Should I indicate that I was accepted to MIT when I apply for scholarships?
Would this help with my chances of getting them, or could judges assume that I have enough financial aid granted by MIT itself as it has a large endowment?
I’m currently worried about being able to attend MIT because of what I heard on the net about it giving significantly less financial aid compared to other private universities and colleges.
Any type of advice will be appreciated as well!
I don’t believe MIT gives “merit” awards above demonstrated financial need. Your MIT award probably meets this need. Universities with very strong applicant pools are not trying to buy students. The quality of their applicant pools are better reflected by the average UW GPA than the rejection rate of the applicant pool.
If you like MIT, they have your major and you can afford it, I would go there. As an alumnus from a well established, private STEM university, do not expect them to buy you by offering merit above your demonstrated need because you were accepted at MIT.
If you want to attend a more expensive university, but need to cover costs above demonstrated need, ask about a five year work/study program. MIT and many other private universities also offer these programs.
If you are looking for a lower cost, take a closer look at your state university programs where they have a lower price tag. Many of these programs are very solid.
I would not recommend that you fish with your MIT bait at a university with a high quality pool of classmates. They are busy using their limited resources to enable some very bright kids to go to their university.
Congratulations on your MIT admission!
Then your concern should be that if you were to get an outside award, MIT will reduce its aid by the same amount.
@retiredfarmer Thank you! My concern was about applying to scholarships offered by private companies, scholarship foundations, etc (not certain universities). I should have made it clearer in my question! I definitely am considering my state universities as well.
@mom2collegekids I see! I did not consider that possibility. I only read about students using outside scholarships to fulfill costs that are not covered by their financial aid package. Thank you for your response!
A school that gives merit moneydoes not care that you got or will “compete” with a school that only gives need based financial aid
Yes, MIT and/or another scholarship giver would expect total honesty.
MIT is among the most generous of all colleges. However, as @mom2collegekids has indicated, MIT will reduce your total FA package by the amount of any outside scholarship, since the MIT package is need-based. It will replace first the loan portion (if any) and the work-study portion of your FA package. With outside scholarship, you need less from MIT’s perspective.
MIT gives very generous need based aid. Did you run their net price calculator? This should give you a decent estimate of your net cost. If your parents are self employed, own a business, own real estate other than your home, or are divorced…the NPC might not be so accurate. Are any of these the case?
MIT will compute you financial need based mostly on the Profile you submitted…hope that is done…and the FAFSA.
They will determine what your family contribution should be…and there is the expectation that your family will pay that amount.
As noted, MIT is very generous in terms of need based aid IF you qualify for it.
If you receive an outside scholarship, that must be reported to MIT. You will have to ask them their policy…but at many colleges, an outside scholarship reduces your financial need…and your need based aid would be reduced usually beginning with loans. But does MIT even package loans in their need based awards?
If you were accepted by MIT have you received your FA letter yet? I’m not sure of the timing on EA. I know March acceptances get a FA package at/around the same time as decisions.
thank you all! I understand my situation a lot better now.
+It seems like FA letters for EA arrives in January
This comment isn’t necessarily true for MIT: “…if you were to get an outside award, MIT will reduce its aid by the same amount.”
That wasn’t true in our experience. MIT is not less generous than other schools.But it does guarantee need, not want. If your family has loads of resources and millions in home equity-they do not limit the evaluation of resources only to liquid assets. Like most schools MIT does require people with the resources to contribute to the tab. But it does not nickel & dime students. It does not lower aid once the students starts. It is very transparent in its calculations. Family expenses are likely to diminish over time rather than increase. Further, MIT covers the cost of many extras so “ability to pay” rarely excludes students from experiences more affluent students can access. Money does not open any doors or provide anything better if paid quicker (for some schools, those who commit and send a deposit fastest have better choice of dorms-not so at MIT and there is no deposit needed to commit to MIT).
The above is an MIT SFS policy, so I’m not sure how your family has escaped it.
“There are many private scholarships and grants you can apply for on your own. If you receive one, we use it to replace your student contribution requirement before we reduce your MIT Scholarship.”
https://sfs.mit.edu/undergraduate-students/types-of-aid/other-scholarships-grants/
To be clear, I haven’t even received a scholarship offer yet.
The purpose of my question was: 1. whether mentioning that I have already been accepted to a school that offers great STEM education will boost my chances of receiving a scholarship from different organizations and companies, and 2. asking other people what they know about the school’s financial aid.
The answer is that it can go either way. It depends upon how you present the information. It can be a draw from some organizations who would love to say that they helped send to a school like MIT. I believe there is a prestige factor that can come into play. There are also those who may feel that an expensive private school is not something they want to fund over the many local school students struggling just to get enough to pay for much less of a tab, that being an option you likely could have gotten for free. Organizations that are savvy and take bottom line need into consideration may ask you what your final numbers are for financial aid, to see what your need factor is…
If it were one of my kids asking, I’d probably add it to the application and take my chances on how it is received. In most cases,it would have little chance of a negative effect and could have some positive. The merit awards that I’ve seen do not usually take college financial aid packages or other merit awards into consideration.
MIT gives good financial aid. About as good as it gets… But it does not give merit money, and will reduce part of your aid package with outside awards, starting with non cash parts of the package.