<p>Hello everyone,</p>
<p>I have applied to the School of General Studies for fall of 2008. I know that GS is different in the way of financial aid from CC. I have submitted the FAFSA and have received an EFC of zero (oh dear). Does anyone have experience with funding their GS education in this sort of situation? I have done some research, although I can't figure out if GS is limited in need-based aid, or just doesn't offer it at all. Also, I am not a New York resident. If there has been discussion on this topic before, I can't find it, and apologize for the redundancy!</p>
<p>Any help and/or suggestions are welcome. :)</p>
<p>You should qualify for government loans, but they won't reach the maximum amount until you've acumulated enough credits. </p>
<p>Your best bet is to apply for a GS</a> scholarship. You write them a brief statement describing your financial situation and they take this into account when they put together your FA package. I got about 9K this year and when this was combined with the Stafford and Perkins loans, I only had to pay about $800 out of pocket last semester and $2500 this semester. My first semester was the worst, because I did not transfer in enough credits to get the maximum government loans and did not have that large an institutional scholarship- I had to pay about $4500.</p>
<p>EFC of zero is good... right? Well, I suppose it's relative.</p>
<p>Officially, GS does not offer need based aid in the form of scholarships. Only government loans. Unofficially, I'm sure they bend the rules occasionally but unless you're homeless or a prodigy, you're probably not the kind of person they'd bend the rules for.</p>
<p>To make it as less expensive as possible, you either have to study part time or take 12 credits per semester if you want to attend fulltime. By taking 12 credits, you maximize your tuition/fin aid ratio.</p>
<p>There's no real trick to GS financial aid. I second dot_parker's suggestion to try to paint your case in the worst possible light. My only suggestion would be that if you were admitted to another school, to try to get more money by hinting you might attend elsewhere. Never hurts to try.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>thank you both for your help! i've checked out the GS scholarship application; however, i may be too early, as it still says it is the 2007-2008 application. i guess i'll wait around for the '08-'09 application to appear on down the road. :]</p>