General Information

PreFrosh: “Wheeee! I got accepted to The Only Institute of Technology!!!”
Dad: “Wow, Ickle ___, I’m so proud of you.”
PreFrosh: “Err…yeah, the tuition is 50 grand a year.”
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61 seconds later…
PreFrosh: “Uhh…Dad?”

So you think you won't be able to pay for MIT? WHAT?!!! You're applying to MIT, aren't you a super-genius with billions of dollars in a swiss bank account? No? Me neither (I keep my money in Antarctica). Well. I guess we have to let even people without huge bank accounts apply to MIT too... something about being an equal opportunity college we apparently signed a while back...

Here's how to get money from us and the U.S.

First: Fill out your F.A.F.S.A. This involves copious amounts of paperwork and you telling us about every penny you've ever found on the sidewalk as well as all the money you actually earned.

Second: Fill out your C.S.S. profile. This is somehow even more complicated than the F.A.F.S.A. You need to know how much your house is worth. How much your parents made last year AND the year before. How much they expect to earn this year. How much you made the last two years and expect to earn this year. They even want to know how much you expect to receive from your relatives and friends as a graduation present (what do they want you to do, call them?)

Third: Send both of those ridiculously complicated documents to us along with copies of your and your parents' W2 forms and Tax returns for the last three years.

Fourth: Pray and hope that the crashing stock market doesn't affect your aid package and we'll be kind and give you cash.

A very wise man from the mountains once said and I quote, “Apply for Financial Aid. Don’t procrastinate. If you don’t, you can’t afford it. You’ll be screwed.”

PreFrosh, Inc. presents a few thoughts on Financial Aid 101[insert evil laugh here]:
1. Wearing the Halloween costume from fifth grade to your interview is not a very good idea to coax a nice aid package.
2. Neither is filling zeroes on every available blank on your FinAid form. [Never before has anyone sounded so gleeful at the notion: “I’m broke! I’m broke!”]
3. Don’t take undue advantage of the phrase ‘need-based’.

~The Institute honest PreFrosh :-)
~HAVE FUN!

P.S. You're applying for free money. Did you honestly expect it to be easy?