<p>with financial aid, the fressman are "expected " to earn $2400 the summer before entering Columbia, what does that mean?</p>
<pre><code> Help!
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<p>It means that independent of your parent’s contribution, there is an expectation that you, the student, will contribute $2400 from your summer earnings toward you freshman expenses.</p>
<p>but do we have to work in the summer before entrance, or we can wait and work in campus? I saw this sentence in studentaffair .columbia.edu</p>
<p>So $8 an hour after taxes, 25 hours a week, every single week of my summer, without spending any of it, or else work full-time? And if we can’t FIND a job?</p>
<p>You have the same requirement as everyone else seeking financial aid. It isn’t personally designed for your particular situation. </p>
<p>We are not eligible for FA, but DD has been working and saving since she was 13 - while also being a year round athlete. She is able to cover her books and her living expenses at school AND during the summer months with her savings and summer wages. FWIW, She is contributing much more than the amount you are being expected to contribute.</p>
<p>Yeah, and the fact that my parents can’t give me a single dime for financial aid and I have to take on $80,000+ of debt–that’s pocket change because I don’t stay after school to throw around a ball. Not to mention working a job on campus, and also trying to work this summer, if I’m even lucky enough to get a job.</p>
<p>What have you been doing the past 4 summers?</p>