<p>I know the type of parents you have, you’re not gonna get anywhere by arguing or trying to compromise with them. So with them you either have to stay home and do all the stuff you are doing now, or move out. I would reccomend starting ROTC, whichever branch you pick. Then, all your costs will be covered and you’ll be given money. After this semester, since your parents won’t be paying for college any more, transfer somewhere far away. Problem solved. And you don’t even have to be active duty in the military when you graduate, you can just be in the reserves for 8 years instead of active duty for 4.</p>
<p>It is NOT all that easy to "establish " independence for financial aid purposes. This student would need to leave college and work until he is 24 years old when he would be independent for financial aid. However there is no guarantee that this would increase his awarded financial air as most schools do
Not meet full need.</p>
<p>I agree with the above suggestions to minimize costs now. Get a job, rent a room someplace, and perhaps attend cogfege part time or evenings.</p>
<p>What about a kind relative somewhere that you can stay with for awhile ? So what’s wrong with Manalapan ? If you leave school , you could go there for a break , maybe find some work , and enroll in CC .</p>
<p>MWM958 -</p>
<p>If you are carried on your parents medical insurance now through their work place(s), even if you aren’t living with them you can still be carried on that health insurance until you are 26 or have your own health insurance through your own employer. For details, contact the human resources office for whichever parent is the one with the health insurance policy that covers you right now.</p>
<p>It looks to me like your parents were completely unprepared for the cost of college. That isn’t unusual at all. They also appear to have been badly advised: no one in their right mind would have recommended Seton Hall with 10k in debt your freshman year over a community college that you could commute to with no debt. Some of the anger towards you that you feel coming from your parents is their own anger at themselves for not knowing better last year, and the year before when you were starting your college search. If you can find some sympathy for their situation, you may be able to cope better with your own.</p>
<p>Since you have started your second semester, there probably is no point in withdrawing (unless of course you have time to still get your money back for this semester). However, you should seriously consider transferring to the community college for sophomore year if you can swing the tuition and fees there without any debt. That would give you time to determine whether or not you can get through the rest of your degree in a more workable and affordable fashion. This could involve working full-time and studying part-time. Yes, it would take a bit longer to finish, but you would still finish. If your community college has a formal articulation agreement with one or more of the public universities in your state for your major, you will be an automatic admit. If you keep up your GPA, there may even be some merit-based money for you when you transfer with an AA. Contact the Transfer Counselor at the CC, and ask about this.</p>
<p>The simple truth is that nationwide the single largest group of traditional-age college students is comprised of those who live at home and commute to the local community college. When you add in the number of students who live at home and attend a commuting distance 4-year school, you will find that more students are living at home and commuting than are living on campus. This may not be the college experience that you would like to have, but it is the college experience that the majority of students do have. You certainly aren’t alone. Unfortunately, you are surrounded by people who have the minority experience, and that makes you feel out of place. Were you commuting to the local CC or closest public university, your experience would be completely different in that aspect.</p>
<p>Wishing you all the best.</p>
<p>P.S. When I wrote earlier “Look for places that offer merit-based aid and that also will still consider you to be a freshman applicant.” I was thinking that you weren’t enrolled yet for the spring term. There are a fair number of colleges and universities that consider applicants to be freshman if they have completed less than one full year of college, and of those a certain number do have merit-money available. However identifying this small group would take a bit of time which makes it something that would only be workable if you weren’t studying right then.</p>
<p>I really don’t understand how your parents can mandate that you attend a certain kind of institution (i.e. a Catholic college) and then not even pay for it. I agree with other posters that you should go to CC instead if it’s on your dime, do well there, and then transfer to a 4-year public. There used to be a good program (NJ Stars) for CC students with great GPAs which gave them scholarships to 4-year schools. Look into this. Seton Hall is not even as good as a few four-year publics in the state of New Jersey (Rutgers NB and Montclair State come to mind). I don’t know what you’re paying at Seton Hall but unless you are getting substantial scholarships, it’s probably not worth it.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>There is so much wrong with this post I hardly know where to begin. You can’t just join ROTC and get paid. That only happens if you pickup a 4 year scholarship your Senior year of High School. That ship has sailed for the OP.</p>
<p>Let’s look at Navy ROTC. The OP would have to join as a College Programmer. That means you don’t have a scholarship but you do everything a scholarship midshipman does (extras classes, unit duty, PT, etc) in hopes of picking up a scholarship. The books for your Navy class are paid for but that is it. No tuition payment, no stipend, no book allowance for your other classes.</p>
<p>The college program scholarships have been cut to almost nothing. If you don’t get picked up for a scholarship you are dropped from NROTC. Also, if you do get picked up you are committed for 5 years active duty, 3 years reserve - minimum. 8 years reserve is total misinformation. And Navy ROTC only picks up tuition. You still have to pay your room and board.</p>
<p>Please don’t post wrong information. You could impact someone’s life.</p>
<p>And OP - don’t do ROTC as a way to pay for school. It is meant for someone whose #1 goal in life is to be an officer. Those that do it as a way to pay for school don’t make it. It is a calling not a financial aid resource.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not so.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Only partially correct.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[FISCAL</a> YEAR 2011 (FY11) NAVAL RESERVE OFFICERS TRAINING CORPS (NROTC) (MARINE OPTION) SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM](<a href=“http://www.marines.mil/news/messages/Pages/MARADMIN639-10.aspx]FISCAL”>Messages)</p>
<p>Please don’t post wrong information. You could impact someone’s life.</p>
<p>Annasdad:</p>
<p>The credit limit you reference is for the college program only. The only way to get a 4 year scholarship is right out of high school. </p>
<p>As far as fees go yes you are correct. I should have been more specific. My main point was that room and board is not covered. And I did mention the book stipend. </p>
<p>My point still stands. Have a nice day.</p>
<p>Have you talked to the your Parish Priest? Can he help you talk to your parents? Some sort of negotiated compromise: I will babysit T Th, stay late at SH on MWF, work/study Sat Sun? Your schedule this semester requires group study/lab on certain days, you will be avaliable on days X and Y to help out? I will babysit T Th, stay late at SH on MWF, work/study Sat/Sun (at SH or the local library, somewhere out of the house).</p>
<p>Talk to the counselor as soon as possible. Start looking for a full time job for this summer, NOW. Save as much as you can. Switching to a CC will save money, you can then use those funds to live on campus in the future. </p>
<p>I hope this helps…</p>
<p>Let’s talk numbers. You state any school will cost $40K. Not true. Rutgers costs $24K/year instate living at school. You state your parents are making you take out $10K in loans. That means your parents are paying $20K/year in tuition, on top of giving you room and board. Start talking to them about alternatives that are realistic. Quit your whining. Many students have to do it on their own. Start negotiating.</p>
<p>Erin’s Dad, the OP did not say that any school would cost 40k, but rather that he expected that any of his options would leave him with 10k each year of debt for a total of 40k of debt.</p>
<p>Since he can only borrow the Stafford limits on his own for a total of 27k of debt, this means that either he is getting the increased limits because his parents have applied for PLUS loans and been rejected, or because he has private loans that someone else (presumably his parents) is/are co-signing for. If the parents are co-signing, and are in a truly tricky financial situation, then one has to question whether or not they are likely to be able to continue to qualify for more loans in the future and/or whether or not they will have trouble paying off the loans if he should default.</p>
<p>I do agree that the OP should do his best to talk money with his parents. It looks to me like everyone is in over their head, and that none of them know what to do about it.</p>
<p>Erin’s Dad, let’s talk numbers.</p>
<p>I thought the OP was living at home and not on campus, so wouldn’t that mean the parents are paying < $20,000 if the student is using $10,000 in loans to pay for tuition?
<a href=“http://studentaid.rutgers.edu/COA/2011-12COA.pdf[/url]”>http://studentaid.rutgers.edu/COA/2011-12COA.pdf</a></p>
<p>Looks like undergraduate for commuter is just over $20,000. Sooooo. . . yeah, more like they pay 10k. Somehow.</p>
<p>While 10k is still a lot of money, I think 20k is even more - because, well, technically it IS.</p>
<p>Another option that you could try is applying to be a resident advisor or counselor in the dorms. See if Seaton Hall gives free lodging and/or money for holding that position. See what the requirements are. It could be another way to have a place to live and more time on campus and for studying. Different Us have different requirements to be a resident advisor or counselor. Good luck!</p>
<p>It’s a risky proposition to try to be an RA to get free housing. I work in residential life as a hall director, and I select and hire my new RAs. The position is quite competitive at places at which the position covers housing. It does require a time commitment.</p>
<p>Furthermore, I conduct interviewing and selection and it’s pretty obvious to me and my RAs when someone is applying because they want free housing. Our selection process involves a battery of events including an interview, and when people don’t have a clear or strong reason they want to be an RA, they get weeded out pretty quickly.</p>
<p>I always dislike when someone suggests it as a way to get free housing because it’s so much more than that AND I do not want RAs who view this job as a way to get some free housing. I’m not denying that that’s a perk; it’s <em>one</em> of the reasons I work the job myself, but it’s only one of the reasons and definitely not the primary one. Being an RA is a great experience and I recommend it for people who really want to do the work, but if you do it for the housing you’ll hate it, especially being on duty and catering to people’s needs.</p>
<p>“Being an RA is a great experience and I recommend it for people who really want to do the work, but if you do it for the housing you’ll hate it, especially being on duty and catering to people’s needs.”</p>
<p>Considering the Cinderella-like existence of the OP it seems like he has the experience of catering to other people’s needs–whether he has the appetite to do it professionally is the question.</p>
<p>Incidentally, see Philip Roth’s INDIGNATION, about a hard-working college student with oppressive parents afraid that if he can’t continue in school he’ll be drafted for the Korean War. The OP brought to mind the novel’s protagonist.</p>
<p>*You can’t just join ROTC and get paid. That only happens if you pickup a 4 year scholarship your Senior year of High School. That ship has sailed for the OP.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>I don’t think that’s always true. </p>
<p>My friend’s D started ROTC her SOPHOMORE year and is being paid. She didn’t start as a frosh.</p>
<p>I think there are many routes and the OP should explore those that most appeal to him rather than taking 2nd-hand info as gospel.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s wrong for the OP to consider the RA position as one of many options to get through college. He does have experience in helping care for others, including his younger sibs, which are probably not all that different from some of the college students he’d have to help get out of jams or mediate between.</p>
<p>Of course, it’s important for OP to consider ALL aspects of any solutions he decides to pursue.</p>
<p>MWM958
A bird in the hand is worth two in a bush.
You like SHU and you’re paying the same cost as the state schools. I would stay at SHU. CC is an option, but only for one year. Why leave for one year and have to apply all over again? You will also lose your financial aid.
Join several clubs at school and study in the library to increase your school spirit. If you are thinking of moving out, consider the dorms. You can move out and include the dorm with your student loans. Also, contact the financial aid office and ask about work study.
Keep your head up. College is a great investment in your future.
Stay in school. Study. Graduate.</p>
<p>OP - What are you majoring in, or planning to major in?</p>
<p>I think your best chance at long term happiness is to stay on the shortest path to graduation (which probably means staying at Seton Hall).</p>
<p>I don’t think, from your posts, that your parents will support any decision that takes you away from a Catholic school with their tuition dollars. I would take the good and insulate yourself from the bad by developing a schedule of necessary study groups, group projects, office hours with XYZ etc. to keep yourself away from home and at school studying (it’s not like your parents are going to get very far if they try to call Prof. Suchandsuch to ask if you really need to meet with your group Thursday night).</p>
<p>Sounds like you have good grades, I’m hoping you are in a major that has direct application to job opportunities…look at your four year plan, if you stay at SH can you graduate early? Can you take some summer courses at CC and transfer them into SH to speed up your graduation date?</p>
<p>Where do you work? I would try to find a campus job or job very close to campus with the same or better rate of pay so that you can integrate your study/work life in the smallest geographical area possible, making your time spent more productive and focused on school and the earliest graduation date possible.</p>
<p>As to the “sneaking out” to get away from your family situation - your parents approach may be leading you to risky behavior, be careful. Just because you can’t go to them for level headed advice is not a good reason to delve in head first in experential learning about the world at large. I realize you are doing this to get some breathing room but the fact that you have to sneak around to do it makes you feel like a family criminal and cuts you off from the normal give and take of family life that would help your moderate potentially risky behavior; once you start sneaking out on a regular basis it is all to tempting to sneak into places/situations that even liberal, communicative parents wouldn’t want their kids to be at; when it comes to underage party culture it is best not to adopt the “in for a penny in for a pound” mentality, but having parents you really can’t talk to sometimes leads to that very type of behavior. I’ve known my fair share of overly controlled kids who crash and burn in their efforts to find balance once they’ve gained a sliver of freedom, be careful and parent yourself with the big picture in mind, not just the momentary freedom.</p>
<h2>
</p>
<p>You took my quote a bit out of context. If you join Navy ROTC as a College Programmer you do not get paid a stipend regardless of if you join Freshman or Sophomore year. You DO get a paid a stipend if you are a College Programmer and get picked up for a 2-year or 3-year scholarship. But those are almost extinct at this point due to manning cuts.</p>
<p>Either your friend’s D did actually start NROTC her Freshman year and picked up a scholarship Sophomore year or she is in ROTC in another branch of the service. Army and Air Force have different scholarship rules.</p>