I have not read the entire thread, but it sounds like you did not apply for aid from MIT and your sister has not applied for aid from Brown.
I think the first question to ask is whether they are absolutely confident that your family would not get aid from the two schools if you put in financial aid applications right now. Both schools use the CSS profile (I believe), and both are quite generous with financial aid. At least for next year (and possibly even after the FAFSA changes), having multiple kids in college does increase financial aid for most CSS profile schools. Just because your parents were certain that your sister wouldn’t qualify for financial aid at Brown when she entered, does not mean that she wouldn’t qualify for aid now that they have a second child entering an equally expensive school.
Honestly, I think it is worth submitting a late CSS profile to MIT and also one to Brown for your sister as a returning student --she likely is not even late for that deadline. See what the schools say. It may be that your family is so wealthy, that both Brown and MIT say that they can afford $160,000 per year total in sibling tuition costs. However, it may be that actually both of you would qualify for some aid --clearly not a full ride, but enough to make the tuition more palatable to your parents.
ETA: I just read some more posts and it sounds like the sister is already a senior? If so, my advice doesn’t make sense given she won’t be returning to Brown next year and the family won’t have multiple kids in college in 2023-24?
This is a good point, someone on here did the Net Cost calculator for MIT with parents with a yearly income of $400k, and it came out to be $20K in grants from MIT – which happens to be the value of the scholarship from LSU… so if that’s the difference, then that might be enought to convince the parents of the cost-value proposition.
It could be the parents were just sure they did not qualify for any grants that they never checked – and that would be true for most schools, but MIT is more generous than most schools.
Yeah, I just looked that up… only undergrad. I just redid the quick estimator with what I consider to be normal assets for someone making $400k, and it came back with no grants… full pay. So, might not be likely.
@emma1231 - there is one more angle to consider when talking to your parents.
It sounds like they are looking at this from a value perspective and they have assessed that LSU for free is a better value than MIT at $320K. And they had previously assessed that MIT at $320K was a better value than LSU at $80k. They are looking at it from the perspective of what they are putting in versus what they are getting out of it.
Ask them to look at it from the perspective of what their children are putting in and what they will get out of it.
Your sister is putting in $0 and getting a law degree from UPenn with $100k or so of debt.
You are putting in $80k (since you won that scholarship not them) and you are getting an undergrad degree from LSU.
And then ask them what they think about it from that perspective.
Excellent idea! Assisted living or home home care in Louisiana is probably not as expensive as what I know it to be in the NY area. @emma1231 Chances are, you will easily be able to afford this. I looked up the cost of assisted living in Louisiana.
By the time your parents are at that stage, maybe it will be $5k/month. Once you start working – and you WILL have earning potential for north of $1M if you go to MIT – start an investment account earmarked for your parents’ elder living expenses. Bingo.
I would never have wanted either of my children to do something like that or make promises about paying for care. And they are both financially successful. I want them to prioritize themselves and the families they create.
I feel the same. But this poster needs strategies to convince her parents to use the money they ALREADY said they have to allow her to go to MIT.
If I were this poster, I wouldn’t contribute one cent to parents’ elder care or other financial needs if they make her go to LSU. She can tell them that they need to spend down their assets and go on Medicaid, because Medicaid is a full ride that’s available to them.
and you WILL have earning potential for north of $1M if you go to MIT
OK - let’s stop being ridiculous - or do you want to make the same statement about any college in America.
And let’s stop talking about situations - like where her parents need help later and she won’t be there for them. Guess what - without her parent’s love and support, she wouldn’t have gotten a full ride to LSU or gotten into MIT.
Why are you putting a wedge between the daughter and the family? Just because you don’t agree with their decision as described doesn’t mean the family needs to be filled with hateful actions.
People choose colleges for financial reasons every day - an Auburn over Yale as is widely reported…any flagship over a Northwestern, Duke, etc. - and those don’t even include full rides in most cases.
Let us not be judgy here. I am not sure parents are correct here, but this is what I would do in your situation. Since you are serious about Physics and LSU is on my books is not the place for you, you need to find a cheaper alternative that will not close doors for you. Assuming that you stand the ground and will not go to LSU and parents stand the ground and will not pay for MIT, what are your options?
Take gap year in MIT and do not enroll in LSU. (Keep MIT door open.) Start working fulltime somewhere to make some money for college. That will give parents a signal that LSU is not happening.
Apply to other public schools highly ranked in Physics. Do not include private at all and forget about UMich and do not include California schools! Find 5 top public where you can be happy (much happier than at LSU for sure) that are significantly cheaper for OOS than MIT and potentially can give you some merit aid.
I would consider schools like UIUC, University of Texas - Austin, University of Colorado - Boulder, UMD College Park, University of Ohio, GaTech, Purdue etc. Research them and find your best fit. Then apply.
Once acceptances with scholarships will be received, sit with your parents and do cost/benefit analysis.
After everything is on the table, consider ROTC to cover your tuition if your parents absolutely refuse to pay for anything reasonable.
Reading this thread make me pause. I do not like what parents did, but I can see their point. There is no clear path with a guaranteed outcome with BS in Physics. (For the record, I know a couple of people even with PhDs from MIT, who do not put PhD on their resumes because they look overqualified for a lot of positions.) On the other hand, I would never send my daughter to MIT. Never. I would not even consider it. No matter how smart she is unless she is absolutely off the charts with the potential of Marie Curie. MIT is absolute pressure cooker and there are enough pressure cooker schools around with slightly less pressure and great outcomes.
Not at all ridiculous. Not first job out of college. But within 10-15 years, definitely. I said the POTENTIAL. It’s there for the taking. I live in an area where income of >$1M is not at all unusual (my family is far from one of them, but I’m surrounded by it every day). Maybe $400k salary and the rest in bonus. This happens. And for sure someone with an undergrad physics degree from MIT has ACCESS to this world.
I think you need to talk in terms of probabilities and opportunities not outcomes. MIT provides more opportunities and the probability for higher salary outcomes…. But the biggest factor in all of this is always the student and not the school. The school is a factor but OP remains the captain of her destiny no matter where she goes
And one has the potential to work in oil from LSU and make that much. Or be a 7’ center named Shaq and make that. She also has the potential to be US President.
But yes, sorry, it’s a ridiculous statement to bank an argument on - if you’re trying to convince the parents it’s worth spending far north of $300K vs. $0.
I can’t find salary info from MIT - but in 2016 it was reported the average grad (not major specific) was making $91,600 after 10 years. Yes, it’s 7 year old data - so maybe it’s $130-150K now.
If even 1% of MIT grads ever make a million dollars in a year, I’d be shocked.
Forgetting that, I see everyone trying to put a wedge between student and family - and that’s sad. I certainly wouldn’t root for it like some seem to be doing.
I was referring to the posters trying to reassure OP that they would still get a good education going to LSU.
Also, I don’t think the question is why are the parents unwilling to do same for each of their children. That’s something that gained momentum from the posters. OP states their parents are pushing the full-ride and OP is nervous their parents will back out, not that they actually did.
I don’t think it serves any good purpose to provide negativity (or bash) a child’s parent directly to that child. How would you feel as a parent if another adult was bashing you to your own child especially based on the child’s perspective of a matter? We don’t have all the facts, hearing only one side, and haven’t walked in their shoes. And regardless of that and your own opinion, it’s just not a good idea. It’s adding fuel to the fire and can have great consequences. Please consider that.
I think we can empathize with OP’s feelings towards their perception of the matter without talking badly about their parents. All OP can control is their own attitude, response and actions. And It’s about perspective. Either I am blessed/grateful to be one of the .1% of students that are awarded a full-ride scholarship or I don’t get to go to the college I want to. I’m a proponent of an attitude of gratitude. And if you feel you’ve been handed lemons with your full-ride scholarship then I’d suggest you start making lemonade, lots of lemonade!
If this were the case, she could apply to Arizona now - which is one of the top phsyics programs in the country and an easy in -and assuming a 3.9 UW GPA, would net her $30K off and be about $25K a year.
“These are the 25 best colleges for physics majors based on alumni earnings in the first year after graduation. Massachusetts Institute of Technology is ranked in first place due to its high median salary for physics graduates. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, with campuses in New York and Connecticut, comes in second, followed by University of Arizona and Ohio State University.”