid and what the break down of types of aid (loans/grants/work/etc.) is at MIT. Perhaps this may be a good chance to further explain that?
Most people receive a combination of all of the above. I had grants and work-study as part of my aid package, and I graduated with about $15,000 in subsidized federal loans (which is slightly below average for an American college graduate). I'll have them paid off completely by the time I finish graduate school, and as a bonus, they don't accrue interest while I'm in graduate school, but they still raise my credit score.</p>
<p>fin aid= let richer people pay a lot to give the posibility for poorer to have chance to attend schools like MIT.</p>
<p>due to richer people are small portion so it rises MIT's sticker price in order to cover the cost of maintaining a lot poorer talented kids...</p>
<p>MIT could probably give a lot more financial aid if it needed to, but there are a few reasons to keep sticker price high:</p>
<p>1) In our society, people tend to value things by how much they have to pay for them. Do you wonder why Harvard costs $40k+ before financial aid? Do you honestly believe that an english student costs as much as an engineering student to educate? </p>
<p>2) People love to complain, but people will pay in the end. The upper-middle-class families will whine and ***** about having to pay full sticker price, but a lot of them end up doing just that. And if people are willing to pay, why should MIT reduce the price? </p>
<p>One important difference between a State school and MIT is the unparalleled access to some of the best professors on the planet. If you were to consult these people later on, they will charge you several hundred dollars an hour. Sure if all you want is to get a job at company XYZ then you may not need access to all the crazy weird but amazing things MIT has to offer. But then again, if all you want is to get a job at company XYZ, you may be better going off to the State school.</p>
<p>MIT is a remarkable university with outstanding academic and research opportunities and a brilliant student body, and worth every penny of the tuition. However, in an era in which middle-class (including upper middle-class) families are facing increasing anxiety about their economic situations, MIT publicly refuses to acknowledge the real cost of an MIT education to the families of its undergraduates. Virtually all MIT students could have received significant merit scholarships, not only from public universities, but also from leading private technical and engineering schools. And now most of the Ivies, and Stanford, have come forward to drastically reduce the burden on the families of their students. How many current and future applicants will decide that an MIT education isnt worth $200,00 more than a Stanford (or Yale or Princeton) education, especially when the money simply isnt there (except in heavily mortgaged homes and futures)? And how long will it be before MIT notices the erosion in the vitality of its student body?</p>
<p>While I think MIT is considering it's options, it's important to note that there is probably a much higher operating cost for MIT than many other universities. So you can either spend the money on better equipment, new equipment, more labs, etc etc, or you can give the money back to students. At least that's how I see it from my limited perspective.</p>
<p>^^ Yeah. Financial aid is the only factor that stops me from saying I'll definitely go to MIT. If I get into Harvard (which is unlikely anyway, just because it's ALWAYS unlikely that any one person is going to get into Harvard...), depending on my financial aid package, it's looking like Harvard might end up being a better investment, given the potential extreme cost differences. So, I will not be making my final college decision until April... :-(</p>
<p>I won't comment on the Tech article as that is a particular student's situation and I will not enter that discussion, but as to the discussion otherthan that I think you need to read the post made today on my blog.</p>
<p>More is coming, but keep in mind that over half of our students receive MIT grants and scholarships (which is a higher percentage than many other top tier schools).</p>
<p>Also watch for our reply to the Greassley request. More information is coming.</p>