<p>I just got accepted to DIS (Danish Institute for Study Abroad) and boy does my head hurt.</p>
<p>First, it took them really long to get back to me. I don't have a passport yet and was waiting to hear from them before I did. Now I learn that not only do I need a visa, I need to shell out $220 bucks for a Danish residence permit, which my study abroad advisor neglected to tell me about. Between the passport ($85), residence permit ($220), visa (???), deposit ($500) and airfare (roundtrip about $1700), I have no clue how I'm going to afford this anymore. I'm totally broke and don't have any money saved up for this. I was planning on working and saving all summer JUST to have money to live there for 4 months. Besides this, I need to give 85 dollars to my school for the international student card (or whatever it is).</p>
<p>The tuiton, fees, etc. was hopefully going to be covered by scholarships I applied for. If I didn't get them, I just wasn't going to do it. But already my advisor said I'm one of two people getting the scholarship from my school (which means they'll allocate A LOT more money to me than I thought), so it's possible I'd have most of the tuition/housing covered with need of only a small loan.</p>
<p>Now, even if I have all 15,000 of the program covered by scholarships and aid, I still can't go because I dont have over $3000 for the fees and airfare. It's making me mad and I don't know what to do at this point. I should have known better, but this is my last chance to study abroad and rather than give up I was really trying. And it looked like I was good with scholarships, but now they just keep throwing more and more fees at me. It sucks when you realize you should have just not even attempted something in the first place. I knew they'd hit me with a lot of fees since I'm travelling to another country, but $220 seems so excessive.</p>
<p>My question is, what else are they going to hit me with? What fees are at airports nowadays? Will I be charged a walking fee in Denmark? </p>
<p>Should I just bail now before wasting even more copious amounts of money? I hate quitting, but I'm drowning here, and I know I'll uncover some more fees soon enough. I just wish study abroad offices would go over this with you in detail. I hate it. I'm depressed. I hate being poor.</p>
<p>Worse yet- I just got an email saying I got a $4000 scholarship from my school.</p>
<p>Just going to keep bumping this. Please someone talk to me…</p>
<p>I don’t really think I can help you, but will your FA (if you have any through your Uni) go with you? Perhaps these items can be included in your COA for the upcoming year. A passport should only take a couple weeks, now that you can do lots online/at your local post office. Somtimes schools work out a payment schedule to pay w/the different programs, so they may accept this. One more thing. What about medical insurance? Isn’t that also required?</p>
<p>Good luck. DIS has a reputation of being very good.</p>
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<p>What about the expected income to gain a residency permit? Is it possible for me to get by that?</p>
<p>Is it too late to apply for another study abroad programme in a country that is not so expensive? I mean you have choosen one of the most expensive countries in the whole world. What about South America? Closer and cheaper.</p>
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<p>^^Exactly what I was thinking. Assuming this was you from a while ago that i’m thinking about, I understand your interest in Scandinavia/Sweden. Unfortunately, if the funds aren’t there, then they’re not.</p>
<p>Isn’t every country going to expect me to have a decent amount of money in my bank account? It’s too late to apply to other countries and I didn’t really want to go anywhere else. Besides, this school was partners with my school, so the application process was (in theory) easier, and I got 2 grand knocked off my tuition fees right from the get-go.</p>
<p>I just got an email from the consulate saying I need 5 grand in my bank account before I can get a visa. 
****</p>
<p>I really feel terrible about your situation. I agree the SA office at your school should have known/told you these things. Have you been in touch w/them? I still wonder about insurance.</p>
<p>Yeah, apparently that’s included. But my office is really bad at giving you a financial breakdown- like a list or guide. My SA officer just rattled off a bunch of general things at the beginning and would remind us the week they were do, usually around FINALS time.</p>
<p>I don’t know if I even mentioned it, but I just found out LAST WEEK that I was accepted to DIS- even though they notify you on a ROLLING BASIS and I mailed my application MARCH 24th.</p>
<p>I was supposed to find out if I was accepted in mid April, not mid-May. NJSCIS would barely return my (or my SA officer’s) inquiries and they still haven’t cashed my $350 application fee check.</p>
<p>Now, at the last second, I have to scramble to get a passport and figure out a way to get 5 grand in my bank account, which probably won’t happen. It’s sad because I was most likely going to get enough scholarships and aid to pay the 15 grand- instead, I can’t go because I don’t have 5 grand in my name. It’s funny- I’m poor enough to get all these scholarships, yet they expect me to have 5 grand in the bank for my Visa. How the hell does that work exactly?!</p>
<p>Which reminds me- if I bail now, and not waste more money, can I put a stop payment on the 350 dollar check they haven’t cashed yet? Is that illegal for an application fee? I feel like they screwed me over in the delay anyway, so I don’t think I was fairly treated to begin with.</p>
<p>I just visited the DIS site, and there is a wealth of info. It says they can work out stuff w/your SA office. And really, how can you say you have to scramble for a passport? You knew for months you would need one. Visit the site and talk to your SA office at school.</p>
<p>Refund policy is also clearly spelled out, if that’s the route you decide to take.</p>
<p>I have to scramble for a passport because I didn’t want to invest the money in it if I wasn’t going to be going- since I didn’t hear any word about this until last week, I was getting pretty worried/confused as to if I was even accepted or not.</p>
<p>The Danish Consulate misunderstood me!</p>
<p>I got my DIS packet today- in the official Danish Consulate application included, it says if I’m studying at a center for higher education and paying tuition fees (or have scholarships that pay these fees), I DO NOT have to show proof of income!</p>
<p>NOW I just have to hope I can get my passport/visa in time! I don’t think I can! :(</p>