Financial Aid Estimates

<p>I got a financial aid estimate in the mail today. According to this, I would only have to pay $4,888 per year =) Anyone else get their estimates yet?</p>

<p>Yep. I received nothing. :( My parents are willing to cover the cost of tuition but according to that approximate it leaves me ~16,000 to find... I have $2000 from a job but that's it >_<;;</p>

<p>Does anyone know how easy/hard it is to get a work study or a part time job at Caltech or in Pasadena? Is traveling to Pasadena hard if there were a job there?</p>

<p>My S starting working first term, and has earned more with each job. SURF & internships bring in $$$. Caltech very generous with upperclass merit awards. If you get a job off campus, you could probably walk, bike, or take bus.
Current students can tell you more</p>

<p>geez...only $2000 dollars per year for a $200,000 dollar education? I LOVE CALTECH!</p>

<p>is the fafsa really due by the 15th (tomorrow)? i just got this letter today (the 14th)!</p>

<p>You won't be able to get a job on campus first term as a frosh, and getting one off campus is frowned upon. (bookworm -- Did your son work off campus, or did he get an exception from the deans? I was under the impression that they only gave exceptions under extreme circumstances.)</p>

<p>Most jobs on campus (especially those that pay well) are work-study, which means you can't get them unless you have an allowance for work-study in your financial aid package. (It sounds like you probably did not get any work study and couldn't get any of these jobs.) There are a few jobs that aren't work study -- waiting dinner, working in the coffeehouse, and giving tours are a couple examples. Luckily, the competition isn't too bad, so as long as you're persistent, you should be able to find some job on campus.</p>

<p>Off campus minimum-wage type jobs aren't too hard to find, but are harder to fit into a Caltech schedule. Many jobs are willing to work around a college schedule, but they do want you to put in a certain number of hours (15 or 20 hours per week probably) which could be difficult to handle with the course load.</p>

<p>The best jobs to get are paid research or part time work with a company. These come from getting to know profs, and making good impressions on summer internships. These positions will give you the best per-hour pay, the most flexibility on hours, and usually have no problem if you don't want to work during midterms and finals.</p>

<p>Just in case it wasn't clear, research is never work study (and therefore available to all students), and upperclass merit awards are both readily available and completely need-blind. </p>

<p>Also, you should look into the Stafford loan. I was in a similar situation as you -- I didn't get any financial aid or work study and my parents promised to pay tuition and half of room and board. I found that with the Stafford loan I was able to make it through the year on the $5000 or so I earned every summer in an internship.</p>

<p>My parents just got better jobs, and after paying off hospital bills in China we get hit with a 35 grand a year contribution, and since right now they have almost no savings yet are getting too old for their high intensity jobs, it's almost a laughable amount. </p>

<p>I heard about a program where I can sign my life over to a company for a few years after graduation in return for getting my expenses paid. Anyone know anything more about this? If not, I'll probably be going to my state school.</p>

<p>The NSA has something like that called the Stokes Educational Scholarship Program. You can apply as a high school senior or a college sophomore. If you are a college sophomore there are major restrictions (I believe Math, Computer Science, EE/ECE, certain foreign languages, International banking and finance, "regional studies" and a few others) but I am not sure if you have to go into one of those if you apply as a senior. The NSA pays for everything and then you are required to work there for 1.5 times the number of years they paid your expenses after graduation (so 3 or 6). When I looked into this I decided that 3 (or 6) years were too long for me.</p>

<p>I am pretty sure that part of the program involves getting a security clearance. You mentioned something about China; are your parents immigrants or were you visiting? If your family recently immigrated you might have difficulty getting the clearance.</p>

<p>I've been in here for a long time actually, for 13 years already, and we're citizens etc, so I'll probably be able to get lower level clearance.</p>

<p>I'd rather go army than NSA though. Do you know of anything that's not government related? I'm trying to stay away from government work.</p>

<p>What happens if we miss the FinAid deadline?</p>

<p>a question if i may: does caltech financial aid cover travelling costs?
it'd be a pain to pay all the plane tickets from the east coast to the west coast.
i was thinking that if i get accepted, i'd either take buses over weeks there, and once i get there, stay there for 4 years and never go home :P</p>

<p>I rarely spend more than $200-250 to fly across country. You'll have plenty of opportunities to earn money if at Caltech. If you don't go home during winter break or before summer SURF or internship, that will be your choice. I don't know what financial aid covers, but I do know about work opportunities</p>

<p>what happens if we miss the deadline? </p>

<p>don't stress it. email their financial aid office. the address can be found on their web site.</p>

<p>StuckatUofT,
the Caltech finaid offer includes an allowance for travel as well as personal expenses. But don't expect them to hand you a check to pay for airfare. Grants and loans go towards tuition and room and board. Students have a contribution to make and in my son's case its the student's contribution that pays for travel to and from home and personal expenses and books. I believe the aifare allowance is just two round trips. I think its fairly typical in terms of finaid offers. He had a very similar offer from MIT last year - the travel allowance would have allowed him to travel to come home (east coast to west coast) twice. Hope that helps.</p>

<p>finaid deadline missed! dammit!</p>

<p>i thought it was feb 1st like with the other univs.</p>

<p>spacepirate, you're international? If so, email them right away and ask what you can do -- I think they're stricter with international deadlines.</p>

<p>I got mine out on Jan 13, actually. (Remembered just in time, aha.)</p>

<p>i've sent mine out on jan 19 and sent them an email apologizing.. no reply yet..</p>

<p>Received my financial aid letter today. Nothing. They offered me absolutely nothing. This is not good.</p>

<p>magd</p>

<p>You could call and ask for a review. Some of us parents are filling-out-forms--challenged.
Even if no $ forthcoming now, there are many opportunities to earn $ after 1st term. Upperclassmen have a chance to earn merit awards for grades&/or school activities</p>

<p>I asked the guy who called me...and around 6 people a year recieve those...</p>

<p>Not around 6 people a year. 57 people last year won Upperclass Merit Scholarships, which range from 3/4-tuition to full tuition, room, board, and fees. </p>

<p>He may have been referring to the Axline merit scholarship, which is awarded to a smaller number of incoming freshmen per year.</p>