<p>That’s not true. Gvt loans/grants can cover anything in the cost of attendance, including living expenses, transportation, books. They’re given directly to the school to insure that tuition gets paid FIRST so that there is a reason to pay overage to the student (if tuition isn’t paid, they don’t go to school, so there would be no reason to give any other monies to said student… of loans/grants are less than amount owed to school, they won’t get a refund anyway, and if they can’t pay, all classes are canceled and money is refunded to government).</p>
<p>runningncircles1…thanks for the info about the loans. There has been a lot of misleading information posted here but I do think you are right. I do think loans can cover the other expenses but with all of the fianancial aid packages we received this was the only one that did not show that my son was eligible. I did email, a very polite email…LOL, asking but didn’t receive a response. My son has already committed to Tulane and is happy with his decision. Even if he received loans or we had payed for GT, his choice was Tulane. Thanks again for your imput, and for being very informative and polite. Good luck to everyone with whatever your choice may be.</p>
<p>Oh, Tulane is a fine choice! Also a bit lighter on work load, LOL. I tutored a very smart girl this year who will be entering there this fall, and if she resembles the average student attending, then it’s a great choice! Good luck to him!</p>
<p>I can understand about the lack of response in email… many of the folks working in the admin offices don’t have what I’d call “puritan work ethic.” That’s why I quit! You have to call or go down there most of the time to get attention, unfortunately. I love Tech, but admin SUCKS there!</p>
<p>Did not want to start a whole new thread, so I’ll try to get this one back on topic.</p>
<p>I contacted the financial aid office awhile ago about a scholarship I received for $5000/semester. Obviously, their answers to my questions were as vague as can be, and I was hoping that you guys could provide me with more help. I’m OOS, so money is important.</p>
<p>Basically, my question was for how long this scholarship, which is a location-based scholarship (have to be from a certain city/state), would be offerred. They did say the max was for eight semesters, but that’s about it (everything else is "if this and this and this happens, then maybe we’ll get it to you again). If I’m able to keep up a good GPA, do you think I’d have no problem in being able to renew this scholarship? Have any of you seen cases where a student was unable to get an equal amount of aid from year-to-year even with good academic performance? How about with a sub-par GPA? And if I take extra time (say… 5 years), would I likely get an equivelent aid package for my last year (since the first scholarship would have run out by then)?</p>
<p>If any of you have any experience with financial aid as an OOS student, please let me know. I don’t want to go there ending up with 30k debt or something like that because my scholarship wasn’t offered my last two years.</p>
<p>Your scholarship letter should have explained the conditions. If you do not like the answers financial aid gave you, ask more specific questions. What were the “and this and this and this” parts. Those are probably important… It sounds like you have a scholarship that will renew each semester for eight semesters and then stop. If they say the maximum is 8 semesters, you will not receive funding from that particular scholarship for a fifth year. However, if you do well, many departments award their own scholarships to their top students. Other ways to save money are to become a Peer Leader or Resident Assistant after your first year. If accepted, your housing an meals will be paid for. You can also co-op. Most students save at least 4-5K from each co-op semester that they can use towards paying for school, and some internships pay much more.</p>
<p>Maybe I should restate everything (after looking back over what I wrote, it looks like I’m a very angry, stupid, paranoid high school kid).</p>
<p>Yes, I’m aware that the financial aid office could never guarantee anything. I also realize that this is not the only way I can receive help for paying (internships, co-op, additional scholarships, etc.). I just wanted to know if any of you knew of a lot situations where a student’s scholarship was pulled/decreased significantly despite being in good academic standing. I don’t think it would be common nor would it be likely to happen to me; I just want to know if my thinking is right.</p>
<p>If you meet the conditions for renewing the scholarship you are fine. In many cases, the conditions are just that you maintain a high enough GPA to remain in good standing. If you letter specified other conditions, you will have to meet those. Your letter should have also stated how long the award was for. If it says a maximum of 8 semesters and there are no enumerated conditions then you will receive that award for your first 8 semesters. Tech does not pull awards unless you fail to meet minimum requirements. However, if the award letter says that this award is for 1 or 2 years only, you should not plan on receiving it for 4-5 years.</p>
<p>You should be getting something in the mail. If it is just a generic award and you are not sure if the award automatically renews, you should just call financial aid.</p>