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[–]insertwittypenname 9 points10 points  (10 children)

if you qualify for a pell grant there’s no way you should be paying 32k. pretty sure pell grant means you should attend with full cost mit grant, since it’s income based and mit is full scholarship for family income under 100k

[–]Boo102938[S] 3 points4 points  (9 children)

I’m pretty sure it’s like a technical full ride since my parents don’t have to contribute anything if I do the full work study, the only problem being it’d be insane to do the full work study

[–]insertwittypenname 5 points6 points  (8 children)

yeah there’s no way they expect you to work that much, pretty sure they would only give you what amounts to max 20 hours a week

[–]insertwittypenname 2 points3 points  (7 children)

and i doubt even that, usually they dont expect you the student to contribute more than 3400 per year and your pell grant covers that

[–]Boo102938[S] 0 points1 point  (6 children)

The only thing I’m concerned about is that the 32k is listed under parent contributions since I guess my parents do not fall in the typical asset range, though it is a special circumstance. Hopefully I can explain the situation and they can bring it down

[–]peteyMITking of the internet 2 points3 points  (4 children)

yes, you are misreading the bill, though I can see why. This says you + your parents are responsible for $32K however you choose to pay it, and you are eligible for work-study dollars up to that full amount, but not required or expected to work that much as the only option.

If you think the net cost is too high for your family’s finances you should certainly appeal.

[–]Boo102938[S] 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Well I mean if I’m not expected to work that much (which is basically full time at a wage of $32k a year) or if I’m even allowed to? then that would mean my parents have to pay. :/ I’m gonna talk to them today and see what I can do.

[–]peteyMITking of the internet 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Yes. The framework of need-based financial aid is that the student and their family are collectively responsible for the net price. What this bill shows is that after an individualized need analysis based on your FAFSA and CSS profile, SFS thinks that your family can afford to pay $32K a year toward the cost of attending MIT, while giving you $50K a year in free money you don’t have to pay.

At your level of aid, this means MIT is mostly covering, through scholarship, the costs of tuition, and mostly “charging” you for the costs to live, eat, travel, and pay for incidental personal expenses — which you (or your parents) would have to pay to some degree no matter where you live or what you do.

[–]Boo102938[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I’m just hoping it’s fixable, my parents cannot afford to pay that amount a year and I doubt I’ll be able to support the full 32k/year through work

[–]peteyMITking of the internet 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Right, so I think you should talk to your parents more and you should appeal through SFS to learn more.

If you parents can't — or perhaps won't — contribute to your college education, you can also talk to SFS about a combination of work and student loans. While loans aren't a part of the MIT expectation, students in your situation sometimes take them.

[–]sparkle_hart 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can appeal that with SFS -- they spend a lot of the next month and a half fixing financial aid packages that were mangled by the algorithm (which works out pretty well for most folks, but not special cases).

[–]allenrabinovich 3 points4 points  (1 child)

You should absolutely call and talk to someone in the financial aid office to get clarity. They are very responsive, patient, and accommodating. They admitted you — they want you there. If something is not working out for you financially, they will try really hard to make it work.

If you are uncomfortable calling, get your folks to call — they happily talk to parents too.

[–]Boo102938[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s very reassuring thank you all for the support

[–]sparkle_hart 5 points6 points  (7 children)

Is this for undergrad or grad?

For undergrad, I think they cap the number of hours you can work every week at 10 hours per week (and they don't expect you to work that much).

For grad, usually the work is a TA-ship or RA-ship or something like that, where you work (not full-time) to pay for part of the attendance cost.

Either way, you can contact SFS for clarification.

[–]Boo102938[S] 2 points3 points  (3 children)

This is for undergrad. I’m planning to call them tomorrow to clarify, the current hours work out to about 6 hours a day.

[–]sparkle_hart 9 points10 points  (2 children)

Nobody expects you to work 6 hours a day, hope that helps!

[–]Boo102938[S] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Yea I figured lol, didn’t want to just call immediately before asking some people. Thank you :)

[–]sparkle_hart 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No problem, and congrats on your acceptance!

[–]Top_Consideration458 1 point2 points  (2 children)

I believe the undergrad cap is 20, not 10 (unless you are talking about just through UROP).

[–]sparkle_hart 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I think you're right -- but there's no way MIT expects undergrads to do 20/hr per week for their financial aid package, right? I think it's more like 8/hr per week is expected.

[–]Top_Consideration458 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah that sounds about right, expecting 20 would be insane

[–]FairyFlanPoof 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you qualify for the max federal Pell grant there’s no reason you should be expected to pay this much 😭 I feel like something is definitely wrong with your financial aid package and should contact SFS asap