<p>Recently accepted to UVa (#1 choice) but…</p>
<li><p>If I win local scholarships, will my aid be reduced by how much I win or just partially reduced?</p></li>
<li><p>If my parents (1 in CA, 1 in GA–>me) are OOS but my grandparents live in Virginia, is there any way to gain IS after the first year by claiming I am their dependent (most schools consider 24 and below still dependent right?). Is this feasible?</p></li>
<li><p>I felt that my FA was a bit low considering my situation…Should I appeal via phone/mail or visit the Financial Aid Office in person while I go to their accepted student visitation days?</p></li>
<li><p>The fine print on the FA letter said that it is calculated for 12 credits/semester. If you need 120 to graduate, am I suppose to pay for the additional 24 credits (12 x 2 x 4 = 96…120-96= 24)?</p></li>
<li><p>My FA letter said I would need to take out a 3k loan and 2k work study to pay for school. On the next page, it says my loans are capped at $22,000. What is this all about? Where are they getting this figure?</p></li>
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<p>I would be very appreciative if someone could please help me out with these questions. Thanks so much!</p>
<p>Here are a couple of answers, for the rest you really need to call the financial aid office at UVa.</p>
<p>1) This depends on the school. Sometimes you get to keep the money, sometimes it reduces money that has been awarded as loans or workstudy.</p>
<p>2) Every state has its own rules about becoming a state resident for tuition purposes. It is my understanding that VA is pretty strict about this. I'm guessing that the only way to get residence based on your grandparents, would be to have had them declared your legal guardians before you turned 18.</p>
<p>3) It is always good to talk with the FA officers. They are the experts on the aid situation at their own university.</p>
<p>4) FA is calculated for 12 credits/semester means that it is based on a full academic load (not a part-time load) of 12 credits/semester. The number of credits you carry will probably actually be 15 or 16 each semester (some students carry even more). The "full load" for FA purposes is set at the low end of the range. You will be expected to carry a "full load" every semester that you receive aid. If you drop down below that, some of the aid will be lost. 120/8 = 15 credits each semester. This is entirely doable.</p>
<p>5) The loan cap of $22,000 is determined by the Feds. This is the maximum in federal loans that you would be permitted to take out under these programs over the course of four years. The intention of this maximum is that you shouldn't end up waaaaaay over your head in student debt. If, for example, the school gives you 3k each year for 4 years, your total debt load would actually only be 12k. Of course, there are other loan programs out there (including private loans) that don't follow this limit.</p>
<p>Federal work study means that they guarantee you a job on campus where if you work enough hours you will eventually make 2k. There will be some kind of job fair or job assignment system. You will have to go to work, and do the work, but you will get the paycheck. You are expected to spend that money on books, living expenses, etc.</p>
<p>Wishing you the best.</p>
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<li><p>If your full 'need' (as determined by the schools COA less FAFSA EFC) has been met then most schools will use any other scholarships to reduce your financial aid (because your 'need' is reduced) This is especially the case where any federal funds are involved because EFC + scholarships + federal aid cannot exceed COA. The good news is most schools usually reduce loans and work study first. There may be exceptions so check with your school.</p></li>
<li><p>No. Your residency for tuition is based on your parents State of residency - not your grandparents. It is usually very hard to change from OOS to instate for tuition purposes. If it was easy everyone would do it and there would be no out of state tuition. For most States residency for instate tuition has to have been established by residing in the State (parents for dependent students, student for independent student) for a year or more *before *starting school.</p></li>
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<p>3.Always worth a try.</p>
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<li>Check their policies. At my daughter's school the COA is also based on 12 hours (that is generally the official number of hours to be considered full time) but she can ask for a change of COA if she is taking *over *15 credits in a semester. You can check with your school if they do the same. It is likely that if you can have the COA adjusted the difference will be met with more loans or work study. If the loan you have been offered is a Stafford the maximum for a freshman is $3500.</li>
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<p>5.Maximum Stafford loans as set by the government are $3500 for a freshman, $4500 for a sophomore, $5500 the remaining years with a cumulative limit for undergraduates of $23,000. Not sure where the $22,000 comes from - maybe a cap the school sets for loans.</p>