| @Speaker, as Mollie pointed out, the "self-help" is MIT's recommendation of how much you should be able to contribute toward your college expenses. Our daughter's a freshman this year, and although the wages are slightly higher now, she worked fewer hours per week than did Mollie. Here's the breakdown:
2007 Fall semester: Found a job as a desk worker in the Athletic Department for $9.00 per hour. Worked for 9 hrs. per week for 13.5 weeks = $1,102.50
(Note: She said she was usually able to complete a pset while working this shift, which is one nice aspect of a deskworker job.)
2008 Spring semester: Found a paid UROP for $12 per hour. Will have worked a total of 14 weeks for 9 hrs. per week = $1,512.00
This coming summer: Found a paid UROP for $12 per hour. Will work a total of 10 weeks for 40 hrs. per week = $4,800. Living expenses will take a chunk of those profits, but she'll live with a girlfriend in one of the fraternities. Her net summer earnings may be somewhere between $3,000 and $3,500.
Thus, total net earnings this academic year and summer = $5,614.50 - $6,114.50. You could work more hours, of course. For what it's worth, our daughter found working 9 hours to be quite manageable, and she's really looking forward to the UROP this summer.
Hope this is helpful. | 
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