College crisis! Need amazing advice!!!

Paying for College
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<p>I am a current chemical engineering student at a 4 year university. I will be returning in the fall as a sophomore. Unfortunately, due to a late illness, my GPA is extremely low. The illness occurred in late spring spring after spring break. Before I went on break my grades were good, after I returned my grades began to fall due to my sickness. I contacted my teachers to explain the situation, but even with help and countless hours in the library, my GPA took a large hit. To pay for school, I earned 5 scholarships and the rest was covered by financial aide.</p>

<p>Good News:
Now originally I lost my financial aide, but was able to get it appealed due to the circumstances. I am also 100% better and healthier.</p>

<p>Bad News:
The scholarships earned were pretty competitive and strict, so I highly doubt they would consider an appeal even with my circumstances. These scholarships covered a huge portion of my college tuition and I even had overage deposited into my bank account. But, now I don't have them.</p>

<p>I do not want to attend a community college because I feel like I am already Well established as my current school. I have already completed my freshman year here and are starting to get into my engineering classes, which I REALLY do not want to take at a community college. I was offered a Parent Plus Loan, so I did my research. I don't think this is the best option for my parents because the payments would be too much of a burden. Also, my mom is going back to school to get a higher degree and has her own small Loan to pay. They do enough for me and I refuse to cause them to struggle because of Parent Plus. I want to return to my current school in the fall, as I am detirmined to raise my GPA and show my full potential. The low gpa is depressing but it is not going to stop or slow me down. It sucks because I worked hard in highschool to earn my scholarships and I feel like it isn't being shown, due to something beyond my control. I have a little over half of the money needed but I still need additional funds. Any suggestions?</p>

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<p>

So you lost the scholarships? Have you try to get them back?

PLUS loans may be your only options for you to stay on your school. Otherwise, find a more affordable school to attend.</p>

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<p>Bad News:
“The scholarships earned were pretty competitive and strict, so I highly doubt they would consider an appeal even with my circumstances. These scholarships covered a huge portion of my college tuition and I even had overage deposited into my bank account. But, now I don’t have them.”</p>

<p>Do not make assumptions. Contact each scholarship program to at least attempt an appeal. </p>

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<p>@happystudent1, I don’t know if I can provide “amazing advice” (hahha; cute), but it’s interesting to me that your story is so similar to someone else’s story that I know. This person is an engineering student at a 4 year university. He had to take a break during the spring for illness and consequently lost his need-based aid and his scholarships. Weird. I am pretty sure that you’re not this same person because of two things in particular that you mentioned in your post. Otherwise, I’d be convinced you were the same guy.</p>

<p>Anyway, like you, that young man appealed his financial aid (need-based stuff) and got it back. BUT, he is ALSO in the process of appealing his scholarships! The FA person who advised him before he left school and after he returned told him that he was in danger of losing all of his financial aid and scholarships. That same FA person advised him, after the loss of both types of aid came to fruition, that there is an appeals process for the need-based aid. So, he pursued that process. BUT, that same FA person failed to mention that there is ALSO a separate appeals process for the scholarships! He got a much later start on that appeals process, and I’m not quite sure how it has turned out or if it’s even done yet. </p>

<p>My point is, at this particular big school, there are two separate processes for appealing each type of aid. My advice is that you be persistent and smart (which I know you are!) about this. I’d probably start with the scholarship office and ask if there’s an appeal process for the loss of your particular scholarships. If that person says no, ask if there’s a contact number or email for your particular scholarship. Then, contact that person. And so on. </p>

<p>Another person to contact along the way, if you don’t get easy answers beginning with the scholarship office, is the Dean of Student Affairs. Your Dean of Student Affairs might have a slightly different title, but this is the person who is responsible for managing student issues, both academic and personal. He or she often acts as a liaison between the student and the school and can serve as an advocate for the student. This won’t necessarily be the person who helps you with the actual appeal, but he or she should be able to refer you to the people who can help.</p>

<p>Somebody out there will be aware of an appeals process, if one exists, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be lucky enough to get that person on the other end of your phone the first time around.</p>

<p>I almost hate to say this … I definitely don’t want to offend! … I know that college kids do really good work in all sorts of college jobs, and I know that all people are being served by their presence – the offices, the school, the personnel in the offices, the students themselves, the parents whose students are getting paid to be there, etc. Thank goodness for work study and student jobs! BUT … sometimes those students either don’t know quite as much as they think they know, or more rarely, they simply aren’t as helpful as one might like. For this reason, if you run into a road-block in the process, you might consider asking if you’re speaking to a student worker or if you’re speaking to a member of the office staff. You can allow things to run along smoothly without that awkward question and see how things pan out. But if you get a series of “no’s” and you have nowhere else to turn, you might want to, as politely and sweetly as possible, ask if you might be speaking to a student worker, and if so, if a full-time staff member is available. Awkward … but you need to do what you need to do to get stuff going in the right direction for yourself!</p>

<p>Best of luck to you! It seems really unfair that you would have to deal with the loss of your previously earned financial assistance if this was a health matter that was entirely out of your control!</p>

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<p>Omg thank you so much for going into detail. And I am not that guy you mentioned lol but we sure have a lot in common. I have no problem with being persistent, as I have been. The FA office gets an email from me every day. What I am worried about, however, is that the people over each scholarship will say that I could have done something more to keep my grades up. But, I honestly went above and beyond, I was just really sick and felt awful.</p>

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<p>I understand your concerns. My opinion is that you can best handle any of their skepticism by being honest, humble, and transparent. They will likely see and appreciate your growth and maturity if you own up to those things that you could have done better. And they will hopefully see reason to help if they can better understand what you could not control.</p>

<p>Of course, even if they do appreciate and admire your maturity, and even if they see good reasoning in your plight, you won’t necessarily get what you want. Sometimes, policies get in the way. Or, they could feel compassion for you but still make the choice to decline your appeal for other reasons.</p>

<p>And you don’t even yet know if an appeals process exists for such a thing at your school. But I would guess (and hope) one does. </p>

<p>I’m glad to hear that you’re being persistent!</p>

<p>Are you receiving replies to your emails? They’re productive? If not, you may want to hold off on them for a bit rather than sending them daily. If something constructive is happening, then by all means. But whether you keep them up or not, I suggest a phone call or two. Or however many it takes.</p>

<p>My sense on this sort of thing is that sooner is better than later. But try hard to walk that fine, smart line between being a bother and being persistent. You want them to want to help you. :)</p>

<p>If you find yourself stymied along the way, getting nowhere, turn to your Dean of Student Affairs office. </p>

<p>Don’t wait too long between each step, but also try to give each person a chance to help you out if they say they’ll get back to you with something. In other words, “mind your chain of command,” if that makes sense. Allow the first administrative levels of whatever process might exist the time to help you out first. If they don’t or can’t do that, then go up the “chain of command” to the next level. </p>

<p>I hope you’ll let us know how you fare! Best of luck! ;)</p>

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<p>In many schools, the financial aid office does not actually run the scholarship program - or if they do, it’s just a representative of the aid office who is part of a committee. At the large public U where I used to work, aid officers had no part in scholarships at all … “financial aid” did not include the scholarships, other than for packaging aid. At the small private U where I now work, I am the financial aid director but do not award all scholarships (some, but not all!) … so even small schools often have a different office that awards scholarships. Definitely pursue appealing the scholarships as soon as possible!</p>

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<p>Ah, yes. kelsmom makes a good point!</p>

<p>I didn’t even catch that you said you’ve been emailing the FA office each day. Since I suggested that you start with the scholarship office, I just kind of read into your reply that you’ve been contacting the scholarship office each day, not the FA office. They’re two separate offices on most campuses that I’m familiar with. </p>

<p>Why don’t you give the scholarship office a call tomorrow if you get a chance?</p>

<p>Hang in there! </p>

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<p>Talk to the Admissions office if that is where the scholarships were handled, or whoever else handles them and start an appeal process. With medical issues in the picture, I think you have a chance at some of your appeals working. No assurance but certainly worth the effort. </p>

<p>The bottom line, however, is that if you with your parents cannot afford the school, you have to find less expensive alternatives. The money isn’t just going to fall out of the sky. If your parents are willing and able to take out loans for you to make this work, fine. But if they cannot or should not, then it’s not an option. But getting money is not an easy thing. If you can’t get the money, you have to find the school that fits your budget.</p>