Hi Goddy,

Yes, you can extrapolate the costs if that helps you. Keep in mind that you start school in the fall and end in the spring. The dollar amount that most schools provide (and this amount is used to determine your loans and financial aid, etc.) is sufficient for you to pay for your tuition, books, food, rent (most likely you will keep your apartment during the summer even if you have an internship elsewhere but 3 months of rent is a negligible portion of the final bill!). You will be paid for your summer internship and this will enable you to rent a second apartment in the city of your internship (if you work somewhere else for the summer).

Generally, the amount that is quoted will allow you to live a pretty good life (it takes into account various bills and assumes you will not have a part-time job, etc.). If you live frugally, you may not spend the full amount that the school thinks that you will, but, you are best to use their estimations.

I'm not sure if this answers your question. Feel free to ask me for clarification. I went to school with full loans/scholarships!

Jessica,

Thank you. Your answer is comprehensive.

Can you please write which school you attended and your application experiences in getting scholarship/financial aid?

You GMAT score is quite good. Was that a major boon to your scholarship application?

- goddy

I went to Booth (University of Chicago). I didn't apply for a scholarship - I just received a letter that I had been awarded one. I received this letter shortly after being notified of my acceptance and it helped me decide to attend the school. The scholarship was for 20K (10K per year). I paid for the remainder of the costs with loans (both subsidized and unsubsidized). However, I loved my internship and accepted a full-time position with this company (a consulting firm). Part of the job offer was that the company would pay my second year's tuition. This was fairly standard with large competitive firms when I graduated (in 2001), however, I do not believe that this is standard practice now.

To this day, I am not exactly sure why I was selected to receive a scholarship. I think it was given as an incentive for me to chose the university and I'm sure it was based partially on my GMAT score and also on other elements of my application. Again, it wasn't something I specifically applied for, although, I am sure that I indicated on my application that I would like to be considered for scholarships and aid, etc.