9. About MIT / About SFS / About Me
9. About MIT / About SFS / About Me
This blog is officially closed and will now only exist as an archive of past posts.
Please visit the new blog at http://daniel.mitblogs.com.
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Some of you have probably only (fairly) recently found this blog. Others of you have been reading the blog for a while, checking in sometimes on a daily basis to see if there is a new post, and what else is going on.
But probably not many of you (perhaps
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Hey all!
Sorry for the long delay in posting but life has been crazy for me... Since we last spoke:
I've traveled to Philadelphia for a 568 group meeting. We've started discussing proposed changes and refinements to the methodology we use to determine
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What a warm weekend in Boston -- humid, hot and sticky. It's nice that summer has arrived, but I would prefer to have my heat without humidity! This weekend was my choir's end of year performance. We were in a room with no A/C; and I had six or so
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Some pics of my first day in Aspen. If you click on the picture, it will take you to a (much) larger image of the same photo.
The following photos were taken by the John Denver Sanctuary, a beautful public park in downtown Aspen dedicated
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Tomorrow morning, I will be jet setting across the continent as I make my way to Aspen, Colorado for the bi-annual (in this case, every other year) COFHE Financial Aid Director's Retreat. For those of you who do not know, COFHE is the Consortium on Financing
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To all this year's MIT graduates...
My hat's off to you...
For those of you who want to watch graduation live today, log on here.
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Some great photos of Killian Court as MIT gets ready for commencement on Friday.
See here for the pics!
Photos were taken by David J. Broderick, Audio Visual Project Technician, MIT AV.
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Here is an update to where things stand on the Federal Budget end. This also updates you all as to the status of the Perkins Loan action which I know many of you participated in previously (and I thank you for your help there).
This note comes to you
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As you undoubtedly know, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a Direct Lending institution, allowing you to borrow your student loans directly from the federal government, without the complicated involvement of banks and other lenders. Congress
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Hi there.
In wandering the Infinite today, I picked up the most recent issue of Counterpoint, a great independent student publication published jointly by Wellesley and MIT students. The latest copy is entitled “Crunch Time” and has some interesting
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Hey all.
Just a brief update since I am in the middle of reading. But reading is actually what this post is about.
What are we up to in the Financial Aid area? Reading. Reading. And more reading. All of us are reading upperclass student application
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The Galapagos Islands are an amazing place. If you haven't read about them, or seen a “Nova” episode on them, you may not understand what I mean, but the ability to see wildlife “up close and personal” as well as to walk in Darwin's footsteps is a once-in-a-lifetime
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Several updates before I begin the main thread of today's post.
First: Today I created two mailing lists. The first is moneyman (or moneyman(at)mit(dot)edu) and the second is barkowitz (or barkowitz(at)mit(dot)edu). Don't know why it took me so long
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Just wanted to post a brief update for you all!
Today we mailed 112 award letters to International students who are rising Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors. Since we mailed these before the end of the term, the award notices were sent to on campus addresses.
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When I was a Sophomore in High School, my father passed away. I am the youngest of four kids and was a “late in life” child, so I always intuitively knew it might happen. It did mean that for my last two high school years, and especially during my college
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Today, I set up my facebook profile. I hope to have many friends (and eventually to upload a picture). There were some questions on the set up of my profile I simply didn't feel like sharing the answers to, though. Hmmm... wonder if there ever comes
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A couple of other items of interest:
For International Freshmen, we are providing copies of your finalized award letters to the ISO directly so that we can produce your I-20. We are working closely together with the staff of the ISO to make sure this
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It's May 3rd and hopefully all of you who are planning on attending (new Freshmen, that is) have sent your reply form in. As my friends in Admissions close out their books on the class of 2009, we over here in Student Financial Services are still going
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This is message from the future. Or the past. It all depends on your perspective:
This weekend at MIT a graduate student will be hosting the first and only time traveler convention for any of you who want to travel back (or forward, I guess) to join
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So, I recognize that you may think that all of your applications are done, you've made your decision, you've committed to MIT, sent in your response form, and you're done. But you may not be...
We have a terrific opportunity for incoming freshmen students
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So I realize this may be a little late in the game, but I am curious to know who is reading this so that I can make sure my posts address your needs, and so I have a sense of what kind of people are looking at the blog. From my stat counter, I know where
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Sorry all, between dealing with emails (over 200 a day), phone calls (don't even ask), questions from my staff, and just trying to spend a little time with my family, the last two weeks have been INSANE!!! So, I haven't been blogging...
Bad me!
But,
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So, CPW is over, and today I went back to the real world -- following up on appeals, returning phone calls, reading files, etc. etc.
I had an AWESOME Campus Preview Weekend, but much (all) of my time was spent visiting with students and families on a
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Hi there.
Probably many of you regular blog readers are on your way here to MIT by now, either winging your way in the friendly skies, catching the Greyhound, or riding the rails. For those of you who want a head start on CPW (or for the many of you
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First the news:
Autumn was down over the weekend. It appears to be back up now!
We mailed 100 awards today, bringing us to files that completed as of last Friday. We still have many of you we would like to award. GET YOUR FORMS IN!!!
We will
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Hey all!
Before I take off for the weekend, I wanted to give a brief description and highlight of what SFS will be doing during CPW (to translate, what those of us who work in “Student Financial Services” will be doing during “Campus Preview Weekend”).
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Today's Boston Globe has a special section on financing your education, and in one article is a blurb about the blog. So, we've made the news!
The article, entitled “Aid offices shed cold image for games, personal approach” reads in part like this:
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This sign sits on my desk to remind me that I always have something toward which to aspire. Hopefully we've done our job well.
It reads “To give away money is an easy matter...and in any man's [sic] power. But to decide to whom to give it, and how
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Happy Day to all! (And take a look at today's home page for a visual description of ).
I haven't seen anyone wandering down the hall dressed as a this morning (or any other reasonable facsimile), but that is not to say that won't be served at lunch,
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So as promised, here are some more photos of the people and places I see everyday at MIT.
Where I reside:
Our full-time staff who answer the phones (left to right they are Joanne Johnson and Emily Bassett):
Two of the several students who answer
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So, it does occur to me that you haven't met some of the other folks who work in the financial aid area at MIT and maybe it is time for a formal introduction. So, here we go!
The following photo pictures those staff who have assigned alphabetical caseloads
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While my colleagues in the Admissions office continue their Selection process, we in the Financial Aid area have begun our annual reading process. We technically started reading applications on Friday the 11th, but since I have been so busy updating
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Those of us of the Jewish persuasion face a little bit of a quandary when it comes to December 25th. I'm not pretending to speak for all adherents of the Jewish faith (especially since no one elected me spokesman), but I do know that when you live in
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12/2001 Rush,from the house to the jobfrom the bank to the day carefrom the school to the Rush
RunHurry, hurry through the dayHurry, hurry get it doneHurry, hurry need toRun
FastFeed the dog, pay the billsFeed the kids, clean the dishesFeed the ego,
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Did you ever just have a month? One where everything happened to you all at one? I am having one.
Sorry I have not been a good correspondent, but I went away to visit family during Thanksgiving, got sick, spent the next week at home with a strong viral
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So I have been attending the MASFAA conference for the past few days. MASFAA is the state's professional association of financial aid administrators and we get together (all 400+ of us) annually to discuss what is new and developing in the profession,
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Hello all.
Well, it is a Friday night and Boston is experiencing its first snowfall of the year. Early in anyone's book, but gorgeous. I am thoroughly enjoying watching the first flakes fall, even as it puts me in mind of my first year in Boston for
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Hi all,
I leave tomorrow morning for a week in sunny Florida, not necessarily to catch the rays (although I will try to do that while I am there) but the attend the Electronic Access Conference, a week-long event sponsored by the United States Federal
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OK. I'll admit it. I'm addicted to TV. Well, really to TiVo. By the time I get to start watching TV, given the busy life of an MIT administrator, it usually isn't until at least 10:30 or so, and then I am up till 1:00 or 2:00 watching whatever catches
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