<p>My mom is a single parent who makes $36,000 a year. Can we afford to accept this financial aid package? I really do not want to put a huge amount of debt on my mother or myself. There is a decent amount of grants in there, but that's still $9,000 in loans which seems like quite a lot. Can somebody who knows what they're talking about help me out a little?</p>
<p>Federal Pell Grant 2011 1,176.00
Federal SEOG Grant 2011 600.00
VA Guaranteed Assist Program Grant 9,524.00
Federal Perkins Loan 1 3,500.00
Direct Sub Stafford Loan 1 3,500.00
Direct UnSub Stafford Loan 1 2,000.00</p>
<p>OK…</p>
<p>The package isn’t too bad because it’s not expecting your mom to do any borrowing.</p>
<p>I would ask for some work-study (about $2k or so) instead of the $2k in unsub loan. That way, you can work part-time during the school year for spending money. You could also work more in the summer so that you would need to borrow less.</p>
<p>Work study earnings don’t count on FAFSA, but other student earnings can affect FAFSA (the amount is probably high enough that summer earnings won’t hurt EFC). </p>
<p>Swimcat?? Kelsmom? What are the student income limits that won’t hurt EFC (beyond W/S)?</p>
<p>What school is this and what is the cost of attendance breakdown?</p>
<p>The school is UVA, and here’s what I found about their cost of attendance for 2009-2010. They don’t have a breakdown for 2010-2011, but they have the total as $22,533, so I’m assuming some costs will be going up.</p>
<p>Tuition 9,870
Books & Supplies 1,150
Room 4,440
Board 3,780
Personal Expenses 1,900</p>
<p>TOTAL $21,140</p>
<p>Also, I was definitely thinking about work study. If I want to do this, do I just call up the financial aid office and ask them? I’m actually going to visit on Thursday so might it be better for me to ask in person?</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your response!</p>
<p>UVA is a great school. Congratulations on your acceptance.</p>
<p>
email them and ask if you can meet with them when you are there on Thursday.</p>
<p>One other thought, their personal expense estimate is high. Actual expenses may be significantly less. A penny saved is a penny earned. Wm&Mary only includes $1200 expenses.</p>
<p>cross posted with above…</p>
<p>You can do both…you can contact the school now (by email) and ask to be considered for some work/study (send the email to the director of FA). Include your school ID number, etc, and list the contents of your FA package. </p>
<p>You may want to mention that you’ll be there on Thursday and ask the Director if you can meet with him/her. Give a range of hours that you’ll be there. </p>
<p>Explain your need to minimize loans…especially unsub loans. (hence the need for the $2k in W/S to cover personal expenses).</p>
<p>edited to add…I dont think their personal expenses is high.</p>
<p>Thank you for your help, standrews and mom2collegekids!</p>
<p>I emailed the financial aid office, so hopefully I’ll get a response back soon.
UVA is definitely my first-choice school, so I really hope that what they ask me to pay will be realistic for me and my family!</p>
<p>When you go on Thursday, bring copies of your paperwork. </p>
<p>Did you send the email to the “head honcho” or just to the office?</p>
<p>I will definitely bring copies of everything!</p>
<p>And I sent the email to the only address that I know of. I believe it’s just the office. Should I not have done that?</p>
<p>Yvonne Hubbard, Director of Financial Services</p>
<p><a href=“mailto:yhs@Virginia.EDU”>yhs@Virginia.EDU</a></p>
<p>Try sending again to the above person/address</p>
<p>^ mom2collegekids, do you suggest emailing the head person in general when making requests due to special circumstances or just when appealing the FA package? When is a good time to do that, my concern would be upsetting the counselor’ assigned to me?</p>
<p>What are your thoughts?</p>
<p>my concern would be upsetting the counselor’ assigned to me?</p>
<p>I guess it would depend on the school and the issue. What school are you talking about and is your counselor in touch with you often and does he/she have any “pull” with the FA office?</p>
<p>In the OP’s case, I can’t imagine a counselor/area rep getting upset that the OP goes past him/her to get work-study…but maybe for smaller colleges that might happen.</p>
<p>Sorry for the delay in responding…the school that I’m referring to is University of Michigan. The extent of the communication so far is just submitting additional documentation. </p>
<p>I was just curious at what point do you think it is best to go to the head person? After receiving the package or during the process?</p>