You could ask for more financial aid from MIT. Rent textbooks or buy used textbooks could easily save you at least a few hundreds a year. Also drink fewer coffee and beer could save you some serious money too.
Limit your descretionary spending. Get an on campus job for about 10 hours a week. Use the least expensive form of transportation to get home for holidays and breaks.
Which school is closer to your home?
He lives in NY…and is applying to MIT and Wisconsin…and some SUNY schools.
But there are also many colleges which are likely closer.
This student has a great resume…apparently fluent in several languages with decent stats as well. There should be affordable options that don’t require a plane ride.
I’ll pretty much try to survive on the bare essentials regardless while I’m in college. I don’t drink coffee and wouldn’t want beer. Does MIT give out extra financial aid if the need arises just by asking?
Does MIT give extra aid? The short answer is maybe. You can ask.
I looked at the MIT NPC. It looks like they allow $1000 for books and @ $1800 for personal expenses. For a student from New York they had $0 for travel (and note this will be calculated at the time of financial aid award).
Doing the math OP said he had $2,200 for combined work/student contribution. I believe this student can afford to attend MIT.
Student contribution/work* of $2,200 plus $4,500 net price = $6,700
Student loan $5,500 + parent $1,000 = $6,500
The student could easily earn $200 (or more) in the summer and/or during the school year. Also the books ($1000) could be reduced by renting or buying used online.The personal expenses ($1,800) seems rather generous and could be covered by an on campus job.
The challenge is getting accepted but you sound like a strong candidate. I say keep this option on the table.
*MIT includes loans/work/student contribution as one amount. The loan is not added to this. OP’s amount was $2,200.
Yeah, $1800 is rather generous. I’d only ever really use it for hacks if I did. If the meal plan is covered ahead of time, I won’t really need it. By the way NewEnglandMother, why did you add the 2200 from my work to the net price? Shouldn’t that be subtracted from the net price since it’s going to the school, and I’d only have to pay 2300 after my contribution?
Edit: To clarify, my net price BEFORE work/loans is $4339. Afterwards, it’s calculated at 2900, with loans and work counted as about 1500. In reality, I’d be able to get maybe $2200 through work, and the net price after work/loans is $2100.
I added all the money you have to contribute: the $2,200 student contribution and the $4,500 net price for the total you will be paying is $6,700 which is doable with loans/parent and work.Also note since $2,800 of the cost of attendance is for books and personal expenses you actually will be paying the school $3,900 (6,700-2,800) and paying your book and personal expenses out of your own pocket.
Checking for clarity…does this mean that the $3900 this student would be paying to MIT could be covered by the Direct Loan?
Exactly - in fact he could cover his books too. $5,500-$3,900 leaves him (her?) with some money for books and personal expenses even before he starts working.
One suggestion Striker - run the NPC again and make sure all your numbers are accurate. One thing to double check is the amount your parents have taken out for retirement - i.e. 401k. This is asked in the NPC and is counted for financial aid. A lot of people forget about that or miss it in the calculator.
There you go Striker. It sounds like IF you get accepted to MIT, the costs would be able to be covered with that Direct Loan.
This easily could make this the less expensive option from Wisconsin. At Wisconsin, my guess is the $5500 Direct Loan would be part of your package, and you would still need to pay $2000.
I think I might be misunderstanding what student contribution means. Does that go to the net price of $4500, or is that a separate cost altogether? Excuse my ignorance on this, my only exposure to the nuances of the financial aid process is through the internet.
I was completely unaware of the Direct Loan that you guys bring up. Just to be sure that I understand this properly - my expenses would mostly be covered by a student loan of $5500 and my parental contribution of $1000. Then $3900 of that student loan would be paid off by the subsidized Direct Loan and I’ll use the other $1600 remaining for books and personal expenses? I have absolutely no experience with this, so please bear with me. I’ll double check the NPC now, @NewEnglandMother
I double-checked the NPC and asked my parents about their retirement plan. They told me they don’t have one or a 401k, so my situation remains the same.
Thank you guys so much. I’m oblivous to a lot of this stuff, so I’m glad you’re taking time out to help.
Are your parents self employed…or do they own a business?
@thumper1
Neither, they both have bosses.
And they have never had any retirement plans made available to the through their employers?
@thumper1 That’s what they’re telling me. My mother told me to ask my father, and he says that they’ve never had any. To be sure, I asked him “How much do you contribute to a non-taxable retirement plan?”. I don’t think that was incorrect or misunderstood.
If this is as improbable as I think it is, I can insist that he probably has one. Are there any documents that provide that information aside from a 401k?
Striker he would probably be aware of any 401k.
The Net Price Calculator provides an amount the students pays ($2,200) and an additional net amount after subtracting all aid and the student contribution (net $4,500). If you look at the NPC and add up the amounts you will see the financial aid plus student contribution plus net price equal the cost of attendance. MOST colleges assume at least a student loan ($5,500) and a student work (@$2,000) and then the net price. MIT is more generous and has only assumed the student amount of $2,200.
Yes your loan will cover the $3,900 going to the school and net you $1,600 back in cash to use for books and personal expenses. Note that the loan refunds don’t usually occur until weeks into the semester. You will need some money at the start to buy your books - so plan on working in the summer and have some cash on hand at the start of the semester. This is a great deal for you (I think). Good luck!
@NewEngland76 When I added the financial aid, student contribution, and the net price, I was over the cost of attendance by the amount of the student contribution.
Student contribution: 2000
Net price: 4349
Financial aid: 58901
58901 + 4349 + 2000 = 65250
Cost of attendance = 63250
A difference of 2000 (the student contribution)
As for the rest, thank you so much! I’m so glad that I’ll be financially able to apply to MiT, and I think I can assess other schools for myself now. I’ll be sure to refer back to this often. 