<p>Definitely look into the types of positions available. As a full pay parent, I can tell you that my oldest works, off campus, in her field, because it makes it much easier to get a career position before you graduate.</p>
<p>Any work history is really a positive when you enter the job game at the end of school.</p>
<p>Employers don’t just want the diploma, they want to know you could work. Really. It can be a massive advantage. JMO.</p>
<p>For whatever it’s worth, working 10 hours a week will not put you at any kind of disadvantage. Most people on financial aid have some kind of expected contribution, so a ton of other people will be working that amount as well. In fact, many people I know who aren’t on financial aid choose to work something close to that so they have some extra money to spend. </p>
<p>You can also just get a full-time job over the summer and pay your expected contribution that way; it won’t even interfere with your schoolwork. None of these jobs have to be manual labor by any stretch of the imagination. As someone else mentioned, you could get paid to sit in Widener library and help people with computer searches.</p>
<p>Dulcinea17,</p>
<p>“In a way, I feel like I deserve these little breaks.”</p>
<p>That reeks of an attitude of entitlement. I don’t know why you deserve breaks that others achieve by dint of hard work and earning them. Being poor is not a virtue that entitles you to things others obtain through hard work.</p>
<p>As for your $4200 contribution, you’re expected to earn $1200 with a summer job and $3000 during the school year.</p>
<p>Gibby is right - jobs at Harvard are plentiful, decent-paying, and often not requiring manual labor. My son obtaineed a very nice desk job paying over $13 per hour during the school year. It took less than two weeks to find the job. At that pay rate, my son needs to work a grand total of 230 hours over the course of 30 weeks during the school year, or almost 8 hours per WEEK. He has been offered a summer job in a Harvard office that will enable him to net over $2000 for the summer, AFTER paying room, board, and putting a little something aside for spending money.</p>
<p>As gibby points out, there are also low-interest Harvard loans available if you don’t want to work during the school year. If you take out the entire $4200 per year, not working a single hour toward your contribution toward tuition, you’ll wind up with less than $17,000 in debt at the end of four years, and a Harvard degree. Not such a bad deal.</p>
<p>But, even further, if you believe that you have medical conditions that prevent you from working nearly 8 whole hours per WEEK during the school year, or if you must use your own earnings to help support your family, go to the financial aid office and explain to them your problems. They’ll listen, and if you make a reasonable case, they may even increase your financial aid package to reduce your student contribution.</p>
<p>But Harvard’s view is that they’re giving you a fantastic opportunity, and they want to see you put a little of your own labor into earning your keep, a little “sweat equity.” It’s not an unreasonable perspective.</p>
<p>notjoe, this was a simple thread of me pointing out I received more aid at another school, contrary to what I expected. I have acknowledged more than once my initial wording was in hyperbole and was not thought out carefully. I have recognized the error my initial post and have requested you to stop commenting on my family’s financial situation.</p>
<p>As I have stated before, I am eternally grateful. Should I state it again in caps? I AM ETERNALLY GRATEFUL. THANK YOU H, S, M FOR HAVING PITY ON THIS POOR SOUL.</p>
<p>On your comment regarding these trips some colleges offer me: I get where you’re coming from, but here’s my perspective. These colleges reach out to me, offer to pay for airfares, I accept. Why not? I look forward to them. Why not? Should I dread them then? I don’t even get why that point was brought up in the first place. You use only that sentence in your quote makes me sound like I’m entitled, when in fact I’m not. Let me assure you entitlement to money is one of the last feelings a person who comes from humble means possesses. Your comment makes me feel like dirt. It’s that whole thing with social welfare again. But I learned a lesson. I should never talk about my financial situation and aid again. No matter what people say, there’s always a stigma attached to it.</p>
<p>First of all, congratulations on your acceptances!</p>
<p>Second of all, I think some people should calm down a bit and give the guy a break. Instead of analyzing his character based on a hasty comment that he had apologized for, you should correct some misconceptions he has. </p>
<p>@Dulcinea17: Few have already mentioned this, but work study would most likely not require you to wash dishes. 60% of students at Harvard receive financial aid, and 20% pay absolutely nothing. Thus, 60% of students there do some type of work and will be vying with you for the same work-study opportunities; so I don’t think you will feel “out of place.”</p>
<p>It’s true that there are some rich students in these schools, but I’ve heard from many current students/alumni that very few of those students brag about how much money they have or act like snobs. It’s a stereotype. Like you said: “No matter what people say, there’s always a stigma attached to it.” This goes both ways.</p>
<p>Lastly, in the grand scheme of things, yes, $4200/year is a small amount of money to be paying for excellent education, which will probably lead to decent/high paying jobs.</p>
<p>Good luck on your decision!</p>
<p>Oh dear, poor Dulcinea, we should leave you alone! Yet you keep digging your hole deeper. One major premise of this thread is that THERE IS NO STIGMA ATTACHED TO FINANCIAL AID AT HARVARD. The Harvard Financial Aid Office reports that about 70% of Harvard undergraduates receive some sort of financial aid. Believe me, 2/3 of Harvard students DO NOT walk around hiding their faces in shame because they are receiving financial aid. There is no stigma in work study at Harvard. There is no stigma in doing dishes at Harvard (or anywhere…go thank your mother now) or doing any sort of honest work. You will, however, be able to get a job that does not include doing dishes if you wish to find one. </p>
<p>Here’s an open secret: most of the people who have responded to you believe that attending Harvard is a privilege; indeed, it is an opportunity given to only 5.8% of the students who applied this year. Should you wish to ask the FA office to reconsider your FA offer, do so. As you have learned, do not expect folks on this thread to feel sorry because you must pay $4200 to attend Harvard. </p>
<p>You have received a golden opportunity that many students who haunted the Harvard Board for the past year and longer wanted very badly–and many of those who didn’t receive this opportunity were great sports about it, wishing this year’s admittees congratulations. Just take a look at the 2017 RD results thread if you need a reminder. </p>
<p>Dulcinea, good luck to you. I am glad you will have the chance to see Harvard, MIT, and Stanford before you make your decision and hope you embrace this opportunity. No one wants you to feel like “dirt.” Consider fit as well as money when you make your choice. In four years, you will emerge from one of these colleges with a wonderful education and a unique vantage point…partly because of where you’re going and partly because of where you began.</p>
<p>@gibby</p>
<p>“Harvard is worth taking out a loan for as compared to Stanford or MIT.”</p>
<p>Are you kidding? Did you really imply that Harvard is better than MIT and Stanford? Once the rankings are that high, a rank difference of 2 or 3 means absolutely nothing. All three are excellent schools and the OP should go to whichever one accommodates to his family’s ability to pay. I don’t think an employer will turn down an MIT or Stanford grad because he or she chose not to attend Harvard.</p>
<p>^^ @Rivstein: You only quoted part of the sentence that I wrote. Here’s the complete sentence: “What you need to weigh is whether Harvard is worth taking out a loan for, as compared to Stanford and MIT.”</p>
<p>Whether Harvard is “better” than MIT or Stanford is a completely subjective decision that will vary from person to person. I stand by my full quote, as MIT, for example, has a completely different environment and feel from Harvard. The OP has been given a full ride at 3 great schools and should pick the one that feels most like home.</p>
<p>Dulcinea17, if your health prevents you from sitting at a desk roughly an hour/day to fullfil the work-study part of your package, how are you going to go to classes or study? That’s why the travel thing was brought up - if you are able to run around to 3 jam packed trips in the space of a few weeks, why can’t you sit at a library desk for an hour each day?</p>
<p>^^^I was wondering the same.</p>
<p>Curiously, OP wrote in earlier posts that she overloaded herself with difficult classes why in school and often stayed overnight to study. Washing dishes can be relaxing when someone studies so hard :)</p>
<p>@gibby</p>
<p>Sorry, I honestly did not see the beginning of that quote. I just saw a capital ‘H’ and assumed it was the start of a sentence. That’s what I get for using a 2.5 inch screen to browse CC. My apologies…</p>
<p>Thank you, that was my point earlier–that Dulcinea had the energy to cope with five hectic weekend trips, but claimed health reasons prevented her/him from doing a few hours of work-study at a desk.</p>
<p>No one is bringing up her low income background, just her fear of honest work to contribute to Harvard’s amazing generosity.</p>
<p>The Harvard $4200 ($1200 student contribution + $3000 WS) is the very minimal. I’m a student, and FYI I never had to resort to using the work study money to pay for anything. </p>
<p>Here is how the financial aid work, someone correct me if this is wrong:</p>
<p>The FA office estimates how much money you potentially need to pay for cost of attendance, which includes books, travel, and any miscellaneous expense. They then find funding sources to help you pay for COA, whether be that a grant, contribution from you, contribution from your parents, or Pell grant/WS from the federal government. </p>
<p>Beginning of the semester you get a bill, but often everything can that bill can be covered by the grant from Harvard, so the amount you have to pay is $0. Your WS then can goes towards saving for summer contribution, or paying for extra expenses like books. If you’re frugal, you never need much money for these extra expenses. Textbooks you can share with people or borrow from the library, and honestly there’s never a need to eat out.</p>
<p>So with that said, you actually want your WS to be as high as possible, because that’s the amount you can get from the federal government. It helps you get jobs that are WS-only, where the employers only pay partially or none at all for your salary.</p>
<p>And contrary to what you believe now, jobs are actually very desirable. You would want to at some point get a job or paid internship as those are work experiences that will help you after college.</p>
<p>Hope that helps!</p>
<p>^^ No, I don’t think that is correct. Here’s the way I believe the system works. In July, Harvard sends out statements for the fall semester. If you have been given a full-ride – as the OP has – she will receive a bill for $4200, which represents the $1200 student contribution plus the $3000 WS. Harvard assumes the OP will be working during the summer, and therefore is able to contribute the $1200 from their earnings. The balance of money owed ($3000) must be paid to Harvard Student Receivables. The OP then gets a work-study job with the help of Harvard’s Student Employment Office, and earns back the $3000 (and hopefully more) over the course of the year. Some students on a full-ride, who cannot afford to pay the $3000 in Work Study upfront, must take out a loan each year from Harvard and pay it back from their WS earnings over the course of the year. The cost of books is not a billable item and does not appear on a tuition statement.</p>
<p>That hasn’t been the situation with me, and I’m sure the situation may be different for different people. I don’t want to list too much detail, but I’ve only ever been asked for the student contribution amount alone after each summer, never anything beyond that, even though I do have a substantial work study component to my FA. The best is probably for the OP to speak to someone at the FA office during Visitas to figure out the details.</p>
<p>^^ I agree.</p>
<p>perhaps, Harvard should also pay a stipend to OP’s parents for raising such wonderful, hard working and humble (!) person :)</p>
<p>I am sorry but Dulcinea17’s comments have provoked me to comment when I thought I had retired from posting comments. </p>
<p>I attended a top Ivy (not Harvard) and graduated with nothing but the shirt on my back and thousands upon thousands of dollars in student loans. It took me many years of hard work to pay back those loans and then many more years of EXTREMELY hard work to finally be in a position where I could give back to my alma mater in a meaningful way to show my enormous gratitude for the opportunities my Ivy League education afforded me. I also have been teaching pro bono just to stay connected and further give back.</p>
<p>It has always delighted me to know that I have been able to provide many scholarships for students in need. Until tonight.</p>
<p>The thought that the money that I have donated through the years might be given to someone like the OP who thinks they are entitled to it just because they are poor and who derides a phenomenally generous institution like Harvard just because it expects him to work a little bit more than two others rankles me beyond words. I worked many hard years to accumulate the money to make the dreams of others possible. So did most of my fellow donors. This is where institutions like Harvard and others get their funds to be able to help those with less fortunate backgrounds receive such great educations.</p>
<p>Poor? I’ve been there, done that. However, I never in my wildest dreams would have had the audacity to make some of the comments that OP has made that simply reek of bad attitude and again “entitlement”. </p>
<p>I don’t begrudge the fact that my daughter will have to pay the full freight at Harvard because after years of working and saving, we have the ability to. I do, however, bemoan the fact that she may be sitting next to someone who was handed all but $4200 of the hefty bill and yet shows not the least bit of genuine gratitude. </p>
<p>My faith in the system was really shaken tonight as has my willingness to donate more to my alma mater or Harvard when it comes a knocking.</p>
<p>To the OP, there are thousands who would do anything to be in your shoes. You won the lottery. Grow up, realize what an opportunity you have been given. Be grateful and work hard to reward the trust that has been placed in you. Someday, when you are in a position to be able to - give back generously. Until then, save the anger, sniping comments and pity parties.</p>
<p>Falcon1, you should come out of retirement permanently and continue to write such eloquent and heartfelt posts. Do not despair…I believe most students on FA at Harvard and elsewhere realize their great good fortune. Perhaps even poor Dulcinea has realized her folly and reconsidered…;)</p>