A Good Problem To Have

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of California - Los Angeles
1

<p>I have a problem that I think all incoming and current students would love to have.</p>

<p>After I reviewed my tentative financial aid package, I found that $14,291 of the $23,291 would be taken care of by Pell, Cal, and University grant awards. That leaves me with $6,500 in loans and $2,500 in work study, for a combine total of $9,000 which I will need to take care of during each academic year.</p>

<p>Initially I was bummed out that I would have to take out loans to take care of my share of the cost. I told myself that I would need to find someway of taking care of the $9,000 because I want my attention to be on school and not whether or not I could pay for it.</p>

<p>So during the course of March and April I applied for a total of 8 scholarships. (Mostly merit)</p>

<p>I have found out in recent days that I won the following scholarships</p>

<p>1)Dell Scholarships-$20,000 ($5,000 over four years)
2)Martin Luther King Foundation Scholarship-$5,000 ($1250 over four years)
3)Women’s Incorporated-$1,000 ($250 over four years)
4)Ford Salute to Education-$1,000 ($250 over four years)</p>

<p>Total amount that I have won so far: $27,000</p>

<p>And the there is a possibility that I may win the following scholarship awards as well
5)Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholarship-$24,000 ($6,000 over four years)
6)Sean Salisbury Scholarship-$10,000 ($2,500 over four years)
7)Junior Seau Foundation Scholarship-$4,000 ($1,000 over four years)
8)African American Educators Association-$1,000 ($250 over four years)</p>

<p>So if everything works out I would walk away with an added $39,000 bringing my scholarship total to $66,000.</p>

<p>Here is my problem, since I am expected to pay for $9,000 a year with work study and loans ($36,000) and I hypothetically win $66,000, what will happen to the remaining $30,000 or any excess money that I have won. I know that the financial aid office will take away the university grant of $4,100 but I would still have $12,000 in excess money. </p>

<p>What would happen?</p>

2

<p>DONT TAKE THE LOANS! it will be really, really stupid to take loans if you have enough money covered in grants and scholarships! even if you need to dip into your savings or something a little, always try to avoid loans! only accept loans if you really cant afford it, because the interest will come back and bite you in the ass later.</p>

<p>i think if you have extra money after they take away the university grant, you get to keep it. but i'm not sure because i never had that much money given to me. :(</p>

3

<p>danielhagos: did your cal grant information show up on the UCLA myFAO website?</p>

<p>don't take the loans. use your scholarships to cover the cost. as for the excess money...i have no idea.</p>

4

<p>It is somewhat of an awkward problem to have, in the sense that not too many people deal with having excess award money but I am happy with having this problem then trying to find the means to take care of school cost.</p>

<p>As far as what is stated on my financial award letter, it says the following:
Federal Pell Grant......$4,050
Cal Grant.................$6,141
University Grant........$4,100
Work Study..............$2,500
Loans......................$6,500</p>

<p>Hopefully if there is anyone out there that has worked in the Financial Aid Office, could you please clear up some of my questions for me?</p>

5

<p>what the hell, why isn't my cal grant showing up on the provisional financial aid letter?</p>

6

<p>Daniel - Good job on all the scholarships! I believe there's a chance that some of your awards from the school will deduct what you have coming in from scholarships. Most scholarships actually write the check to the school and specify that they can only be used for legit educational expenses (includes tuition and housing costs) so you generally can't pocket any excess. </p>

<p>These financial questions will be very important to you so rather than relying on conjecture from those not in the know (including me), you should contact the financial aid office directly and ask them these questions.</p>

7

<p>people like you make me want to kill myself.</p>

8

<p>i agree...</p>

9

<p>hahahah. yeah.</p>

<p>what do yo do w/ the extra award money? you KEEP it (some scholarships go straight to the school but some are just awards that are given straight to you. obviously, you would apply the ones that go straight to admissions towards your costs and you just cash the checks for the others. you would then apply that amount <em>assuming the other awards dont cover everything</em> towards whatever fees are left and then keep whatever's left). </p>

<p>poor kid.</p>

10

<p>Well I am sorry if I make you want to kill yourself but I really worked my ass off through high school with very challenging obstacles that were presented in front of me. I don't want any of you to think that this money was simply handed to me.</p>

<p>I am going to make a call later today and hopefully the financial aid office can clear up the confusion. Believe me, I am not going to disclose the scholarships that are being sent directly to me, I am not that stupid. LOL :)</p>

11

<p>remember, just say NO to loans! ;)</p>

12

<p>Haha, hey, I'm in the same situation as you. I got a $40,000 scholarship, and so assuming I'm getting Cal Grant B for sophomore year and beyond, I'll be left with about $3,000 excess money. </p>

<p>From what I've read on the UCLA FAO site, if the scholarship check is sent directly to UCLA, then Financial Aid will first:</p>

<ol>
<li>Use your scholarship money to pay your loans</li>
<li>Use your scholarship money to pay grants</li>
</ol>

<p>As far as I know, FAO will also deduct Cal Grant aid and Pell Grant aid; while they are federal grants, UCLA can adjust those amounts at their discretion, since the federal grants are actually block grants given to UCLA, to be disbursed according to FAO. </p>

<p>And yea, don't report any scholarships to FAO if you can afford not to! Sure, not telling may hurt your conscience. However, if you do, then you're just giving UCLA money. Save it up for laundry bills and such!</p>

13

<p>Yeah if possible avoid loans. Loans = interest. Why pay extra if you don't need to?</p>

14

<p>Oh, one more tip for keeping more of your scholarship money. You can always request a computer purchase allowance to be added on to your budget. The maximum amount that can be requested is $2000, in the form of a loan. I believe you can use the "Petition for Re-evaluation" form on the FAO site to apply for this adjustment; it should be available in late June. </p>

<p>However, since you can use your scholarship money to cover the loan, FAO should "null" the loan, and automatically use your excess scholarship money to cover the computer loan.</p>

15

<p>by asking this question, it makes me feel like I am insignificant in this world and that ive done nothing in my life thus far.</p>

<p>Apart from that, congratulations for your achievements.</p>

16

<p>in addition, some schoarships can be put toward living costs such as rent, transportation, and like jinobi said, computers and peripherals.
definitely don't take loans that aren't necessary, they are sort of a last resort and you have many options. congrats!</p>