<p>I have 100% of my need met with scholarships? All of my supplemental aid from FSU is gone because of about 3 different scholarships (I thought they'd reduce the aid, not completely take it away plus $2...), but I have one or two more scholarships that would get me an additional $2000. Would that also be subtracted from the $5550?</p>
<p>You cannot get more aid (including Pell grant money) than the total cost of attendance at the school. For example, if total COA is $20,000 and you received financial aid (gov’t aid and institutional aid) for $15,000, then you get a scholarship for $10,000, they will reduce your aid to bring the total amount down to where is doesn’t exceed the total COA. It’s not like you can end up netting the $5000 in excess of the COA. This will be true at any school because the government and colleges themselves are not set up to provide aid in excess of costs. The aid is intended to help meet the cost.</p>
<p>Dnerd…</p>
<p>Sometimes a school will increase the COA by adding a “technology allowance” to increase COA. That might help in your case.</p>
<p>Eh, I guess I just have to apply for more to eliminate the $5550 so I can have some left over. I’m going to need a little more than what the COA is set at.</p>
<p>Why will you need more than COA? Maybe you need FSU to increase COA. Schools can do that in small amounts.</p>
<p>The can add the approx costs of a commuter and printer and some other things to increase COA.</p>
<p>For an in-state FSU student the “approx” COA is $18,630. That doesn’t include a technology allowance.</p>
<p>What is your total aid worth for the year?</p>
<p>My aid was $18,062 because I had a $6000 a year scholarship from them, bright futures, ACG, pell grant, some Florida Student Assistance Grant, and a supplemental grant. But after I reported some scholarships, they took the FSAG and suplemental grants away plus $1 per semester, so it’s now $18,060 (yeah, take $2 away for spending hours on scholarships, buying a suit and gas money to go to Interviews, etc…)</p>
<p>I’ll need more than the COA because my mom pretty much has no job now (due to surgery complications and her doctor refusing to sign papers without her paying $15 per page), and I have to help my brother (international student starting at TCC next year) out until he can get a job. I understand that they should not be responsible for covering any of that, but I was hoping to get some of it covered with scholarship money so I didn’t have to work my first semester before seeing how large of a course load I can handle. I wasn’t offered a work study (it seems they like to give a lot of those to upperclassmen).</p>
<p>How would I go about asking for a technology allowance? My current laptop is literally falling apart and I’m embarrassed to pull it out in public…</p>
<p>you probably weren’t offered work-study because that also is given by need and you don’t have any need.</p>
<p>Call FA and say that you need a technology allowance added to your COA. That can include the approx cost of a computer and (I think) a printer.</p>
<p>I think you can get somewhere between $1400 - 2000 added to your COA that way. Ask for $2000 and see what they say.</p>
<p>(which brother are you needing to help? Your younger brother or an older one?)</p>
<p>I’ll try. Thanks. He’s a younger brother, but by less than a year (barely). His mom pretty much screwed up his education by making him come home to “visit” the day before his passport expired (she knew; he didn’t) and making him do some unaccredited homeschooling program until he just decided to go for his GED. His mom won’t talk to him so he’s going to have to use our dad as the custodial parent, and he lives in the Bahamas so he’ll probably have to pay the international tuition fees for awhile.</p>
<p>You don’t need to have work study in order to get a job. In some ways workstudy makes it easier, but if you can find a job where you can work just a few hours a week, I wouldn’t worry about being able to juggle that and a normal course load. Students who do need to work do it all the time and do it well. In fact, students who work part-time have a higher GPA (statistically speaking) that students that don’t.</p>
<p>I understand that you feel like you worked for those scholarships and now they’re just reducing other aid to which you were entitled, but this is another thing that happens to lots of students, and it’s always a disappointment when they didn’t understand in advance that that’s how it works. But I’m sure you can understand the reasoning. There is only so much FA to go around and if a student like you doesn’t need it, then since it’s need-based aid, it should be available to students that do.</p>
<p>Asking for an increase in your COA for a computer is a good idea, but if you really need a computer then you’ll have to use it for that and it won’t help the issue with your mother and your brother. I think it’s outstanding that you feel a responsibility to your family members, but don’t expect too much of yourself. You have a wonderful opportunity that you’ve no doubt earned for yourself with hard work and diligence. Go and make the most of it. You’ll end up being able to help them even more down the road.</p>
<p>^ Well if I can get an increase for $1400-2000 that would be great since I sure as heck am not getting a laptop that even costs half of that. I’m fine with a netbook for notes and my desktop PC (I spent awhile building it) for everything else, so it’ll help a little bit.</p>
<p>But yeah, it looks like I’m going to have to suck it up and get a job ASAP. I forgot I also have to start paying my own phone bill and car insurance so I didn’t even have those calculated in there…</p>
<p>I’m confused.</p>
<p>Is this brother from another country and his mom had him visit the US with a nearly outdated passport? Is he stuck here in the US? Can’t he just get it renewed and go home?</p>
<p>Why does he have to go to an expensive school?</p>
<p>anyway…you are very sweet to worry about your brother, but he is his parents responsibility. Your dad has paid very minimally for you over the years, so he can step up and provide for this child of his. </p>
<p>Can you remain on your mom’s cell phone plan and just pay your share? That should only be about $10 a month. </p>
<p>The car insurance will be a big deal. Will you need a car at college?</p>
<p>“Is this brother from another country and his mom had him visit the US with a nearly outdated passport? Is he stuck here in the US? Can’t he just get it renewed and go home?”</p>
<p>This was a few years ago. He was living with my dad and going to a good school in the Bahamas, but he came to visit his mom in Fl. when she practically demanded that he come see her before she died (she wasn’t dying or sick at all…) and he got stuck in Fl. since he couldn’t just go and renew anything without her permission. He’s since gotten his GED and ‘escaped’ back to my dad’s so when he comes to Florida for Fall he’ll be going to a nearby community college and having to pay OOS tuition since his mom thinks college is the Devil, etc. etc. He does have a Florida driver’s license that he’s had for about 2 years if that counts for anything…</p>
<p>“Your dad has paid very minimally for you over the years, so he can step up and provide for this child of his.” </p>
<p>He’s made a bunch of bad investments with foreigners who come into the Bahamas and try to start up a project only to abandon it, so he can’t pay much of anything.</p>
<p>I don’t really feel comfortable going into other irrelevant personal details though.</p>
<p>I already have the car, and it’s going to be much more convenient for traveling to/from work if I can’t get a job on campus, getting groceries, going to eat (I don’t really like any of the eateries on campus), going home, etc. As for the phone, her plan is with her soon to be former employer so I don’t know what’s going to happen. My relationship with my mother isn’t a good one anyway so I’m trying to become more independent… She’s a very spiteful and irrational woman so I can’t depend on her for anything (i.e., I have to walk several miles to go take my IB exams since she won’t take me).</p>
<p>Well, it sounds like you will need a car. Car insurance is a lot of money though, especially if you have to be on your own plan. Will you have to have your own insurance?</p>
<p>Can your brother go to college in the Bahamas?</p>
<p>I can see you have many issues, but you understand when you’re talking about having a car and not wanting to eat the food on campus that comes with room & board, needing a different computer when you already have two, not wanting to have to get a job right away… well, you’re tredding into a level of entitlement-thinking where you’re going to lose some people’s sympathy. My kids had to get jobs as soon as they landed on campus, they pay for their own phones, they don’t have cars, they each worked summer jobs to buy their own low-end computers, they don’t like the campus food that much and can afford to eat off-campus very rarely, but they suck it up and feel grateful for what they have.</p>
<p>I’m not saying you don’t have real issues, but be mindful that at a certain point you need to appreciate you are essentially getting a free education and just say ‘thank you’. There are countless deserving students who would fall down on their knees for what you’ve got.</p>
<p>“I can see you have many issues, but you understand when you’re talking about having a car and not wanting to eat the food on campus that comes with room & board, needing a different computer when you already have two, not wanting to have to get a job right away… well, you’re tredding into a level of entitlement-thinking where you’re going to lose some people’s sympathy.”</p>
<ol>
<li>The car is a hand-me-down '97 sonata that I got when my grandma died… I’m not buying a new one.</li>
<li>It’s not like eating on campus would save me money… It’s much more expensive. Trust me, I’ve compared prices.</li>
<li>I said this laptop was falling apart. I didn’t think I needed to specify, but it’s not going to make it anywhere out of the house… It was given to me old and broken and I had to fix it. I’m not just going to throw it away either. I’m selling the parts on eBay. I do need a netbook (I can get a really good one for well under $700) for notes, and the PC I built from scraps and miscellaneous pieces is coming along.</li>
<li>I already said I’d be willing to get a job, but I didn’t know if I could handle it in my first semester since I’ve never had one before…</li>
</ol>
<p>I’m not some ungrateful spendthrift, if that’s what you’re getting at… I worked hard for that money and I’m not even mad that I pretty much wasted all of my time on scholarships so I don’t know how you could possibly get that out of my posts. But I really don’t think I need to say thanks to anyone for my “free” education but the scholarship providers and taxpayers in general and my guidance counselors for making sure I did what I needed to earn the money.</p>
<p>“Can your brother go to college in the Bahamas?”</p>
<p>No one goes to college in the Bahamas. They either go to the states for college, go to Europe for college, or they just stay at home and tough it out. I’m not going to just leave my little brother hanging…</p>
<p>Whatever. I had my question answered awhile ago so I don’t know why I’m still posting in this thread…</p>
<p>Yes, the thanks would go to the scholarship providers, taxpayers and your guidance counselors.</p>
<p>Dnerd…</p>
<p>I know how hard you’ve worked to get your scholarships. :)</p>
<p>I hope you didn’t misunderstand my concern. To me, you have a lot on your shoulders already since you’ll be pretty much on your own once you’re in college :)</p>
<p>While I certainly admire your wishes to help your brother (you’re a very good person!), I don’t see how you can help him while also trying to cover your costs that your scholarships aren’t covering - cell phone, car insurance, etc. </p>
<p>I would be concerned that he would get to the US, only to find himself financially stranded because even with your loving intentions, you can’t provide for him. With whom would he live? </p>
<p>Frankly, to get a visa to go to school here, I think he’d need to show that he has full funds. He can’t come here on a visitor’s visa and go to school. So, if you were planning on paying for his fare to come to the US, he’d need to get an education visa first - and for that, he’d have to show funds.</p>
<p>The short answer to your original question is no, your Pell grant CANNOT be reduced from the full amount due to scholarships. Other aid might be reduced due to your Pell grant, but Pell grant is NEVER reduced by scholarships … it is an entitlement.</p>
<p>ACG can be reduced, as would any grants. If you have actual scholarships that are NOT need-based (that is, the terms do not require/allow them to be reduced based on need), you CAN be awarded in excess of COA. Things like institutional grants would be reduced, as would state grants, SEOG, work study, any need-sensitive school scholarships. What would not be reduced would be outside scholarships, school merit scholarships that do not have any strings attached with regard to tuition-only or financial need … and the Pell. I have seen students fortunate enough to be awarded in excess of the COA.</p>
<p>Remember to save some money for your taxes, though … any amount you receive in grants & scholarships in excess of your tuition & fees is taxable. You’ll need to file a federal tax form once you get your 1098 next January.</p>
<p>Oh… right. I forgot about the taxes. Some states require tax paid on grants/scholarship in excess of qualified expenses also. I don’t know if Florida is one of them.</p>