<p>sorry, in the title i meant "for" instead of "from." I need to sleep a little bit more...</p>
<p>anyways,</p>
<p>I know that this is a financial aid question, but i wanted it answered by people going to MIT currently.</p>
<p>MIT includes about 3k of personal expenses in the total cost of attendance. However, if you are granted maximum financial aid (EFC=0 + MIT matched max pell grant + max MIT grant=full ride), how much of this money from your financial aid package, if any, can you use for, say, clothing, off-campus food, hygiene products, books, etc.?</p>
<p>My family will not be able to contribute one cent towards my education. I'm worried that i might even have to work at MIT so that she can buy groceries back home. Working, for me, is a last resort.</p>
<p>Can you use ANY of the money from federal loans (stafford) for these expenses?</p>
<p>You can do a UROP for pay at MIT. They pay rather well (9.25/hr minimum) and are more like an extra-curricular activity or a class than a normal job.</p>
<p>I do not think you can use any federal loan money for non-academic purposes -- you don't ever actually see that money, it just goes to your student account. You can use private loans for those purposes, but not federal loans. </p>
<p>Incidentally, if you use money from a scholarship for non-school-required purposes, you're required to pay taxes on it as income.</p>
<p>I'm a big advocate of working while at MIT, because I think it helps people develop good time management skills and study habits. If you don't want a research job as a freshman, you can get a lower-commitment desk worker job at your dorm or at one of the campus libraries. These are pretty low-intensity jobs, they pay campus minimum wage, and you can easily work 8-10 hours a week while getting your homework done at the same time.</p>
<p>
[quote]
If you don't want a research job as a freshman, you can get a lower-commitment desk worker job at your dorm or at one of the campus libraries.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Note that some dorms require you to have lived there for a certain time period (e.g. a semester) before you can be a deskworker.</p>
<p>Also, some dorm desks require more work/paying attention than others. I once sat with a friend who was a Simmons resident at Simmons Desk, and in 90 minutes he had to stop architects (who were trying to sneak into the building to give themselves self-guided tours) three separate times. Even when he was chatting with me, he had to be watching out of the corner of his eye and paying some attention to the door. EC Desk, on the other hand, seemed to be pretty low-attention, since the way the building is built most people don't even pass by Desk as they enter.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I do not think you can use any federal loan money for non-academic purposes -- you don't ever actually see that money, it just goes to your student account. You can use private loans for those purposes, but not federal loans.
[/quote]
Yes you can. The COA includes allowances for tuition and fees/books/room and board/miscellaneous expenses/travel expenses. The COA is what is used to determine you finncial need. Any money that is refunded to you after the schools direct chrges can be used for miscellaneous expenses and travel expenses.</p>
<p>My kids both have 0 EFCs and are at schools that only have federal aid. They use the excess aid money over tuition to pay rent, bills, food etc.</p>
<p>Any grant money over tuition/fees/required books will be taxable (including money that covers room and board).</p>
<p>MIT's policy says that grants/loans are first used to reduce the student contribution and then the MIT grant. Would this mean that i would have to find 50k in scholarships/loans to see some of that money?</p>
<p>I don't want to work for pay at UROP because i want to get credit for it.</p>
<p>Thanks for weighing in, swimcatsmom -- I stand corrected.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I don't want to work for pay at UROP because i want to get credit for it.
[/quote]
Any particular reason for that? </p>
<p>There's nothing stopping you from working for credit one semester and working for pay another. You'll also almost certainly be paid over the summer, because working for credit over the summer requires you to pay summer tuition.</p>
<p>I don't want my family's income to be a burden on me. If i was part of the higher income crowd, I wouldn't have to work. I'm ready to suck up 100k in loans if it means i will get the same education opportunities that more privileged people have access to because of their resources.</p>
<p>This is something i feel strongly about, so forgive my political incorrectness. I vehemently resisted my mother's request that i get a job. Putting my education above my immediate needs, i believe, is one of the reasons i have been successful. I feel like putting 100% of my energies into my education will make me better off in the long run.</p>
<p>I'm also worried about food when school is not in session.</p>
<p>.... Does anybody here actually think that there is a way to live through college without getting a paid job? </p>
<p>I sound like a work-phobe. Just understand that compared to 99% of people at MIT, I'm very far behind. I'll need all the resources available to me to catch up.</p>
<p>I'm not trying to judge your decisions, I just don't see the distinction between doing a UROP for pay and doing one for credit. If you're going to be doing the research anyway, you may as well get the reward that's most useful, and getting credit is not useful for most people (because only 180 units outside the GIRs are required for graduation). I just didn't know if you thought there was some difference between UROP for pay and UROP for credit (there's not, incidentally).</p>
<p>As an aside, MIT is somewhat different from many other schools of its caliber in that more of the student body is decidedly not wealthy. Many MIT students do have to work for pay to help pay their school expenses. If you don't want to, that's totally fine, but be aware that a substantial percentage of the student body is not privileged in the way you think they are.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I don't want my family's income to be a burden on me. If i was part of the higher income crowd, I wouldn't have to work. I'm ready to suck up 100k in loans if it means i will get the same education opportunities that more privileged people have access to because of their resources.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I think you should think very carefully about this strategy. It is not a good idea to take out substantial loans. You don't want to be stuck with a huge loan that you may have trouble paying back. This is especially true because you are interested in becoming a physicist. After you finish your PhD, you may see low income for quite some time before you can land a position where the pay can cover the interest on the loan plus your cost of living. If at all possible, you should work, even if it's just a few hours per week, to reduce the amount of money you need to borrow.</p>
<p>What activities do you enjoy? There are a lot of jobs available on campus and in the immediate area. For example, I knew people who liked sports (and knew the rules of them) who refereed intramural games. If you're going to be at the game anyway, you might as well get paid.</p>
<p>You write, "If i was part of the higher income crowd, I wouldn't have to work" ... I vehemently resisted my mother's request that i get a job. Putting my education above my immediate needs, i believe, is one of the reasons i have been successful. I feel like putting 100% of my energies into my education will make me better off in the long run."</p>
<p>As a member of the "higher income crowd", my daughter works at MIT. It's a mistake to think that every MIT student who works receives financial aid. I agree with your mother. In my family, we believe that work experience is an important component of every young adult's education. Anyone interested in eventually leading a company is well served by having worked for a supervisor/boss in a variety of contexts. </p>
<p>Why not keep an open mind? You can choose not to work the first semester and see how you handle the work load. You can get a desk job later, one for a handful of hours per week. There are desk jobs in some of the libraries that allow you to work on your psets while earning money at the same time.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for dispelling many of my misconceptions. I guess i was being unnecessarily rigid.</p>
<p>There is just so much i don't know! (but want to learn :-D )</p>
<p>I did hear that LACs like Swarthmore (my 2nd choice) were extending their financial aid programs so that their undergraduates could have more options regard what to do after graduation. I just wasn't able to connect the dots. (Thanks yagottabelieve)</p>
<p>So from what i understand the best jobs that MIT offers are, generally, UROP and desk jobs at the library?</p>
<p>There are a variety of different jobs you can get, both on campus and off campus. Most people I know have a UROP or work desk for their dorm or somewhere else, but you can certainly get more 'typical' college jobs working at the library or as a Tech Caller or whatnot. If you are concerned about employment opportunities, you shouldn't be.</p>
<p>Like Mollie pointed out, however, the nice thing about MIT is that it's relatively easy to land a research position, and from what I've heard it's relatively easy to get funds to get paid for your work. The UROP program is something that's not really paralleled by many other colleges, and it's definitely a major benefit of going to MIT.</p>
<p>I suspect there are more jobs than that out there than library worker, but I was thinking about jobs at MIT versus Wellesley (where I did my undergrad), and while I haven't had a chance to get myself dragged around to visit all the offices and do a systematic check, the only place I remember ever seeing a student worker and was in fact the library.</p>
<p>Anyway, you want a UROP, because even if you aren't getting credit, UROPs have value beyond compensation, namely they are a vehicle for doing research, writing publications, learning laboratory techniques and getting profs to know who you are, which in turn get you into graduate school. You only get money from the library and may learn how to use a library well (and if you don't know something about using the library, just ask a librarian- go for the UROP). Being a UTA is almost as good.</p>
<p>Loans from MIT can be deferred for grad school. Outside loans cannot.</p>
<p>
[quote]
As a member of the "higher income crowd", my daughter works at MIT. It's a mistake to think that every MIT student who works receives financial aid.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I also worked and was not on finaid.</p>
<p>To restate some of the job opportunities that people mentioned:</p>
<ul>
<li>UROP</li>
<li>Dorm Desk (the UA, the undergraduate student union, also has a part-time Desk)</li>
<li>Library staff</li>
</ul>
<p>Some administrative offices let students work as interns there.</p>
<p>A couple of other jobs that you might find interesting:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The MIT Nuclear Reactor Laboratory trains undergraduates to become part-time nuclear reactor operators. I have a friend who does this, and it seems to be a good opportunity. This is actually something I wish I'd known about as a frosh (because they prefer students early in their MIT careers, so that they can keep them long-term).</p></li>
<li><p>If you're eligible for Federal Work-Study (as it sounds like you are) the MIT Public Service Center can help you find a community service work-study position (Work-Study</a> - Resources - MIT Public Service Center).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>If I had to guess the majority of MIT undergrad students are probably working part-time while they are in school ... as long it is in the range of 8-10 hours a week it really shouldn't effect a student's studies. The financial aid office should have a solid estimate of how many students work.</p>
<p>If you do consider a job I'd suggest being creative. The school will have tracks that lead to jobs like the desk jobs, dining halls, and libraries. If you're proactive you may be able to hunt down a job in an area of interest to you on campus (with the department of your intended major, with the athletic department, with the theatre group, with the music deparment, etc) ... or in the local community (record store, book store) ... if you're creative you find something very interesting and which puts a few bucks in your pockets.</p>
<p>There are many opportunities to earn money at MIT and to gain valuable work experience. </p>
<p>My daughter (class of '11) will have participated in the following by the end of this summer:</p>
<p>Desk worker, Athletic Dept, 1st semester freshman year, $9.25/hour.
UROP, Machine Vision Project, 2nd semester freshman year, $12/hour
UROP, Plasma Physics Lab, summer, $9.25/hour (or a bit higher, don't recall exactly)
Desk worker, Library, 2nd semester sophomore year (currently applying for this position)
UPOP (workshops during the sophomore year followed by paid internship at a technology company, summer sophomore year. She's in the UPOP program.)</p>
<p>You know, I wouldn't elevate any of these forms of employment above the others. Yes, you want UROP experience. However, you don't want to jump into an intensive UROP if you're struggling with your coursework; if that's the case, a quiet desk job would be preferable. Each has its own merits and drawbacks. </p>
<p>It's important to develop a strong work ethic, and you can do that at MIT. Don't assume, when you see an MIT student working a desk at the Athletic Department, that the student is only working because of a high level of financial need. You never know. That student could be working because one of her parents runs a technology company and wants her to learn about the value of work.</p>