<p>ComradePalmer - MINE DID THE EXACT SAME THING. Now I’m freaking out quiet a bit.
“Call student accounts” ? Is that the same thing as the financial aid office. What the heck is going on here.</p>
<p>Student accounts is different from financial aid. The number is on the back of your EBill. You can get through to them much more quickly. They will be able to tell you what money has been received from financial aid (Cal Grant, Stafford Loans, PLUS loans, etc.). They will also be able to tell you what is still owed. Once you find out what has funded you can call financial aid and find out where the rest is. I would also ask student accounts if, in their experience, this is normal. For example, do you need to call financial aid or should you just wait a few days. I’m having you call student accounts first because you can get through there much more quickly. Don’t panic. If you have financial aid to cover the whole thing, everything will be okay.</p>
<p>It just stinks, you know? Yesterday I had $350 due immediately and about $4k - $5k total due. I was supposed to get a little over $6k for my Cal Grant. Now I have $1500 due now and $5k due still. I just don’t understand if I screwed up somewhere and now messed it up to the point where I have to pay it or if it will be something easy. I hate having to deal with this all on my own.</p>
<p>Edit: Found the number.</p>
<p>Can’t your parents help you look at all of this? It’s confusing even for us parents! Are you maxed out on your stafford loans? If not, you can get more money that way. You would just go to the financial aid website and up the loan amount. You can also convert work study to loans. It may be a computer malfunction. I know it’s frustrating and scary. Stay calm, gather your information, and then work on solving the problem. Don’t worry until you know if there is something to worry about.</p>
<p>No. My parents aren’t paying/helping at all. Part of it is financial, part of it is a myriad of other reasons.<br>
I’m not maxed out on my loans, but I shouldn’t need to take out more loans. I calculated everything. According to my FinAid page I should be recieving about $14,250 each semester. (I’m in-state)
According to Cal’s budget, this should not have left me with about $6k in fees to pay! :(</p>
<p>Edit: After writing this little rant, I feel confident that there must be some sort of error in the system. Although I am a bit fearful.</p>
<p>Hahaha! I understand Rant away… You should be just fine. Just give them a call and give it some time. I really can relate. Every year with all of my children, I panic a little until everything clears. Right now I’m semi panicking because I don’t know how much my son’s refund will be. Every year it all works out. I’ve been going through this since 2007 when my oldest went to college. Hahaha… It will be okay. Hang in there.</p>
<p>Finally received my email. Yes!</p>
<p>Am still waiting to get my registration block taken off… The only differences it makes is that I don’t get any of my FA and I can’t register for RSF, both of which are quite annoying to deal with. Guess I’m going to have to abuse the hell out of the free 7 day pass at 24 hour fitness.</p>
<p>Wait, beside getting to them quicker, what’s the difference between calling the Financial Aid office and student accounts?</p>
<p>And I’m looking at my awards summary on Bear Facts and it only has my loan. Yet on MyFinAid, it says that both the Cal Grant and loan has been paid out. I’m hoping that it’s just taking awhile for it to show up on Bear Facts.</p>
<p>^^ Well there you go. It probably hasn’t been posted to your CARS account yet. Student accounts is like a billing department. Financial aid is like a credit department. They can tell you what loans you have, what grants you have, information on scholarships and whether all have funded. They will not have information on what you owe or whether or not the aid has been posted to your account. Make sense?</p>
<p>Yesterday, the charges for next month posted. One month of room and board was added to the e-bill that will come to you soon, due Sept 15th. That is why the bump you all saw yesterday. Unconnected to financial aid.</p>
<p>I can always count on you, rider, to clear things up… Will you please explain to them what happens if you have financial aid that covers all of your costs to attend Berkeley? I think that would calm everyone down. :-)</p>
<p>don’t have first hand experience with FA but know many who do of course and every year, the same worries erupt but it all works out after a few weeks.</p>
<p>Woo hoo! No minimum amount due! Although I still have an account balance :(</p>
<p>I actually got my refund sent to my checking account today and it was a bit lower than expected. I simply subtracted my Gift Aid from Fees and Health Insurance and divided the total by 2 to see my refund for the Fall semester but received a refund amount almost $400 lower. Any idea why? I didn’t calculate Books/supplies and living expenses because I’m paying those out of pocket, and I assume refunds are made only once per semester.</p>
<p>Okay I will try and explain the financial aid thing even though I am not as good as Rider. My son has financial aid that covers everything. We have never had to pay anything out of pocket except for a couple of lab fees. Everything was covered by scholarships, grants and loans. Basically, I think you all can relax. Somehow everything works out in the end. </p>
<p>As to the refund not being what you thought, you will have to look at your ebill and compare each category to what was budgeted on the financial aid website. Perhaps something is off there. I know last year that my son chose the premium meal plan and the increase in that was on his bill. I’m sure Berkeley is right. There is probably a difference in the amount actually charged versus what was budgeted. Yes, refunds are given once a semester.</p>
<p>ComradePalmer… A big WOO HOO for you!!! :-)</p>
<p>no disbursement yet :…(</p>
<p>Did anyone else get a letter from the CSAC that said that your account has been put on hold?</p>