<p>Thanks HPuck35. That makes sense.</p>
<p>I am an international and I’ve received my acceptance letter via email on December 16th. Congratulations to everyone accepted.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any information about merit scholarships? Should we hear about them later?</p>
<p>WPI did not require the CSS profile, which is a lot more info than the FAFSA. They did require the FAFSA, which is the federal form. FAFSA is also required to receive student loans.</p>
<p>Last year (my daughter is a freshman at WPI this year) the acceptance letter was followed by the financial aid info about a week or two later. Can’t remember the exact timing but they were not together, but close.</p>
<p>^^^^ Right. S (current sophomore) received a letter about his merit award about 2 weeks after his acceptance.</p>
<p>This too is what I recall, the offer of merit award came a little bit later (S was also EA).</p>
<p>I received a $14,600 merit scholarship from WPI today.</p>
<p>Well, we heard back from WPI. Sad news. Very moderate scholarship. Our S will be heartbroken. WPI is clearly his first and deeply desired choice, to the point he’s happily talking to people, teachers and coaches there. I believe a student can/should shoulder SOME debt, but should not go so deeply into debt that their early future is crippled.</p>
<p>It’s extremely difficult to imagine how on Earth we can afford their remaining costs without massive loan debt.</p>
<p>Why are good private colleges so unaffordable?</p>
<p>Don’t give up on WPI…call the financial aid office after New Year’s and talk to them. If your son is talking with a coach, maybe he can help also…it doesn’t hurt to ask.</p>
<p>My D hasnt heard about any merit aid yet…but I have a feeling we will be in the same boat…</p>
<p>^^^^ Regarding the money issue.</p>
<p>Definitely call WPI and talk to them. </p>
<p>However, when I compared the state (CA) schools verses WPI it wasn’t that different. State schools in CA are now taking 5 years to graduate with a BS in engineering primarily due to class availability issues (which are only getting worse, not better). My son is at the state school and is in his 5th year, so I’m talking from experience. Living expenses plus tuition for that extra year isn’t cheap. WPI’s 4 year graduation rate is pretty good (can’t remember the number). For my case, I figured 4 years at WPI was about a push compared to 5 years at state school. WPI was a much better fit for my daughter, so she is attending WPI.</p>
<p>Also, you will be saving on the students home food bill. You can take them off the car insurance (assuming that they don’t take a car to school and I definitely don’t recommend a car their freshman year at least, and maybe at all). My insurance company doesn’t even require them to be on the insurance even if they are home for the summer. One caveat, they must be at least 160 miles from home to take them off the insurance (at least that was the number for my insurance company).</p>
<p>Freshman year would typically be in the dorm. After that an apartment, which can be cheaper especially if they do their own cooking. Both my kids know how to cook and enjoy doing so.</p>
<p>Take a look at the starting salaries for engineers and the terms of any loans. It will be some level of burden, but maybe not that much. I came out of school with what I thought was a large amount of loans. But by the end of the term of the loan, the payment almost seemed trivial to me. I know it was many years ago and a different era, but I was just as afraid of the debt.</p>
<p>My daughter received a moderate scholarship. The first for her 5 acceptances. I received a big severance package from work in 2010, so FAFSA is out. If this is her first choice, she can go, but I’d be just as happy if she went to Binghamton OOS.</p>
<p>Yep got mine in the mail a couple of days ago. 20,000.</p>
<p>Are the $14,600 and $20,000 merit awards mentioned a total amount or per year?</p>
<p>Mine is per year. The mail also states that my award totals $58,500 for four years.</p>
<p>Mine is total, 5k a year, total award of 20k</p>
<p>Thanks much for the clarification…it really helps to understand the numbers on an equal footing.</p>
<p>For those of you who want to know average scholarship details, etc. look at the CDS. But look only at institutional aid and not outside aid and loans. Also, it helps to know that you will likely get more than the merit you recieved if you qualify for additional need based aid. And if you get a better scholarship at a peer institution, like Northeastern or RPI, you can appeal your aid. Or you speak with the FA office and try pleading about how much you really want to attend and how your package prevents you from attending.</p>
<p>And apply for financial aid, even if your income is high. There are many factors, such as # of children in school, etc. Do your research and apply for outside scholarships as well. And keep in mind that if you plan it right, you can get internships starting your freshman summer. I did that and it helped a lot financially (another $7k). If your need is not met, try asking for Work Study if you don’t already get it. Private loans should be an absolute last resort.</p>
<p>Finally, if WPI is really out of reach financially, it may be wise to look at other options. Reputation-wise, UMass-Amherst is similar for engineering but I chose not to attend for personal/fit-related reasons. Other public universities in New England like UNH, URI, Maine, and UVM are not that good for engineering so take that into account. For those not in MA, the University of Minnesota is an outstanding value ($5k above in state tuition for out of state + possible scholarship). SUNY at Stony Brook and Buffalo OOS are also quite affordable and have a solid reputation for engineering.</p>
<p>WPI is an excellent school and may be a good fit but it is not necessarily the only fit. There are plenty of other great schools out there.</p>
<p>Just bumping this thread to ask the same question this year. When do we get out EA decisions?</p>
<p>Last year, my daughter received her letter on 12/18, and her scholarship information came about a week later. We live in MA.</p>
<p>WPI Facebook post shows a Thursday photo of a postal worker carting away bins full of decision notices. They’re on their way.</p>