@happy1 I am considering Yale as a more affordable option to MIT
@collegeqs02 Yes. MIT admitted you because they want you, and now it is in your hands to bargain with them.
@collegeqs02 Have you shared your Yale financial aid offer with MIT?
Something else to consider is that you may not even want to go on to grad school. You may want to go straight into the work force after you complete your undergrad.
Also, my son and many of his friends would have been able to pay your yearly tuition bill from the money they earned working a 10 week internship over the summer. There are a lot of opportunities for MIT students.
For what you want to do, Yale and MIT aren’t in the same league.
Okay, I’m going to continue to apply to scholarships and I’m going to write up an email to my financial aid counselor to try to work something out with her. Do any of you have any resources or websites that have good advice on writing up an email to try and work out a better fin aid offer? Should I take a screenshot of what Yale and UMD are offering me and include it in my email?
@ucbalumnus that’s not good to hear… I’m going to keep trying to have an open conversation with them about this because I don’t want that to happen.
@collegeqs02 I don’t think MIT will care what UMD is offering as they won’t consider UMD a peer institution. They might match the Yale offer.
Of course! I was planning on majoring in Biochemistry, so I took General Chemistry last semester and I’m currently taking Organic Chemistry. Depending on how it goes, I’m also thinking about taking Orgo II in the fall, so I have some experience with the chemistry courses at MIT! As challenging as the courses are, I definitely think the faculty and the resources at MIT are simply unparalleled. And I think the availability of undergraduate research (which you can do for course credit or for pay), is also something unique and might not be as common as other schools. Once again, I don’t want you to feel pressured to choose MIT, just some things to possibly consider!
And you should definitely appeal your financial aid package! Financial aid was a huge deal for me and I have some personal circumstances that made the process a bit complicated. However, MIT was very generous compared to other public and private institutions I got into, and the Student Financial Services office is very good about hearing students’ personal circumstances and providing resources!
You ask the financial aid office if they can reconsider your aid package given your family’s changed circumstances. Some places won’t look at aid offers from other institutions, so ask in the Financial Aid Forum about MIT vs. Yale. Someone there might know.
$20k total for a year is about $7,500 less than what UM-CP would be with on-campus housing in-state without aid. So in that sense, MIT’s package is a good one. Whether you and your family can come up with $20k is another story. We couldn’t when Happykid was headed into college, so she started at the local CC then finished at Towson.
This is completely not true. MIT doesn’t give merit awards at all…so a merit award at any other school is not going to matter to MIT. In addition, IF MIT were to consider another college’s award, it would need to be a peer school…and I doubt MIT views UMD as a peer school.
To the OP…you have the opportunity to graduate from undergraduate school with $0 in debt. It appears that your family will need to incur $20,000 a year in debt…at least…for you to attend MIT.
You already say your parent has reduced income right now. In these uncertain financial times, that full ride to UMD is terrific.
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My daughter chose the UMD full ride. I told her that she could go to any school, but she is keeping the savings for graduate school. When we visited MIT, we found it to be group project based. She dislikes group work. Save your family some money and go to UMD. What an honor to receive the Banneker Key full ride. Good luck with your decision.
You probably already committed. I would in your case go to MIT (or at least to Yale.)
My DC had half ride at UMD (Merit) vs. nothing in GaTech for BME and UMich.
Since UMD is far from top in the major, we felt that extra money (in our case around 100k for GaTech ) would pay back. However, DC rejected UMich because of money.
80K is possible for middle class in Maryland. Over 100k is way too much. Good luck!
Congratulations on getting into some great schools. It sounds like no matter where you go you will do great! Something to consider when looking at cost: At MIT you can live in a cook for yourself dorm, which are also cheaper, and save $ that way. The costs that are published, like transportation, etc may or may not apply to you, depending on where you live. Also, my '22 hasn’t had to buy many books - almost done with junior year and we have spent a couple hundred, maybe 3, on books - a lot of the dorms/living communities have books to share. UROPS in covid have been tricky to come by. Ditto summer internships. The Stafford loan is all on you, and it’s $5500, $6500, and $7500 each year for junior and senior year. If you are covered by you parents insurance and it is adequate you won’t have to pay the extra insurance cost -if deemed not adequate you will. I can’t tell if it’s only going to cost $20k/year? A CALL to your financial aid officer would be your best bet. Then follow up with an email. Good luck! Edit: LOL I see this is a year old. What did you decide to do?