We dont need any Loans for 1st year. Can we apply for Loan and cancel within 120 days or not apply at all.
Will this have any impact 2nd year when loans will be needed? Asking @kelsmom for advice.
In my experience, loans are offered each year you are eligible, regardless of whether or not you accepted them in the past.
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Thank you for your response.
Is it beneficial to go through the process now(first time applying for student loan) or we can do this next year?
There is no reason to apply for a loan if you donāt need it. If you decide later in the year that you need to borrow, you can always do it then. As long as the student is enrolled at least half time, you can get the loan at any point in the year. Every year is separate, so each year you can borrow the amount allocated for that year. Youāll be able to borrow next year even if you donāt borrow this year.
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Are we talking about the $5500 loan for years 1-2? Is that the federal loan? Seems like every offer comes with that line.
That and the big Parent Plus loan.
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as long as you fill out fafsa, you get that i believe.
Also, you can shop around for a parent plus loan ā you donāt have to take what they offer.
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DS received a one-time local scholarship for $3500 and may get another $2500 if he gets selected.
Going to Cal tomorrow with his friends and invited us to visit with him on Sunday. He promised to show us around the campus 
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Accepted Cal today and paid deposit.
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Itās been fun to follow his journey - congrats on his admission and acceptance! Wishing him a great experience @ Cal! 
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Cal definitely has CS chops!
What were your impressions during your visit. Did your impressions differ from your sonās?
We went on a beautuful day with Cherry Blossoms blooming and walked around campus visiting different buildings. I have not done any college visits before(waited till son got admission and after he shortlisted his choices).
I felt campus was huge, students milling around(even on a Sunday) and lot of admitted students and their families touring like us.
I told my son one thing: You need to advocate yourself here and whatever your high school grades are/were, they dont count here as you will be studying with some of the best brains. If you are ready for the challenge, then only accept your admission.
Side note: Kid has not given up on doing a minor in Political science, I told him no connection between CS and Pol science but heās adamant.
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But there are so many applications of CS to political science! Big data is used in predicting voter behavior, analyzing policy decisions, understanding public opinion, to say nothing of computer scientists who work in cybersecurity. I know his decision is made but to the point that there is an intersection of the two, Northeastern offers a combined major in computer science and political science in its school of computer science.
There is even a growing discipline called computational politics. For better and for worse, his expertise would likely be in demand by not only government agencies, but also other organizations like social media companies who would use it in an attempt to socially engineer political and individual/consumer behavior.
I hope he finds an academic home that will foster the unique and interesting intersection of his passions!
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Thanks for this information, I will let my kid make his own decisions.
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There is no official minor in political science at UCB, according to Political Science < University of California, Berkeley .
Without constraints of chasing requirements for an official minor, he can choose political science courses of interest.
He will take Politics,Philosophy & Law Minor
Society has a need for intellectual property attorneys who have a computer science background.
Wait for GPT-6 or 7 maybe. 
Wouldnāt intellectual property laws be obsolete by that point?