I just got accepted and was ecstatic but today got notified that the net cost of attending UCLA would be 40,000 despite only having an EFC of 4,000. I still want to go because it’s my dream school and way better at pre-med and biochemistry than my other two schools (U of I and University of Alabama). Nonetheless, it’s hard justifying spending double U of I’s net cost and triple University of Alabama’s just to attend. Not to mention their Parent PLUS loan has a fixed interest rate (currently 6.84%) that is adjusted on July 1 each year which is pretty outrageous. Just wondering if anyone is in the same boat and/or could suggest ways that I could make UCLA more affordable. Do they have a lot of paid internships that are available for undergraduates? If so, how much would this pay? How much do various work study programs pay? Is it possible to get considered for in state tuition? Also, how flexible is the financial aid office if I called and asked for higher contribution?
Do you qualify for work study? You cannot get in-state tuition unless your parents move to California and establish residency. The UC’s as of this year no longer offer FA to out of state students. You could work during the summers and on-campus but there is no way that you could make up the difference. Did you run the net price calculator before applying? This would have given you an indication of what your costs would be. Paid internships are available, but most would be for Junior/Senior level students that have some amount of major specific courses under the belt. If your EFC is $4000, what can your parents contribute on top of that amount? UCLA and other UC’s do not meet need especially for OOS students. I think you need to look for more affordable options. No school is worth $40K/year debt.
@chelsea61 Did you get the OOS scholarship? I have a near zero EFC and got an $18K OOS scholarship. Alas that still leaves $22K to be funded. They suggested PLUS loans but I’ll decline in favor of universities that offered me full aid. A shame as UCLA was fab.
UPDATE:
When i ran the net price calculator in November, it told me my net price would be 24,000. The numbers I put in were extremely accurate and gave me an EFC of 4,000 too. Not sure why there was such a large discrepancy. It might be because the new financial aid for out of state students this year. I did get the out of state grant for 18,000 but that was it. I do qualify for work study but that’s only 2,000.
I did look more into getting in state tuition and your parents don’t have to move to California to qualify. I’ll put the link below this for the In-state tuition form. However, you would have to be doing the list of things they suggest for at least one year which means that it wouldn’t really be possible to get until your junior year the earliest. Plus, you would have to live in California over the summer and demonstrate a high degree of financial independence.
http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/forms/residenceclass.pdf
I called the financial aid office yesterday, and basically she told me I was lucky for even getting the grant I did and that she couldn’t do anything more for me. There is an appeal for a re-evaluation of your financial aid package you can file, however, this only changes your package if there was something inaccurate in your FAFSA or if something is unrepresented by it (for example, financial burdens like being laid off occurring in 2016). Plus, at this point, I doubt my EFC moving to lower than 4,000 is going to make a difference in aid provided. If they’re fine leaving me high and dry for 35,000, i don’t think 39,000 which give them a change of heart.
The financial aid office did however tell me that some buildings are still offering aid like the alumni office and certain major offices. So next week I am going to contact those offices and see what they say. I’m also going to look more into loan options.
Overall tho, it’s seeming like UCLA is virtually impossible for out of state students that are financially needy.
You’re absolutely correct that it’s hard to justify the cost for UCLA OOS for pre-med, especially since you’d have to take out loans. You don’t want to pile on top of the hundreds of thousands in loans you’d need for med school.
@klingon97 - Can I ask which OOS scholarship you received? The Alumni one or a different one? My D applied for the Alumni one but no word yet. I heard they won’t start interviewing until April 1. Thanks.
@Mayzie It just says “University Grant” and is for the amount of in-state tuition. When I enquired about loans, they replied that I had been given an OOS grant.
@Mayzie Like klingon97 said, it’s listed as a university grant. I did apply for the alumni scholarship and if you do advance to the interview, you will get an email between April 6-10. However, I feel like those are highly competitive so I don’t want to get my hopes up. Also, the OOS scholarship ranges from 1-5 thousand with an additional 5,000 for financial aid possible, so basically 1,000-10,000. That could make the difference of me going or not, but we’ll see.
I’m in the same dilemma. Has anyone here made their decision yet?
@dimsum321 I think I’m gonna commit to UCLA. I just know that I would regret it so much if I didn’t go and end up being unhappy with myself. I am gonna be in a ton of debt as a result because I’m taking 37 grand out in loans, but I plan on being a specialist of some kind in the future and thus will be able to afford the payments. I might end up regretting the debt in the future, but I personally think I’ll regret it more if I don’t pursue the school of my dreams.
@chelsea61 UCLA is great but are you saying you are taking $37K in loans A YEAR? THAT is a fortune. $37K over four years is about the maximum you should borrow. Seriously, UCLA is not worth going massively into debt especially as you cannot predict the future. If anything, go to your local university and re-apply as a transfer for your junior year…
YOU can’t borrow $40k/year; you can only get the ~$5500/year federal student loan. Your parents would have to borrow the ~$160k it would take to pay for this school. That’s not a good idea for any family, especially a Pell eligible one.
@Mom2collegekids can tell you all about med schools. I don’t think it matters where you go for undergrad. You can’t get in state rates in CA, so UCLA will never be affordable for your family. It’s unaffordable for many students. Do you have any options that you can pay for without asking your parents to take out loans?
Print this out and keep it so you’ll always remember you chose to do this.
this is just an example of making stuff up to justify your decision. How is ucla “way better” for pre-meds or at teaching biochemistry? Do they have some special way of teaching? Do you think med schools care about what college you attended undergrad? Are you aware ucla doesn’t actually have a premed advisor, you just go see a random staffer in the career center? Did you know that like many large publics, ucla will not assign you a faculty advisor so you’re on your own in picking classes and the like? Have you read any of the other posts where people are worried about ucla for premed due to the competition and large classes with tough curves?
It sounds like you’ve made up your mind, but take a minute to browse thru http://studentdebtcrisis.org/read-student-debt-stories/ And keep in mind that unlike many decisions, this is one you’re never going to be able to reverse; student debts cannot be discharged in bankruptcy.