<p>overwhelmedma;</p>
<p>What are the rules behind work study? If you are having a crazy schedule and you signed up for hours for a day that you can’t make it to, are you allowed to ask to be pardoned? Is it basically you working at your own discretion?</p>
<p>Thank you. :)</p>
<p>Hi miss_murd3r,
To the best of my knowledge, if you are scheduled for work-study hours & can’t make them, it’s your responsibility to find someone to take on the shift. What it’s NOT is working at your own discretion–yes, you have some leeway in picking what shifts to work, but most people stay on the same schedule throughout the semester, and you’ll have a limited choice of shifts based on what they still have open. As a first year, you’ll probably be working in one of the dining halls. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>miss_murd3r, most work-study positions are like outside jobs where you have a set schedule, and if you can’t make it it’s up to you to find a substitute. It’s a commitment, and if you don’t show up to your assigned shifts you could lose the job.</p>
<p>You apply for jobs - FY’s generally work in the dining halls and you choose how many shifts you want so if you are worried about it it is better to start in the low end since you can often pick up other peoples shifts if they have a conflict. I believe my D was able to drop a shift during the first semester when she felt like her work hours were too high with no problems. Work Study comes with a financial cap you cant exceed but there is no minimum.</p>
<p>For those of you still wondering about second year financial aid notices, I spoke to the FA office yesterday. They said that FA should be reflected on the fall bill, which goes out on Thursday and may reach some before their official FA notices. I’m certainly relieved to have a definite date! Also, if you call they can tell you what stage your review is at & roughly when it should be done.</p>
<p>Yay! Sounds good.</p>
<p>The way my schedule is looking, I’d have classes from 9-10:50 and then one block in the afternoon, from M-Th. I have Friday off. (YES!)</p>
<p>I’m thinking of doing an hour a day for work study, shouldn’t be too straining. </p>
<p>Also, when Smith FA sent my aid package like 2 weeks ago, they used the scholarship that I reported to eliminate my work study…and then they decreased my Sub Stafford loan and gave my an unsub loan. Gah. I called them last week asking them to reverse that and give me work study and get rid of the loan…it sure is taking them a little longer than I expected for that change. :(</p>
<p>^ Did they agree to make the change on the phone? Or did you just request it and they said they would get back to you? Because you can make requests, but that doesn’t mean they will automatically accept them. They may not be able to offer you work-study if you’re receiving an outside scholarship. If they didn’t explicitly say OK on the phone, I wouldn’t consider anything a done deal. </p>
<p>I don’t know how long the shifts are in the dining halls, but I think they are longer than 1 hr, so just keep that in mind. Also I’m pretty sure that the tutoring (the other thing you can do for work study as a first year) is more than 1 hour.</p>
<p>I think it depends on what type of shift it is. Sometimes I found it easier to take two consecutive shifts instead of working those hours on two different days…I remember that if you didn’t show up to the shift sign-up thing early first the first semester, you weren’t likely to get the shifts you wanted in the dining rooms you wanted to work in.</p>
<p>Shifts are definitely longer than an hour and there may be a minimum number you can take like 2 per week. The difficulty with tutoring is that is off campus and adds travel time which made it too hard for my daughter plus I think it conflicts with afternoon schedules. remember shifts can affect vacation travel too.</p>
<p>First years can also do America Reads (or America Counts), which technically is tutoring. I ended up working at a smith affiliated preschool with the four- to five-year-olds. America Reads is supposed to be about teaching literacy, but with kids so young you end up playing with them, reading to them, etc. Definitely a good gig–much better than washing dishes, and it pays marginally more too! For some reason, America Reads isn’t promoted nearly as much as working in dining services, but for all the future first years out there, I would recommend looking into it. It’s fun and rewarding–and you get paid to hang out with kids. :)</p>
<p>S&P: First I called and the person on the phone said that it could definitely be done, I’d just have to make a request by email. I did, but I never got a response, so I called like last week and asked for an update. They said it’s still “in progress.” Does it take that long to change something? -.- The same thing happened when I asked for a re-evaluation 2 weeks before the deposit was due…it took them legit 2 weeks to process and I got an email the day before the deposit was due giving me the final preliminary aid. I was freaking out… Does it usually take them that long??</p>
<p>Wow…America Reads sounds like an interesting program. How did you sign up for it? I love lewwwtle kids! :)</p>
<p>Student Financial Services moves slowly, especially at the end of the year/over the summer. Just think about how many incoming first-years were asking for re-evaluations at the same time as you, not to mention processing everybody’s deposits and then just the general slew of questions that come in from students every day. It is not a large office, and the people there are not 24 hour calculating machines, they have to rest for food and breaks sometime. So try to be patient and remember that 1) the process of changing things is probably much more complicated than it seems, and 2) you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.</p>
<p>Thanks S&P. 
You always know what to say!</p>