Financial Aid/Loan Advice

Colleges and Universities A-Z George Washington University
1

<p>Hey everyone,</p>

<p>It seems a lot of people on here are confused and nervous about taking out loans to make up for potential gaps in their financial aid. I just wanted to give a few words of advice on how to make this important decision.</p>

<p>First, if your parents have lost their jobs during the recession and it was NOT reported on your FAFSA (or really if your income situation has changed dramatically since you filled out the FA forms), you should contact GW and fill out a special circumstance form. They are being pretty understanding with people's changing financial situations in these rough times.</p>

<p>That aside, if you are looking at taking out a lot of loans, there are a few things to consider. The first is how much schooling you are planning on doing. If you are planning on going into any grad program that's longer than a year, you should be really wary of being too far in debt. For instance, law school is about 160K for the whole 3 years. That, on top of 50K in undergrad debt, is pretty scary. Most of the time grad schools really don't care where you went to undergrad, as long as you did well, so this should definitely be a consideration.</p>

<p>The other thing you should think about is how essential it is that you will be in DC with GW's resources. If you are planning on going into a career in politics, lobbying, political communication, foreign service, or any of that sort of thing, I really can't think of anywhere else that will give you as many opportunities both during and after gradation. You really have to run sort of a cost-benefit analysis in your head...will being at GW give you enough of a better job to warrant taking out X dollars in loans? That's something really only you and your family can decide.</p>

<p>Best of luck to all of you!</p>

2

<p>Thanks for the advice. I am interested in foreign service so being in DC seems like a no-brainer. This weekend my parents and I will be having “the talk” and this issue will have to be addressed v. the large debt I will, not probably, have. Do you think there are jobs I can get in DC with just an undergraduate degree that will at least pay the monthly loan payment and some sort of rent after I graduate? I think my parents would be willing to take a gamble on me then.</p>

3

<p>Absolutely. I have worked at a federal agency for almost 2 years now and use that money to pay my rent. You probably won’t be able to get a great paying job your freshman year (though if you were awarded work study you can get a job that pays up to $12/hr), but after that there are government agencies and other firms that pay well. You won’t be doing as exciting of work as other unpaid interns, but it’s real experience that is quite useful.</p>

4

<p>I was offered 40,000 w/o any loans or work study.
I was offered 49,500 w/ loans and work study.</p>

<p>My family’s EFC was calculated to be around 5500, which makes sense. However my dad recently lost his job, that’s another 35,000 gone from my family’s income. He is now receiving social security. Is there anything I could do to perhaps get more financial aid?</p>