<p>so this might be the first year i'm living off campus and have been offered a 685/month room for 11 months...</p>
<p>i'm not gonna get a meal plan or campus housing (assuming i accept this offer) but i will be getting SHIP...</p>
<p>how much money could i expect to be refunded? </p>
<p>could i get a loan through cornell for personal expenses?</p>
<p>Cornell will still create a package for you that includes room and board. If you can demonstrate your living expenses exceed what they budgeted, you can ask for an increase in aid.</p>
<p>Last year...I received a refund of about $6,000 each semester ($12,000 total)</p>
<p>heh, what'd you do with the refund dewdrop? ;)</p>
<p>6k/semester is just enough for housing and food i would imagine...</p>
<p>$685 for a room is kind of pricey. You should have no trouble finding something for less than $550.</p>
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eh, what'd you do with the refund dewdrop?
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<p>Paid my rent and bills...helped my parents pay the school tax bill...then paid off my credit card debt and put the rest into savings.</p>
<p>685 furnished with utilities included...on eddy street</p>
<p>oh and when where you able to pickup your refund check? i'm needing the money ASAP to pay august/september and deposit</p>
<p>You'll get your refund as soon as your aid pays all your tuition costs. I think I got my refund 2 weeks after classes began. If you have any loans, they will not be credited to your account until 1 week before class begins...and it might take up to two weeks from that point to get a refund. Refunds are deposited directly from the bursar into a bank account selected by you.</p>
<p>ahh, such a sweet and responsible child!</p>
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ahh, such a sweet and responsible child!
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<p>I try :-)</p>
<p>Still...our tax bill was $1,000...you'd think my old HS could use all that money to provide a better education...lol</p>
<p>I'm not certain I understand all of this talk about a "refund". What's being refunded? Dewdrop, how could you get money from Cornell that could be used to pay your family's property taxes?</p>
<p>By refund do you mean a check that Cornell cuts you to help with your off-campus living expenses? I'm assuming a certain level of funding is allowed and you need to provide receipts and documentation of expenses. At least that was how my summer financial aid through the Cornell Tradition worked.</p>
<p>Also, $6k per semester is kind of steep. I think I lived in Ithaca for the entire year on less than $9k. Granted it was three years ago, but I don't think the price of goods and services has increased all that much....</p>
<p>My financial aid package was created with Cornell assuming I would be living on campus in a double room with the standard meal plan. So my total costs was around $32,000 ($16,000 per semester). However...since I was living off campus all I had to pay each semester was my tuition. Once tuition was paid..around $9,000 per semester...all of the addition aid I had coming in the form of loans and outside scholarships was refunded to me by Cornell....which was slightly less than $7,000. I used that money to pay my rent (which was steep), internet and electricity. The money I had left was used to pay off my credit card debt and help out my parents. I saved some...and already used it to pay off my Perkins loan. I used my work study earnings to buy groceries. There are no restrictions on the money once it is given back to you...it was mine to use. I didn't have to document anything to the FA office. I've done this for the past two years and had no issues...although I did check with them the first year to make sure I could spend the money as I saw fit.</p>
<p>was that 7k refund each semester?</p>
<p>^^yes it was.</p>
<p>2nd semester refund was a little bit lower because I enrolled in a meal plan and FA found out my brother wasn't in school any longer.</p>
<p>dewdrop87 you're so awesome ^^</p>
<p>Dewdrop... that makes sense. Cornell is appropriating its 'grant' money to your tuition and then cutting you a check for your loans and outside scholarships. Good for you to already be working to start paying down your loans.</p>
<p>I wonder how it would work for a student truly getting a free ride -- everything but work study paid for. In that situation, I suspect Cornell would be more prudent about where the off-campus living money was going.</p>
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dewdrop87 you're so awesome ^^
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<p>haha...I try :-)</p>
<p>well i'm not on a complete full ride but close enough...at least in previous years</p>
<p>i'm still waiting to get my financial aid award letter (i applied late b/c wasnt expecting to return this fall)</p>
<p>How do you get financial aid for off campus housing? Who do you show? How do you demonstrate that your living expenses exceed what they budgeted?</p>