I got in to college

variant

Welp so this friday I recieved the news that I got in to my top choice Uni... with a <2.0 gpa in highschool, I never thought I'd see this day...but thanks to CC I've made it to this point.

But, I don't have any money, neither do my parents, my tuition fees are projected to be around $4,000 just for the first semester, this is not including books, etc...

I've applied for some scholarships, if I get them all, they'll only add up to a total of $1,000 or so

I'm thinking about applying for FAFSA but I got declined for that last semester, would it be different now? Since here classes aren't just $30/unit and more along the lines off $300/unit...

I'm also thinking about looking for a new job, as my current only pays $8/hr and since I can only work about 20hrs/week they wont promote me...

Is there any other resource that I'm not thinking off?

Thanatos

You are fucking retarded if you don't fill out a FAFSA. Yeah, the fact that your tuition went up by an order of magnitude will, indeed, make a huge fucking difference in your expected parental contribution.

Even if it doesn't make a difference, it's free.

JHunz

Thanatos is absolutely correct. There is no reason at all not to fill out a FAFSA. The financial aid you could receive compared to the time it takes to fill one out makes it about a thousand times better than your $8/hr job.

Invisible

Doesn't FAFSA offer an unsubsidized loan to practically everyone? It's not much (I think it's like $2,000 a semester to start out with, but by year 4 it's about $3,000), but it would definitely help. That is if you're not against taking out a loan to pay for your education.

Raziel078

I get Pell Grant which covers my tuition. Due to lower income parents. and I also get 2500 a semester in subsidized loans. Thanks FAFSA

AlyceInWonderland

Sorry to derail, but I have a quick question? Is there a maximum amount one can get through FAFSA alone? because all I hear of is people getting like 2K.

Munacra

It depends on your financial need. I got 9k in grants and the federal loans.

kaliyama

aargh people should call their college financial aid depts. all FAFSA does is register your assets and income and determine eligibility for federal loans. if your school wants to give you direct grants.

supabeast

Kaliyama is correct—the FAFSA is just a big blanket application that eliminates a lot of bureaucracy. But if you want any sort of financial aid filling one out is mandatory just about everywhere, and given how little time it takes, only Bill Gates' kids should just not bother.

As for what aid you actually get, that's going to vary by school and by your and your parents incomes. You should probably also look into private loans, I do all of mine through Sallie Mae's web site and borrow direct from Sallie Mae because they have low interest rates and are a trustworthy lender, although their turnaround can be slow sometimes. If you're young and have no credit, your parents will probably need to cosign for you to get a loan.

If you're only making $8/hour talk to the financial aid department at your school, if you qualify for work study (you need a FAFSA for this!) you can usually earn $8-$15/hour tax-free, ten hours a week. But still, try to find something that pays better than $8 as a regular job. Keep in mind that if you're making less than $8000 a year you probably won't need to file, or pay, any income taxes, so you can have your federal income tax payroll deduction eliminated, and possibly the state tax depending on where you live.

If you want serious financial aid later, work hard and make the dean's list.

Shogun

When filing a fafsa make sure you answer the questions about your parents income honestly. My dad hasn't paid taxes in I'm not sure how many decades. I have no idea what his income is and he refused to tell me so I left his section blank which basically defaulted me into the "you get jack shit" category of financial aid. My mom only makes like 35k a year so I'm paying for my college entirely out of pocket. The only help I got was a $650 pell grant.

Thanatos

kaliyama wrote:

aargh people should call their college financial aid depts. all FAFSA does is register your assets and income and determine eligibility for federal loans. if your school wants to give you direct grants.

The vast majority of schools look at your FAFSA to determine what your aid is going to be.

projectmayhem

I get enough finacial aid a year to have about 3k extra to save/spend/whatever.

It's out there, you just have to find it. Talk to your schools finacial aid counslar

kaliyama

Thanatos wrote:

kaliyama wrote:

aargh people should call their college financial aid depts. all FAFSA does is register your assets and income and determine eligibility for federal loans. if your school wants to give you direct grants.

The vast majority of schools look at your FAFSA to determine what your aid is going to be.

Sure, schools may do so; but the EFC on your fafsa isn't the end-all be-all of what you can get. Schools can and do give more $ than EFC.

contagious_d

I fifth the FAFSA recommendation. Make sure you fill it out and renew it every year. Also, when you reach a certain age, I think it is 24, your parents do not count in the calculations anymore.

Kazhiim

sixthing the fafsa

but yeah, don't think that you can just fill out fafsa and be set for college. Persue whatever you can, assuming your highschool has a college preparation center or something, go there and ask about whatever you qualify for.

panksea06

variant wrote:

Welp so this friday I recieved the news that I got in to my top choice Uni... with a <2.0 gpa in highschool, I never thought I'd see this day...but thanks to CC I've made it to this point.

Well since no one else has said it yet: Congrats!

But yeah FASA ftw, most schools want it filled out anyway to help then assess the money they can give you.

Edit: Although my family is dumb because for some reason my parents don't give me the info to fill it out nor will they since they don't think they are qualified. But I am going to a compartively cheap state school with more than enough money in a college 501k plan so whatever.

variant

Thanks for all the replies!
I never knew that about FAFSA, so basically, I fill it out and my school can look at that and try to connect me with any resources available(except private scholarships I suppose). That's cool, I'll be sure to get cracking on that first thing tomorrow morning.

Zernhelt

You could also try talking to the school to see if you can convince them to give you some money. I originally had a 1/2 tuition scholarship at ym school, and my parents said the school was a little out fo their price-range, so the school upped it to 3/4 tuition. I'd try talkign to the financial aid office, admission, and if you were accepted to a specific school at the university (like the engineering school), talk to them too.

nexuscrawler

You could see about getting a work-study job. Basically you work on campus in exchange for tuition help. It's usually easy jobs like library, cafeteria or office stuff.

Hlubocky

Here is a tip. Major in something that will make you a lot of money! Seriously though, it is a pain in the ass to pay back a lot of student loans if you are barely able to make ends meet after you graduate. If you are a good student, work hard, and know you can get a good job on graduation, then I wouldn't be too worried about taking on some student loans. College degrees are a necessity these days and it will definitely be worth it. Just don't major in history, political science, foreign language, or english without a backup plan (law school, etc).

Theungry

There are two other types of personal loans (I don't think just filling out a FAFSA qualifies you) that can also help you. You should ask a financial aid person about these, because I have only my own and my brother's experiences to go on.

1 - Parent Plus Loan - This can be taken out in your parents name to help pay for education. There is no cap on the amount besides what your parents qualify for. It will defer until after your undergrad program, but i do not think it can be put back into deferment if you go back to school. (Again, speak to a pro for accurate details).

2 - Signature Loan - This gets taken out in your name, with a co-signer. As far as i know, the amount is still as high as your co-signer can qualify for. The added benefits are that as a loan in your name, it can be consolidated later with other loans from Sallie Mae or the Fed. You can also put this in forbearance or deferment much easier than a Parent Plus Loan. (Forbearance = you don't pay for a few months and there are no penalties other than interest accrual)

Basically, only get a parent plus Loan if it will actually be your parents paying the loan back. If you expect to be the one paying, take out a Signature.

Disclaimer: Loans = Suck. If you can work during your collegiate career and pay any amount of money as you go, that is a hundred times more time and cost effective as taking out loans... literally. However, if you want a college education, you should do what it takes. You're better off with 40k in loans and a degree, than no loans and a high school diploma, IMO.