<p>Hi, I am going to college for finance at DePaul University in Chicago. I went to community college for 2 years and obviously saved a lot of money. I got my associates there with a 4.0 and am part of Phi Theta Kappa, the honors society thing (only really joined for the 5 grand scholarship opportunity). I got a large amount of financial aid from FAFSA for this up coming 2012/2013 school year but I still need to pay a lot. I'm looking for more ways to get FREE money for school (scholarships, grants, etc). I tried those sites like fastweb for scholarships but most of them want you to fill out surveys or do other things that aren't that legit. Where do I look for "good" scholarships? Where can I get scholarships for having a 4.0....that has to get me something right? I mean they say you can get scholarships for being left handed...Also if anyone was a Phi Theta Kappa member and got the transfer scholarship when did you find that out!? I need money for tuition, books, and a laptop. Any advice is appreciated, thanks.</p>
<p>The number of private scholarships offering significant amounts of money for transfer students is infinitesimally tiny and they are all extraordinarily competitive. You cannot rely on them to fill the gap. The idea that there is money just waiting to be given out is a pernicious myth. Getting a 4.0 does not make you unique or even rare.</p>
<p>How much is the gap and how much can you pay?</p>
<p>The simple fact is that you may not be able to afford DePaul and you may need to look at cheaper schools.</p>
<p>"I got a large amount of financial aid from FAFSA "</p>
<p>First of all, you didn’t get ANYTHING from FAFSA. FAFSA is an application. It isn’t an entity that provides funding.</p>
<p>It sounds like you got a Pell Grant, some student loans, and maybe some work study. While the total may seem like a lot, it’s probably mostly loans and work-study. How much did you get in loans? At least 7500 in loans…maybe more if you also got Perkins.</p>
<p>If your school costs over $45k, and you only less than $20k in federal aid, it’s highly doubtful that this school is affordable.</p>
<p>How much did you get in aid? What is the breakdown of your aid?</p>
<p>What is your EFC?</p>
<p>How much will your family pay? </p>
<p>How can you afford this school if you don’t have the money to cover the gap?</p>
<p>“I went to community college for 2 years and obviously saved a lot of money.”</p>
<p>Hmmmm… ??? You “saved” a lot of money? Really? Where is the money that you “saved” by going to a CC?</p>
<p>Mom2ck,</p>
<p>re: saved money.</p>
<p>I think by saving money, OP was saying that they avoiding paying 4-year college tuition by paying smaller tuition at CC, not that they literally put money away.</p>
<p>Congratulations on your very successful two years and your acceptance to a program at DePaul. I love that school.</p>
<p>It is, however, pricey. What sort of aid did you get? As Momtwocollegekids stated, FAFSA does not give you any money. It just generates an EFC (expected family contribution) The federal government has PELL grants for those who have a low enough EFC, and Stafford loans are available to students as well. If your parent fails to qualify for PLUS after submitting to a credit check then you get additional loan money. Anything else pretty much has to come DePaul, unless you got an outside or state award.</p>
<p>If you list the projected cost for you to go to Depaul (are you commuting or living there?), and also how much in grants from PELL, Depaul, outside sources, you have, and also a list of loans you have available to you, we can see what your gap is. In your case though, the gap may be a lot since DePaul is expensive, since you only have two years left to fun, and have a great college performance track record, taking out loans may make sense.</p>
<p>*Mom2ck,</p>
<p>re: saved money.</p>
<p>I think by saving money, OP was saying that they avoiding paying 4-year college tuition by paying smaller tuition at CC, not that they literally put money away.*</p>
<p>Yes, I realized that from the “get go.” lol … I WAS MAKING A POINT. There was no “saved money”. </p>
<p>the point is…If you don’t have money saved from going to a cheaper school (CC), then you didn’t “save” anything. If I don’t buy a Ferrari (because I don’t have the money for it), and then I buy a Toyota, I didn’t “save” a whole bunch of money…nor did I “avoid paying” for an expensive car. I never could have bought that car. lol</p>
<p>Haha yeah I thought it was understood the money came from the government. But yeah I got about 14k and my tuition is 37k for a finance major a year. So yes I work, and will have to take out loans. If anyone has advice on the best type of student loans to take out from experience or just knowledge let me know.</p>
<p>I got about 14k and my tuition is 37k for a finance major</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>Isn’t tuition about $33k plus Room, board, books, etc (about $47k total)???</p>
<p>Will you be commuting from home? </p>
<p>It doesn’t sound like you got $14k in grants. It sounds like you got maybe some Pell Grant money, and the rest is loans. What is the BREAKDOWN of your pkg??</p>
<p>Since you already have at least $7500 in loans in your pkg, borrowing another $20k+ (per year) is nuts. </p>
<p>You say that you’re a FINANCE major? Well, an early lesson in finance is…don’t get yourself deep in debt. Another lesson is that you didn’t “save” anything by going to a CC first. If you really did “save” money by doing so, you’d have a pile of cash somewhere.</p>
<p>How much did you borrow for Frosh and Soph years? </p>
<p>At this rate, you’re going to graduate with at least $55-70k in debt. That is tooo much debt.</p>
<p>And, what (naive) person is going to co-sign and QUALIFY for those private loans that you need? </p>
<p>did you apply to any state schools that you could commute to?</p>
<p>How would you have any idea how much I got? I have 14k in GRANTS, i never have to pay that back. And after that I got offered the difference in loans (23k). Yes for a finance major the tuition is 37k. My living situation is fine, I’m only worrying about the tuition.</p>
<p>SmokTreees,</p>
<p>If you don’t have any loans yet, by the time you graduate with B.S. degree in Finance, you will have 46K in loans. It is a bit too much debt. I would not recommend it.</p>
<p>Through federal aid, you are entitled to 6.5K direct loan and the rest you will have to fund through private loans. The problem is that no bank will loan you the difference. You will have to find a cosigner who is credit worth to borrow around 31K in the next 2 years. If you find such cosigner, than you are all set, but once again I would caution you against that. If you decide to go private loan route, you should pay close attention to interest rate. The better your cosigner’s credit-worthiness, the better interest rate you will get.</p>
<p>What people are trying to tell you here is first look for cheaper options, i.e. public schools you can commute to.</p>
<p>* And after that I got offered the difference in loans*</p>
<p>that doesn’t sound right. They wouldn’t offer the difference in loans to a student. did they offer some of it (about $7500) in loans for you (and maybe some Perkins)…and was the rest of the loans offered a Plus loan? What were the names of the loans in your pkg and for what amounts???</p>
<p>And, since you said “I thought it was understood that the money came from the gov’t,” then that meant that you didn’t get $14k in grants because the feds do NOT give $14k in grants. So, your info was misleading. If you truly did get $14k in grants than most of that was from the SCHOOL, not from the gov’t.</p>