Financial Aid

Readers, it’s that time of year when we’re obliged to have a conversation about a distasteful but crucial topic: financial planning. I know, I know, it’s like taxes. No one wants to do it, and it feels like there’s enough time that it can always be put off just a bit longer. March has a way of quickly becoming April, though, and waiting until you’re forced to think concretely about it will constrain your options and increase the pressure under which you find yourself. So let’s do this thing!

A few weeks after the big January application deadline, our processing factory is at full steam and we’re happily reading through all of your applications.

With decisions out for a few weeks now, admitted candidates are largely moving past the initial frisson of that news to the task of making an enrollment decision. Many candidates are in the enviable position of having several good options from which to choose, and there’s one reality that is common to nearly all: grad school is a major investment, and it requires a carefully-considered financial strategy.

We’ve gotten this far into our Pre-semester Preparatory Primer without talking about money, but it was bound to surface at some point. Financing grad school can sometimes be more stressful than anything the academic experience can generate. One key to keeping financial stress low is thoroughly understanding your own resources and obligations, in order to avoid unwelcome surprises during the year.